Big Biorachan and Little Biorachan went out to pick nuts, but Little Biorachan wouldn’t stop eating them! Big Biorachan set out to teach his greedy friend a lesson, unleashing a chain of unintended consequences… This traditional Scottish Gaelic tale was once the most widely-known children’s story in the Gaelic world. The Gaels brought the tale with them 200 years ago from the Highlands of Scotland to Nova Scotia, and passed it down in their oral traditon. Gaelic illustrator Emily MacDonald’s fresh and charming illustrations accompany the traditional text, reimagining the tale in 19th-century Cape Breton.
Cape Breton
Bodkin Beag and Bodkin Mòr
Bodkin Beag and Bodkin Mòr went out to pick nuts, but Bodkin Beag wouldn’t stop eating them! Bodkin Mòr set out to teach his greedy friend a lesson, unleashing a chain of unintended consequences. This traditional Scottish Gaelic tale was once the most widely-known children’s story in the Gaelic world. The Gaels brought the tale with them 200 years ago from the Highlands of Scotland to Nova Scotia, and passed it down in their oral traditon. Gaelic illustrator Emily MacDonald’s fresh and charming illustrations accompany the traditional text, reimagining the tale in 19th-century Cape Breton.
Book Box: Historical Fiction
PREORDER – WILL SHIP JUNE 2024. A historical fiction book box featuring a pair of novels by Nova Scotian author Margaret MacKay. Iain of New Scotland is set in 1773–74 Pictou with flashbacks to Scotland. Thirteen-year-old Iain and his family have come over on the Ship Hector, but how will they survive with no money or food? With a foreword by Outlander author Diana Gabaldon. Lisette of Louisbourg is set in 1749 in France and the Fortress of Louisbourg and tells the story of eleven-year-old orphan Lisette, who escapes a harsh life of making lace in a convent and travels to Île-Royale (present-day Cape Breton) as an indentured servant. Perfect for Grades 4+ and adults who love historical fiction!
Cridhe ’s Anam / Heart and Soul
Catrìona NicÌomhair Parsons’ poems transport us from her upbringing in the Isle of Lewis to North America and New Zealand, with a focus on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia where she has made her home. Her work contemplates emigration, the endurance of Gaelic language & culture, Christianity, aging, nature, and the changing seasons. Hymns and translations of Canadian, Nova Scotian, and Cape Breton songs round out the collection. This collection features poems in Scottish Gaelic with English translation on the facing page.
Doors
There are things known, and things unknown, and in between…are the doors. Fifteen short stories of eldritch horror and fantasy slip through doorways in and out of parallel worlds in the English translation of Cape Breton author-artist Angus MacLeod’s second Gaelic graphic novel.
Lisette of Louisbourg
This middle-grade novel by the author of Iain of New Scotland is set in 1749 during the time when the British are handing the Fortress of Louisbourg back to the French.