The Treasure Box, by Judith Silverthorne

Gus can’t imagine anything worse than moving to another city to live with his grandfather — until he gets off to a bad start and becomes a target for the school bully. Then, while working on his family history assignment, he discovers a small box of unusual objects that mysteriously catapult him back in time. Now he has even bigger problems. But if he can survive the harrowing events of the past, maybe what he learns there can help him figure out how to deal with the bully and make new friends in the present.

192 Pages, for Middle Grade
Time Travel Adventure!

ISBN :9781988783888

The Treasure Box is available at:

Ghosts in the Garden, by Judith Silverthorne

Ghostly mysteries abound at Saskatchewan’s Government House, and Sam and J.J are once again tasked with solving them. (Their first adventure was in Judith’s book The Ghosts of Government House)

Things aren’t as they appear at Government House, as Sam and J.J. discover on a field trip when they find themselves discussing mushroom growth at the turn of the 20th century with George Watt, the gardener of the property. In an attempt to uncover what happened, the girls find themselves back in the present, face-to-face with the ghost of a woman who simply mouths the word “watch” to them.

Who was this mysterious woman, and what does she want them to do for her in the present time? In order to solve the mystery, Sam and J.J must navigate the extensive grounds of Government House (both past and present). And with only the faintest idea of how to return to their time, their forays into the past become dangerous. Can they figure out what the ghost wants before they’re stuck in the past for good?

188 Pages, for Middle Grade (9-12)
Time Travel Adventure!

This is a new edition of Ghosts in the Garden, replacing the original one published by Coteau Books. It is available at:

A few paperback copies of the original edition are available at Our Little Bookshop.

Germy Johnson’s Stolen Skateboard, by Alison Lohans

J.J., Derek and Tanya have practiced hard for the Slick Wheels Contest. Will their routine win the nine-and-under category? They’re sure they have a good chance. And then, everything goes wrong!
Who is the strange older boy? He’s using J.J.’s skateboard to give rides to a teddy bear! How can J.J. get his board back?
Can J.J. outsmart the neighborhood bully, too?

Author: Alison Lohans
Illustrations: Sandra Norman

The price of the book is $10.95
ISBN: 978-1-7772871-4-6
Pages: 56 (ages 7-10)

Read about Germy Johnson’s Piano War too!

Germy Johnson’s Stolen Skateboard is available from:

Germy Johnson’s Piano War, by Alison Lohans

J.J. is so upset when Mom signs him up for piano lessons! They’re Saturday morning, when all the best shows are on! His best friend Derek has to take lessons too – and hates the idea. So they start making plans. When J.J. gets a black eye at his first lesson, that means war! But there’s a new boy at school. He’s good at piano. And Derek starts playing with him, instead of J.J. How can J.J. ever make things right again?

Author: Alison Lohans
Illustrations: Sandra Norman

Pages: 77 (for ages 7-10)

Read about Germy Johnson’s Stolen Skateboard too!

Germy Johnson’s Stolen Skateboard is available from:

The Mystery of the Giant Kohlrabi, by Sharon Plumb

The Mystery of the Giant Kohlrabi, by Sharon Plumb
The Mystery of the Giant Kohlrabi, by Sharon Plumb.
Cover and interior illustrations by Jolyn Michaelis

What People are Saying

A top-secret experiment, a Wonder-Gizmo, and a slimy villain — this book has all the ingredients! Nero must battle giant veggies with teeth and swords, broccoli-headed aliens, and a host of oddball relatives to solve this mystery. It’s the perfect recipe for family fun! All with an actual recipe for healthy chocolate treats thrown in. Who could ask for more? ~ Marie Powell, author of Last of the Gifted

“Silly and sweet. Can’t go wrong with giant bugs!”
~ Jolyn Michaelis, Kohlrabi cover artist and illustrator (See more of her monstrous art on her portfolio.)

Clementine grabbed Nero’s arm as they tiptoed through the dark room. “Do you hear footsteps?”
Nero listened. “That’s not footsteps. That’s…slurping!”

When Nero and his family go to help their relatives harvest their top-secret genetically engineered house-sized vegetables, he expects to sleep in a pumpkin house. He doesn’t expect to have to eat rutabaga pie. Isn’t a rutabaga a kind of turnip? Or to encounter vegetables with weapons, or a hidden elevator, or a creepy, crawly foe about to destroy the garden.

It’s a good thing he has his trusty Wonder-Gizmo along. It has an arrow, a claw tool with fold-out fingers, night-vision goggles, and a bug zapper. Even a coward can be brave with an awesome gadget like this. Until things go terribly wrong, and Nero has to confront his deepest fears all by himself. He will need all the courage he has, and lots more he doesn’t, to save the garden, and his family, from a slithery, slimy fate.

Ages 8-12 with STEM elements of aquifers, garden plants and pests, and themes of family, friendship lost and restored, courage and environment. Comes with Creative Writing Ideas for the classroom and a home-tested recipe for Twig’s Kohlrabi Chocolate Chip Cookies. Interior illustrations by Jolyn Michaelis.

Perfect for fans of “Bloom” (Kenneth Oppel), “Music for Tigers” (Michelle Kadarusman), “The Astounding Broccoli Boy” (Frank Cottrell Boyce) and “Beetle Boy” (M.G. Leonard).

Where to Buy

Available in print at:

ePub ISBN: 978-0-9918792-4-3
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9918792-3-6
Kindle ISBN: 978-0-9918792-5-0

Available in ebooks all over the place:

See reviews and learn more about gardens at Sharon Plumb’s website.

Sisters of the Wolf, by Patricia Miller-Schroeder

Author: Pat Miller-Shroeder

Sisters of the Wolf is a thrilling adventure of friendship, culture clash, bravery, and survival set in Ice Age Europe. After being separated from their tribes, Keena and Shinoni must learn to survive as they are pursued by a ruthless hunter in a land rumbling with advancing glaciers and teeming with mighty predators.

This book is available in paperback and ebook versions at:

Published by Dundurn Press. Ages 12-15, Grades 7-9

Winner of the Saskatchewan 2023 Book Award in the Young Adult Literature category!

Dinosaur Adventure Series, by Judith Silverthorne

Book 1 in the Dinosaur Adventure Series

What good is a bunch of old bones?

Daniel lives in southwestern Saskatchewan along the Montana border, land rich in fossils from the prehistoric past. Dinosaur country. Daniel loves nothing more than fossil hunting. He even dreams about dinosaurs.

But his dad wants him to take more interest in his chores. The farm is in financial trouble, and he doesn’t think a bunch of old bones is going to help.

Then, at his secret hideout, a hollowed-out cave in the hillside, Daniel makes an exciting find. A fossil never before seen in the area, proves to him he’s on the right track to find bigger dinosaur bones. But he has to watch out for Pederson, the scary old guy who lives on the neighbouring land. He also has to be on the look out for Pederson’s enormous dog.

What is Pederson hiding in his old shack? Why is he trying to scare Daniel away from the fossils?

Book 2 in the Dinosaur Adventure Series

In Dinosaur Hideout, Daniel and Pederson, a reclusive paleontologist living on a neighbouring farm in southwestern Saskatchewan, made a brilliant discovery–the fossil remains of an Edmontosaurus dinosaur. Now, local bullies Todd and Craig Nelwin, jealous of all the attention Daniel gets, want to find his hideout and wreck it. When the three scuffle and Daniel hits his head, he mysteriously time travels into the world of Cretaceous dinosaurs – Triceratops, Brontosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex.When another strange shock brings him back to his own time, Daniel at first doesn’t realize that he carries a small piece of the past. Whenever he touches it, he will return to the dinosaurs’ world. Daniel makes two more unplanned but thrilling trips to the past. He sees the most marvellous, and horrifying, sights and makes new discoveries about dinosaurs. On a final trip, Daniel has two unwilling “hitchhikers” with him–the Nelwins. Daniel isn’t the only one who learns from their sudden shared adventure.

Book 3 in the Dinosaur Adventure Series

Following the adventures of Dinosaur Hideout and Dinosaur Breakout, twelve-year-old Daniel Bringham once again travels back to the time of dinosaurs to learn more about the prehistoric creatures he loves. This time he has an unexpected companion. In Dinosaur Hideout, Daniel and his neighbour, Ole Pederson, made a brilliant discovery: the fossil remains of a dinosaur, an Edmontosaurus they called Marianna. In Dinosaur Breakout, Daniel had an even more amazing adventure. Now, in Dinosaur Stakeout, Daniel decides to travel to the past one more time. He wants to find out if a dying female dinosaur he saw on his last trip is Marianna, the fossil he and Pederson found in Book One. Daniel figures to go alone, but he’s figured without Pederson and his friend Mildred Roost, another palaeontologist. Mildred insists on coming with him and Daniel thinks it’ll wreck everything. An old lady will just slow him down, and if she gets killed, he’ll blame himself. But he’s reckoned without a tough old bird with lots of tricks up her sleeve, tricks that could save both their lives.

Book 4 in the Dinosaur Adventure Series

Daniel has traveled to prehistoric times and seen the dinosaurs up close, but he’s promised his old friend Ole Pederson not to try it again because it’s just too dangerous. What would they tell his parents if Daniel never came back?But his friends Ole Pederson and Mildred Roost, experts on dinosaurs, secretly plan to go instead. For them, the trip will be the thrill of a lifetime, seeing up close the colossal creatures they’ve spent a lifetime studying. Deep down Daniel knows that they accept the risks: they could even die on their journey, deep in the past.When they don’t come back on time, Daniel faces a dilemma. Should he keep his promise, or should he go back and help them?Who could have guessed they’d end up in the time of the dinosaurs’ final extinction? That they’d see sights more amazing and terrible than they could ever have imagined.

All four books in The Dinosaur Adventure Series are available in Kindle and Paperback at:

These books are new releases of previously released books. Some of the original books are also available from Our Little Book Shop.

Trial by Winter (Barr Colony Adventure #3), by Anne Patton

Trial by Winter, by Anne Patton
Trial by Winter, by Anne Patton

Author: Anne Patton
Publisher: Coteau Books

In this third installment of the Barr Colony Adventures, Dorothy and her family are living in a sod hut on a homestead near what is now Lloydminster. They have crossed an ocean by ship, a continent by train, and a prairie by horse-drawn cart. But they have no idea how harsh a prairie winter can be. When Dorothy’s Dad goes to Edmonton to work for the winter and her brother Frank away in Battleford to buy supplies, Dorothy, Lydia and Mam must fend for themselves in the winter storm. If only their sod house wasn’t letting in so much of the cold…

Based on a true story, this book is a riveting ending to the Bolton family’s adventures on the Saskatchewan prairies.

The previous books in this series were Full Steam to Canada and Through Flood and Fire.

Full Steam to Canada, by Anne Patton
Full Steam to Canada, by Anne Patton

Through Flood and Fire, by Anne Patton

For more about Dorothy and her previous adventures, see the Barr Colony Adventures website.

Available now! For where to buy, see the Coteau Books website.