Nonfiction

Nonfiction genre

Talking Tails

From our earliest beginnings, we have shared our lives with animals. Explore the ties that people and their pets have formed from prehistoric times to present day.  With fun and fascinating facts, learn whether you are a Dog Person or a Cat Person, how to pick and care for your pet, and which animals are most closely linked to their wild roots. Discover purebreds and hybrids, rare and unusual pets, horses, birds, fish, guinea pigs, reptiles, and rodents. Part social history, part owner manual, Ann Love and Jane Drake present irresistible and heartwarming stories of pets through the ages, complemented by the captivating pen-and-inkwith- watercolor illustrations of artist Bill Slavin.

Pier 21: Listen to My Story

Nowadays most newcomers to North America arrive by airplane, but it wasn’t always this way. Between 1928 and 1971, approximately 1.5 million people passed through Pier 21, on the cusp of new lives after arriving in North America by boat. In this pictorial, fact-filled book for young readers, author Christine Welldon shares the true stories of nine children who remember well their voyages over and their first experiences in a new place.

We meet Heili, an Estonian girl whose father captained a tiny 18-person boat crammed with 347 people fleeing communist rule in 1948, and Jamie, a Second World War guest child from Scotland who later returned to North America to live when he grew up. Also included are stories of immigrants from Italy, the Ukraine and the Netherlands, and the children of war brides who came over to reunite with their husbands.

With over forty photos, a glossary, timeline, and sidebar features on the pier itself and the home countries of those who passed through it, Pier 21provides an excellent introduction for children to this key landmark in immigration history.

Gorilla

Far away, in the misty mountains of Africa, a baby gorilla is born. Follow the life of a mountain gorilla from birth to adulthood, in this unique wildlife information book for young children, photographed close-up in the wild by an award-winning wildlife photographer. Find out all about gorilla family life, including food, play, grooming, and communication, and watch one baby gorilla as she grows up until, on her sixth birthday, she is ready to have babies of her own! Also in the EYE ON THE WILD series: Cheetah, Brown Bear, Lion

Python

Python stirs and slithers out from her shelter, smelling the air with her forked tongue. It’s time to molt her dull scales and reveal the glistening snake underneath. Gliding along a tree, she stops and watches very, very closely as a bird drops onto a branch — and escapes the razor-sharp teeth just in time. But Python is hungry, so she slides on to stalk new prey. Combining informative facts, expressive illustrations, and a lyrical, mesmerizing narrative, here is a book to captivate anyone fascinated by this iconic creature.

1001 Inventions and Awesome Facts from Muslim Civilization

Traces centuries of invention and technological innovation in the Muslim world, revealing how Muslim intellectuals built elephant water clocks, drew detailed world maps, and built colossal architectural structures.

Paul Thurlby’s Wildlife

Did you know that crocodiles cry while they eat? Or that polar bears turn green if they stay hot for too long? Or that bees do a dance to speak to one another? See wildlife as you’ve never seen it before with Paul Thurlby’s menagerie of curious animals. With unique and humorous artwork that’s so stylish you’ll want to remove it from the book and hang it on your wall, Paul Thurlby brings to life twenty-three animals in a way that will appeal to readers of all ages.

Shannen and the Dream for a School

Presents the true story of Shannen Koostachin and the people of Attawapiskat, a Cree community just below the Arctic Circle, who have been fighting for a new school since 1979, when a fuel spill contaminated their original school building.