Illustrations by Martyna Czub
Nimbus Publishing
978-1-77471-439-3
32 pp.
Ages 3-7
June 2025
Do not think that My Nova Scotia is a travelogue about one of Canada's Atlantic provinces. Instead, read and see about a land and people much loved and spirited and diverse through the words and art of two Nova Scotians, Lindsay Ruck and Martyna Czub.
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From My Nova Scotia, written by Lindsay Ruck, illustrated by Martyna Czub |
In a lovely, melodic rhyming text, Lindsay Ruck shows us her Nova Scotia. It's a setting of ocean breezes, rustling trees, apples, berries, and a rolling sea. But beyond what is seen in its landscape, it is a place of heritage and people. It is Mi'kma'ki and a land of diverse cultures, from Black Loyalists and refugees and Acadians to those who celebrate the Lunar New Year. They are a people who celebrate with music and dance, food and family. They are a people who have big dreams and share their stories.
We work as one and together we rise.
Lindsay Ruck tells of a Nova Scotia of the past and of the present, and honours all that it is with her words.
My Nova Scotia honours our past
Our cultures are rich and our heritage vast
But added to Lindsay Ruck's words is the watercolour artwork of Martyna Czub which transports young readers to an ethereal Nova Scotia of colour and vibrancy, solitude and contemplation. She gives us lively scenes of Lunar New Year celebrations and ceilidhs, large family meals and the gardening and harvesting of food. Martyna Czub also takes us to quiet places of hiking in the woods and travelling on the water. But her depictions of these places and people are so emotive through her choice of colours and strokes of her brushes that Martyna Czub imbues her art with heart and a calming spirit of devotion. Both Martyna Czub and Lindsay Ruck give us a lovely view of Nova Scotia and yet each finds their own way to reveal its charm.
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From My Nova Scotia, written by Lindsay Ruck, illustrated by Martyna Czub |
I know that some readers may see My Nova Scotia as a regional book that could only be appreciated by locals, but you'd be mistaken. It's been years since I visited Nova Scotia so my appreciation of its beauty and people and all it has to offer a tourist is very limited. But, even if I had never been to this Atlantic province, I would get a true impression of its wonder. And as I read the text, I was the hearing the melody of "Farewell to Nova Scotia," not because it had a similar tale but because they are both infused with love for a land. My Nova Scotia may be that of Lindsay Ruck and Martyna Czub, but it is an all-embracing admiration for a land unique in place and people that could only be Nova Scotia.