Lakes define not only Canada’s landscape but the national imagination. Blending writing on nature, travel, and science, award-winning journalist Allan Casey systematically explores how the country’s history and culture originates at the lakeshore. Lakeland describes a series of interconnected journeys by the author, punctuated by the seasons and the personalities he meets along the way including aboriginal fishery managers, fruit growers, boat captains, cottagers, and scientists. Together they form an evocative portrait of these beloved bodies of water and what they mean, from sapphire tarns above the Rocky Mountain tree line to the ponds of western Newfoundland.

(ages 2 – 5)  Little Bear closes his eyes and wishes and wishes and wishes for his dreams to come true. But when he opens his eyes, he’s still just Little Bear living in the Arctic tundra. Mother Bear tenderly shows him how many of his wishes do come true, from being able to swim with the playful belugas, to gazing at the dazzling northern lights. Finally, Little Bear is delighted to discover that he was Mother Bear’s wish come true! Readers will be touched by this reassuring tale of love and hope, which is of the “Storybook” series of board books – uplifting stories that shine with glitter, foil, texture, and more. Durable, padded covers, rounded corners, and an easy-to-hold size, along with touching text and colorful illustrations, ensure that these storybooks will be treasured by children and parents alike.

About the Author

Author, illustrator, and graphic designer Per-Henrik Gürth was born in Freiburg, Germany, and now calls Kingston, Ontario, home. His bold and lively illustrations can be found in the bestselling “Canada Concept Books” from Kids Can Press, including Oh! Canada and ABC of Canada, which was a Canadian Children’s Book Centre “Our Choice” selection. In When Wishes Come True, Per creates soft scenes filled with texture and light to complement the heartwarming story inspired by his daughter, Emily, who was Per’s own wish come true.

Canadian and British airmen engaged in fierce and deadly battles in the skies over Europe during the Second World War. Those who survived often had to overcome incredible obstacles to do so — dodging bullets and German troops, escaping from burning planes and enduring forced marches if they became prisoners. The Survivors tells some of these stories — tales that are so amazing they sound like fiction.

In one story, a tail gunner from Montreal survived despite being unconscious when blown out of his bomber. Another story describes how the crew of a navigator from Ottawa used chewing gum to fill holes in their aircraft. And another tells how a pilot from Northern Ontario parachuted out of his plane and became the target of a German machine-gunner, but within hours 120 Germans surrendered to him.

These painstakingly researched stories will enable you to feel what now-aging veterans endured when they were young men in the air war against Nazi Germany.

About the Author

Ian Darling comes from an air force family. His father, as well as his two uncles, served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Darling is the author of Go Ask Dad and is the editorial writer at The Record. He lives in Waterloo, Ontario.

Imagining a New Canadian Economy:The New World Economy, and Canada’s Place In It

With the onset of the current economic crisis, one chapter in the economic history of the world is ending and a new one is beginning. What role will Canada play in this vastly altered world?

James Laxer examines the anatomy of the crash: the forces that have controlled the global system and the forces that have the capacity to usher in a new global system as the U.S.-centred age of globalization comes to an end. He explores what needs to be done to combat the crash in Canada, and poses the questions we all want to have answered. What comes next for the global economy, and what does this mean for Canada? Where will we fit in? Is an egalitarian economic future possible? What could an economics for humanity look like?

A reflective and useful treatise on where we go from here, Beyond the Bubble is a must-read by one of Canada’s best-known political commentators.

About James Laxer

JAMES LAXER is a Professor of Political Science at York University in Toronto. An award-winning author and a former Toronto Star columnist, Laxer is the author of twenty-one books, including Perils of Empire and Red Diaper Baby: A Boyhood in the Age of McCarthyism.

The ad men behind CBC Radio’s The Age of Persuasion combine lively social history and years of industry experience to show how the art of persuasion shapes our culture.

Witty, erudite and irrepressibly irreverent, The Age of Persuasion provides a hugely entertaining — and eye-opening — insider’s look at the ever-expanding world of marketing.

The Age of Persuasion is for those who say “advertising doesn’t work on me” as well as those who want to understand how this industry has become inseparable from modern culture. Using their popular CBC Radio series as a starting point, Terry O’Reilly and Mike Tennant tell the fascinating story of how modern marketing came of age — from the early players to the Mad Men of the 1960s and beyond. With insider anecdotes and examples drawn from pop culture, they also probe deeply into the day-to-day workings and ethics of a business that is rapidly evolving in the age of Facebook and YouTube.

About the Author

Terry O’Reilly is the award-winning co-founder of Pirate Radio and Television in Toronto and New York. Together with Mike Tennant he created the CBC Radio series O’Reilly on Advertising and The Age of Persuasion.

 In the 1960s, Canada began a seismic shift away from the core policies and values upon which the country had been built. A nation of “makers” transformed itself into a nation of “takers.” Crowley argues that the time has come for the pendulum to swing back—back to a time when Canadians were less willing to rely on the state for support; when people went where the work was rather than waiting for the work to come to them. Thought-provoking, meticulously detailed and ultimately polarizing, Fearful Symmetry is required reading for anyone who is interested in where this country began, where it’s been, and where it’s going. “… Fearful Symmetry is an audacious, provocative and impressively researched volume. In setting out a new way of looking at the country’s development, it will open more eyes than it closes.” -  Lawrence Martin, Globe and Mail “[O] ne of the most insightful books ever written about this country…. I know I am prone to exaggeration which is probably why I was able to have a 15-year career in politics, but I do not exaggerate when I say this is the best book I have ever read about our country.” — Monte Solberg, Sun Media “Founder of the Halifax-based Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, Brian Lee Crowley has written a courageous book with absolutely unique analysis and interpretation. Part lament, part celebration, Fearful Symmetry is most of all a profoundly optimistic book. Why? Rush to read it as soon as you can. ” – Globe and Mail

Wily trickster Coyote is having his friends over for a little solstice get-together in the woods when a little girl comes by unexpectedly. She leads the friends through the snowy woods to the mall — a place they had never seen before. The trickster goes crazy with glee as he shops with abandon, only to discover that filling a shopping cart with goodies is not quite the same thing as actually paying for them. The trickster is tricked and goes back to his cabin in the woods — somewhat subdued — though nothing can keep Coyote down for long. Thomas King is known for his fiction featuring Canada’s Native people, while Gary Clement’s artwork has appeared in several popular children’s books. “A Coyote Solstice Tale” blends King’s brilliant deadpan humor and Clement’s evocative watercolors in this witty critique of consumerism and consumption aimed at all ages.