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• feature
• fiction
• poetry
• non-fiction
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Summer 2006
It’s FUNdamental! A look at the latest in prairie kids books

feature

=It’s FUNdamental! A look at the latest in prairie kids books:
Summer is here… What better time is there for kids to lose themselves in books? In our annual kidlit feature, Prairie books NOW takes
a look at a number of kid’s books from the prairies. As we all know, reading is FUNdamental.

Marty’s mysterious ways: Award-winning author Chan releases second book in series
“I guess I’ll keep drawing from the memory bank for ideas as long as I can find humiliating experiences in my childhood…”
The Mystery of the Grafitti Ghoul
Marty Chan
Thistledown Press
$10.95 pb, 211 pages
ISBN-13 978-1-897235-00-3
ISBN-10 1-897235-00-3

Ssssssspellbinding: Snakes and murder and mystery, oh my!
“When you’re casting about for a story, you look for what mysteries you have in your own life.”
The Serpent’s Spell
Rae Bridgman
Great Plains Publications
$16.95 pb, 192 pages
ISBN 1-894283-67-8

Pee-U! A stinkbug takes centre stage
“I just hope that when they read my stories, the kids and their parents will be sitting together close enough to touch and snuggle.”
Raising A Little Stink
Colleen Sydor
ilustrated by Pascale Constantin
Kids Can Press
$18.95 hc, 32 pages
ISBN-13 978-1-55337-896-9
ISBN-10 1-55337-896-2

A Dragon’s journey: Blum’s favourite creatures finally take flight
“We should not judge people we don’t understand, like how the dragons judged the humans and the humans judged the dragons, and they totally misunderstood each other.”
The Dragon Prince
Vicki Blum
illustrated by David Sourwine
Scholastic Canada Ltd.
$6.99 pb, 160 pages
ISBN 0-439-95668-4

Bringing the past to life: Calgary’s famed Lougheed House prominent in children’s book trilogy
“Walking through the house, the walls seemed to reverberate with stories, echoing past lives.”
Clarence’s Engine
Calgary, December 1891: An historical tale
Trudy Cowan
illustrated by Noel Lukasewich
Frontenac House Ltd.
$14.95 pb, 32 pages
ISBN 1-897181-00-0

Faith healing: Author’s childhood provides seed for new novel
“I wanted to use my personal background, but I waited purposefully to ensure I had enough distance from my childhood.”
Almost Eden
Anita Horrocks
Tundra Books
$14.99 pb, 284 pages
ISBN-13 978-0-88776-742-5
ISBN-10 0-88776-742-7

From the inside out: Novel gives insight into Asperger’s Syndrome
“I’m concerned by what I see as a lack of empathy in literature which suggests that people with disabilities are any less dynamic than other folks.”
Wild Orchid
Beverley Brenna
Red Deer Press
$12.95 pb, 160 pages
ISBN 0-88995-330-9

Dino-mite! Author introduces kids to the Pachyrhinosaurus
“I tried to take the science and the dry facts and make them live, so to speak.”
Pachyrhinosaurus:
The Mystery of the Horned Dinosaur
Monique Keiran
Heritage House
$24.95 hc, 56 pages
ISBN 1-894974-03-4

Salt and Pepper to taste: Cowboy work ethic the recipe behind successful series
“I got thinking that it would be fun to be around Salt, Pepper and Hal for more than one book.”
The Vampire’s Visit The Salt & Pepper Chronicles #1
The Hunk Machine The Salt & Pepper Chronicles #2
David A. Poulsen
Key Porter Books
The Vampire’s Visit
$9.95 pb, 163 pages
ISBN 1-55263-721-2

The Hunk Machine
$9.95 pb, 181 pages
ISBN 1-55263-723-9

fiction

In His mother’s arms : Mary gets a voice
“I wanted to give her full humanity, to take her out of the symbolic and the sanitized.”
The Book of Mary
Gail Sidonie Sobat
Sumach Press
$16.95 pb, 256 pages
ISBN-13 978-1-894549-54-7
ISBN-10 1-894549-54-6

The Lamp burns bright: Novel eccentric, complex, simple and true
“Sometimes a grilled cheese is just a grilled cheese, but within that simplicity exist many possibilities.”
Miss Lamp
Chris Ewart
Coach House Books
$19.95 pb, 176 pages
ISBN-13 978-1-55245-166-3
ISBN-10 1-55245-166-6

Murder in Saskatchewan: Debut novel features unlikely protagonist
“I became curious both about the character who was wandering around rural Saskatchewan at night, and the identity of the person he was burying.”
Stolen
Annette Lapointe
Anvil Press
$20.00 pb, 232 pages
ISBN-13 978-1-895636-73-4
ISBN-10 1-895636-73-6

poetry

A lasting legacy: Szumigalski’s poetry published posthumously
“I was able to make the kind of imaginative and verbal connections that when I merely graze, browse, and nibble, I never can.”
When Earth Leaps Up
Anne Szumigalski
edited by Mark Abley
Brick Books
$18.00 pb, 86 pages
ISBN-13 978-1-894078-52-8
ISBN-10 1-894078-52-7

non-fiction

Birds of paradise: Author’s latest a tribute to his feathered friends
“I could look out my window at any time from dawn until dusk and see 150 birds somewhere …”
Winging Home:
a palette of birds
Harold Rhenisch
Illustrated by Tom Godin
Brindle & Glass
$24.95 pb, 242 pages
with b/w illustrations
ISBN 1-897142-12-9

The call of the wild: Author hopes to raise awareness
“It sounds far-fetched, but we began to hear and be guided by the caribou.”
Being Caribou: Five Months
on Foot with an Arctic Herd
Karsten Heuer
McClelland & Stewart
$36.99 hc, 235 pages
ISBN-13 978-0-7710-4122-8
ISBN-10 0-7710-4122-5

A new frontier: Mary Percy Jackson broke down barriers
“She is an example of what I call the ‘exception female.’”
Suitable for the Wilds:
Letters from Northern Alberta 1929-1931
Mary Percy Jackson
edited by Janice Dickin
University of Calgary Press
$24.95 pb, 323 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1-55238-169-4
ISBN-10: 1-55238-169-2

A literary life: Adele Wiseman a compassionate and courageous writer
“I don’t think Wiseman can serve as a model since her career decisions were shaped by a confidence born of a profound and early success that most writers never achieve in their lifetimes.”
The Force of Vocation: The Literary
Career of Adele Wiseman
Ruth Panofsky
University Of Manitoba Press
$22.95 pb, 204 pages
ISBN 0-88755-689-2

The man behind the medal: Illustrator Randolph Caldecott celebrated
“He brought a real sense of motion and theatre that was never there before.”
Randolph Caldecott: His Books
and Illustrations for Young Readers
Robert J. Desmarais
University of Alberta Press
with 60 colour plates
$24.95 pb, 136 pages, ISBN-13 978-1-55195-207-9, ISBN-10 1-55195-207-6
$40.00 hc, 136 pages, ISBN-13 978-1-55195-209-3, ISBN-10 1-55195-209-2

No limits: Patrick Friesen reflects on poetry, life, and more
“The style is how I think. Or, did the style change my thinking process?”
Interim: Essays & Mediations
Patrick Friesen
Hagios Press
$17.95 pb, 144 pages
ISBN 0-9739727-0-X