Hey Canada! by Vivien Bowers (Book Review)
I was happy to help out a Canadian author when I was approached to take a look at a new book called “Hey Canada!”, which is written by Vivien Bowers & illustrated by Milan Pavlovic.
Here’s a brief overview of Hey Canada! from GoodReads:
“Gran has decided that she is taking nine-year-old Alice and eight-year-old Cal on a road trip across Canada “before she’s old and creaky.” With a sparkling combination of poems, silly songs, tweets and blogs, the trio records the trip for readers everywhere to share. Starting in St. John’s Newfoundland, where they have a “find-it” list that includes a moose and an iceberg and going all the way to the Pacific Ocean, the gang in Hey Canada! offers a delightful way to learn about vast, varied, and surprising Canada.
The book combines narrative, poems, photos, comics about historical events such as the battle at Fortress Louisburg, maps (including provincial flags, birds, and flowers), in a lively, easily accessible format. Not only great fun to read, this is a valuable resource for young Canadians and for visitors across the country.”
I didn’t even need to read this book to know that I was going to love it! I am Canadian after all…. The book offers extremely informative descriptions of some of Canada’s greatest places and landmarks. It takes you through Canada, Province by Province and has incredible illustrations by Milan Pavlovic. Seriously, the pictures add so much more to the book than I can describe.
This book is a wonderful addition, not only to a home library, but could be an excellent addition to a classroom as well. There is so much detail and colour that your kids will love reading it, as mine did!
Being from Ottawa, it was a real awakening to see all of the great things that my city has to offer, that all to often get taken for granted. The Museum’s, Parliament Hill and the Rideau Canal to name a few, I really have to get my family out there enjoying it.
I actually think one of my favorite part’s of Hey Canada! was the legend in the back….I know, I know, it’s a very nerd thing to say but it’s true. I really enjoy being able to look something up quickly and a legend is like a book’s form of a CTRL-F search, lol.
I really recommend Hey Canada! to help show your kids and yourself, just how much our great country has to offer!
Here’s a little bit about the author of Hey Canada!, Vivien Bowers:
Vivien Bowers was born in Vancouver, Canada in 1951, the second of four children. She received a B.A. in English (honours) from the University of British Columbia followed by a teaching certificate, and was a grade 5 teacher for several years in Nelson, BC. Vivien has been a freelance writer for more than twenty-five years, writing elementary and secondary school materials, as well as non-fiction books and magazine articles for both adults and children. She has been invited to do presentations on her children’s books in hundreds of schools and libraries across the country. Bowers has two sons, now grown up, and lives at the base of the mountains outside of Nelson, BC. She loves to escape into the wilderness to ski, hike or canoe.
Hey Canada!
Author: Vivien Bowers
Illustrations: Milan Pavlovic
Publisher: Tundra Books, a division of Random House
Pages: 72
Format: Hardcover
Ages: Children 7-10 years
Genre: Children’s books/non-fiction/history
ISBN 978-1-77049-255-4
Release date: May 8, 2012
I received a copy of this book to facilitate my review. As always, all opinions are my own and are not influenced by any third party.