Winter

When Malaika moves to Canada, there’s a lot to get used to, especially Carnival in the wintertime!

Malaika is happy to be reunited with Mummy, but it means moving to Canada, where everything is different. It’s cold in Québec City, no one understands when she talks and Carnival is nothing like the celebration Malaika knows from home!

When Mummy marries Mr. Frédéric, Malaika gets a new sister called Adèle. Her new family is nice, but Malaika misses Grandma. She has to wear a puffy purple coat, learn a new language and get used to calling this new place home. Things come to a head when Mummy and Mr. Frédéric take Malaika and Adèle to a carnival. Malaika is dismayed that there are no colorful costumes and that it’s nothing like Carnival at home in the Caribbean! She is so angry that she kicks over Adèle’s snow castle, but that doesn’t make her feel any better. It takes a video chat with Grandma to help Malaika see the good things about her new home and family.

Nadia L. Hohn’s prose, written in a blend of standard English and Caribbean patois, tells a warm story about the importance of family, especially when adjusting to a new home. 

Reviews
"Hohn contrasts Caribbean and Canadian cultures tenderly, with deep understanding of both, and she and Luxbacher have created a sweet, immersive and loving book that will benefit both young new arrivals to a country and those just meeting them." — Kirkus Reviews, July 2017

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 3 to 7.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.6
With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2
Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

Additional Information
36 pages | 10.00" x 9.00" | Hardcover 

The holiday season has always been a very special time for Métis families. A family-oriented people, the Métis often didn’t have money to buy expensive presents, but instead made practical items with much love. In this spirit, award-winning author and illustrator, Leah Marie Dorion takes readers back to the Métis tradition of making mittens for loved ones. Métis Christmas Mittens is a touching ode to Métis family life is accompanied by Leah’s distinctive and evocative art.

Educator Information
Michif Translation by Norman Fleury 
Format: English/Michif

"My sister and I were excited for a visit with our favourite elder, and we were hoping to convince her to take us out for an adventure!"

Adventure begins when Grandma takes her two grandchildren out for a trip to the lake. After showing the kids how to prepare for a fishing trip, Grandma and the kids enjoy a day of jigging in the ice for fish. Grandma shows them every step they need to know to complete a successful fishing trip, from what clothes to wear, to how to drill and clear holes in the ice, to how to make a traditional Inuit jigging rod. By the end of the day, the kids have a yummy meal of Arctic char, and they have also learned everything they need to know to go out on the lake on their own.

Reviews
“Fishing with Grandma, which offers an engaging tale of two grandchildren and their grandma on an Arctic adventure, is ideal for primary grades.”  — CM Magazine

“Readers learn about the traditional tools of the trade through prose peppered with Inuktitut and also take away a sweet message of caring for our elders, as the youngsters share their yummy Arctic char with those who can no longer jig for themselves.” — Hakai Magazine

Educator Information
Find the French translation of this book here: À la peche avec grand-maman

Additional Information
32 pages | 8.00" x 9.00"

Little Zoo Sap and his family are moving from their summer home on the coast to their winter home in the deep woods. Unnoticed, the youngster tumbles off the end of the sled. Alone and frightened, Zoo Sap cries, and his cries attract the forest animals. Beginning with beaver and ending with the great bald eagle, the animals protect the baby and shelter him from the cold until his father comes to get him.

The new edition includes an author's note explaining the seasonal movement of the Passamaquoddy people and a pronunciation guide to the Passamaquoddy names of the animals in the story.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 6 to 11.

Additional Information
64 pages | 9.00" x 10.00"

Last Leaf First Snowflake to Fall takes us on a dreamlike voyage into nature at that secret moment when fall turns into winter. We find ourselves in a kind of paradise, which humans may be part of but which they have not despoiled. 

A father and son lead us through forests, down rivers, over lakes and ponds. Along the way we experience the primordial beauty of the physical world. This is nature as we all feel in our hearts it must once have been. 

Through lyrical words and a masterful collage technique, Leo Yerxa has created an exquisite and poetic evocation of this moment.

Educator Information
Curriculum Connections: Science and Nature, Visual Arts, Language Arts.

Recommended ages: 5-8.

Additional Information
32 pages | 8.13" x 11.00"

Level 10 Back cover book introduction: There are four seasons during a year, winter, spring, summer and fall. Which season do you think it is on the cover of this book? Which season is it outside right now?

Educator & Series Information
Seasons is part of the Strong Readers: Set A series. Set A includes a mixture of both fiction and non-fiction books, from levels 1 through 10, based on the appearance, behaviours, and habitats of frog, bear, eagle, and raven. The fictional stories are about frog, bear, eagle, and raven with their friends in their respective habitats.

The Strong Readers are a guided/leveled reading series chock full of science, numeracy, social responsibility, language arts and oral language teachings. Strong Readers are rich with scaffolded text features and have beautiful illustrations and photographs. The entire series is interconnected and follows the cultural values of frog, bear, eagle and raven throughout.

Guided Reading Level: 10

This resource is also available in French: Les saisons.

Additional Information
Book Dimensions: 6.5in x 5.5in | Pages: 16 | ISBN: 9781927571309

“Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, from Victoria to Halifax, across the Hudson Bay"

Whether read or sung aloud, this book is designed as a fun learning tool that will instigate discussion about all things Canadian.

Learn about each province and territory as Santa travels across Canada delivering gifts on Christmas Eve in this delightful Canadian rendition of a holiday favourite.

In Manitoba, Santa has a scare when he almost lands on a sleeping polar bear and in PEI he finds Mounties in the stables eating turkey dinner with Anne of Green Gables.

Additional Information
40 pages | 10.00" x 9.50"

Each year Canada hosts 35 million foreign tourists who spend over $16 billion. A Moose in a Maple Tree is a natural overseas gift and souvenir for children, tourists, Canadians living abroad, and anyone who is looking forward to a white Christmas in this wonderful country with its use of iconic Canadianisms: skiers, sled dogs, salmon, Mounties, lobsters, beavers, whales, hockey sticks, totem poles, snowmen, polar bears, and of course, the moose, all ultimately gathered together in a Canadian maple tree.  

This beautifully illustrated, durable, glossy picture book has been entirely printed and produced in Canada, and has been nominated for the Lieutenant Governor Generals Award for Children's illustrations. 

A Moose in a Maple Tree will capture the imagination of young readers with its quirky twist on the original Christmas song while providing lively, colourful images created by Toronto graphic designer and illustrator, Jennifer Harrington. The book can be sung or read aloud and is designed as a learning tool that will instigate discussion about all things Canadian. The book is also a great tool for your readers learning to count.

Additional Information
32 pages | 10.00" x 9.50"

Christmas with a Lakota trick!

A traditional Native American character gets a modern update in this charming Christmas tale.

On Christmas Eve, Coyote wants to find some people to trick out of a hot meal. Sneaky Coyote is known in the Native American tradition as the Trickster. He knows that there's one character people can't refuse on Christmas Eve: Santa Claus! Using straw for a jolly belly and wool for his Santa's beard, the Trickster fools a family into welcoming him to their Christmas meal. But just when he thinks he's gotten away with his ruse, taking their food and leaving the family with nothing, he's foiled by a strange occurrence. Could it be a Christmas miracle?

Coyote's antics, beautifully told and illustrated by S. D. Nelson, will delight readers, and his eventual comeuppance just in time for Christmas makes this a perfect holiday tale.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 6 to 9

Additional Information
40 pages | 9.50" x 10.50"

To many Native Americans, the 13 cycles of the moon represent the changing seasons and the passage of time. Each moon has its own special name that, while varying among the tribal nations, is consistent with the legend that the 13 scales on Old Turtle's back hold the key to these moons. The authors present 13 poems that take readers through the year, from the "Moon of Popping Trees"--when the "cottonwoods crack with frost"--to the "Big Moon" of the Abenakis. The book's effective design consists of verses in vertical columns at the left of each spread, with the remainder occupied by Locker's ( Family Farm ; Catskill Eagle ) typically lush artwork. His oil paintings are eye-catching in their depth of color reflecting dramatic seasonal changes. Trees, skies and woodland creatures are rendered in vivid hues that combine to produce an enthralling vision. This unusual and intelligent book is an exemplary introduction to Native American culture with its emphasis on the importance of nature.

Additional Infromation
32 pages | 8.00" x 10.25"