Heart of the North Anthology: A Collection of Short Stories and Poetry

Anne Hutchings is an elementary-school teacher-librarian with the Durham
Board of Education.

Despite the subject headings included in the CCIP Data (“Children’s
Poetry and Children’s Stories”) only the second of this book’s
three sections includes material for young readers. The other two
sections (which include the author’s account of his father’s
emigration to Canada, several shorter stories, and poems focusing on
beauty, love, and sorrow) are clearly for adult readers.

The book would have profited from a firm editorial hand. There are
glaring redundancies (“This cold arctic mass of cold air from the
north seemed to have settled permanently over Sunset Bay and had refused
to move”). Errors in spelling and punctuation abound, and sentences
are often awkwardly constructed. The book’s design and cover add
little to its appeal.