“Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons.” -Robertson Davies. So many of our greatest authors have had cats that it seems a cat is next to the pen in importance to writers. Similarly cats have appeared all through great literature and all through more mainstream modern entertainment. This book tells the stories of these cats in story, and of their writers.
Most pets’ main job is to provide companionship to their human companions. But many dogs have other, very important jobs as well. Dogs’ keen sense of smell, their intelligence and willingness to learn and their strong dispositions make them irreplaceable as K-9 police officers, as seeing eye dogs for the blind, therapy and companion dogs for seniors and as soldiers’’ helpers in times of war. A few even work with politicians or as mascots on television! Here are over fifty, easy-to-read stories about these hardworking dogs.
What do you know about your dog? Or dogs in general? Learn more from over 300 facts, trivia bits, factoids (and even some jokes) all about humans’ most loyal companion: the dog. Sit down, read up and be informed.
There are more than 220 million cats in the world, and this book has stories about the world’s favourite pet from all across the globe. From an owner with 96 cats in Calgary, Alberta, Canada to a daring cat-escape from Lebanon to the Middle East, the book tells many fine feline tales. We4 also list over 20 different breeds from around the world, where they’re from and a short description. Truly a global cat reference for any cat-lover.
This book takes you deep inside the weirdest and most peculiar aspects of our country:
Yes, there is a lighthouse in Saskatchewan!! Climb 153 steps to the top.
The Diefenbunker is a relic of the Cold War that was built just outside Ottawa to house essential government and military personnel in the event of a nuclear attack; it is now a museum.
The Brussel Sprouts Festival is held yearly in the village of Rogersville, NB.
Lake Okanagan’s Ogopogo is one of Canada’s most well known monsters, but the weird thing is that at least 14 other unknown, cryptid lake creatures are said to swim this country’s waters.
The Old Sow tidal whirlpool, located in Passamaquoddy Bay, is the largest in the Western Hemisphere at 75 metres in diameter with a current speed of 28 kilometres an hour.
Over seven years 14 severed feet have washed up on the Pacific Coastline; some have been identified through DNA testing but the identity of most, and the reason for their find, remains a mystery.
The largest beaver dam in the world is 850 metres wide and is located in a remote corner of Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta.
The Hôtel de Glace in Québec City is sculpted from 500 tonnes of ice and 15,000 tonnes of snow.
Now, that’s just weird!
And there are hundreds more strange things about our country that you will learn about in Canada Weird, Strange and True!
Our best friends. They can be pets or working dogs; they race for sticks and balls or find survivors of disasters, and they are the subjects of some of the most amazing and touching stories:
- Employees of the Albany post office adopted a stray puppy named Owney, and in his life he traveled hundreds of thousands of miles with the mail to places around the world
- John Dignard, victim of a brain injury, introduced the concept of memory dogs by training a German shepherd help him
- Rescue dogs working 9/11 found a few survivors, but the remains they uncovered provided closure for grieving families
- Times were tough for Jude Stringfellow, but a bipedal puppy named Faith taught her to hope again
- The Sica family's golden retriever, Bullet, saved their three-week-old son from certain death from an undiagnosed heart condition
- Stubby, a mongrel boxer mutt, became a hero on the front lines when his frenetic barking alerted sleeping soldiers to poisonous gas
- Skippy, a hearing-ear dog, has given Kerena Marchant a taste of what freedom really means
- Blue heeler cross Skidboot has made appearances on Jay Leno, Oprah and the Late Show with David Letterman to perform his amazing tricks
- And so many more heartwarming stories.
If you can imagine it, somewhere there's probably a law against it. Laugh out loud over some of Canada's strangest laws - but not too loudly, or you might get a ticket:
- Until 2002 in BC, you couldn't stand up while having a drink in a restaurant
- In Halifax, cabbies are required to wear socks
- You're not allowed to dogsled on the sidewalks in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
- In Ponoka, Alberta, don't build a mud hut or a house with a straw roof
- Don't let your Canadian flag snap in the wind in Collingwood, Ontario
- Coloured margarine is illegal in Quebec
- Don't leave a trail of nails, tacks or glass behind you when you walk down the streets of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
- Clear sodas are not allowed to contain caffeine in Canada.
- Plus more outdated, outmoded or just plain outlandish laws from throughout Canada.
