This month, schools, colleges and universities around the world are now back in session. This made me think about education in general as I delve into research for my current “work in progress.” How did education first start in Canada? By the 1600’s, a system called petites ecoles had been established by French settlers early […]
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Val’s Book Reviews Ticket to Ride (Volume 4 of the Jason Davey Mysteries) by Winona Kent Winona Kent and St Ives, UK: Blue Devil Books, 2022 $19.99 / 9781777329433 I must admit that I was not expecting to enjoy Winona Kent’s book Ticket to Ride as much as I did. A story about a touring
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Val’s Book Reviews The Rooming House: The West Coast in the Seventies by Michael Kluckner Vancouver: Midtown Press, 2022 $19.95 / 9781988242460 Michael Kluckner has skillfully managed to capture the free spirit, free love era of the late sixties and early seventies in this captivating story of lost youth trying to find their paths
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The term “dog days” dates back to ancient times when people in different parts of the world began drawing images of the sky by connecting the dots of stars, now called constellations. These dots allowed people around the world to “see” certain images. Our European ancestors saw bears (hence Ursa Major and Ursa Minor), some
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When you’ve been writing and publishing as long as I have, you’ve seen it all—or most of it! I wrote my first story when I was six and had my first article published in a local newspaper when I was twelve—which was a long time ago! But it was in the 1970s and 1980s that
Val’s Book Reviews A West Coast Soccer Story Head to Head by Jennifer Manuel Toronto: James Lorimer, 2020 $12.95 / 9781459414280In this young adult book for 10 to 13 year-olds, Jennifer Manuel has written a story which will inspire all young girls who love sports. But the book also carries a strong message of how
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June is traditionally a month for brides and weddings. But this was not always the case so let’s take a look back at wedding customs and wedding dresses throughout history. An amusing reason (but not necessarily a true one) is that most people in olden times married in June because they took their yearly bath
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Elizabeth II – 70 Years of Dedication On June 2nd 1953, a young woman was crowned Queen Elizabeth II in London England’s Westminster Abbey. One year earlier, she had succeeded to the throne upon the death of her father, King George VI. As a young girl growing up, she had not expected to ever become
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Val’s Book Reviews The Driving Force The Famous Five: Canada’s Crusaders for Women’s Rights by Barbara Smith Victoria: Heritage House, 2019 $9.95 / 9781772032338 In this very important book, Barbara Smith tells the in-depth stories of five women — Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby and Henrietta Muir Edwards — who collectively changed
In August of 1910 in a town called Skpje in the Republic of Macedonia, Nikola and Dranafile Bojaxhiu, both of Albanian descent, were blessed with a daughter. The following day the baby was baptized and given the name Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhui. We know her today as Mother Teresa. When Agnes was eight her father, a
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