The Little Immigrants: The Orphans Who Came to Canada. Rev. ed.

Jerremie Clyde is a reference librarian at the University of Alberta.

The Little Immigrants tells the tale of thousands of impoverished
children who throughout much of the 19th century were sent to Canada to
build a new life for themselves and escape the poverty and abuse they
faced at home. It questions the intentions of the philanthropists who,
in trying to solve the children’s problems, helped to meet a labor
demand in Canada.

Kenneth Bagnell’s sensitive and lucid account exposes a side of
immigration often ignored in Canadian history classes. The Little
Immigrants is an excellent piece of popular history. While it may not
have the developed thesis and clearly constructed arguments of a
scholarly history, it does have a very strong narrative that helps bring
history alive to the reader.

Kenneth Bagnell has a background in journalism, having worked for The
Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail after moving from his native Nova
Scotia to Toronto in the 1960s. While his book would be suitable for
almost any history or Canadian studies collection, it is not a title for
history buffs alone.