Academic study of children's literature has explored various aspects of diversity; however, little research has examined Canadian books that portray characters with disabilities. This relevant and timely text addresses the significant dearth of research by exploring the treatment of disability in Canadian literature for young people. Engaging and highly accessible, this text will assist teachers, teacher educators, and teacher candidates in finding and using books about characters where disability is a part of their characterization, supporting the development of curricula that reflect critical literacy and social justice issues. Stories for Every Classroom explores the historical patterns and trends, theoretical frameworks, and critical literacy methods used to understand and teach children's literature and its portrayal of characters with disabilities. It provides educators with curriculum ideas and enriches the body of resources shared with children in K-12 settings for the purposes of developing imagination, empathy, and understanding of self and others. Featuring author portraits, comprehensive annotated bibliographies of contemporary Canadian children's books that depict characters with disabilities, and read-on bibliographies that provide connections with other books in the field, this unique text will be an invaluable resource for educators.
From the publisher of Martyrs Mirror comes this refreshing, reflective, heartbreaking, humorous—and sometimes irreverent—anthology of poems, creative essays and fiction by new and noted authors with connections to the Anabaptist tradition. Featuring writers such as Rudy Wiebe, Di Brandt, Jeff Gundy, Jean Janzen, Julia Kasdorf, John Ruth, Rhoda Janzen and others, Tongue Screws and Testimonies shows how stories from Martyrs Mirror intersect with the lives of writers and their characters—and how these stories continue to have a powerful hold on faith, life and imagination today. Collected and edited by Kirsten Eve Beachy, who teaches writing at Eastern Mennonite University, Tongue Screws and Testimonies challenges readers to consider the implications of Martyrs Mirror in their own lives. “Tongue Screws and Testimonies is for the young woman who remembers hiding behind the couch at her grandparents’ house to look at Jan Luykens’ engravings, and who still gets chills thinking about it. It’s for the man who, drawn into a Mennonite congregation in middle age, is trying to get a grasp of Anabaptist history. It will serve as a conversation starter with theologians of many traditions who are concerned with the difficulties of living faithfully.“—Kirsten Eve Beachy
The definitive bibliography of Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Awards Alice Munro, Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Atwood, Antonine Maillet, Carol Shields, Marie-Claire Blais, Gilles Vigneault... For over three quarters of a century, the Governor General’s Literary Awards have been instrumental in recognizing many of Canada’s best authors, illustrators and translators. The result is impressive: between 1936 and 2017, 705 titles have been recognized with this prestigious award. With careful attention to detail, Andrew Irvine presents the history and evolution of the Awards and extols their importance for the careers of authors, illustrators and translators, as well as for the development of Canada’s national literature. The heart of the book contains the first comprehensive bibliography of the awards, including the first list of winning books organized according to their historically correct award categories; information about five books wrongly omitted from previous lists of winning titles; detailed information about award ceremonies, film adaptations and jury members; and other key information. This is a seminal work that belongs on the shelf of every scholar and every lover of Canadian literature. This book is published in English. - Une bibliographie incontournable des Prix littéraires du Gouverneur général du Canada Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood, Antonine Maillet, Carol Shields, Marie-Claire Blais, Michael Ondaatje, Gilles Vigneault... Les écrivains canadiens sont depuis longtemps encensés sur la scène nationale comme à l’échelle mondiale, et les Prix du Gouverneur général jouent un rôle clé dans la reconnaissance de certains de nos meilleurs auteurs, illustrateurs et traducteurs. La liste est impressionnante : ce prestigieux prix a récompensé 705 oeuvres entre 1936 et 2017. Avec un souci minutieux au détail, Andrew Irvine présente l’histoire et l’évolution des Prix et vante leurs vertus indispensables à la carrière des écrivains et des traducteurs ainsi que dans l’élaboration d’une littérature nationale au Canada. Cette bibliographie est la toute première recension complète des Prix littéraires du Gouverneur général et donne des renseignements détaillés au sujet des cérémonies, des adaptations cinématographiques, des membres des jurys ainsi que d’autres informations clés. Le livre présente aussi une copie exhaustive et exacte de données bibliographiques tirées d’archives, une première dans le monde de l’édition. En somme, une référence incontournable. Ce livre est publié en anglais.
The New Canon: An Anthology of Canadian Poetry offers readers a reliable, if often risk-taking, guide to the last two decades of contemporary Canadian poetry. In the first book to survey the territory since Dennis Lee's landmark The New Canadian Poets was published in 1985, critic and poet Carmine Starnino has collected fifty of the most interesting Canadian poets born between 1955 and 1975, many of whom have never made an appearance in a major anthology. Selected from the lists of more than twenty presses, and serving up nearly two hundred poems, this indispensable volume attempts to identify an emerging openness towards form in Canadian poetry. Concentrating on poets who have launched innovative attacks on traditional verse modes, The New Canon will do much to challenge prevailing insularities and tastes. Also included is a long essay by Starnino that describes and explains the innovative tendencies of this exciting group. Among the writers represented are Richard Sanger, Julie Bruck, David McGimpsey, Jeffery Donaldson, Bruce Taylor, Diana Brebner, Laura Lush, Christopher Patton, George Elliott Clarke, Stephanie Bolster, Steven Heighton, Sue Sinclair, Ken Babstock, Elise Partridge, David Manicom, David O'Meara, Karen Solie, Barbara Nickel, and Joe Denham.
In 1946, the poet Earle Birney, then an English professor at the University of British Columbia, broke new ground by establishing a single course within the English department, one for the writer “naked in academe.” He went on to found the UBC Creative Writing Department in 1963 – Canada’s first university writing program, a learner-centered, interdisciplinary experience that has produced many of Canada’s finest writers and poets. Celebrating fifty years of creative writing at UBC, Naked in Academe showcases an impressive diversity of literary voices that have grown out of the program. From short stories to poetry, narrative essays to scripts for theatre and film, herein is a dynamic collection of writing from across Canada that, like the program itself, is at once contemporary and vibrant, relevant and incisive.
Dedicated for nearly thirty years to making literature and its creators more accessible and intriguing to researchers, the series presents signed, authoritative biographical and critical essays on writers from all eras and genres. Rigorously meeting the standards of librarians and instructors, signed entries are written by academic experts in the field and include illustrations and extensive bibliographies.
Dear Peter, Dear Ulla is an imaginative and beautifully crafted historical middle-grade novel about two cousins who are fast friends even though they have never met. Letters fly back and forth between them, and although Ulla lives in Danzig, Germany, and Peter on a Mennonite farm in Saskatchewan, their lives become inextricably entwined through an intense, empathetic connection that plays out in the first months of World War Two. Peter is a talented pianist and Ulla a skillful storyteller with a talent for drawing--will these skills help or hinder them through the challenges brought about by war? They can't think of one another as enemies, even though that's what the world is telling them that they are. Unfolding in alternating chapters, suspense builds as suspicion mounts all around both young protagonists. Will German-speaking Mennonites on the Canadian prairies be accused of sympathizing with the Nazis? Is Peter safe from the bully who despises him for playing music instead of hockey? Will the Nazis catch Ulla in the act of helping a Jewish friend? Will Ulla's father lose his job entirely because of his views? These urgent questions, and the danger the war will sever the deep connection between Peter and Ulla, will keep young readers enthralled through this deft weaving of complex cultural and moral questions, told here with energy, humour, and empathy. Throughout the novel, the character Ulla sends her cousin Peter drawings she has done along with her letters. These pictures include a battleship attacking the city of Danzig, crowds greeting Hitler on his visit there, other family members, and the basement her family hides in during bombardment. The book's illustrations will depict these drawings.
In a fast-paced world full of distractions, spiritual practice can help us become more centered-more in touch with ourselves and others, more in touch with the world around us, more in touch with God. Sacred Pauses is an introduction to this more centered way of life. The author, a pastor in British Columbia, begins with her own longing for personal renewal. What would it take to feel renewed every day? Instead of waiting for a vacation to smooth out the tensions of life, instead of waiting until the end of the week to shed our weariness, what if we could take time out every day? Live a renewed life every day? Be refreshed by God every day? Sacred Pauses offers simple ways for readers to do just that. Each chapter explores a different spiritual practice-from the classic disciplines of Scripture reading and prayer to other creative approaches such as paying attention, making music, and having fun. With plenty of stories from real life and ideas to try, this book is personal and practical. Its flexible format is appropriate for personal use or in a group, every day or any time. Free downloadable study guide available here.