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Owen’s Pirate Adventure
Artist: Shaun PattersonPublisher: Acorn Press$11.95Every kid wants to be a pirate, don’t they? Owen’s nighttime prayer to be a pirate attracts the attention of a crew who whisk him away on their magical flying ship. But the pirate’s life isn’t what he expected-especially when they are attacked by a rival vessel, a hungry sea monster before angering a storm cloud. Owen recruits his new monster friend to rescue him and return him home.
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Spin to Sea
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Every year at harvest, in a cosy cove on the south shore of Nova Scotia, families and neighbors gather by the water and send their carved pumpkins out into the bay. Spin to the Sea celebrates this enchanted, annual event through magical illustrations and lyrical text. Izra Fitch is 15 years old and lives in the Annapolis Valley with her parents, two brothers and their cats.Her first book, Spin to the Sea was created outside, in cafes and at the kitchen table. Izra loves to make art, stories and music. She also likes rainy weather, graphic novels, travelling, gorillas and chocolate. No pumpkins were harmed in the making of this book.
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Bully 101
Publisher: Acorn Press$18.95Bully 101 is an irreverant look at a familiar and ongoing issue. It explores both the temptations of bullying and the remarkable possibility of kindness. It is an excellent conversation starter for both families and schools, or anyone who hopes for peace. The illustrations are funky. The text rhymes and twists. Geared towards primary-grade 7 Bully 101 identifies ways in bullying occurs, (cyber, playground, bus,) the feelings that result (for both the bully and victim) and the simple notion that anyone can chose kindness instead. The book does not answer all questions surrounding bullying; it does not preach either. Rather, it will begin conversations on why we bully, or watch it happen and it presents the idea that everyone has the choice to not participate in it.
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Ten Thousand Truths
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95A moving story of losing family but finding a new one. Thirteen-year-old Rachel is bad news, or so her foster care worker tells her. She’s been shuttled from one rotten foster family to another ever since her mother and brother died in a car accident five years ago, and she’s running out of options. So when she gets caught shoplifting and is kicked out of her latest home, the only place left to send her is the last resort for kids like her: a farm in the middle of nowhere run by a disfigured recluse named Amelia Walton, whom Rachel nicknames “Warty” because of the strange lumps covering her face and neck. Rachel settles into life at the farm, losing herself in her daily chores and Amelia’s endless trivia, and trying to forget her past and the secret she’s holding inside. But when a letter arrives for her out of the blue, Rachel soon realizes that you can’t hide from your past-or your future.
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My Mother is Weird
Artist: Brenda JonesPublisher: Acorn Press$9.95A hilarious look at a child’s view of a mother’s bad day. Originally published in 1989 by Ragweed Press, this book is considered to be a P.E.I. classic. This unique view of mother’s “bad day” through the observant eyes of a child is a weird and wonderful story for parents and children. My mother is so weird. Some mornings, when she wakes up, she has horns on her head and long pointy teeth and claws. She speaks in a voice like a jackhammer. But after her morning coffee, Mom’s horns disappear, and her teeth and claws shrink back to normal. She speaks in a soft, smooth voice. But, one morning…we ran out of coffee…
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Ghost Boy of MacKenzie House
Publisher: Acorn Press$11.95Ten-year-old Chloe Sutton arrives on Prince Edward Island from her home in Ontario after the tragic loss of her parents in a car accident. Her Aunt Laverne (Larry) is a doctor and her only relative able to take her in. Chloe isn’t sure what to make of her aunt’s big old house on the red cliff overlooking the Northumberland Strait, or the skinny, red-haired and heavily freckled boy who wants to be her friend. Her first night in her new home, Chloe is tormented by the loss of her mother and father and hides in the dark to speak to them. When she does, she unknowingly invites the attention of a ghostly boy who inhabits the oldest part of the farmstead. Terrified but intrigued by the encounter, Chloe decides to uncover his history, setting her off on a set of adventures. When she does finally find the ghost boy’s secret, she realizes he has been blaming himself for years for the death of his brother, much like she has been blaming herself for surviving her parents. With the wrong made right, Chloe is finally let go of her own grief and accepted her new life.
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Dreamtime
Artist: Christina PattersonPublisher: Acorn Press$15.95The soothing rhythms and sounds of the words of this story will work their magic on children at bedtime. Written by award-winning author Deirdre Kessler and illustrated by the talented young artist Christina Patterson, this book evokes a quiet nighttime in Prince Edward Island-a perfect going-to-bed story. Dreamtimeis sure to be a classic of the 21st century.
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Chung Lee Loves Lobsters
Artist: Glen Craig, Perri CraigPublisher: Acorn Press$9.95Mr. Chung Lee is a retired restaurant cook who buys one lobster a month with his old age pension cheque, takes the lobster to the seashore, and releases it into the sea. This book, a PEI favourite, was originally published in 1992 by Annick Press, but it has since gone out-of-print. New illustrations and fresh text will make it a favourite for a new generation of Islanders. This story won the L. M. Montgomery Children’s Literature Award in 1990.
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Treasures to Find
Artist: Dale McNevinPublisher: Acorn Press$12.95Dale McNevin is a much beloved PEI illustrator who has illustrated numerous books including Crosby and Me, Everything That Shines, and Three Tall Trees. Her characters from The True Meaning of Crumbfest were immortalized by the City of Charlottetown in re-created large statues painted by artists around the city.
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Crosby and Me
Artist: Dale McNevinPublisher: Acorn Press$9.95I’m off to play hockeybut I’m starting to thinkdad’s dreams are the reasonwe go to the rink.He’s doing the drivingwith Mum at his side,our frisky dog Crosbycomes along for the ride.
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Snow for Christmas
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Mother of three young children, Doretta Groenendyk teaches art to young people, is active in her children’s school, and participates widely in the Nova Scotia artistic community, doing workshops around the province, including Word on the Street in Halifax. Based in Canning, NS, Doretta is the illustrator of Bounce and Beans and Burn, with text by Shannon Murray, which was shortlisted for the PEI Book Award in 2008, and I’m Writing a Story, her first book featuring her own stories and illustrations.
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I’m Writing a Story
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Mother of three young children, Doretta Groenendyk teaches art to young people, is active in her children’s school, and participates widely in the Nova Scotia artistic community, doing workshops around the province, including Word on the Street in Halifax. Based in Canning, NS, Doretta is the illustrator of Bounce and Beans and Burn, with text by Shannon Murray, which was shortlisted for the PEI Book Award in 2008
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Lookbook!
Publisher: Acorn Press$9.95Jordan McIntyre teaches part-time in the History Department at the University of Prince Edward Island. She researches Canadian museums, aboriginal history, and art history. She is currently working to develop a hands-on Children’s Museum on PEI and was inspired to write this series after many delightful and educational trips with her three young children.
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Butterflies in My Belly
Artist: Brenda WhitewayPublisher: Acorn Press$7.95Jackie MacKay is a therapist who counsels children in a play therapy setting. Butterflies in My Belly was inspired by her work with young children. Jackie works at The Children’s Centre, a division of the Catholic Family Services Bureau in Charlottetown. She has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Sir Wilfred Laurier University. Jackie lives in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, with her husband and two children.
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Bubba Begonia You’ve Done it Again!
Artist: Dale McNevinPublisher: Acorn Press$7.95Gerry O’Brien writes humourous chapter books, picture books, and lyrics for 7-12-year-olds. His lyrics have been sung by Corduroy Bear, Franklin The Turtle, and The Care Bears, and his stories, poems and plays have won numerous writing awards. He lives in Argyle Shore, Prince Edward Island. This is his third Bubba Begonia book.Illustrator Brenda Jones is a native of Prince Edward Island, and is a commercial designer and film animator who now lives in Montreal. She has illustrated a dozen books, including Bubba Begonia, You’ll be Sorry!, Bubba Begonia and the Mudmen of the Koola Boola, My Mother is Weird, Bud the Spud and Buddy the Blue-Nosed Reindeer.
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Bubba Begonia and the Mudmen of the Koola Boola
Artist: Dale McNevinPublisher: Acorn Press$7.95Bubba Begonia’s back! This time he and his two pals, Harold Haymow and Rad Chad Disco, learn the hard way that if you’re going to mess with the colourful and unpredictable Moonbaby Orbit, then you’d better be prepared to pay the price.After playing a wildly successful practical joke on Moonbaby and her sidekick, Margo Marvelous, the boys find themselves out in the middle of nowhere, drenched in stinky perfume and watching helplessly as Moonbaby and Margo run off with their clothes. The boys’ journey back to civilization is a zany adventure that ends when the boys, dressed in mud and rhubarb leaves, enlist the help of Hippo, The Black-Nosed Rottenweiler to invade Camp What-A-Girl to find their missing clothes.
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Bounce and Beans and Burn
Publisher: Acorn Press$7.95After breakfast Sam is so excited that he’s bouncing off the walls. His mother tells him to go out to the garden to play. At lunch he’s so full of beans that all he can get up to is mischief. His grandmother tells him to go out to the garden to play. After supper he has so much energy to burn that he can’t sit still. His father tells him to go out to the garden to play. Little do they know that when Sam does, he turns into a ferocious Samurai, goes on an adventure with Jack and the Beanstalk, and meets a fire-breathing dragon. Bounce & Beans & Burn follows Sam through an ordinary day of extraordinary adventure.
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Everything That Shines
Artist: Dale McNevinPublisher: Acorn Press$9.95This is a magical tale about a girl, Maddie, and her horse, Shekinah, and the bonds of family and friendship. It’s also about growing up and having those you love grow old and leave you, and about the magical light that shines in everything when you love something very, very much- even after they’re gone.
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Three Tall Trees
Artist: Dale McNevinPublisher: Acorn Press$7.95Narrated by Enigma the Crow, this charming picture book for children aged four to seven, is a delightful rhyming fable that tells the story of three tall trees. Living in close proximity in the woods, the ancient trees “bump and collide constantly.” Jacob claims that his roots are the deepest. Paul brags that his branches are wider, while Elijah Ali insists that his sap is the purest of all. There is “war in the forest” until Enigma observes a basic truth: the trees aren’t three trees at all. They’re part of the very same tree. With its gentle humour and heartfelt message about the connectedness of all living things, Three Tall Trees is certain to captivate young readers.
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Bubba Begonia, You’ll Be Sorry
Artist: Brenda JonesPublisher: Acorn Press$8.95Bubba Begonia is a young boy who desperately wants to make a good impression on the first day at his new school. But Bubba is nervous. Very nervous. And when he gets nervous his finger just seems to naturally head to his nose. “Bubba! Don’t be messin’ with your nose,” admonishes his mother. “Your finger’ll get stuck and then you’ll be sorry!”But Deerwatson Elementary isn’t your ordinary school. And Bubba’s classmates aren’t your ordinary students. In meeting the zaniest bunch of kids ever assembled, Bubba makes a memorable first impression when his mother’s words of warning come true.In his first chapter book (ages 8 and up), Gerry O’Brien creates an hilarious story of a young boy who overcomes an embarrassing personal habit with the help of his equally embarrassing little sister.
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Lullaby for New Brunswick
Artist: Chris BrownPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$9.95Sing your way around the province with this charming lullaby. Vibrant imaged and evocative language combine to celebrate the beauty and diversity of New Brunswick’s landscape.
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Jack and the Manger A Christmas Jack Tale
Artist: Darka ErdeljiPublisher: Running the Goat$14.95The Christmas story told with a folktale twist. This reverently irreverent story gives a whole new take on the birth of Jesus.
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Jack and Mary in the Land of Thieves
Artist: Darka ErdeljiPublisher: Running the Goat$14.95When her husband Jack is duped by an underhanded sea captain, Mary disguises herself as a man, ships aboard a vessel, and sets out to save Jack and restore their fortunes. An award-winning tale of love, treachery, perseverance, and cherry cake.
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The Ferryland Visitor
Artist: Gerald L. SquiresPublisher: Running the Goat$21.95When she moves into an abandoned lighthouse-keeper’s house with her family, Esther is excited by her new surroundings. One day the former constable comes to welcome her family to their new home. But just who is this mysterious man?
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Far Enough Island
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$8.95Sarah’s family has had a streak of bad luck. Her father is a fisherman and the fish have disappeared. Her mother is worried all the time. It seems that nothing is going right for her family. Sarah’s best friend is her dog, Jeremiah, who came into her life in the night in the middle of a horrendous storm. Sarah is concerned about her unhappy mother and her father — who doesn’t always make the right decisions. Here is a story about a young girl’s belief in herself, a family’s struggle to survive and the desire to hold onto hope even when all hope seems to be gone.
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The Other Author Arthur
Artist: Jill QuinnPublisher: Pottersfield Press$9.95With Sheree Fitch’s wonderful and unusual sense of humour, and her alluring way with words, here’s another chapter book for young readers about a mix-up that could happen anywhere.
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Famous at Last
Artist: Jill QuinnPublisher: Pottersfield Press$8.95Another chapter book for the younger set.Lavishly illustrated, a story about being and getting famous. A journey of discovery for everyone.
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Cassandra’s Driftwood
Artist: Terry RoscoePublisher: Pottersfield Press$7.95Set in a beautiful Nova Scotia village, this is the story of a girl and the things she fears. A perfect beginning chapter book for children aged 8-10. Written by the Ann Connor Brimer Award winner, Budge Wilson.