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Gary the Seagull
Artist: Paul HammondPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95It’s a hot summer day and Gary is hungry. The beach is packed with people…and packed with people’s lunches. Though he’s been known to eat everything from minnows to garbage, it’s beach lunches Gary loves most of all. With his patented seagull cunning, Gary takes increasingly ridiculous measures to trick a young boy into sharing his lunch. Will the boy hand over his ketchup chips and watermelon?
This uproarious read-aloud from beloved Ontario-based songwriter and entertainer, better known by his stage name, B. A. Johnston, will have parents hugging their beach coolers a little tighter and kids shouting “SHOO, BIRD! SHOO!” Halifax-based illustrator-cartoonist Paul Hammond provides bright and bold illustrations and hand-lettered embellishments for a salty good read.
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Mud Muddelicious Mud
Artist: Phoebe Anne MageePublisher: Muddle Puddle Books$12.95Verse for the very young, Mud Muddelicious Mud or The Mud Book as it is most often described, is one that over time many children have kept as their very favourite. Squishing mud through toes seems to have a universal appeal to children and adults alike. Poems are a mixture of moods but mostly fun.
Flying feathers ducky down
Swirling softly round and round
Plucky ducky oh so bare
Shivers in his underwear.The delightful illustrations by artist Phoebe Anne Magee make the poetry come alive.
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Fishes in the Seas
Artist: Peter ManchesterPublisher: Muddle Puddle Books$12.95Living in the Maritimes is a unique experience. In this new book of verse for the very young Shirley Downey shares her joy of language and her love of this special part of the world. Full of vibrantly textured illustrations, Fishes in the Seas: Poems for Maritime Kids is a wonderful reading experience for adults and children to share.
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Hare B&B
Artist: Bill PechetPublisher: Running the Goat$22.95Harriet and her seven young siblings are left orphans when their parents run afoul of a cunning coyote. They open their home as a “hare bed and breakfast” for paying guests, and when the coyote returns to the scene of the crime, they serve her her comeuppance for breakfast.
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Mr. Beagle and the Georgestown Mystery
Publisher: Running the Goat$11.95Mr. Beagle is back with a new mystery to solve: why are storybooks disappearing from his cousin George’s neighbourhood?
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Catalina
Publisher: Running the Goat$11.95Catalina is more than a little cranky when her people come home with three puppies, but she soon learns that even a cat can enjoy the company of dogs.
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Mr. Beagle Goes to Rabbittown
Publisher: Running the Goat$11.95Mittens are going missing in Rabbittown. Where could they be? Never fear…Mr. Beagle has the nose to follow the clues and find the culprit!
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Seasons Before the War
Artist: Brita GranstromPublisher: Running the Goat$29.95Charming illustrations bring this delightfully unsentimental remembrance of childhood in pre-WWII St. John’s, Newfoundland to life.
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Ralph, Flying Hound
Artist: Alex KolanoPublisher: Running the Goat$12.95Ralph chases anything that moves, and usually catches it too. But when his aspirations go skyward, even his four furry friends wonder if Ralph’s aiming too high. A dog-bites-helicopter tale that will leave readers laughing and cheering for Ralph.
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The Puffin Problem
Publisher: Running the Goat$12.95When a plethora of puffins head into a city by the sea, problems abound. No one is sure why the puffins have come, but what is certain is that they are underfoot and overhead and everywhere. They bother pets, and park on policemen. It takes someone small and smart to come up with a plan to send them back to sea. A charming and funny picture book by Lori Doody; young readers and listeners will have fun finding the puffins hiding in plain sight!
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PB’s Comet
Artist: Veselina TomovaPublisher: Running the Goat$14.95An ambitious young lamb is determined to find a comet. Her persistence annoys a grumpy old goat who sets out to undermine her efforts, until he makes a discovery of his own.
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Painting the Town Pink
Publisher: Running the Goat$12.95When a flamingo lands unexpectedly in town, the townsfolk work together to make their unlikely visitor welcome.
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Mallard, Mallard, Moose
Publisher: Running the Goat$12.95A moose comes to town, followed by two mallard ducks. He searches high and low to someone to take care of the ducks. It seems that there is no one, until the perfect helper appears.
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Dancing with Daisy
Artist: Josée BisaillonPublisher: Running the Goat$14.95A tall tale about a wild dance, and the loving connection between grandfather and grandson.
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Capelin Weather
Publisher: Running the Goat$11.95Kate is excited for the beginning of summer, but all this rain, drizzle, and fog is no fun. “Capelin weather” her grandmother declares, setting Kate on the lookout for the silvery fish whose arrival ushers in summer. Can you find the hidden capelin?
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Colours in Winter
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$14.95Colours in Winter is a whimsical children’s picture book. The child, with her two bird friends, initially wishes that the giant fantastic snowflakes were coloured. Everything is too white. She thinks of green frogs in the spring, enormous red strawberries in the summer, and heaps of yellow and brown leaves in the autumn. But her desire becomes true and the snowflakes are suddenly all different colours. “Too much colour!” she gasps.
When everything turns back to white, she makes a wonderful discovery: there is colour everywhere in the winter — blue sky and green conifers, red rose hips and yellow beech tree leaves. The child and her bird friends reunite in a joyous celebration.
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If You Could Be Anything
Artist: Briana Corr ScottPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95A gentle lullaby celebrating the abundant nature of the East Coast, from the illustrator of Wildflower and The Book of Selkie.
If you could be anything, what would you be?
I’d be a tall ship, racing fast on the sea
I’d fill up my sails with the salty cool breeze
If I could be anything. If it were up to me. -
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The Snow Knows
Artist: Josée BisaillonPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95A lyrical prose poem with whimsical, hide-and-seek illustrations, The Snow Knows introduces readers of all ages to animals both domestic (a tabby cat by the wood stove) and wild (a slinking lynx; a choir of coyotes), celebrating wilderness and outdoor play.
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If I Were a Zombie
Artist: Eric OrchardPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95If I were a zombie
I’d package my drool
put it in Mason jars
sell it at school.This hilarious picture book written by Hackmatack Award-nominated Kate Inglis has two children trying to outdo one another, imagining what they could do if only they were a zombie, a ninja, or a robot. With outrageously entertaining rhyming text and brilliant illustrations from artist Eric Orchard, this is sure to be a favourite with readers of all ages.
