Great Stories of Canada

Today I'd like to introduce you to a whole series of living books on Canadian history!

Published between 1953 and 1968, "Great Stories of Canada" are the Canadian equivalent of the popular Landmark series in the US. Sadly, they are long out of print, but you can still find them at library sales and thrift stores. I'm including lots of pictures so you can recognize them when you see them there, and snap them up!



This past year, we read Kerry Woods' The Map-Maker: The Story of David Thompson from this series. We read it as a Canadian substitute for a book on Lewis and Clark in the American curriculum we follow, and it was a worthy substitute. It held the interest of all my students, from SA(9) down to MM(5), and I am confident that they will "know" David Thompson for the rest of their lives. We also made great use of the map in the front of the book for our Canadian geography lessons.

The books in the Great Stories of Canada series are written by various authors. I have not read all of them yet, but skimming through the ones I have I am confident that the writing quality is consistently good. We did find one author, Joseph Schull, (Battle for the Rock, about the Battle on the Plains of Abraham) was not ideal for reading and narration in grade 3 because my student was losing track of the many characters. However, I would still recommend the book, and it would probably have worked for an older student in grades 4-6. Other authors include Pierre Berton, Thomas Raddall, Edward McCourt, and Roderick Haig-Brown.


One of my favourite features of this series are the historical maps in the beginning of each book. Thus far in my experience with these books, I have found that the maps contain all the places mentioned in the story and no more, allowing children to follow along easily as they read.

There are also a few illustrations, in most books one or two pen-and-ink drawings per chapter. The quality of these varies a little depending on the artist employed.



The series was originally published by MacMillan, but you may also find editions published later by The Canadiana Company with two titles per volume, like these.

I also include a list of titles and authors for your convenience. Please note that I do not endorse the contents of each individual book, as I have not read them all. Please do your own due diligence!

1. The Scarlet Force: The Making of the Mounted Police by T. Morris Longstreth

2. The Force Carries On by T. Morris Longstreth

3. Raiders of the Mohawk: The Story of Butler's Rangers by Orlo Miller

4. The Nor-Westers: The Fight for the Fur Trade by Marjorie Wilkins Campbell

5. The Golden Trail: The Story of the Klondike Rush by Pierre Berton

6. Buckskin Brigadier: The Story of the Alberta Field Force in 1885 by Edward McCourt

7. The Map-Maker: The Story of David Thompson by Kerry Wood

8. Arctic Assignment: The Story of the "St. Roch" by Sgt. F.S. Farrar, RCMP

9. Captain of the Discovery: The Story of Captain George Vancouver by Roderick Haig-Brown

10. The Bold Heart: The Story of Father Lacombe by Josephine Phelan

11. Redcoat Sailor: The Story of Sir Howard Douglas by R. S. Lambert

12. Red River Adventure: The Story of the Selkirk Settlers by J. W. Chalmers

13. The True North: The Story of Captain Joseph Bernier by T. C. Fairley and Charles E. Israel

14. The Great Chief: Maskepetoon: Warrior of the Crees by Kerry Wood

15. The Salt-Water Men: Canada's Deep-Sea Sailors by Joseph Schull

16. The Rover: The Story of a Canadian Privateer by Thomas H. Raddall

17. Revolt in the West: The Story of the Riel Rebellion by Edward McCourt

18. Knights of the Air: Canadian Aces of World War I by John Norman Harris

19. Frontenac and the Iroquois: The Fighting Governor of New France by Fred Swayze

20. Man from St. Malo: The Story of Jacques Cartier by Robert D. Ferguson

21. Battle for the Rock: The Story of Wolfe and Montcalm by Joseph Schull

22. The Queen's Cowboy: James Macleod of the Mounties by Kerry Wood

23. Fur Trader: The Story of Alexander Henry by Robert D. Ferguson

24. The First Canadian: The Story of Champlain by C. T. Ritchie

25. Adventurers from the Bay: Men of the Hudson's Bay Company by Clifford Wilson

26. Ships of the Great Days: Canada's Navy in World War II by Joseph Schull

27. Mutiny in the Bay: Henry Hudson's Last Voyage by R. S. Lambert

28. Runner of the Woods: The Story of Young Radisson by C. T. Ritchie

29. The Good Soldier: The Story of Sir Isaac Brock by D. J. Goodspeed

30. Tecumseh: The Story of the Shawnee Chief by Luella Bruce Creighton

31. The Row-Boat War: On the Great Lakes 1812-1814 by Fred Swayze

32. The Ballad of D'Arcy McGee: Rebel in Exile by Josephine Phelan

33. The Savage River: Seventy-One Days with Simon Fraser by Marjorie Wilkins Campbell

Happy hunting!

P.S. Have you read any of these books? I'd love to hear how you liked specific books in the series.