Canada Books

I knew nothing about Niagara Falls before our visit, I purchased this book for my two kids. I learned so much from the ilustrations and the text that it was neat to see the places when we went to the falls. I am glad we read this book over and over again before and during our trip.

My kids really liked the characters in the book.

What an educational book! We purchased a couple of books on Niagara Falls before visiting them and really enjoyed the book. This one was by far the most informative and thorough kid¢s book of the books we read on the falls. I hope anyone planning on a visit to the falls, reads this book!



Kim

A proud mother

New Jersey

I became aware of this book by seeing Jack Perkins interviewed on Maine Public Television about it. It was a wonderful interview and he read some of his poems and explained how the book came to be. It has always been a secret hope of mine that I might bump into Jack some place in Maine, but it has not happened yet. The next best thing is to own his book, and then he can talk to you and share his vision of this unique area of our lovely state. His talent is not limited to his high profile experiences in television journalisim for NBC. He is an accomplished photographer and poet and he has a wonderful heart.

Poetry has gone out of fashion in our obsession with things that take no work and require no thought. Recently my wife and I hosted a dinner in Washington at which Jack spoke. He read from and commented on his poems. For an old broadcast journalist to attempt something like this before an audience of other, mostly cynical journalists was very brave, indeed. But Jack brought it off in a way that had people listening respectfully and then responding enthusiastically. Many promised to immediately purchase their own copies. Whatever relationship you may or may not have with Maine, "Acadia" will do something for your heart that few other contemporary books can do. I highly recommend it as a gift, or for your own consumption and enjoyment. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

The Afterlife Of Trees is a selection of Brian Bartlett's memorable, free-verse poems that carry both the pedantic nuance of events of everyday life, and a personal respect for the majesty and grace of the soul that trees, birds, and nature have given to humankind. The Afterlife Of Trees is recommended as an insightful body of work reflecting communion with nature amid a culture choked with the clutter of material things. "To a red-eyed vireo: Minimalist of the tree tops / more than a scrap of dawn chorus, all day / you ask and answer one question / in two-to-four-note phrases, you're drawl's inflections / reversing, a rise giving way to a fall, a fall / to a rise / ask, answer / ask answer / Is it fair to say you sound like a lecturer who won't / move on to the next point, / or some weary barker / slowly going mad with the monotony of selling?"

The Afterlife Of Trees is a selection of Brian Bartlett's memorable, free-verse poems that carry both the pedantic nuance of events of everyday life, and a personal respect for the majesty and grace of the soul that trees, birds, and nature have given to humankind. The Afterlife Of Trees is recommended as an insightful body of work reflecting communion with nature amid a culture choked with the clutter of material things. "To a red-eyed vireo: Minimalist of the tree tops / more than a scrap of dawn chorus, all day / you ask and answer one question / in two-to-four-note phrases, you're drawl's inflections / reversing, a rise giving way to a fall, a fall / to a rise / ask, answer / ask answer / Is it fair to say you sound like a lecturer who won't / move on to the next point, / or some weary barker / slowly going mad with the monotony of selling?"

Este pequeño libro, que el doctor Arsenio Rey Tejerina, Profesor de la Universidad de Alaska Anchorage, acaba de publicar sobre la herencia cultural hispánica de nuestro estado, se lee con mucho gusto y en poco tiempo. El libro recuenta cómo llegaron a estas latitudes los primeros hispanos procedentes de México. Hace poco más de doscientos años un puñado de valerosos y esforzados navegantes al mando del capitán Juan Pérez, amigo y paisano del célebre Fray Junípero Serra, el gran apóstol de California, arribó a las costas sureñas de nuestro estado. Los hombres que le acompañaban provenían en su mayoría de los ranchos de Jalisco alrededor de Guadalajara. Eran hombres de tierra caliente, como los llamó Michael Thurman, un historiador norteamericano, que trató de este viaje hace ya 30 años. Después de varias frustrantes exploraciones que les llevaron hasta la actual Bahía de Bristol, el reino del salmón más codiciado del globo, en busca de posibles establecimientos rusos, el explorador José Martínez Sierra convenció a las autoridades virreinales sobre la construcción de una fortaleza en la isla de Nutka (Nootka), sita en la costa norte-occidental de la Isla de Vancouver sobre el paralelo 45. La fortaleza de San Miguel, erizada de potentes cañones, defendió por varios años desde 1789 los derechos hispánicos en el Noroeste del Pacífico.
Dentro de Alaska la actual Forrester Island fue nombrada Isla de Santa Cristina, mi santa patrona, y el cabo marítimo, que hoy día lleva el nombre de Muzón trastocado de Muñoz por el navegante inglés George Vancouver años después, fue llamado Punta de Santa Margarita.
Los indígenas se acercaron temerosos a la costa para observar la pequeña nave que a ellos les pareció un ave gigantesca que se venía sobre el litoral. Al principio estaban asustados pues creían que las personas que vieron dentro eran las almas de sus muertos que venían a reconvenirles por haberse olvidado de ellos, pero luego al acercarse más y más vieron que eran unos hombres desconocidos y hablando una lengua extraña. Esa lengua extraña es la que ahorita estamos escuchando por estas ondas. Así que el español es la primera lengua que se escuchó aquí en Alaska después de la de los indígenas. Antes que la de los rusos, a quienes, aunque habían llegado 33 años antes a la isla Kayak, nadie pudo escuchar pues no había ninguna gente en aquel inhóspito lugar.
Los hispanos se hicieron muy pronto amigos de los nativos pues les dejaron subir a su barco y les hicieron regalos de lo que traían, dándoles pan que por cierto no les gustó nada. Los indios les regalaron pescado fresco y salmón curado que gustó mucho a los hombres de México. Tan amigos se hicieron unos de otros que algunos jóvenes indígenas se fueron con los exploradores a Jalisco. Iban con la idea de aprender español para, al volver, servir de intérpretes. La historia no cuenta qué pasó con estos jovencitos, tal vez se quedaron en Jalisco por haberles gustado el ambiente y el clima, mucho más cálido y menos lluvioso que el de sus costas de Ketchican. El libro puede obtenerse por un precio módico llamando a la oficina de Lenguas en la Universidad de Alaska y si alguno está interesado en hojearlo simplemente puede verlo en la biblioteca pública de Loussac que lo ha recibido como regalo. Alaska-Nutka: Colofón del imperio español, que es el título del libro, relata brevemente la historia del primer viaje y se extiende en presentar con detalle la controversia de Nutka iniciada por los ingleses. Esta desgraciada controversia tuvo por conclusión detener el avance de los hispanos en el Noroeste Pacífico. San Lorenzo de Nutka, situado en la costa occidental de la isla de Vancouver, era el bastión de avanzadilla elevado por el virrey Conde de Revillagigedo para controlar y vigilar estos inmensos territorios hispánicos al norte de las Californias. Los gobiernos de Madrid y Londres firmaron un tratado por el que se decidía el desmantelamiento del fuerte de San Miguel, situado en Nutka. A mediados de 1795 se arriaron las banderas española y británica y se destruyó la fortaleza llevándose sus cañones al castillo de San Blas en el estado de Nayarit. Este acto dio luz verde a los rusos que poco a poco fueron extendiéndose desde la isla de Kodiak a Prince William Sound, Yakutat y Sitka, llegando hasta las mismas puertas de San Francisco donde establecieron su Fort Ross, (Fuerte Ruso).

Resumen de una corta charla

presentada en la Estación KRUA-FM

de la Universidad de Alaska Anchorage.

Cristina Calloni.

Este pequeño libro, que el doctor Arsenio Rey Tejerina, Profesor de la Universidad de Alaska Anchorage, acaba de publicar sobre la herencia cultural hispánica de nuestro estado, se lee con mucho gusto y en poco tiempo. El libro recuenta cómo llegaron a estas latitudes los primeros hispanos procedentes de México. Hace poco más de doscientos años un puñado de valerosos y esforzados navegantes al mando del capitán Juan Pérez, amigo y paisano del célebre Fray Junípero Serra, el gran apóstol de California, arribó a las costas sureñas de nuestro estado. Los hombres que le acompañaban provenían en su mayoría de los ranchos de Jalisco alrededor de Guadalajara. Eran hombres de tierra caliente, como los llamó Michael Thurman, un historiador norteamericano, que trató de este viaje hace ya 30 años. Después de varias frustrantes exploraciones que les llevaron hasta la actual Bahía de Bristol, el reino del salmón más codiciado del globo, en busca de posibles establecimientos rusos, el explorador José Martínez Sierra convenció a las autoridades virreinales sobre la construcción de una fortaleza en la isla de Nutka (Nootka), sita en la costa norte-occidental de la Isla de Vancouver sobre el paralelo 45. La fortaleza de San Miguel, erizada de potentes cañones, defendió por varios años desde 1789 los derechos hispánicos en el Noroeste del Pacífico.
Dentro de Alaska la actual Forrester Island fue nombrada Isla de Santa Cristina, mi santa patrona, y el cabo marítimo, que hoy día lleva el nombre de Muzón trastocado de Muñoz por el navegante inglés George Vancouver años después, fue llamado Punta de Santa Margarita.
Los indígenas se acercaron temerosos a la costa para observar la pequeña nave que a ellos les pareció un ave gigantesca que se venía sobre el litoral. Al principio estaban asustados pues creían que las personas que vieron dentro eran las almas de sus muertos que venían a reconvenirles por haberse olvidado de ellos, pero luego al acercarse más y más vieron que eran unos hombres desconocidos y hablando una lengua extraña. Esa lengua extraña es la que ahorita estamos escuchando por estas ondas. Así que el español es la primera lengua que se escuchó aquí en Alaska después de la de los indígenas. Antes que la de los rusos, a quienes, aunque habían llegado 33 años antes a la isla Kayak, nadie pudo escuchar pues no había ninguna gente en aquel inhóspito lugar.
Los hispanos se hicieron muy pronto amigos de los nativos pues les dejaron subir a su barco y les hicieron regalos de lo que traían, dándoles pan que por cierto no les gustó nada. Los indios les regalaron pescado fresco y salmón curado que gustó mucho a los hombres de México. Tan amigos se hicieron unos de otros que algunos jóvenes indígenas se fueron con los exploradores a Jalisco. Iban con la idea de aprender español para, al volver, servir de intérpretes. La historia no cuenta qué pasó con estos jovencitos, tal vez se quedaron en Jalisco por haberles gustado el ambiente y el clima, mucho más cálido y menos lluvioso que el de sus costas de Ketchican. El libro puede obtenerse por un precio módico llamando a la oficina de Lenguas en la Universidad de Alaska y si alguno está interesado en hojearlo simplemente puede verlo en la biblioteca pública de Loussac que lo ha recibido como regalo. Alaska-Nutka: Colofón del imperio español, que es el título del libro, relata brevemente la historia del primer viaje y se extiende en presentar con detalle la controversia de Nutka iniciada por los ingleses. Esta desgraciada controversia tuvo por conclusión detener el avance de los hispanos en el Noroeste Pacífico. San Lorenzo de Nutka, situado en la costa occidental de la isla de Vancouver, era el bastión de avanzadilla elevado por el virrey Conde de Revillagigedo para controlar y vigilar estos inmensos territorios hispánicos al norte de las Californias. Los gobiernos de Madrid y Londres firmaron un tratado por el que se decidía el desmantelamiento del fuerte de San Miguel, situado en Nutka. A mediados de 1795 se arriaron las banderas española y británica y se destruyó la fortaleza llevándose sus cañones al castillo de San Blas en el estado de Nayarit. Este acto dio luz verde a los rusos que poco a poco fueron extendiéndose desde la isla de Kodiak a Prince William Sound, Yakutat y Sitka, llegando hasta las mismas puertas de San Francisco donde establecieron su Fort Ross, (Fuerte Ruso).

Resumen de una corta charla

presentada en la Estación KRUA-FM

de la Universidad de Alaska Anchorage.

Cristina Calloni.

"All Heart" is not only the title of this book, but also an apt description of Michael Clemons. The book is written by Michael himself and he handles himself in this book with the same grace and dignity with which he plays football and lives his life. Clemons is a player who always speaks well of others and those who know him only from media interviews might expect this to be a sugar-coated book. Not so. Michael speaks honestly about the people and issues he has encountered in football. How can this man be so happy all the time? Read the book and you'll know his secret!

All Heart, the new book from Michael Clemons, gives us an insight into one of the finest athletes and human beings on the Canadian sporting scene. Pinball shows us again what a wonderful guy he really is. The antithesis of the modern pro athlete, he combines talent, humanity, humour, and class. All Heart is a journey through the professional and personal growth of an all-time Argonaut. You''ll see why this man is always smiling !!

Young Hélène St. Onge and her older sister Catherine are orphans. When King Louis XVI orders all men in New France to marry, Catherine becomes a fille du roi, one of the many young women sent to the new world as brides. Hélène will accompany her on the long sea voyage and live with her sister’s new family. But Catherine dies during the gruelling journey, and Hélène finds herself alone in strange new country. New France is a far harsher place than she imagined, with bitter winters and the threat of attack from the Iroquois. Will the new friendships she has made on her long voyage enable her to survive?

This book is one of the Dear Canada series, which are historical novels, written in diary format, about fictional girls during different periods of Canadian history.

After their father dies of smallpox in the winter of 1666, thirteen-year-old Helene St. Onge and her older sister, sixteen-year-old Catherine, are left all alone in the world, their mother having died when Helene was a baby. Catherine decides they will leave France to make a new life in the New World. New France is mostly populated by men, and women are needed for their wives. Catherine will marry a settler, and Helene will help in her household until she is old enough to marry. But things do not go as planned. Catherine dies during the long sea voyage, and Helene finds herself arriving in New France, all alone in a strange new land. Can Helene build a new life for herself in this new world?

I really enjoyed this book in the Dear Canada series. I love reading about colonial times, so I really enjoyed the setting of Montreal in 1666. Helene was an appealing narrator and I loved reading her "diary" of all that happened to her. I would definitely recommend this book to readers who enjoyed other books in this series, or who like other historical diary fiction series, such as Dear America and the Royal Diaries.

While being a history, the book is even more vividly an account of what current and recent past concertmasters have to say about playing as, and also auditioning to be, concertmaster. The interview with David Kim gives a bow-by-bow account of his own preparation for the Chicago Symphony audition. (He is concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra, but his Chicago experience led him to it.)

Other valuable aspects are the many descriptions by the concertmasters of lesser known but worthwhile solo violin repertoire and new composers to watch; accounts of which conductors led which orchestras and what it is like to play under them; and of course who was concertmaster when. The astute notetaker can compile a valuable annotated repertory list and a great list for choosing CDs based on comparing the sounds different conductors get from essentially the same orchestra, how orchestras differ with the same conductor, and comparing concertmasters.

I enthusiastically recommend this book!

While this is a much needed look at American concertmasters over the years, it also serves as a fascinating and highly readable history of virtually every major orchestra in North America. Along the way we're treated to extensive profiles of Boston's Joseph Silverstein, Cleveland's Rafael Druian and William Preucil, Detroit's Emmanuelle Boisvert, New York's Glenn Dicterow and many others.

Deserves a place in every music lover's library.

Starting wth a series of prescendent setting satanic sexual abuse trials Kendrick takes readers through a mindbending journey into the psyche of western consciousness at the end of the decade. He writes in an engaging, humane way about a subject which is frequently illuminated but rarely revealed in its wider dimensions. A must read..

Starting wth a series of prescendent setting satanic sexual abuse trials Kendrick takes readers through a mindbending journey into the psyche of western consciousness at the end of the decade. He writes in an engaging, humane way about a subject which is frequently illuminated but rarely revealed in its wider dimensions. A must read..

Any literature or history aficionado would enjoy this book. I have recently gotten interested in this area of the world and have just finished a historical fiction novel called The Tenderness of Wolves and a movie entitled Snow Walker that opened my eyes to this frozen area of the world and its inhabitants. The author has completed a tremendous amount of research into Mr. Hearn's life and adventures, but the anecdotes he tells make it come alive. I forgot to cook supper tonight because I was so engrossed!

Exploration stories often focus on the tropics. David Livingstone, Albert Russel Wallace, Richard Burton and others are readily recalled. The polar quests of Amundsen, Cook, Peary and Byrd probably follow in popularity. The upper latitudes seem almost overlooked. With little land mass approaching Antarctica and its pole, Canada and Russia are left for investigation by the enquiring mind. Having offered the life of one such wanderer in John Rae, McGoogan now reaches further back in time and place to reveal the life of Samuel Hearne. It's a fine study of a dedicated man.

McGoogan's lively narrative traces Hearne's Royal Navy career, then follows him to the Hudson's Bay Company [HBC] station of Prince of Wales Fort. With the Canadian Arctic still a terra incognita, various quests were under consideration - the Northwest Passage and/or an inland sea leading to Asia being prime contenders. A more specific ambition arose with indications of a vast copper resource near the Arctic Sea. Hearne pursued this rumour by trekking across the Canadian tundra to find it. Various interludes occurred along the way.

Hearne's expeditions to the Arctic seem pre-ordained to failure. Having but a hazy notion of what confronted him wasn't a hindrance. Bureaucracy proved the more serious impediment. The British attitude toward indigenous peoples compounded faulty notions of requirements for such a trip. With no idea of how Native Peoples? societies were structured, British HBC agents blundered into one crisis after another. In today's world, for a man to suggest that women must accompany the expedition to perform specialised tasks would bring down the wrath of the Human Rights Commission. In the 18th Century rise of the HBC in Canada women performed essential roles. No Native Peoples? women meant no Native Peoples? men. No men, no expedition. McGoogan explains all these circumstances without apology or condemnation. It's a professional historian's approach, worthy of full praise.

The other aspect of British imperialism's shortsighted view is the relationships among Canada's Native Peoples. Hearne and others would counsel peace to those who had been warring when the British still painted themselves blue. These animosities were not easily quelled and might break out without warning nor discernible reason. Hearne was confronted with this near the mouth of the Coppermine River. McGoogan, relying on Hearne's own account, describes the massacre of an Inuit settlement leading to the naming of "Bloody Falls". The event remained fixed in Hearne's memory for the remainder of his life.

Hearne, seeking an ephemeral copper lode, traversed immense stretches of the Canadian North. With various teams, but particularly relying on a Dene negotiator, Matonabbee, Hearne viewed the Arctic Ocean, the first European to reach it overland. The copper wasn't there, nor, in Hearne's opinion, was there any possibility of a Northwest Passage. He saw the Great Slave Lake, but when he later reported on his journey, skeptics were confounded by how far west it lay. Canada's vastness overwhelmed chair-bounded geographers. Hearne wasn't simply seeking mineral wealth. He recorded copious observations on plant and animal life in the region, as well as collecting information on the native peoples. More than just an adventurer, Hearne is credited by McGoogan as being one of earliest naturalists.

Hearne's return to England was less than satisfactory. An account of his travels netted him not a penny - he died before publication. One event, a likely meeting with Coleridge at a boy's school, may have led Hearne to become the source of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. While the notion is McGoogan's speculative idea, it's plausible enough to be valid. It certainly provided a good, if unexpected, title for the life of an Arctic explorer. McGoogan presents that life vividly, with only minor, forgiveable, embellishments. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

This book by Ken McGoogan recalls Peter C. Newman's fascinating books about the Hudson's Bay Company: Caesars of the Wilderness and The Company Adventurers. I think that schoolchildren should be reading these books rather than dry old history tomes. And, if all you have read are these history textbooks, then I suggest you give yourself a chance to revisit these amazing explorers. The story of Samuel Hearne is magnificently told by Ken McGoogan and it will have you thirsting for more stories of the amazing men and women (yes, women!) who lived, fought, loved in a cruel land. It was a book I could not put down.

"Puff, puff, chugga, chugga" is the US edition of "The Animal Train", They are the same book. It really is a great book with beautiful illustrations, my 2 yr old loves it.

I discovered this book in the library when my son was two. He loved it so much and we read it so often that I went ahead and bought it (he was heart-broken when we had to return it to the library). This book is beautifully and humorously illustrated and very cleverly but simply written. A satisfying book for both child and adult and one I never tire of!!!! Which is, perhaps, the highest praise. I want to order all of Wormell's books,having now discovered his genius.