KAGAWONG—The second children’s book written by a Kagawong author tells the story of humans trying to get along with nature and is based on a personal story of his having to deal with pesky beavers that wanted to eat all the trees on his property. The book, ‘Mr. B Meets 9 Bold Beavers’ is also designed to encourage youngsters to take time away off the internet and their cellphones and read a book.
“I give this book a 10/10,” wrote Drew, age 9, of M’Chigeeng First Nation. “I especially loved the part when the beavers flew in with a helicopter. That was amazing.”
Catherine, a mom from Kitchener wrote, “What a fun and entertaining story with beautiful illustrations! I loved how I learned so much about trees and the behaviour of beavers.”
“Nadia of Kitchener who is eight wrote, “I like the facts about trees and how they help all living things and the environment. Did the beavers continue to visit with the Brights? And I loved the names of the beavers and the illustrations.”
“The story is about Mr. and Mrs. Bright who are trying to deal with a group of beavers whose goal is to build the longest beaver dam in the world, from Kagawong to Blind River,” said Mr. Denomme. And they are determined they are going to use all the trees on the Brights property to build this dam as well as to eat, including one Mr. Bright called ‘Matilda’ which held a treehouse.
The nine bold beavers include Mulcher, Sawyer, Chiseler, Chomper, Carver, Nibbler, Chipper, Chopper, and Shredder. Through Mr. Bright, the beavers learn the importance of healthy trees on the environment and climate.
“The theme is basically about humans trying to get along with nature,” stated Mr. Denomme. “That in itself can be a challenge for both humans and nature.”
Mr. Denomme explained the book is in part written as a personal perspective. “Because I was losing trees to beavers, I lost 12 trees to them last year. I tried different methods to save the trees without harming the beavers.”
“Beavers are very determined,” said Mr. Denomme.
“I had so much fun with the names of the beavers, and the map especially,” said Mr. Denomme. “Readers will see Purvis Limb Co. hauling limbs of trees for the beaver, the Owen Sound Bough Co. delivering boughs, Tobermory Twig Company, M.T. hauling lots of branches on the Trans-Canada Highway.
“This book was based on a personal story, as was my first book ‘Priscilla Searches for a Friend-and Saves the Village of Kagawong.’ “I was putting a Great Blue Heron weathervane on my cottage roof and the story came to me,” said Mr. Denomme.
“I have always enjoyed writing,” said Mr. Denomme, who was an elementary school teacher in the Kitchener-Cambridge area for 31 years. “I taught Grade 3 for 10 years. This age group of students was my favourite group because at that age they like homework and learn very easy at that age, they soak up everything they are being taught,” he said.
Mr. Denomme along with his wife Mary-Teresa are seasonal residents of Kagawong, spending the rest of the year at their home in Kitchener.
Mr. Denomme said one of the objectives of his writing children’s books “is to encourage reading the love for books for kids, so they aren’t spending all their time looking at computer screens or their cellphones all day.”
By the way, what did work for Mr. Denomme to keep beavers off his trees was chicken wire mesh securely around the base of the trees.
‘Mr. B. Meets 9 Bold Beavers’ is available at Robertson’s IDA Store in Gore Bay, the Mutchmor in Providence Bay, Edwards Studios in Kagawong, as well as The Manitoulin Expositor in Little Current and Gore Bay for $15.
C: Kagawong author Mark Denomme has released his second children’s book, ‘Mr. B. Meets 9 Bold Beavers,’ which tells the story of humans trying to get along with nature, in this case beavers whose goal is to build the longest beaver dam in the world.
