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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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Saint John Facts and Folklore
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$14.95Saint John Facts and Folklore is filled with anecdotes about the city’s history, unbelievable incidents, and local sayings that showcase the unique identity of Saint John. With a focus on the city’s long history and spirited citizens, David Goss leads readers through the rowdy port city and centre of the nineteenth century lumber trade. The book is scattered with facts and stats that surprise and teach. The latest addition to the Facts and Folklore series, this entertaining and informative book is perfect for those wanting an alternative guide to Saint John and its sights. Includes 20 black and white photos of Saint John past and present.
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Seasoned Recipes and Essays from The Spiceman, Costas Halavrezos
Artist: Joanna ClosePublisher: Nimbus Publishing$24.95Indulge in a uniquely crafted culinary history and recipe guide as Halifax’s resident “Spiceman,” Costas Halavrezos, blends genres as expertly as he does spices and leads an educational and sensory exploration. With 30 essays and 50 accompanying recipes, Seasoned demystifies domestic and familiar spices, like cloves, fennel, and paprika, and introduces readers to a whole new world of flavour, including Kaffir lime leaves, Moroccan rosebuds, and Isot Kurdish black pepper—and that’s just a taste!
Featuring facts and anecdotes, storage and preparation methods, and recipes from Halavrezos’s personal collection paired with delightful illustrations by Joanna Close, Seasoned is a fabulous resource for foodies, home-chefs, and aspiring spice connoisseurs.
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From Ben Loman to the Sea (HC)
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95This is one of two unique books that delight both children and adults, combining the work of folk artist Maud Lewis with the poetry of Lance Woolaver. Each volume contains a narrative that complements the paintings; one follows the mail sleigh as it delivers Christmas packages; in the second, the reader sees through the eyes of a young man as he leaves his home, countryside, and town to go to sea.
Both titles are treasures, the first books to celebrate the life and work of Maud Lewis, Nova Scotia’s most prominent folk artist. Now brought to readers in a new format that enhances the beauty of the art of Maud Lewis.
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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.
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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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Halifax Regional Municipality (new)
Photographer: Donna BarnettPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$29.95In 1880, the final Boundary lines of Halifax County were drawn –from Ecum Secum west to Hubbards, and Dutch Settlement south to the seacoast, including the provincial capital of Halifax. More Than a century later these boundaries still exist, but rather than a county, the more than two hundred communities in the area now constitute a municipality: Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). In 1996, a massive amalgamation created this Nova Scotia “super-city” -5,250 square kilometer of fishing villages, urban centres, beaches, forests and farms. Brought together in the name of efficiency and the maximization of resources, these vibrant and varied communities retain their individual charm, making HRM both a wonderfully diverse place to live and a popular place to visit. People come from near and far year-round to experience HRM’s unique blend of hospitality, tradition, and modern know-how. As the original sites of settlement and most populous areas, Halifax and Dartmouth figure prominently in the regions history, but long before county lines were drawn this was the lad of the Mi’Kmaq. Here they camped along the shores of the harbour, hunted the inland woods and paddled the waterways.
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Journeys Through Eastern Old-Growth Forests A narrative guide
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95Yes, there is old-growth forest in the Maritimes. The Acadian Forest, as it is known, is a complex mosaic of various species and ages. Now left only in pockets scattered here and there, these forests will stop you in your tracks, invite your gaze upward, and fill you with wonder. This book begins with a collection of stories about journeys into these old forests, and ends with detailed profiles of 16 of the remaining pockets of old-growth forest in the Maritimes: nine in Nova Scotia, three in New Brunswick, and four in Prince Edward Island. Each site description includes notes on what a visitor can expect to see, and a map and directions showing how to get there. Over 75 colour photographs highlight the incredible beauty and diversity of the region’s forests.
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New Brunswick: An Illustrated History
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95Originally the land of the Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, and Passamaquoddy, New Brunswick has a colourful and significant history. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the province was settled by marsh workers and farmers from northwestern France and thousands of Loyalist refugees from a newly independent United States. After a golden age of lumbering, shipbuilding, and overseas trade in the nineteenth century, its economy declined and adjustment to the new continental economy was slow and trying. In the 1960s, premier Louis Robichaud’s Equal Opportunity program granted French-speaking Acadians, long second-class citizens in the province, cultural recognition. Today, New Brunswick remains the only officially bilingual province in Canada.
A lively narrative drawn entirely from published sources, New Brunswick: An Illustrated History is for general readers interested in the development of the province. Over one hundred historical photographs document this changing province, from its beginnings to present day.
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Sinking Deeper Or, My Questionable(Possibly Heroic) Decision to Invent a Sea Monster
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95The tiny fishing community of Deeper Harbour is in serious trouble, and so is fourteen-year-old Roland MacTavish. His parents are separated, and his mother has just told him that she’s moving to Ottawa and taking him with her. She doesn’t think Deeper Harbour, with its closing school and dismal economic future, has anything to offer her and Roland anymore. But Roland disagrees. He loves his father, his weird friend Dulsie, and most of all, his wild, hilarious, unpredictable grandfather, Angus. So with the help of his friends, he does what any rational teenager would do: he invents a sea monster.
News of the monster spreads, until real live tourists start to turn off the new highway and visit Deeper Harbour, giving everyone hope that the town may actually be resuscitated. But before he can celebrate his successes, Roland faces a sadness that goes far beyond separated parents and new cities, and finally discovers that change, however frightening, is not the most painful thing in the world.
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Seashore Life of Eastern Canada A Guide to Identifying Intertidal Marine Species
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95A field guide to over 80 of the most common species—including shells, crabs, seaweed, anemones, sea stars, and urchins—found in the Eastern Canadian intertidal zone. Seashore Life of Eastern Canada provides plenty of information for beachcombers to use as they explore the ocean shore. Each writeup includes an introduction that defines the intertidal zone where the species can be found and provides information about its habitat and appearance. Easy-to-use symbols and detailed colour photographs make identification a breeze.
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Joy of Ginger 2nd edition
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95Slice, smash, chop, grate, and juice it: the addition of fresh ginger to any recipe is guaranteed to send your taste buds into overdrive. Long used in its powered form in Maritime kitchens, fresh ginger –for centuries valued as a preservative and digestive aid –transforms the ordinary into the exotic. And in these health-conscious times, it adds few calories and little fat but packs a powerful zing that will keep you coming back for more.
The Joy of Ginger, with over 150 tantalizing recipes, will have you using the gnarly rhizome in sauces and preserves, stir-frys and salads, and combining it with tofu, lentil, and noodles. Make mouth-watering appetizers like Smoked Salmon Ginger Butter Canapés, healthy and flavourful Ginger and Sweet Potato Soup, and a Real Ginger Beer. The added zip of ginger will have you once again relishing gingerbread, that classic comfort food, while your dinner guests will beg for Ginger Cheesecake, Truffled Ginger, Ginger Ice Cream and Apple, Ginger and Mint Sorbet. With this cookbook and a “hand” of ginger, the taste bud-tingling possibilities are endless!
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Forever Bluenose pb
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Nova Scotia has always needed Bluenose as a symbol of a culture of enterprise and self-sufficiency, and as a monument to the heroic and often tragic Grand Banks fishing past. And so it was with great fanfare that on a misty September Saturday in 2012, the “restored” new hull of Bluenose II inched safely and slowly into a friendly Lunenburg harbour. As the water rose over the massive rolling platform that carried her down, she gradually came afloat for the first time, fair on her lines, high and proud. Nova Scotia now has a virtually new Bluenose, fashioned as closely to the genetic code of Bluenose II as possible, just as Bluenose II replicated the original, everywhere except below decks. Forever Bluenose charts the storied history of Nova Scotia’s famous schooner—its fishing and racing days in the early twentieth century, its rebirth, first as a promoter of beer and later as a tourist attraction, as the Bluenose II, and its careful restoration in the twenty-first century. Includes over 50 photographs of the restoration process as well as the vessel’s commercial and racing heyday.
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Flight of the Griffons
Artist: Sydney SmithPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95In Flight of the Griffons, the sequel to The Dread Crew: Pirates of the Backwoods, we follow young Missy Bullseye as she ventures from her pirate crew’s adopted Nova Scotian home base to begin probationary work terms along the road to union-certified junking. From the deep northern woods of Ontario and Quebec to the great western prairies, Missy wanders far on a secret mission—one that turns her against her own.
While tracking and spying on a blacklisted crew, Missy encounters mechanical moths, an outlawed tilt-rotor airship, a mega-pipeline, and the unexpected sound of grassland drums. What she discovers along the way is that heroes can look like villains, crimes can look like profit, and heights aren’t so bad—as long as a true-hearted pirate is holding the rope. Includes 15 full-page illustrations from artist Sydney Smith.
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Duffy Stardom to Senate to Scandal
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$29.95Mike Duffy made his name as a political reporter, and in the process became one of Prince Edward Island’s most famous exports. He cast himself as the ultimate insider, Parliament Hill’s man in the know. It made him a household name and one of the Canada’s best-paid journalists. But Duffy wanted to get even closer and lobbied his way into the Canadian Senate, with dire results. Veteran journalist Dan Leger tells the story of Duffy’s rise to the top in Canadian media, his entanglement with the Harper Conservatives, and the scandal that made him one of the most controversial figures in contemporary politics. Includes a foreword by CBC’s Peter Mansbridge and an eight-page colour photo insert.
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Butterflies Don’t Lie
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$15.95Sixteen-year-old magazine quiz junkie Kelsey Sinclair wants to make this summer unforgettable by (hopefully) seducing her secret crush, Blaine Mulder. Armed with romance advice articles, Kelsey tackles true love with scientific precision, including getting a job at the seaside restaurant that overlooks the yacht club where Blaine teaches sailing.
However, visions of rendezvous on the beach are clouded when the new kitchen guy’s laid back attitude and smouldering stare quickly get under her skin. With his renegade demeanour and unpredictable stunts, Luke is the opposite to Blaine’s golden boy reputation. Determined to follow through with her original goal, Kelsey ignores her growing attraction to Luke, certain he’s not the guy for her. But when she finally manages to get Blaine’s attention, Kelsey worries the magazines are all wrong, and that sometimes the best matches are the ones you least expect.
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Girl on the Run
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95When seventeen-year-old track and field star Jesse Collins’s dreams of a full scholarship are shattered after the sudden death of her dad, she leaves home to work as a summer camp counsellor to escape the nosy stares in small town…and her own secret guilt. After a mix-up at registration, she’s put in charge of a boys’ cabin, and the head counsellor, Kirk, predicts she won’t last the first two weeks.
In the midst of fending off four twelve-year-old boys who are hell-bent on mortifying her and a growing attraction to Kirk, Jesse finds the inspiration to run again from an unlikely source. After all, a good pair of legs can take a girl far, but it’s facing the truth that makes all the difference.
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History of Nova Scotia in 50 Objects History of Nova Scotia Through Museum Artifacts
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$21.95Have you ever been to the LaHave Islands Marine Museum on Bell Island? How about the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre in Judique, or the Africville Museum in Halifax? Joan Dawson has. Armed with a spirit of adventure, curiosity, and the belief that “treasures can be found in unlikely places,” the author-historian has scoured Nova Scotia’s National Heritage Sites and community museums for the fifty objects that best “embody the history and culture” of the province.
Casting a wide net, from a pair of good-luck Nantucket Whaler shoes to a Mi-Carême seven-beast mask, Dawson unearths the many arcane and overlooked items whose stories collectively form Nova Scotia’s historical fabric. Entries are arranged in chronological order, from prehistory to present-day, and each one includes a photograph, description, and contextual history of the object. Written in an engaging, narrative style, A History of Nova Scotia in 50 Objects is both a fabulously unique approach to the province’s history and an interactive treasure hunt.
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A Short History of Halifax
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95Covering the most significant events in the storied history of the city, A Short History of Halifax is a fascinating, accessible record. In a readable, narrative style, author Dan Soucoup offers up a to-the-point history, taking readers from the geography of the harbour and the settlement of the city, through years of conflict between its various inhabitants—Mi’kmaq, British, Acadian.
Encompassing the entire history of the city, from 1749 to present, A Short History of Halifax is the perfect read for tourists seeking an historical overview of Halifax, and residents curious about the city they call home. Includes 30 black and white photos.
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Titanic Halifax (2nd edition) A Guide to Sites
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95Titanic Halifax presents the dramatic stories of those who didn’t survive the sinking, and details the efforts made from Halifax to gather and bury the dead. This guidebook includes accounts of the “Unknown Child” controversy, details on Halifax’s role in storing and maintaining Titanic artifacts, and the city’s participation in Titanic, the movie. This pocket guide includes maps and photographs of the city’s many Titanic sites. A perfect companion while discovering the places where Titanic’s ghosts roam. Updated edition with the latest findings and information.
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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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Wildflowers of the Maritimes A Guide to Identifying 150 of the Region’s Wild Plants
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$24.95Identification is the first major step towards a greater appreciation and understanding of our natural environment. Wildflowers of the Maritimes was written to meet the needs of hikers, students, amateur naturalists, resource professionals, or anyone looking for an affordable, compact, easy-to-follow guide to take with them into the field.
Discover the wide array of wildflowers in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island with detailed photographs, drawings, and profile descriptions that include information on a plant’s origins, leaves, flowers, fruits, frequency, habitat, and range. Naturalist Edmund Redfield profiles 150 species of wildflowers from 53 plant families in an organized and easily accessible way. Includes over 350 colour photographs and black and white illustrations.
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Look at Me Now !
Artist: Carmen MokPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$10.95Look At Me Now! is a celebration of the many developmental milestones of toddlerhood. The book follows an 18-month-old through his day as he proudly practices new skills, like getting dressed and walking up stairs. The bouncy text has a celebratory beat that reinforces a toddler’s confidence in his new accomplishments and the charming illustrations are filled with eye-catching details that will invite lively conversation between parent and child. Toddlers will want to hear this story over and over again!
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In the Company of Animals Stories of Extraordinary Encounters
Editor: Pam ChamberlainPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95Animals fascinate us humans, and we relate to them in a variety of ways. Whether we view them as companions, as workmates, as symbols, as totems, or as food, animals matter to us, and we want to tell their stories. In this collection, 38 writers from across Canada tell thought-provoking stories of extraordinary encounters with animals. From tributes to a favourite cat or dog to tales of a chance encounter with a moose or a cougar, the writers cover a wide range of encounters with a wide variety of animals—from rats and salamanders to wolves and bears. These writers are people who pay attention to animals, their natures and personalities and what they can teach us, and they ask us to pay attention too. In the Company of Animals features contributions from well-known Canadian authors including David Weale, Linda Olson, David Adams Richards, Richard Wagamese, and Farley Mowat, as well as many new and promising voices.
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The Finest Tree and other Christmas Stories from Atlantic Canada
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95Celebrate the holiday season with over twenty tales—true and make-believe—of Atlantic Canadian Christmases, past and present.
Edited by Dan Soucoup (A Short History of Halifax), The Finest Tree showcases memories, traditions, and stories from all four Atlantic provinces. PEI’s L. M. Montgomery brings Christmas to a group of train-bound strangers, while Gary L. Saunders turns to Christmastime to escape September writers’ block in Newfoundland; Beatrice MacNeil details her magical journey to Christmas Mass in Cape Breton, while in rural New Brunswick Michael O. Nowlan and his father take their annual trip to town. Featuring these stories of homespun Christmas tradition and cheer from Atlantic Canada’s finest authors, and plenty more, The Finest Tree will warm your heart on the coldest winter nights.
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Letters Home Maritimers and the Great War, 1914-1918
Editor: Ross HebbPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95With personal letters gathered from public archives and the relatives of those who fought in the First World War, historian Ross Hebb tells the story of Canadian soldiers, from recruitment to deployment to return, in their own words. Letters Home is a collection of the correspondences of 20 people shipped overseas from across the Maritimes, asking about their homes and farms, wondering at the girls in Britain, and leaving keepsakes and life advice for their children.
Organized chronologically, the letters describe crossing the Atlantic, training in England, the confusion and anticipation leading up to combat, and for some, the journey home. Includes 20 photographs of the letter writers, their families, postcards, and memorials.
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Le Quai 21
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95For years, Pier 21 in Halifax served as the front door to Canada, the entryway through which more than a million immigrants passed. The radical transition they experienced produced a rich group of stories, presented here in French for the first time. Le Quai 21: La porte d’entrée qui a changé le Canada captures the hope and trepidation of these strangers in a new land. Le Quai 21 is a moving account of the human drama that unfolded at this historic site. Includes over fifty images of staff, volunteers, soldiers, children, war brides, refugees, and immigrants who were a part of the Pier 21 story. New French edition.
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Andrew Cobb Architect and Artist
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$21.95Andrew Cobb (1876–1943) is synonymous with early twentieth-century architecture in Atlantic Canada. Founder of the Nova Scotia Architectural Association, Cobb designed some of the region’s most renowned landmarks, including Kings College in Halifax, Mount Allison University’s Memorial Library in New Brunswick, and the town site of the Newfoundland Power and Paper Company in Corner Brook. With many of his buildings still standing strong as they approach their centenary, the legacy of Andrew Cobb continues today. More than half a century after Cobb’s death, author Janet Kitz provides a detailed visual biography of the man behind the buildings. Features over 100 modern and archival photographs and forewords from Syd Dumaresq and Graeme F. Duffus.
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Animal Signatures (2nd edition)
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$9.95Animal Signatures is a handy field guide that teaches one how to recognize and interpret animal signs — the tracks, droppings and nibbled twigs that animals leave behind.
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The Charlottetown Conference And the Birth of Confederation
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$15.95In mid-June 1864, the Province of Canada (Ontario and Quebec) was experiencing what contemporaries call “political deadlock”: no political party could hold a majority in the Assembly. The past fifteen years had seen twelve different governments, and few important laws were passed. As a result, the “Great Coalition” was formed, seeking to turn the Canadas into a federal union. That September, delegates from the three Maritime provinces prepared to discuss their potential union in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. With the addition of delegates representing the Canadas, however, the conference became the catalyst for the formation of the Dominion of Canada.
The newest title in the Stories of Our Past series explores the political motives surrounding Confederation, with a focus on the pivotal role of the 1864 Charlottetown Conference. Highlighted with images, tables, and informative sidebars, The Charlottetown Conference is an accessible history of the birth of a nation.
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Smallest Rabbit (new edition)
Artist: Barb MartinPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$9.95Award-winning author Joyce Barkhouse has created a wonderful story beautifully illustrated by Barbara Martin. A charming story about Smallest Rabbit’s first winter.
