The Children of Africville (2nd edition)
$17.95The children of Africville, Nova Scotia, lived in a special community where everyone knew their neighbours, and all helped and cared for each other. It was the perfect place for children to play and grow up. The Children of Africville is the remarkable story of these children during the community’s final years, before it was torn down and its families were relocated. Full of photographs and stories from Africville people, this book is an important celebration of Nova Scotia black history, its vibrant community, and the children who lived there.
Oak Island and the Search for the Buried Treasure
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Are Shakespeare’s lost manuscripts buried deep in the notorious Money Pit? Do booby traps conceal the Holy Grail of the Knights Templar or Blackbeard’s pirate loot? The mystery of Oak Island’s rumoured treasure has stumped explorers and researchers for over two hundred years. In this fascinating nonfiction account, librarian Joann Hamilton-Barry introduces young readers to the treasures rumoured to be hidden on Nova Scotia’s famous question mark-shaped island and the curious adventurers who sought it out.
With over 50 maps, photographs, and artefacts, highlighted by educational sidebars, this accessible, entertaining book takes readers from the island’s first treasure hunters to present-day adventurers, and shares tales of pirate gold, mysterious messages, and the famous Oak Island curse.
Children of the Titanic
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$24.95On April 10, 1912, the Titanic departed Southampton, England, on its first voyage across the Atlantic, carrying 2,240 passengers, 109 of them children. Introducing young readers to the ship that couldn’t sink, Children of the Titanic follows three children—Beth Cook, age six, travelling third class; Charlotte Murphy, age eight, second class; and John Crosby, age eleven, first class. We meet them as they board and get settled in their rooms in different parts of the vessel, witness their experience of the gripping sequence of events early in the morning of April 15, and see their eventual arrival in New York on the rescue ship Carpathia.
Bringing to life the sights and sounds of the ship from a child’s perspective, author Christine Welldon tours youngreaders through the plush first- and second-class staterooms, the gymnasium, swimming pool, library, and French café, as well as the humbler accommodations in third class.
The book includes over 40 photographs, highlighted glossary terms, and sidebars on aspects of shipbuilding, early twentieth-century life, and the events of April 15, 1912.
My House is a Lighthouse Stories of Lighthouses and Their Keepers
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95Can you imagine yourself as a light keeper? Could you live full-time on an isolated coast? Your job is to keep a light shining out to sea, guiding ships to land, warning them of jagged shoreline, and maybe even assisting with a rescue in the case of a shipwreck.
Even though there are 750 lighthouses across North America, only 51 light keepers actively live and work in one in Canada, and just 1 keeper remains in the United States. In the newest installment of Nimbus’s popular Compass series, Christine Welldon takes readers past the postcard-perfect image and depicts a day in the life of 11 modern light keepers. From Cape Beale, British Columbia, to Puffin Island, Newfoundland, learn about the grit, intelligence, and quick thinking that helps keep our coastlines safe. Expertly weaving the historical with the modern, Welldon shows us how light keepers are still bound by an age-old mission: “Keep the light shining. Be ever watchful. Help those in trouble on the sea.”
Includes over 50 full-colour photos, illustrations, and maps, as well as a glossary, index, and historical timeline.
There Be Pirates! Swashbucklers & Rogues of the Atlantic
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$15.95Did you know pirates once sailed the seas around Atlantic Canada? Pirates might seem like fun in the movies, but back in the 17th and 18th centuries—the Golden Age of Piracy—being a pirate was very serious business.
From the Hackmatack award-shortlisted author of Oak Island and the Search for Buried Treasure comes the newest book from Nimbus’s popular Compass series for young readers. Learn about what everyday life was like for some of the fiercest pirates of all time. Explore the history of piracy, from the ancient Romans and Greeks to modern-day pirates. How did pirates navigate the seas? What happened if they were caught? Did pirates really bury treasure?
This full-colour non-fiction book includes highlighted glossary terms, informative sidebars, over 50 colour illustrations and historical photographs, an index, and recommended further reading.
Broken Pieces An Orphan of the Halifax Explosion
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95One hundred years ago, on December 6, 1917, the French munitions ship Mont Blanc collided with the Belgian relief vessel Imo in the Halifax Harbour. At first, a small fire broke out aboard the Mont Blanc, which grew bigger crowds of people and emergency responders linded the shores of Halifax and Dartmouth to get a better look. Suddenly, the Mont Blanc‘s explosive cargo blew up, flattening homes and businesses, and triggering a tsunami.
Amid the confusion and devastation that followed the blast was fourteen-year-old Barbara Orr, who had been walking from her neighbourhood in Richmond to a friend’s house. Follow Barbara as she navigates post-explosion Halifax, learning about rescue efforts, the kindness of strangers, and the bravery of heroes like Vincent Coleman along the way.
Part of the popular Compass series, this full-colour non-fiction book includes highlighted glossary terms, informative sidebars, over 50 illustrations and historical photographs, a detailed index, and recommended further reading. In commemoration of the tragic event’s 100th anniversary, Broken Pieces is a great resource for young readers and educators.
Birchtown and the Black Loyalists
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95“Although diminished in numbers, Birchtown remains a proud symbol of the struggle by Blacks in the Maritimes and elsewhere for justice and dignity.” So says the plaque at Black Loyalist Heritage Park in Birchtown, commemorating the former Black slaves who fought with the British in the American Revolutionary War to gain their freedom in the form of a small plot of land near Shelburne, Nova Scotia.
In Birchtown and the Black Loyalists, Wanda Taylor recounts the incredible story of the Black Loyalists of Birchtown for young readers. With educational and accessible language, readers are introduced to the journey of Black American soldiers taken from Africa as slaves, their quest for freedom, the settlement and struggle of Black Loyalists on Nova Scotian soil, and the enduring spirit of their descendants in spite of a history marked by hardship and loss. Includes informative sidebars, highlighted glossary terms, recommended reading, historic timeline, an index, and dozens of historical and contemporary images.
Quai 21: Écoutez mon histoire
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$15.95Découvrez des moments parmi les plus marquants de l’histoire du Canada en apprenant à connaître les enfants et les familles débarqués au Quai 21 de Halifax. Venus de pays lointains tels l’Estonie, l’Italie et l’Ukraine (pour n’en nommer que quelques-uns), ces immigrants ont tous franchi les « ports de la liberté » pour faire du Canada leur nouvelle patrie.
Jamie, un « enfant invité » originaire d’Ecosse et Mariette, une petite orpheline juive, ont tous deux été envoyés au Canada à un jeune âge afin d’échapper à la même guerre. La famille de Heili, in jeune Estonienne, a fui le régime communiste russe en prenant la mer à bord du Walnut. La famille de Luigi est venue d’Italie chercher du travail au Canada après la guerre et la famille de Maryke est arrivée de Hollande à la rechercher de terres à cultiver.
Aujourd’hui connu sous le nom de Mussée canadien de l’immigration, le Quai 21 a accueilli plus d’un million de nouveaux Canadiens, de 1928 à 1971. Beaucoup d’entre eux craignaient ce que leur réservait leur pays d’adoption. Cependant, toutes ces familles, même si elles étaient de cultures et d’origines différentes, ont cru à promesse d’un vie meilleure et plus sûre que leur offrait le Canada. En débarquant au pays, les immigrants échappaient au passé, emportant dans leur cœur de précieux souvenirs de leur lieu d’origine. Le Quai 21 représentait le premier pas vers une nouvelle vie.
