-
Fixing up the Farmhouse Forty Years of Living, Loving and Lamenting
Publisher: Acorn Press$19.95When Dianne Morrow and her husband, Andy, first saw the ramshackle old farmhouse, they fell in love. What they didn’t see was the years of work it would take to make the old house a home. Morrow describes, through essays, journal entries and poetry, the triumphs and the challenges of rebuilding a cozy farmhouse – and nurturing a growing brood of kids and animals. Often humourous, sometimes sad, this is the story of building a home, and a life under the Lindens.
-
Georges Island The Keep of Halifax Harbour
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$29.95Georges Island has long stood guard in Halifax Harbour. Used in the seventeenth century as a place to dry fish by a nearby Acadian/Mi’kmaq village, the island came under control of the British with the founding of Halifax in 1749. The first wooden battery, established in 1750 and rebuilt as a stone fortress in the 1790s, was continuously modernized and manned by both British and Canadian soldiers right up until the Second World War.
The historical tour describes the fascinating evolution of Georges Island, from the site of the town’s first gaol and quarantine station, to a detention centre from which Acadians awaited their fate. Further chapters describe the features that bring the island to life, such as secret tunnels, ghosts, and the lighthouse that still guides ships to port. Includes over 150 photos, paintings, maps, and contemporary letters.
-
Le trésor de Memramcook
Artist: Maurice CormierPublisher: Bouton d'or Acadie$14.95It isn’t easy being the new kid in a seemingly quiet village where everyone shares familiar ties. The school principal insists Marie the grumbler, from Quebec, work with Mathieu Landry, the teaser. Marie resists all she can, but finally, between the wind, Mathieu’s persistence and his grandfather’s insistence there is a treasure to be found in the Memramcook valley, Marie discovers the story about the Acadian Renaissance. And a treasure to boot!
-
Scars and Other Stories
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$19.95“The scar didn’t use to show,” says Daniel, the narrator of the title story. But scars have a way of manifesting themselves, visually or otherwise, and the stories in this collection illustrate a varied compendium of characters marked in some way by their injuries.
Having lost a breast to cancer, a young woman visits a psychic seeking answers to the questions in her life. A bullied boy finds solace in the arrival of another unfortunate who has attracted the attention of his tormentors. A divorced father attempts to shield his young daughter from the trauma of tragedy. An eight-year-old boy witnesses death for the first time, a massage therapist is unnerved by the discovery he makes about a new client, and a young widow flounders in her struggle to cope with the loss of her husband. These and other characters come to vivid life in stories told with the sensitivity and skill that have earned the author continued critical praise.
-
Halifax Street Railway 1866-1949
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95The Halifax Street Railway is a photographic history of Halifax’s oft-forgotten transportation system. The book features over one hundred historical photographs documenting technological changes to the street railway system over its eighty-three-year history. The Halifax Street Railway will appeal to history buffs and all those who remember the city’s early transit systems.
-
Selina
Artist: Gisele LeBlancPublisher: Cape Breton University Press$11.95This book follows one fish as she develops from a tiny pink egg into a full-grown salmon. Selina explores the place she was born so it is imprinted in her brain so she can return to the same river tributary to lay her eggs. She has a narrow escape from becoming food for other, larger fish, birds, eels and even humans. Don Downer is chair of the Aquatic Centre for Research and Education, is involved with the Fish Friends school program, sponsored by the Atlantic Salmon Federation, and does contract work relating to salmon for Fisheries and Oceans.
-
Schnider’s World
Artist: Gisele LeBlancPublisher: Cape Breton University Press$11.95Our Story Follows the life cycle of Schnider, a harp seal, from his birth on the ice floes off the northeast coast of Newfoundland.
Through Schnider’s eyes young readers learn about his weaning and maturing, the melting of the field of drift ice where he was born, his explorations, adventures and close calls in the search for food along the Newfoundland coast and, eventually, to the feeding grounds of Lancaster Sound and back again.
Schnider is joined by two other books about marine life: Selby the Lobster and Selina: An Atlantic Salmon, also by Don Downer and Gisele LeBlanc-Turner.
-
Selby
Artist: Gisele LeBlancPublisher: Cape Breton University Press$11.95In this story, biologist Downer takes a different approach from his two previous books (Selina: An Atlantic Salmon and Schnider’s World: A Harp Seal Story). Selby’s habitat and life cycle, are explored in perspective with the lobster fisherman who wants to catch him. Readers learn about the Atlantic lobster and about the people who struggle to make a living by harvesting them.
The story follows Selby’s life in Ragged Harbour, foraging for food avoiding predators, including Jake the lobster fisher, who really wants to catch Selby. A fierce storm destroys a lot of Jake’s fishing gear and brings about a change in the way he regards the sea and its many creatures –including Selby the Lobster.
-
Deer Island Mystery
Publisher: Chocolate River Publishing$11.95Jamie’s heritage project on Captain Nehemiah Butler quickly turns into a search for buried treasure, and he and his friends have to draw on their deductive, orientation, and science skills to find it. Tension mounts when an important clue goes missing at school. Will someone else beat them to the treasure? This mystery read for ages 9-12 is set on New Brunswick’s Deer Island.
-
Swissair Down
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$18.95Every disaster has its own cause and its own effects. Undoubtedly, the effects of the September 1998 crash of Swissair Flight 111 into the unforgiving waters off Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia—killing all 229 people on board—has had tremendous personal consequences. The purpose of this book, though, is to reach back to events leading up to the crash, in order to discover what caused the worst disaster in Canada’s aviation history: to find out why, in 16 terrifying minutes, a state-of-the-art jetliner lost all navigational aids; and why, when only minutes away from Halifax International Airport, it turned back out to sea.
There were no survivors of Swissair 111 to describe what happened and almost nothing larger than hand-sized pieces from which to reconstruct the accident. But author and pilot Don Ledger carefully re-creates what took place in the cockpit of the stricken airliner, describing each link in a disastrous chain of events. With clarity, depth, and respect for all those involved, Swissair Down takes us from the pilot’s first distress call to the moment—16 minutes later—when the aircraft hit the sea and exploded, from recovery efforts aboard local fishing boats to a high-tech military search, and from the shocking complacency of the airline industry to our future safety as passengers.
-
Maritime UFO Files
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Though UFOs have recently “landed” a significant place in pop culture, they have made their presence known in the Maritimes for decades. In fact, one of the earliest known sightings of a UFO was reported to Judge Simeon Perkins in Nova Scotia in 1796.Beginning with the 1950s, Maritime UFO Files Chronicles, decade-by-decade, dramatic and unusual sightings of a variety of mysterious, multi-shaped UFOs witnessed by pilots, ordinary citizens, and even RCMP officers. These first-hand accounts, based on actually military documents and RCMP reports, range from the observation of unexplainable lights in the sky, to claims of abduction. This book also devotes a chapter to the famous Shag Harbour Incident of 1967 –an event that remains one of the most documented accounts of a UFO crash in modern history.
-
Discover Nova Scotia Sportfishing
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95In this inspirational and informative book, Don MacLean guides anglers to where they will find the best of Nova Scotia’s sportfishing opportunities in any season of the year. The book will appeal to both residents and tourists as it outlines the sportfish species that are found in the province, how to fish them and where to find them through the seasons.
There are tales of Nova Scotia’s glorious fishing past, including celebrated ‘fly tyers’ and guides, tales of the rich and famous who have also fished our waters and tips on tackle and technique for fishing in lake, river, and sea. And as a fisheries biologist, MacLean also provides detailed information on the ecology and life history of the major fish species of the province. -
With These Hands Traditional Arts, Crafts, and Trades of Atlantic Canada
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$24.95In the age of big box stores and mass production, there are still artists and crafts people who make beautiful things by hand. Colourful quilts, hooked rugs, and stained glass. Resilient dories and snowshoes. Whimsical whirligigs. In this book, Don MacLean explores the traditional crafts of Atlantic Canada, visiting dozens of creators in their workshops, galleries, and homes, giving insight into their process and inspiration.
MacLean interviews Dora Gloade about Mi’kmaw bead- and leatherwork. He talks to Yvette Muise about preserving the Chéticamp hooked rug tradition. He speaks to a luthier and a jeweller. There is an irresistible allure to items that are carefully, lovingly, made by hand, whether they are carved from wood or painted on canvas, and MacLean’s book explores that. This book contains over two dozen photos.
-
Women at Sea in the Age of Sail
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many women experienced firsthand the perils and pleasures of life at sea. These venturesome women went to sea largely to be with their captain husbands and many proved themselves useful far beyond their roles as companions. Luckily for us, many of these seafaring women kept journals. Here, these women recount, in their own words, their impressions of the exotic places they visited, the homes they made and the children they raised afloat on the seas.
Donal Baird has published various articles and books on his passions, sailing and firefighting. -
Women at Sea in the Age of Sail
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many women experienced firsthand the perils and pleasures of life at sea. These venturesome women went to sea largely to be with their captain husbands and many proved themselves useful far beyond their roles as companions. Luckily for us, many of these seafaring women kept journals. Here, these women recount, in their own words, their impressions of the exotic places they visited, the homes they made and the children they raised afloat on the seas.
Donal Baird has published various articles and books on his passions, sailing and firefighting. -
Looking For Bootstraps Economic Development in the Maritimes
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$29.95In 2006, award-winning author Donald Savoie wrote a seminal book on economic development in the Maritimes: Visiting Grandchildren. His plans were “to exit the field with this book.” A decade later, he marks his return to that subject with Looking for Bootstraps. Concerned about the region’s future, he sought to explore and explain the reasons behind its lack of economic development. The result will spark a much-needed debate about the future of the Maritime provinces.
Drawing on his past involvement in regional development (senior policy advisor to former minister of DREE; involvement in establishment of ACOA) and on his earlier work, Savoie brings a fresh perspective to an age-old problem and ask the tough questions: Why has the Maritime region not developed as well as other Canadian regions, and what can we do about it?
-
Les mathémagiciens
Publisher: Bouton d'or Acadie$14.95Vacations have just begun, and already these four friends are bored. Professor Mathou steps in and with him they will discover the Golden Ratio, and a few exciting “magical” tricks with numbers. But best of all, they will be taken for a ride on the longest Moebius strip in North America. Numbers can sometimes be daunting, but nothing is more magical than solving problems using your brain.
-
Awesome Osprey: Fishing Birds of the World
Publisher: Mountain Press Publishing$12.00In this scientific yet light-hearted book, readers will become acquainted with ospreys and their life cycle, from courtship, nesting, and raising young to their yearly migrations. Lovely illustrations bring these birds and their aquatic world to life.
-
Along Lot Seven Shore
Publisher: Acorn Press$14.95Often, folksongs are left to stand alone, with no record as to the events, visions and principles that inspired them. Rarely do we get a glimpse of the poet’s view of the community and people he or she writes about. However, Donnie Doyle, in wanting to give something back to his community, has done just that. Along Lot Seven Shore is a fascinating combination of memoir, anecdote, narrative song and poetry, created by someone who has experienced that which he has written. In so doing, he shares glimpses of a way of life that makes and defines “community”; this particular community happens to be along Lot Seven Shore of Prince Edward Island (named so when the Island was divided into 67 lots and given in a Land Lottery to the English King’s patrons in 1767), but it could be anywhere in rural Canada.
-
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
-
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.
-
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.
-
Step Outside
Publisher: Acorn Press$19.95Doretta Groenendyk’s new book, Step Outside, promotes the valuable goal of relating to each other and the natural environment in a creative and enchanted way. Childhood obesity and the addiction to electronics is a growing concern that needs to be addressed. Step Outside is an artistic approach to inspire movement, to strengthen family bonds, to generate memories and celebrate the outdoors. It also visually enriches the readers repetoire with enticing, original, collaged, watercolour and acrylic creations within a moment of words. A beautiful combination of sport, art, poetry, nature and family, Step Outside, is sure to get you off your chair and enjoying the outdoors.
-
Hockey Morning Noon and Night
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Hockey Morning, Noon and Night is a warm, light-hearted story about one little boy’s love of the game. Based on her seven-year-old son’s real-life obsession with hockey, author Doretta Groenendyk has created a delightful book for young budding stars, with bright, colourful ink and acrylic illustrations..
-
I’m Drawing a Picture
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95I’m Drawing a Picture combines story and images to captivate and inspire young readers to harness their creative spirit. A collaboration between artwork and text, this whimsical book has a different inspirational idea on each page, with a scene that each “artist” imagines. The concept is based on Doretta Groenendyk’s experience working with children in schools and trying to inspire them to be creative in all forms of mediums of art. The text is geared to four- to ten-year-olds, and is an excellent teaching tool for aspiring writers. An ideal elementary teacher’s resource, the book’s characters span cultures, genders, and ages.
-
Love You More than Anything
Publisher: Acorn Press$19.95This colourful new picture book by Doretta Groenendyk is filled with whimsical images of love from many different backgrounds. It is about the expression of glee, surprise, intense emotion and delight. It is between friends and neighbors, children or seniors, women and family.
This book crosses cultures and generations, social change and tradition. It exudes warmth and playfulness, sharing whimsical images and sweet memory. The childlike, playful evaluation and understatement of “what is loved more” is immediately addictive.
Each colourful, whimsical page depicts a different “couple” enjoying the expressed scene together, two grandparents, two teenagers, a girl and her granny, two boys, a boy and a girl, two men, young girlfriends, a child and parent, persons of diverse race, religion, size….essentially love happening between anyone, anywhere. Love You More than Anything is a simple, beautiful book to remember love.
-
You Make Me Happy
Publisher: Acorn Press$16.95With Doretta Groenendyk’s whimsical illustrations and narrative style, Small Things Make Me Happy explores the joys of everyday wonders and important, intangible things. Whether we are big or little, there are always things that we truly love. Whether it be sitting by the fire, reading in the bath, or travelling at night, this book explores the importance of finding happiness in all around you.
-
-
-
-
-
Thank You for My Bed
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Doretta Groenendyk’s whimsical illustrations bring this lyrical bedtime story to life. Cuddle up for a cozy adventure as we see how children from all over the world snuggle up and say ‘Thank you for my bed”. Children will realize that although cultures may differ, we are all the same in that each night, we all go to bed. It was shortlisted for the 2012 Lillian Shepherd Award for Excellence in Illustration!
