Halifax's Family Magazine
By Rita Joe / Rebecca Thomas Illustrated by Pauline Young Nimbus Publishing Ages 4–8 One of Rita Joe’s most influential poems, I Lost My Talk tells the revered Mi’kmaw elder’s childhood story of losing her language while living at the residential school in Shubenacadie. Joe’s powerful words explore and celebrate the survival of Mi’kmaw culture […]
By Cole Pauls Conundrum Press Ages 12+ Your kids have probably never read a graphic novel quite like this, nor one as deeply rooted in Indigenous culture and artistic tradition. Creator Cole Pauls is a Tahltan comic artist, illustrator, and printmaker from the Yukon. Driven by a desire to help revitalize the ancestral language of […]
By Natalie Corbett Sampson Nimbus PublishingAges 8-12 Today, young women who want to play hockey have countless role models. They can look to the many stars of Team Canada and their frequent international wins. In the 1970s, it wasn’t like that: there were few women’s hockey teams and the women who did play toiled in […]
By Nicole Bea Nevermore Press Ages 8–12 Author Nicole Bea is an accomplished novelist and short-story writer specializing in middle-grade fiction, and this novel may be her most ambitious (and poignant) yet. Thirteen-year-old Rion was riding his bike when a truckdriver hit him. Now, he’s stuck in Limbo—a cosmic void between heaven and “not-so-good heaven.” […]
By Irene Smit and Astrid Van Der Hulst Workman Publishing Want to stimulate young minds? Nurture a budding artiste? Fill the restless hours during a snow day? Easy projects, crafts, and activities galore abound in this book. Kids will make photo-booth props, create a DIY storybook, harvest a paper flower bouquet, and much more. The […]
By Shanda Cameron, Illustrations by Danielle Shreenan Self-published Ages 4–6 After a 20-year career as a veterinary technician, local author Shanda Cameron has a keen understanding of the charm of animals and why kids form such strong emotional attachments to them. In this heartwarming and deliciously silly frolic, she shares the story of a group […]
By Jan L. Coates Trap Door Books Ages 10–14 Most kids are born pretty literal-minded and eventually encounter the frustration of a world full of people who speak in metaphors, half-truths, white lies, allusions, and metaphors. “How nice,” they think, “it would be if I could just read minds.” When protagonist Jake MacKinnon’s wish comes […]
By Josée Bisaillon Nimbus Publishing Ages 4–8 An award-winning illustrator (best known for Leap!, The Snow Knows, and Bedtime 1, 2, 3), Josée Bisaillon both wrote and illustrated this big-hearted tale about a space-obsessed girl whose dreams of building a spaceship and rocketing off to explore the universe. As you’d expect from such an accomplished […]
Story by Lesley Choyce, art by Brenda Jones Nimbus Publishing Ages 4–8 The story about a young Sidney Crosby practising his shot in his family’s Cole Harbour basement, spending endless hours dinging pucks off a battered washing machine, is already local legend. You can even visit the city’s most famous Whirlpool, now a cherished artifact […]
By Dave Atkinson Nimbus Publishing Ages 10+ In the conclusion of his Hackmatack-award nominated Wereduck “thrillogy,” Atkinson picks up the story of young hero Kate, as she continues to search for a cure to her family’s ancient curse. This book is as gloriously strange as that summary suggests. Consider dialogue like: “I’ve just been doing […]