All 'Bout Canada: A Compendium of Canadiana

Did you know the Jolly Jumper is a Canadian invention? What exactly is a quinzhee, anyway? Porcupines do what when they are mating?

Using a blend of poetry, prose, posters, jokes, and quizzes, and featuring twenty-six original two-colour illustrations, All 'Bout Canada is a fun, informative celebration of Canada that will both educate and entertain a diverse readership. Featuring dictionary-style entries and witty poems for each letter in the alphabet, this collection of Canadian facts and anecdotes from Aurora Borealis to Zellers makes an excellent gift for avid and reluctant readers as well as parents, teachers, and librarians.

Canadians often call aurora borealis the "northern lights." These are caused when solar winds--streams of charged particles (ions) from the sun--interact with the earth's magnetic field. Some Inuit call aurora "aqsarniit" (football players), said to be spirits of the dead who are playing football with a walrus skull. (The football game might be a traditional Inuit game called akraurak or aqijut. In this game, two lines of players face each other and kick a ball between the lines until it passes through one line of players, after which all players try to kick the ball into their opponent's goal.) In an Anishinaabe (Algonquin) Traditional Story, aurora borealis are the fires started by earth creator Nanabozho (also known as Nanabush). The lights symbolize Nanabozho's bond with people.

Anne of Green Gables, the lively, red-haired orphan created by Canada's L. M. Montgomery, has a world-wide following, particularly in Poland, Japan, and Canada. It is thought that more than 50 million copies of the book have been sold worldwide. During the Second World War, Montgomery's books were part of the Resistance black market trade in Poland, and they were also issued to Polish soldiers heading to the front. There is an L. M. Montgomery School in Warsaw. Anne was added to the Japanese school curriculum in 1952. Japan has national fan clubs, an Anne academy, the Green Gables School of Nursing, and thousands of citizens who flock to Prince Edward Island each year.

The Acadians were settlers from France who first set down roots in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Maine during the late sixteenth century. From 1755 to 1763, approximately ten thousand Acadians were deported and had their lands seized by immigrants from New England. Many Acadians eventually relocated in Louisiana, where their Acadian culture evolved into Cajun culture. When they were allowed to return to Canada after 1764, the Acadians settled in Cape Breton, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.