Kids Book of Canadian Exploration

by Ann-Maureen Owens, Jane Yealland

From Native peoples in search of new hunting grounds to European fishermen out for bigger catches, explorers were drawn to Canada for many reasons. They discovered a vast and mysterious land that took hundreds of years to explore and map. But the story of Canadian exploration is about a lot more than mapping wilderness. With no new lands left to discover, present-day explorers focus on outer space, the ocean and the preservation of Earth's changing ecosystems.

56 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2004

About the author

Ann-Maureen Owens is a writer and teacher and has been writing books, newspaper columns and magazine articles for over 20 years. As a teacher she enjoys helping kids develop their writing skills and find opportunities to publish their work.

Growing up, Ann-Maureen, an avid reader, wrote for her school newspaper and was the yearbook editor. This love of words led her to study English Literature at the University of Toronto, but summer jobs as a camp counselor and then camp director led to a year of teaching at an eccentric private school in England. “I thought I would have to decide on a career in teaching or journalism, but when I won an award for a story about teaching at that crazy English school, I realized I could combine the two nicely.” She completed her education degree at Queen’s University.

Ann-Maureen wrote a regular column about education issues for her local newspaper, The Kingston Whig Standard, for five years and contributes freelance articles to Canadian magazines. “I especially like writing profiles of interesting people, travel articles about places I have visited and background pieces about ideas or situations that touch me personally. Teaching has given me insight into how to communicate with both kids and adults and my writing experiences have made me a better teacher.”

Ann-Maureen and her husband, Peter, raised their four sons in a rambling house on the edge of a conservation area in Kingston. Ann-Maureen teaches at the high school her boys attended before they headed off to university and she writes in a sunny home office at the front of the house “I am just getting used to having peace and quiet for writing, but it’s great when the boys and their friends all come home at holiday time, bringing back the happy chaos.”