Only in Canada!

Mary St. Onge-Davidson is president of the Essential English Centre in
Ottawa.

Although there is an abundance of books currently available on Canadian
geography and history, Vivien Bowers’s Only in Canada is unique. The
reader is taken on a wild and wacky trip from one Canadian coast to the
other, all the while being educated and entertained by two very
knowledgeable and very Canadian cartoon hosts, Moose and
Goose—hilariously created by Dianne Eastman. Utilizing an off-the-wall
approach to Canadian history and geography, Bowers and Eastman present
some amazing yet little-known facts about the geography, history,
environment, and people of Canada.

The main geographical focus is on the western provinces and Arctic
regions, with, of course, some attention paid to Quebec, Ontario, and
the Atlantic provinces. Bowers’s wonderful way with words is reflected
in her chapters headings. “Amazing Facts About How Canada Was Bashed,
Pummelled, Scrunched, and Scraped into the Shape It’s in Today”
provides an overview of the geography of Canada. “Naturally and Wildly
Canadian” features some very odd animals. “Weather Weirdness”
identifies the most astonishing weather spots in Canada. “So You Think
Canadians Are Boring? Ha!” looks at some intriguing Canadians: what
they invented, accomplished—even robbed.

Not one thing in this book is boring. Only in Canada! is an
entertaining, out-of-the-ordinary, fact-filled book that anyone who
reads it will enjoy. Highly recommended.