See you in October

It's time for a much needed break. Look for new posts in mid-October.

Adult know-how

Show Me How: 500 Things You Should Know Instructions for Life From the Everyday to the Exotic


Visual learners will definitely get a kick out of this book. Clear graphics and minimal text show you how to do a wide variety of useful, useless, and always amusing tasks. Even kids can do some of these things, though adult supervision is strongly recommended. 

Here's a small sampling of what you'll learn to do:

• create a festive piñata
• carve a radish rose
• mix a classic martini
• sew on a new button
• make a boutonniere
• repair a leaky showerhead
• give a parrot a bath
• treat a bee sting
• tie basic sailing knots
• wrestle an alligator
• make crop circles

Navigate the adult world

Good to Go: A Practical Guide to Adulthood
by Kim Zarzour and Sharon E. McKay


Zarzour and McKay offers tons of advice to guide young people into adulthood. Mothers of teens at the time of the book's creation, their practical, no-nonsense and sensible tips are delivered with gentle care and humour. With their help, your teen should soon become competent at meeting landlords, unplugging toilets, shopping for groceries, finding doctors, finding work, avoiding debt, buying car insurance, and a whole lot more. They end with a collection of memorable quotes to keep life in perspective.

An essential tome for successful independent living.

Live like a grown-up

Moving Out! An Young Adult's Guide to Living on Your Own
by Cindy Babyn


Frequent mover Babyn has written a handy guide to help young Canadians getting ready to live away from home. She offers practical advice so they can navigate challenges like finding an apartment, creating a budget, negotiating landlord/tenant disputes, dealing with pests, finding a roommate, and paying taxes.

Good for graduating students.

Brigadier's story

Brigadier: Gentle Hero
by Judy Andrekson
illustrations by David Parkins


Danny Boy was a curious, gentle, golden chestnut colt, friendly and eager to learn. It made him an ideal candidate for the Mounted Unit of the Toronto Police Department. Renamed Brigadier, he became the most beloved police horse in the city.

Within the pages of this short, elegantly-written novel, Judy Andrekson tells Brigadier's life story, detailing the training he underwent to become a valuable police partner, and the affection he showed to everyone around him. That his life was so cruelly cut short will disturb many readers. The final pages, filled with fond memories, should offer comfort.


note: After Brigadier's death, attempts were made to create a new law that would punish more severely any person who would harm an animal. Called Brigadier's Law, the Bill was never passed. However, in May 2014, the prime minister announced the tabling of Quanto's Law, named after an Edmonton police dog who was killed in the line of duty. This law will protect all service dogs and animals.