• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 6

Owlkids Books and Canadian Geographic magazine put a call out to kids across Canada: “Vivien Bowers wants to answer your questions about your country. Your very own question could be included in Vivien’s upcoming book, Crazy About Canada!” Thousands of kids responded, and this Wow Canada! book selected and answered the most frequently asked and intriguing questions. Vivien Bowers (as a character in her own book) and her 12-year-old, Internet-savvy sidekick, Morton, take on each question with determination, candid curiosity, and a great sense of humor. The answers to kids’ burning (and sometimes freezing) questions about this country’s wildlife, geography, and cultures are presented here in an energetic, refreshing format. Manageable amounts of text, incredible photos, and lighthearted illustrations make exploring Canada fun and inspiring by zeroing in on the information that will be most exciting to kids. Fans of Vivien Bowers — and those meeting her for the first time — will love this energetic, fresh take on the Great White North.

Vivien Bowers appreciates kids' tireless curiosity, and satisfies it with high-energy non-fiction. With over 20 years of writing experience, she has garnered numerous awards and nominations. She is the author of Crazy About Canada! and That's Very Canadian! She lives in Nelson, BC, where she enjoys escaping to the wilderness to ski, hike, or canoe.

Vivien Bowers' profile page

Dianne Eastman Dianne Eastman worked in advertising before she turned to full-time design and illustration of children’s books. She lives in northern Ontario.

Dianne Eastman's profile page

• Short-listed, British Columbia Library Association, Red Cedar Book Award
• Commended, Bank Street College of Education, Best of the Year
• Commended, Ontario Library Association, Top 10 Canadian Children's Books, Non-fiction Category, Best Bets List
• Commended, Canadian Toy Testing Council, Recommended Books
• Commended, Canadian Children's Book Centre, Our Choice Selection
• Short-listed, Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Awards, Diamond Willow Award
• Short-listed, Atlantic Library Association, Hackmatack Children's Choice Book Award
• Winner, Canadian Science Writers' Association, Science in Society Award
• Commended, Resource Links, Best of the Year

Filled with incredible photos and lighthearted illustrations, making exploring Canada fun and inspiring by zeroing in on the information that’s most exciting.

Calgary’s Child

Part of the Canadian Geographic Kids series, this book is sure to educate and entertain students in grades 4 – 6.

British Columbia Education Report

The short and chatty text, along with lots of color pictures, make this an accessible book for a wide range of ages...It is highly recommended for any classes studying Canada and for those curious kids in any other grades.

Canadian Children's Book News

This appealing entry in the Canadian Geographic Kids series is light-hearted and perfect for browsing.

North Bay Nugget

There’s lots here for kids to learn, and because the book was shaped by real questions from real children, they’re the sort of facts that are bound to be eaten up.

Calgary Herald

...Vivien Bowers and Dianne Eastman [have] done it again. They’ve produced yet another book that is humorous, lively, and interesting.

Quill & Quire

Bowers responds to the questions in kid-friendly language, sharing her readers’ curiosity and injecting the text with her energy, enthusiasm and sense of humor.

CM Magazine: Canadian Review of Materials

This is a great book for everyone…

Quebec Home & School News

Tour guides Vivien and Morton escort readers on a highly visual and graphically appealing journey through some of the lesser-used corridors of the country.

School Library Journal

[Crazy About Canada] delivers a wealth of information about Canada and things Canadian. It’s a very good combination — intellectually rigorous material overlaid with lightheartedness — as the creators of this book must have planned.

The Globe and Mail

Beautifully produced book

The Vancouver Sun

Crazy About Canada is another great find for curious kids. Vivien Bowers has packed this book with amazing facts about our country in response to what kids right across Canada told her they wanted to know.

The Telegram (St. John’s)

In this treasure trove of questions kids ask about Canada, text and artwork blend playfulness with encyclopedic attention to detail.

Our Choice

The subtitle for this large-format, copiously illustrated book could well have been ‘Things that will fascinate kids.’…Crazy About Canada! treads lightly between drama, comedy, and scholarship. It is, in short, an excellent book for both school and home libraries. Highly recommended.

Canadian Book Review Annual

A treasure trove of things about Canada…

Travel for Kids

Crazy About Canada: Amazing Things Kids Want To Know

Questions, questions, questions! Maple Tree Press and Canadian Geographic magazine asked kids to send in their questions about Canada. Author Vivien Bowers gathered them together and answered them in this fun and engaging book. She arranged the answers into three broad sections – animals, geography and culture. The book takes the form of a research quest, with the author, Vivien, as the main character, accompanied by her intrepid assistant, Morton. She uses books, encyclopedia, magazines, the Internet and visits with experts in the field to answer the questions. Each topic gets a two-page spread that includes anywhere from 1 to 6 questions. In the section on animals, she covers polar bears, moose and beaver, with questions such as “Do polar bears freeze?” and “How do beavers breathe underwater?” The geography section asks “Is the North Pole in Canada?” (Yes, sort of) and “Why does Vancouver get rain while Halifax gets so much snow?” (that’s more complicated). The answers are generally concise and straightforward, although occasionally the question hints at a broader question that is not always answered satisfactorily, as with “Where does all the water come from that goes over Niagara Falls?” (Nothing was mentioned about the progress of the water from the Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence and, ultimately, to the ocean.)

The short and chatty text, along with lots of colour pictures, makes this an accessible book for a wide range of readers. It includes a detailed index and a design that also makes the information easy to find. It is highly recommended for any classes that are studying Canada and for those curious kids in any other grades.

Crazy About Canada!: Amazing Things Kids Want to Know (Canadian Geographic Kids)

Do polar bears freeze? How did hoodoos form? In this treasure trove of questions kids ask about Canada, text and artwork blend playfulness with encyclopedic attention to detail.