I Am Canada

A beautiful picture book featuring artwork by Canada's finest illustrators -- a true-north tribute to our nation and its children, from coast to coast to coast! Simple text describes the ample space available to our children in this country, and the freedom they have to grow and dream and share. With artwork from 13 of Canada's finest illustrators, each page is a celebration and a reminder of the infinite variety of our home and native land. Heather Patterson's free verse poem I Am Canada, originally published in 1996, gets new life in this beautiful, illustrated hardcover timed to celebrate both Canada's 150th year and Scholastic Canada's 60th anniversary.

The War of 1812 comes to life through the eyes of a young Canadian boy. It's 1812. War has begun, and thirteen-year-old Alexander (Sandy) MacKay is jealous when his older brother Angus goes off with their father to fight the Americans attacking the Niagara region. Too young to know the darker side of battle, he resents being left to shoulder the work on his family's farm. Itching to get in on the action, he sneaks away from home and heads to Lundy's Lane to join up with the local militia. But battle is imminent, and now there's not much his father can do except try to shield him from the worst of the fighting. Sandy's idealized notions of what battle will be like are shattered when the man standing before him is killed by a musket ball and Sandy's own brother is severely wounded. At the battle of Lundy's Lane, the united Canadian/British forces turn the tide against the American troops, but Sandy comes to know how chilling war can be. Just in time for the bicentennial of the War of 1812, A Call to Battle is a sobering look at the realities of war. Author Gillian Chan skillfully depicts the transformation of an impetuous young boy, full of boyish enthusiasm, into a more realistic young man who emerges on the other side of war.

A captivating and rarely told World War II story: that of the Canadian troops sent to defend Hong Kong from the invading Japanese. Nineteen-year-old Jack Finnigan is a born troublemaker. He has grown up defying authority and leaves his small town to enlist in the Royal Rifles, expecting adventure . . . and not afraid of danger. Little does he know what awaits across the Pacific, where his untested regiment is being sent to defend the vulnerable British colony of Hong Kong. The Royal Rifles and the Winnipeg Grenadiers, many of them young and untrained, quickly find themselves in the thick of battle as the Japanese attack on Sunday, December 7, 1941 (the same day as the bombing of Pearl Harbor). After nearly a month of fighting, the colony falls to the Japanese. Jack writes about the fierce battles during those hard weeks, the surrender and capture of his unit, and his brutal time in the POW camp. In those desperate battles and horrendous conditions, he befriends a once-despised sergeant and learns to work with him in order to survive.

If the Allies cannot send the German U-boats to the bottom of the Atlantic, all hope of winning WWII will be lost. Sixteen-year-old Bill O'Connell is a new recruit in the Royal Canadian Navy, assigned to a ship that hunts for Germany's feared U-boats. With the European mainland under Nazi occupation, safe ocean passage is critical -- but the Germans are building U-boats faster than the Allies can sink them, and Britain is starved of supplies. Every gallon of aviation fuel, every explosive shell, and every can of peas sent to the British Isles from North America has to be shipped by sea, so Bill and the rest of the Allied forces have the fate of the free world resting on their shoulders. If the Allies cannot keep their merchant ships from the attacks of Germany's U-boats, the odds of winning WWII will tip in favour of Hitler.

The incredible sacrifices made by Chinese workers building the transcontinental railway are revealed in this powerful novel. Heen's father and grandfather have brought their family in China to the brink of ruin with their gambling habits. To solve their money troubles, Heen and his father come to Canada to build the railway - a decision plagued by disaster. The living conditions provided for workers are wretched and work on the railway is excruciating. Transporting tons of gravel and working in tunnels about to be dynamited proves to be deadly for many of his co-workers. Soon the friction between the Chinese workers and the whites, who barely acknowledge these deaths, reaches a fevered pitch. As an added stress, Heen's father has found some men to gamble with, which puts all of their earnings at risk. Heen's only solace is his journal, where his chilling observations of the injustice and peril heaped upon the workers serve as an important testament to this dramatic era in Canadian history.

Bright photographs present the many faces of our young people and a glimpse of the varied Canadian environments in which they live. Simple text seeks to convey the ample space available to our children in this country, and the freedom they have to grow and dream and share. A catalyst for discussions about the Canadian identity and the infinite variety of our multicultural land.

The War of 1812 comes to life through the eyes of a young Canadian boy. It's 1812. War has begun, and thirteen-year-old Alexander (Sandy) MacKay is jealous when his older brother Angus goes off with their father to fight the Americans attacking the Niagara region. Too young to know the darker side of battle, he resents being left to shoulder the work on his family's farm. Itching to get in on the action, he sneaks away from home and heads to Lundy's Lane to join up with the local militia. But battle is imminent, and now there's not much his father can do except try to shield him from the worst of the fighting. Sandy's idealized notions of what battle will be like are shattered when the man standing before him is killed by a musket ball and Sandy's own brother is severely wounded. At the battle of Lundy's Lane, the united Canadian/British forces turn the tide against the American troops, but Sandy comes to know how chilling war can be. Just in time for the bicentennial of the War of 1812, A Call to Battle is a sobering look at the realities of war. Author Gillian Chan skillfully depicts the transformation of an impetuous young boy, full of boyish enthusiasm, into a more realistic young man who emerges on the other side of war.