Vet Behind the Years
Publisher: Acorn Press$19.95Bud Ings was born in 1926 on Prince Edward Island and graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, ON. He practised in rural King’s County, was a Liberal member of the legislative assembly, and served as agriculture and health ministers. A long-time member of the Queens County Fiddlers, Bud lives in Montague.
Village that Loved Oysters
Artist: Meredith LucePublisher: Acorn Press$9.95The Village that Loves Oysters is a children’s picture book that describes the quaint PEI village of Tyne Valley, and its odd obsession with Malpeque oysters. As the story goes, “the villagers eat oysters for breakfast and dinner and lunch, and on hot summer days they drink oyster-laced punch!”. The villagers get even more oyster-crazed at the onset of the Tyne Valley Oyster Festival, for which the story is written to commemorate. It will be launched during the 50th anniversary of the Tyne Valley Oyster Festival this summer.
Waiting for Still Water
Publisher: Acorn Press$19.95These are the rules at foster mother Amelia’s farm–the rules that saved Rachel when she first came to stay at Walton Lake as a troubled girl. Now, after a horrifying crisis at work, Rachel has run back to the farm again.
But she doesn’t find the peace she’s hoping for. There are new fostered teens at the farm with their own demons, and the sprawling family she became a part of at Amelia’s farm seems to be full of heartbreak and worry.
There’s Crystal, grieving her twin sister. Jodie and Zac are struggling to bring a pregnancy to term. Kate is reeling from her mother’s abandonment.
And Amelia, stalwart and dependable and loving Amelia, their glue, has become worryingly forgetful.
A sweeping story of love and redemption, Waitng for Still Water will delight fans of Maeve Binchy and Lesley Crewe.
Welcome to Camp Fill-in-the-Blank
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Page’s perfectly organized life turns upside down when her parents send her to Prince Edward Island to babysit her cousins Crusoe and Danger (those are their real names) for the summer. The only problem is that her cousins feel that they are too old to have a babysitter—they would rather be at summer camp. Page realizes the solution to the problem is to give her cousins exactly what they want: summer camp in their own backyard. Despite Page’s meticulous efforts to plan a different theme for each week of Camp Fill-in-the-Blank, she quickly learns that life with her cousins rarely goes according to plan.
What If ? – Springvale
Publisher: Acorn Press$9.95Students of Valerie Dockendorff’s grade 5/6 at Springvale Elementary, Halifax, have written and illustrated a book to address a variety of world issues in a positive manner. We wish to raise awareness about problems faced by kids all over the world by imagining what it would be like if the problems didn’t exist! All messages and illustrations depict positive images that send a message of hope and provide concrete ways for readers to take action to celebrate and improve our world….word by word.
What if? From Worries to Wonder
Publisher: Acorn Press$22.95Anxiety. It’s tough. It’s tough for kids. It’s tough to parent. That deep-rooted fear of what might happen, the atmosphere of self-doubt, the attack of fear: What if something bad happens? What if I don’t know? What if they laugh? Or if i cry? But…what if something good happens? What if you laugh? And you make a friend?
What If? Is a humour-filled, edgy, tender picture book that portrays what it feels like to have anxiety and responds to it with the potential of whimsy and joy. Doretta Groenendyk’s new book What if? takes the young, worried child to journey through layered images of panic and into the delight of possibility.
What Really Happened is This A Poetry Memoir
Publisher: Acorn Press$18.95This collection of moving poetry puts into words the heartbreak and triumphs of looking after ailing parents.What Really Happened is This is a poetry memoir that focuses on the ten-year journey of an adult “only child” as her beloved parents face declining health and death. The wry, poignant, humorous, and sometimes heartbreaking, poems chronicle the poet’s struggle to find balance in her life, as she juggles the needs of her family with her own work and creative life. The poems touch on the universal in specific experiences, as the poet faces the death of each parent, and realizes she is now next in line.
When the Hill Came Down
Publisher: Acorn Press$22.95Keefe Williams lives a childhood of neglect and disconnect, feeling completely invisible. Known only for the story of the night his parents died and the freak event that killed them, he suffers silently holding on to the one thing in his life that sets him apart. When Keefe is a teenager Summer Barkley moves to the community. She is oblivious to the entrenched story of Keefe Williams’s life, giving him an opportunity to finally be someone separate from his tragic past. As their relationship develops, Keefe can claim his true identity.
Through Keefe’s art and Summer’s writing the need to truly explore and understand the past becomes something from which they cannot run. When the Hill Came Down explores greed, jealousy, love, loyalty and the very fabric of a community full of stories whose threads intertwine. The colour, texture and multi-faceted of any story in any community, bear scrutiny. Nothing is ever exactly the way it seems.
Who Departed This Life
Publisher: Acorn Press$19.95George Wright has had a long history of interest in the Burying Ground, with at least nine direct ancestors buried there (great-great-great- and great-great-grandparents). The launch of the book coincides with the 150th anniversary of the founding of the City of Charlottetown.
Wild Foods of Prince Edward Island
Publisher: Acorn Press$29.95Prince Edward Island is famous for potatoes and seafood, but our forests, meadows, marshes, and shores are home to hundreds of species of edible plants and fungi. Of course, edible and palatable are not the same and award-winning biologist and forager Kate MacQuarrie knows the difference!
You Know You’re an Islander When….
Publisher: Acorn Press$14.95<
You might be an Islander if…
- You cried when Stompin’ Tom died
- You still give directions based on the purple house on St. Peter’s Road
- You were born knowing how to break down a lobster
A book about the Island for Islanders.
“Prince Edward Island is far more than postcard vistas, bountiful food and literary heroines with red hair. This book is full to the scuppers with everything that makes it unique and colourful!” – Chef Michael Smith
“Brilliant!” – Brad Richards, 2 time Stanley Cup Champion and PEI’s best hockey player ever.
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.
Your’re Flying, Baby
Artist: Christina GaudetPublisher: Acorn Press$9.95“Christina is a little baby. She can’t walk, she can’t even crawl. Her mother puts her on the floor on a blanket. She lays her down on her stomach and turns away to make the supper.”
You’re Flying, Baby is a lovely tribute to the tummy time. When Christina was a baby, she spent lots of time on her tummy. But Christina wantd to do more than that. By kicking her arms and legs, her mother imagined that Christina really wanted to fly. Based on the experiences of this mother-daughter team, You’re Flying, Baby is a sweet addition to the any baby’s tummy time.
