Book Picks

Adult Book:

Growing Pains  -By Emily Carr
1946

This fascinating book written by Canadian painter Emily Carr shortly before her death at age 74, documents her struggles for acceptance as an artist. Carr could express herself with a pen almost as well as with a paintbrush and she has created a vivid portrait of her triumphs and setbacks. The book documents her strict Victorian upbringing, her training as a painter in San Francisco and in London, England. Carr also describes her eventual discovery of her artistic voice which so perfectly captures the essence of the Canadian woods.

Children's Book:

Jane of Lantern Hill  -By L.M. Montgomery
1937

This is one of my favorite L.M. Montgomery stories. Shy, plain Jane Stewart has lived with her mother and her domineering grandmother in a big lonely house in Toronto, Ontario for as long as she can remember. She attends a snooty private school where she has no friends. Although surrounded by material possessions and servants she is starved for affection and for something useful to do.

But one year Jane is summoned by the father she has never met, to spend the summer in Prince Edward Island. During the three months of self-discovery that follow, Jane proves herself resourceful, clever and lovable. Children will enjoy Jane's transformation and her eventual confrontation with the stern, interfering grandmother.