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Hullabaloo Bugaboo Day
Artist: Kelly UlrichPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$11.95Upper Millidocket Elementary School is an exceptionally lovely place to be. The children are excited to learn, the teachers are excited to teach, and the school secretary holds everything together. But when Mr. Tiggle, the principal, forgets to recite his daily poem during the morning announcements, everything goes upside down. Miss Argyle, the school secretary, disappears (and decides to stay disappeared for a while), tarantulas escape their cages, and the school comes very close to falling completely apart. A second edition of a Sheree Fitch classic with new illustrations from Kelly Ulrich.
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Maritime Christmas Treasury
$29.95A collection of best-loved Maritime Christmas stories in one beautiful book for children. From the hilarious Gadzooks the Christmas Goose to the heartwarming A Christmas Dollhouse, each carefully selected story highlights another aspect of the Christmas season. Love, family, the natural world, and yes, even Christmas presents, are all celebrated in this gorgeous treasury.
Interspersed with the stories are classic poems and Christmas carols (including Bruce Nunn’s Bluenose version of “Twelve Days of Christmas”!), as well as beautiful and lively illustrations from a range of artists. A Maritime Christmas Treasury is sure to be cherished by Christmas lovers of all ages.
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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.
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King of Keji
Artist: Patsy MacKinnonPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95Jacob’s brother, Ben, is always king of the castle. Jacob is tired of being the dirty rascal!
Jacob and his grandfather decide to set out on a camping trip to Nova Scotia’s Kejimkujik National Park. There, they find lots of hidden treasure fit for a king, like emeralds (the green of a hemlock’s foliage), amber (the eyes of a deer), and diamonds (in the sky).
Jacob even builds himself a crown, and it isn’t long before Gramps declares Jacob the King of Keji!
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There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen (pb)
Artist: Sydney SmithPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95Willa Wellowby’s house has been overrun by monkeys. They’re ballet dancing, playing the bagpipes, listening to the Beatles, and causing mayhem and destruction all over the house and yard. And the more Willa asks them to leave, the more havoc they wreak. She calls the police, the RCMP, the FBI, and Scotland Yard to get rid of these monkeys…but when the Mounties finally show up, it’s Willa who’s in trouble!
First published in 1992, There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen won the Canadian Children’s Book Centre Mr. Christie Award for Best Canadian Children’s book, ages 8 and under. This new softcover edition will introduce the bestselling book to a whole new generation.
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Singily Skipping Along
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Kidlit heavyweight Sheree Fitch of River John and world-renowned rug hooking artist Deanne Fitzpatrick of Amherst have teamed up to create a kids’ book about body movement called Singily Skipping Along .Fitzpatrick’s rugs are on sale in an online auction (singilyskipping.ca) with all proceeds going toward L’Arche Atlantic, which is dedicated to homes, programs and support networks for people who have intellectual disabilities.“I didn’t want those rugs to get sold off one by one. I wanted something special to happen to them,” says Fitzpatrick.The rugs, each 38 centimetres by 38 centimetres, are “about being in the moment, about play.”
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My Goat Gertrude
Artist: Dayle DodwellPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95Starr Dobson is a little girl living in a big, rambling house in the country with her family and lots of pets–including a mischievous goat, Gertrude Allawishes, who is known for eating anything and everything. One day Starr’s cousin Leanne comes to visit, but this time, she’s only brought one chocolate bar and doesn’t want to share with Starr. Before either Starr or Leanne realize what is happening, Gertrude arrives and solves the problem! Although names have been changed to protect certain cousins (who usually shared their chocolate just fine), Starr’s account of Gertrude Allawishes and her bizarre tastes is absolutely true! Now available in a softcover edition.
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A Bluenose Twelve Days of Christmas
Artist: Doretta GroenendykPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95On the fifth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me
Five Highland flings!
Four coal seams,
Three lobster traps,
Two fiddle tunes,
And a Bluenose in at Pier Three.“The Twelve Days of Christmas” gets a taste of Nova Scotian revelry in this energetic retelling by storyteller Bruce Nunn. With Doretta Groenendyk’s charming and funny illustrations, readers young and old will want to read–and sing!–this version of the carol every Christmas.
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Up Home
Artist: Susan TookePublisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95Happy memories sparkle in this journey through poet Shauntay Grant’s childhood visits to North Preston, Nova Scotia. Her words bring to life the sights, sounds, rhythms, and people of a joyful place, while Susan Tooke’s vibrant illustrations capture the warmth of one of Canada’s most important black communities. Up Home celebrates the magic of growing up, and the power in remembering our roots now in a new softcover edition.
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A Christmas Dollhouse
$18.95Dot’s family is having a hard time. Her father has work, but her mother is terribly sick, and there is barely enough to make ends meet—and definitely not enough money for a lot of presents this Christmas. In the window of the town’s drugstore, Dot sees a beautiful dollhouse that is being raffled away. But her family doesn’t even have a dollar to spend there so she can enter the contest.
A Christmas Dollhouse is about hope in the face of hardship and about communities gathering close and taking care of each other. Set in Nova Scotia during the Great Depression, this is a story that will appeal to anyone who believes in the magic of Christmas.
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Best of Buddy The Bluenose Reindeer Buddy the Bluenose Reindeer and Buddy the Bluenose Reindeer and the Boston Christmas Tree Adventure
Artist: Brenda JonesPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$18.95Both Buddy books—truly the best of—now in one handsome edition!
First heard on CBC radio, Buddy the Bluenose Reindeer became an instant Maritime Christmas classic. Buddy the Bluenose Reindeer is sad because, despite his best efforts, he just can’t fit in with Nick Klaus’s fishing crew on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. Santa, that normally jolly proprietor of Christmas cheer, is worried because his star performer, the famous Rudolph, is sick with a bad cold! How will Santa and Buddy set everything all right?
In Buddy the Bluenose Reindeer and the Boston Christmas Tree, the search for the perfect Christmas tree to send to Boston isn’t going well, and Buddy the Bluenose Reindeer is called on to help. Of course, with his nose so blue and his aim so true, Buddy easily finds the right tree. Little does everyone know that that’s the easy part.
Packed full of playful puns and perfect for old and young listeners alike, Buddy’s adventures are real treats to read and share aloud.
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Mabel Murple (pb)
Artist: Sydney SmithPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$13.95What if there was a purple planet with purple people on it? Sheree Fitch answers this question with a zany tongue-twister of a poem featuring Mabel Murple, a daredevil who rides a purple motorbike through purple puddles, skis on purple snow, and on her pancakes pours maple syrup.
With a rich and vivid purple palette, Sydney Smith’s brand-new illustrations reflect the wild joy in this classic poem. Originally published in 1995, Mabel Murple won the Ann Connor Brimer award for children’s literature.
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My Goat Gertrude
Artist: Dayle DodwellPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$18.95Starr Dobson is a little girl living in a big, rambling house in the country with her family and lots of pets–including a mischievous goat, Gertrude Allawishes, who is known for eating anything and everything. One day Starr’s cousin Leanne comes to visit, but this time, she’s only brought one chocolate bar and doesn’t want to share with Starr. Before either Starr or Leanne realize what is happening, Gertrude arrives and solves the problem! Although names have been changed to protect certain cousins (who usually shared their chocolate just fine), Starr’s account of Gertrude Allawishes and her bizarre tastes is absolutely true!
Now available in a softcover edition.
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A Day With You In Paradise
Artist: Patsy MacKinnonPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95This beautiful picture book depicts a family’s fun-filled day at a Prince Edward Island beach. Racing past dunes, building sand castles, and singing songs by a bonfire at night, the family revels in the peaceful beauty of an Island beach. Lennie Gallant’s lyrical description of a PEI summer day is matched perfectly with Patsy MacKinnon’s sun-soaked illustrations. A Day with You in Paradise is based on Lennie’s song of the same name from the Juno-nominated album When We Get There.
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Pumpkin People
Artist: Ron LightburnPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$13.95Every autumn, strange figures start appearing around Kentville, Nova Scotia. Sauntering down the sidewalk, sitting in a tree, cavorting on a lawn—who are these peculiar people?
They’re the Pumpkin People! Made of cornstalks, straw, and, of course, pumpkins, these folkloric figures arrive every year to celebrate the harvest in a most creative way.
The immensely popular Pumpkin People tells the magical secrets of Kentville’s famous residents. Sandra Lightburn’s verse reveals the nighttime revelry of the half-funny, half-spooky figures; Ron Lightburn’s colourful illustations bring their wild Ceilidhs to life. And a special section in the back teaches pumpkin fans young and old how to build their own pumpkin person!
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Gadzooks the Christmas Goose
Artist: Ivan MurphyPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Corina lives with her grandparents in Shepody Bay. One day close to Christmas, a big storm blows in an injured Canada goose. Corina immediately warms to the bird and wants to nurse it back to health, but her grumpy grandfather wants to cook the goose for Christmas dinner. The bird gets up to all kinds of mischief–spooking the cows while Granddad is milking them, sabotaging Christmas decorations, and eating all of Grandma’s pies. Can Corina keep the cheeky bird safe from her curmudgeonly grandfather?
Award-winning author Jennifer McGrath Kent’s story and Ivan Murphy’s humorous and energetic illustrations combine to make this a charming Christmas tale.
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Christmas with the Rural Mail
$14.95A gentle poem describing the journey of a mailsleigh through rural Nova Scotia at Christmas time, delivering packages and parcels to children, Christmas with the Rural Mail is a holiday classic. The poem is carefully crafted to fit Maud Lewis’s colourful paintings, and the mailsleigh passes children skiing and tobogganing, oxen and Clydesdale horses pulling heavy loads, and the train station, among other classic rural winter scenes.
Lewis’s artwork is ideal for babies and toddlers, with its bright colours and simple forms, and the paintings and poem together perfectly evoke Christmases gone by. This is a sturdy board book edition great for young readers.
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Lobster Fishing on the Sea
Artist: Brenda JonesPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$10.95Susan’s father is a lobster fisherman in the Northumberland Strait, and one Saturday morning he lets Susan come on the boat with him. They empty their traps together and Susan sees all different sea creatures- rock crabs, sculpins, and more. Wonderfully illustrated in vibrant colours by Brenda Jones, Lobster Fishing on the Susan B has a simple storyline and incorporates information about lobster fishing and marine life.
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Back to the Beach
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95Back to the Beach is a simple but lively story about Gus and his dog, Sam, who experience a gleeful day at the beach. Amidst their playful romping, racing, splashing, and exploring, Gus and Sam come across various beach treasures. One by one, they present each treasure to Gus’s parents, who relax “back at the blanket,” and one by one, each treasure is denied in the rhyming chorus. This story is suitable for early/emerging readers and beachlovers alike. Written primarily in prose, there is a recurrent rhyming refrain that contributes to its appeal for “chiming in” when shared aloud. The illustrations, intended to be bright, lively, and engaging, feature mixed media, including coloured pencil, graphite, and watercolour.
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Bisous bisous bébé-ô!
Artist: HildaRosePublisher: Nimbus Publishing$11.95Bisous, Bisous, Bebe-O! is the french translation of the immensely popular board book, Kisses, Kisses, Baby-O!
Using rhythm and onomatopoeia, Sheree Fitch’s bubbly text, expertly translated by Jo-Anne Elder, begins with baby waking, and follows through eating, bathing, playing, and finally sleeping. Repetition, rhythm, and active verbs create a lively story that can be read again and again.
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The Terrible, Horrible, Smelly Pirate
Artist: Eric OrchardPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95A fun, read-aloud pirate story that will be a favourite with educators.
Set in the misty waters around Halifax Harbour, this fun read-aloud pirate story follows the adventures of a terrible, horrible, smelly pirate named Sydney and his friend Parrot Polly. After answering a riddle set by a tricky mermaid the rascals dig for treasure by the old lighthouse on McNab’s Island. Children will enjoy the anticipation as the chest is raised to the surface, and the surprise as its unexpected contents are revealed. The clean and dirty theme will make this book a circle time favourite with many daycare and library programmers. Parents will love it too.
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Return to the Sea PB
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$11.95In Return to the Sea, a young girl and her family set off on a summer road trip from Ontario to the Maritimes. On their way to their grandparents’ cottage in New Brunswick they visit many of the most famous tourist attractions east of Ontario: historic Quebec City; the world’s longest covered bridge in Hartland, New Brunswick; the legendary tides of the Bay of Fundy; Peggy’s Cove; the city of Halifax; and Anne’s Prince Edward Island. Everything from the car ride, to pirate stories, bonfires, and bike rides, is cherishingly documented by a young girl.
Following in the footsteps of East to the Sea, Heidi Jardine Stoddart’s Return to the Sea is another enchanting story that captures the wonder and curiosity of a child. Stoddart’s storybook rhyming verse is accompanied by her detailed illustrations making this a perfect tale for all children. In particular, this book makes a wonderful souvenir for boys and girls who have visited the east coast: like the characters in the book, they can remember and recount their magical trip. -
East to the Sea
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$11.95Imagine being crammed into the backseat of the family car, pyjamas already on, staking out space amidst sisters, knapsacks, blankets and pillows. Excitement is in the air as everyone gets ready to start the long drive though the dark, starry night. Sound like a familiar start to a summer vacation?Join a young girl and her family on a nostalgic journey to her grandparents’ summer cottage on the east coast, where afternoons at the beach and bonfires at dusk become magical, extraordinary events when viewed through the eyes of a child.Heidi Jardine Stoddart holds a Master of Arts degree in Art Education from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and was an elementary school teacher where she grew up, in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. She currently lives in Rothesay, New Brunswick and spends much of her time teaching, drawing, painting, and looking for shells at the seashore.
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A Breed Apart
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95This is the best-selling story of Nova Scotia’s famous tolling dog. The legends and stories of the old tolling men and their dogs of Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, is part fact and part fiction. Here, at last, is the full story of the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever and the men and women who bred them, trained them and brought them to prominence.
The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever is Canada’s first and only true Canadian bred dog. For almost two hundred years the dog was unknown outside of southwestern Nova Scotia. The dog’s particular hunting technique – tolling – was first recorded in North America by Nicholas Denys and became part of the folklore of the Maritimes. Straight out of “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” is the dog’s astonishing ability to lure waterfowl.
This powerful and mesmerizing effect in drawing waterfowl toward the shore is just one of the many intriguing secrets associated with this amazing canine. Gail MacMillan became enthralled with Tollers many years ago and became determined to unlock the dog’s engaging past.
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Hatchling’s Journey
Artist: Jeffrey DommPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$10.95In 1953 Nova Scotia zoologist Sherman Bleakney made a surprising discovery. He found a female Blanding’s turtle living near Kejimkujik Lake. Until then, scientists did not know that the freshwater Blanding’s turtles lived in Nova Scotia. In 1990, this small population of Blanding’s turtles in southwestern Nova Scotia became a protected species and three years later was designated a threatened species.
Set in Nova Scotia’s Kejimkujik National Park, this remarkable story is about a young Mi’kmaw girl and her family’s encounter with a Blanding’s turtle hatchling. Richly illustrated by the award-winning artist Jeffery C. Domm, The Hatchling’s Journey provides us with first-hand experience observing the turtle hatchlings emerging from their nests and their fascinating journey into the Kejimkujik woods for winter. Nominated for a 2005 Hackmatack Award. -
Row Bot
Publisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.$14.95It is not every day you meet a rowboat-rowing Row Bot (say that three times fast), but here he is. The word play is simply magnificent and the book is pure fun. You’ll find yourself reading it aloud over and over and over again. Written for kids 4-6 years-old, this book is original in every sense of the word. If your child might like to meet a genial Row Bot, come on along for the ride.
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Princess Grace and the Jellyfish
Publisher: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.$9.95Anybody familiar with the annual arrival of jellyfish on the beaches of the East Coast knows of the fear it can strike in young children. In this heartwarming story – written from a grandmother’s (Moseley) perspective – we watch as young Grace transforms into Princess Grace, becoming friends with the pink jellyfish as she realizes they do not sting parts of the body without any hair, like the palm of your hand. Instead of something to be feared, the pink jellyfish are beautiful creatures to be admired for their shape and colour.
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A Calf for Olive
Publisher: Chocolate River Publishing$10.95Olive is devastated when she overhears a kid at school making fun of her for wanting to raise a calf for the 4-H calf competition. They think she can’t possibly do it because she has cerebral palsy. But, with the love and support from her family and friends, Olive develops a strong bond with a Jersey calf and draws on her problem-solving skills to get her calf ready for the fall competition.
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Disaster at the Highland Games
Artist: Nathasha PilottePublisher: Chocolate River Publishing$15.95Kate doesn’t think she needs to practice her Highland dancing to get ready for the Highland Games. Practicing at home isn’t as much fun as dancing in class. She’s good enough already, and everything will be fine. Or will it?
This high-energy picture book by author and Highland dance teacher Riel Nason showcases Highland dancing and the Highland Games culture and is brought to life by the whimsical illustrations of Nathasha Pilotte.
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Hold This
Artist: Priscilla AlpaughPublisher: Islandport Press$15.95Join Mika and her father on a walk through the woods to experience the sights, sounds, smells, and feel of the woods, and to unearth a true treasure.
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The Little Fisherman
Artist: Dahlov IpcarPublisher: Islandport Press$13.95Margaret Wise Brown’s The Little Fisherman, a delightful story of a big fisherman and a little fisherman working at sea, is now condensed into a Board Book format.
