Published in Escarpment Views, Summer 2008:
     Summer means the cottage for some people, their own or ones they rent or visit. For others, it means weekend day trips to a beach on one of the Great Lakes. Here are a couple of books suitable for these people, a third that explores the plant life of the southern territory of the Niagara Escarpment and a fourth, a powerful parable for the environment.
Paddling and Hiking the Georgian Bay Coast
By Kas Stone
     This is an intriguing guidebook for people looking for active summer outings, although information is also given for enjoying the sites in other seasons. But who can resist Georgian Bay in summer?
     The book is a thorough guide to the whole bay, from Killarney in the north, Parry Sound in the east, Collingwood to the south and Tobermory to the west. It introduces 38 of the best places for canoeing, kayaking or hiking along the coast, but it’s more than an excursion guide. It also gives the natural history of the landscapes as well as the history of human development of the area.
     Explored by the British in the early 1800s, the bay was named to honour King George IV. The Niagara Escarpment on the western Bruce Peninsula is described as having originated as a coral reef in a tropical sea, rivalling Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
     In chapters covering the Hibou Conservation Area at Owen Sound to the tip of the Bruce Peninsula, there are photographs, maps and descriptions of such highlights as Indian Falls, considered a miniature Niagara Falls, Bruce’s Caves, the Grotto at Indian Head Cove, Flowerpot Island, and many shipwrecks that at times are clearly visible from the surface of the water, including those at Fathom Five National Marine Park.
     Author Kas Stone has created a guidebook that will surely prompt many people to head to the bay for rejuvenating summer breaks.
The Boston Mills Press, 2008, softcover, $29.95.

The Cottage Bible
By Gerry Mackie & Laura Elise Taylor
     For almost every question anyone might have about cottage life, this is a fun reference. When the authors use the word “cottage,” they explain “What we are thinking about is a getaway place in the form of a dwelling that is generally small, simple and close to or on the water – and a source of great pleasure and enjoyment.”
     There are detailed chapters on the formation and structure of lakes, on boating, swimming, cottage maintenance, fishing and living with wildlife, both animals and plants.
     “Our intent in this book has been especially to consider the importance of the natural world around us as it relates to life at the cottage,” they write.
     Perhaps the single most important bit of information in the whole book is on page 188: the recipe for the skunk odour remedy that includes peroxide. It really works.
The Boston Mills Press, 2007, softcover, $39.95.
 
The Natural Treasures of Carolinian Canada
By The Carolinian Canada Coalition
     Part of southern Ontario is biologically more similar to North and South Carolina than it is to the rest of Canada. Roughly covering west from Toronto’s Rouge River Valley to Grand Bend on Lake Huron and south to the U.S. border, Carolinian Canada includes the southern part of the Niagara Escarpment. Yet there are no firm, fixed boundaries.
     A description of characteristic trees shows the mixture of species that grow here: “Even in the heart of Carolinian Canada, where southern forest icons such as Tulip-tree, Sassafrass, Tupelo, and an assortment of oaks and hickories are well established, common boreal species such as Paper Birch and Quaking Aspen persist. Here, Larch and Black Spruce, classic species of northern muskeg, sustain some of their southernmost populations on the continent.”
     The authors state that this is “an area of biological richness unmatched anywhere else in the country,” and that “close to one-third of Canada’s rare and endangered plants and animals live in the Carolinian zone.”
     Efforts to protect the species in the area were begun in the 1980s, and 38 Carolinian Canada Signature Sites have been identified. The Carolinian Canada Coalition, credited as author of this book, has been involved for more than two decades and is now promoting private stewardship.
     The book is divided into three parts, focusing on plants, animals and caring for nature. Plenty of large, excellent, full-colour photographs of individual plants, animals and landscapes instantly convey good information.
James Lorimer & Company Ltd., 2007, softcover, $34.95

Flight of the Hummingbird
By Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas
     This “parable for the environment” is a lovely little book, illustrated with powerful drawings in the Haida Manga style created by Michael Nicholl Yahgulanaas, an artist living in Vancouver.
     The story at the centre of the book is a tale about a forest fire and a hummingbird, and was inspired by a parable of the Quechuan people of South America.
     The Dalai Lama and a Kenyan woman who founded a Green Belt Movement and won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, have contributed the afterword and foreword of the book.
     Some find this parable inspiring; others might find it heartbreaking. Either way, it’s a beautiful volume.
Greystone Books, 2008, hardcover, $16.