Indian Ernie
When he began his career with the Saskatoon Police in 1987, Ernie Louttit was only the city’s third native police officer. “Indian Ernie”, as he came to be known on the streets, details an era of challenge, prejudice, and also tremendous change in urban policing which included the Stonechild Inquiry. Drawing from his childhood, army career, a …
Gold, Grit, Guns
Gold, Grit, Guns is the first book based on the only four surviving diaries written by miners who sought their golden fortunes on British Columbias Fraser River in 1858. What was life like for those adventurers? How did their actions impact the creation of British Columbia? George Beam, an Illinois-born settler on Whidbey Island in Washington Sta …
A Home Away from Home
An informative book for middle-grade readers about sanctuaries across North America that rescue wild animals and provide them with safe places to live.
Years ago, most major cities in North America had zoos full of exotic or wild animals in tiny cages. It was also not uncommon for wild animals to be kept as pets or trained to perform in circuses. To …
The York Factory Express
Every March between 1826 and 1854, the York Factory Express began its journey from the Hudson's Bay Company's headquarters on the Pacific Ocean, where the express-men paddled their boats up the Columbia River to the base of the Rocky Mountains at Boat Encampment, a thousand miles to the east. At Jasper's House they were 3,000 feet above sea level. …
St. Michael's Residential School
One of the few accounts by care-givers in an Indian Residential School describing the horrific conditions. Nancy Dyson and Dan Rubenstein In 1970, the authors, Nancy Dyson and Dan Rubenstein, were hired as childcare workers at the Alert Bay Student Residence (formerly St. Michael's Indian Residential School) on northern Vancouver Island. Shocked wh …
Painted Fences
A charming and evocative story within a story, exploring themes of wartime resourcefulness, local history, friendship, and the reverberations of the past in the present day.
On a beautiful spring day in Victoria’s James Bay neighbourhood, eight-year-old Esther takes a walk with her great-grandfather on his birthday. On the same street and the same …
Explore the Eelgrass Meadow with Sam and Crystal
With beautiful, scientifically accurate illustrations, this fascinating story teaches children about the many fish, crustaceans, marine mammals, and micro-organisms that live in and feed off the eelgrass meadows of the north Pacific coastal region.
“Recommended for school and public libraries regardless of their proximity to the west coast. Althou …
Flourishing and Free
An inspiring and eye-opening collection of true stories about sixteen women who blazed their own trails in life and contributed in a fundamental way to the history of Vancouver Island and the surrounding islands.
In this fascinating follow-up to On Their Own Terms, author Haley Healey chronicles the lives of a whole new crop of resilient, hard-worki …
Bikepacking in the Canadian Rockies
The first full-colour guidebook introducing backcountry cyclists to the exciting and increasingly popular world of bikepacking.
On the morning of June 13, 2008, seventeen amateur cyclists converged on the YWCA in Banff, Alberta, for the inaugural grand départ of the Tour Divide. They had committed to race 4418 kilometres unsupported along the Great …
Victoria Unbuttoned
A nuanced history of prostitution in Victoria told through newly uncovered stories of women who lived it.
From the establishment of Fort Victoria, BC’s capital city has had a long history of prostitution. But little has been written on the lives of the women themselves—some of the most enterprising women in Victoria’s past. Instead, these wome …
Little You / Gidagaashiinh
★ "Van Camp composes a lyrical ode to a newborn child, which is matched in its loveliness by Flett's exquisite, collage-like images of a young one with his or her parents.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
Richard Van Camp, internationally renowned storyteller and bestselling author of Welcome Song for Baby and We Sang You Home, has partnered …
The Street Belongs to Us
A sweet middle-grade chapter book about two best friends who transform their torn-up street into a world where imaginations can run wild.
In 1984 Los Angeles, Alex is a tomboy who would rather wear her hair short and her older brother's hand-me-downs, and Wolf is a troubled kid who's been wearing the same soldier's uniform ever since his mom died. T …
Nye, Sand and Stones
Somewhere off the coast and around the corner there are two islands. One island is made mostly of stones and the other mainly of sand, and that’s where the problem began.
Young Nye doesn’t understand why the people on her Island of Sand work so hard to build beautiful sandcastles every day if they are destined to be ruined by the stones catapult …
Grandmother School
Every morning, a young girl walks her grandmother to the Aajibaichi Shala, the school that was built for the grandmothers in her village to have a place to learn to read and write.
The narrator beams with pride as she drops her grandmother off with the other aajis to practice the alphabet and learn simple arithmetic. A moving story about family, wo …
Once Upon an Hour
Yu-Rhee, a young Korean girl, wants to know how to tell time using a clock.
Her mother tells her a tale from her childhood based on the traditional Korean practice of timekeeping, where the 12 animals of the zodiac are assigned to 2-hour sections of the 24-hour clock. Told from the point of view of a mountain, the story follows a child as they clim …
The One with the Scraggly Beard
A child tries to understand the life of a man he has seen sleeping under a bridge.
The boy’s mother patiently answers his questions and explains how people’s life paths can be so different. The child observes the things he has in common with the man and wonders where his own path will lead.
The One With the Scraggly Beard is defined by a simple n …
Slow Moe
Life moves oh-so-slow when your little brother is a snail.
It takes forever to do anything! Really, it’s enough to test the patience of even the most understanding big sister. But is Moe just slow or is there something else going on? With charming illustrations by Marianne Ferrer, award-winning author Deborah Kerbel has written a delightful story …
Travesia
A poignant bilingual YA graphic novel about a teenage girl's harrowing experience crossing the Mexico-US border.
This compelling young adult graphic memoir, based on real events, tells the story of Gricelda, a fifteen-year-old Mexican girl who attempts to cross the border into America with her mother and younger brother in search of a better life. T …
The Night Is Deep and Wide
★ “A lovely visual lullaby to soothe youngest readers to sleep.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
Rich imagery, gentle rhythm and soothing repetition will lull your little one to sleep as the tulips close for the night, one by one. In this bedtime story written as an Italian villanelle, poet Gillian Sze makes use of the poetic forms of cy …
A Perfect Likeness
Celebrated author Richard Wagamese artfully crafts these thrilling yet vulnerable stories of two young men trying to find their place in the world.
The volume brings together two previously published novellas by Richard Wagamese, Him Standing and The Next Sure Thing, with a foreword from author Waubgeshig Rice. Both stories follow the lives of young …
Finding Home
What drives people to search for new homes?
From war zones to politics, there are many reasons why people have always searched for a place to call home. In Finding Home: The Journey of Immigrants and Refugees we discover how human migration has shaped our world. We explore its origins and the current issues facing immigrants and refugees today, and …
Riley Can't Stop Crying
★ “Insightfully emotional…A poignant, purposeful depiction of a family learning to recognize, confront, and heal internal struggles with self-love and self-worth. Children in need of encouragement will find comforting revelations about the value of individuality.”—School Library Journal, starred review
Riley is inconsolable. He can’t …
Outside
Emotional and uplifting, Outside is the story of a teacher's escape to Japan from classroom, country, and self in the wake of a small-town Ontario tragedy.
David Woods, a first-year teacher, shares his grade-4 students' passion for nature and their reluctance to be hemmed in by classroom walls. He pushes the boundaries of risk and the constraints of …
Lost in Barkerville
A young reader time-travel novel about life in the gold rush town of Barkerville in the Cariboo in 1862. This young reader novel begins with a high school field trip to the former gold rush town of Yale in British Columbia. Here Zach, Kyle, and their eccentric teacher, Miss Reid, are transported back in time to 1866 at the height of the Cariboo gol …
nedi nezu (Good Medicine)
Indigenous Voices Award finalist
A celebratory, slyly funny, and bluntly honest take on sex and romance in NDN Country.
nedi nezu (Good Medicine) explores the beautiful space that being a sensual Indigenous woman creates - not only as a partner, a fantasy, a heartbreak waiting to happen but also as an auntie, a role model, a voice that connects to ot …
Elephants Do Not Belong in Trees
"Elephants do not belong in trees. It’s not natural. It makes other animals uncomfortable."
This is the story of Larry, an elephant who wanted to live in a tree. This is a story about being the new kid and being a little bit different (okay, A LOT different). A story about acceptance and making friends. When Larry decides he wants to live in the b …
Ode
A touching story about an Nbiising Anishinaabe father sharing the important practice of passing down his Nishnaabemwin language to his daughter. If you look closely you will find a secret explanation hidden within the words, like a wonderful secret passed down from generation to generation.
Ode Teacher Lesson Plan
Teacher Lesson Plan that accompanies the book Ode. A touching story about an Nbiising Anishinaabe father sharing the important practice of passing down his Nishnaabemwin language to his daughter. If you look closely you will find a secret explanation hidden within the words, like a wonderful secret passed down from generation to generation.
Chinese New Year
From its beginnings as a farming celebration marking the end of winter to its current role as a global party featuring good food, lots of gifts and public parades, Chinese New Year is a snapshot of Chinese culture.
Award-winning author and broadcaster Jen Sookfong Lee recalls her childhood in Vancouver and weaves family stories into the history, tra …
Little Fox
Meet Little Fox in this new book in the All Natural series. When the sun starts to set, it’s time for Little Fox to wake up and be with his mama. But she doesn’t want to play. Can Little Fox find someone to play with before it’s time to go back to bed?
Printed in Germany on 100% recycled paper using eco-friendly inks, each title in the All Nat …
Little Duck
Meet Little Duck in this new book in the All Natural series. It’s a beautiful day for a swim, so Little Duck heads to the water with her mama and siblings to play games and explore before they settle in for a nap.
Printed in Germany on 100% recycled paper using eco-friendly inks, each title in the All Natural series features a young critter out a …
Angel Wing Splash Pattern
With this special 20th Anniversary edition, Richard Van Camp re-releases his first bestselling collection of short stories. There is pain in these stories and there is loss. There is death, but there is also rebirth, and there is always the search from each of the narrators for personal truth. This collection of hilarious and profound stories is w …
Following the Good River
Based on recorded interviews and journal entries this major biography of Cecil Paul (Wa’xaid) is a resounding and timely saga featuring the trials, tribulations, endurance, forgiveness, and survival of one of North American’s more prominent Indigenous leaders.
Born in 1931 in the Kitlope, Cecil Paul, also known by his Xenaksiala name, Wa’xaid, …
