How’s Peanut?by Brenda Redman, Illustrated by Wendy NordellPublished by Your Nickel’s Worth PublishingReview by Michelle ShawISBN 9781988783666 $14.95 Trying to explain complex concepts to children can be tricky. Explaining things in simple terms that they can understand and relate to can help to make the process a lot easier. In this fun children’s book author Brenda Redman has done just that. When Brenda’s daughter told her she was pregnant, she was ecstatic. The baby was nicknamed “Peanut”, and Brenda excitedly received regular updates from her daughter about how the baby was growing. After “Peanut” was born, Brenda was inspired to write a children’s story which her children encouraged her to publish. And so, How’s Peanut? was born. The book tells the story of a grandmother-to-be regularly getting updates from her daughter about how the pregnancy is progressing. The baby grows from the size of a peanut, to the size of a plum, to an avocado and slowly progresses to the size of a watermelon. Each stage is also described in terms of development. For example, “The baby is now 24 weeks old and is the size of a cob of corn. The baby can also hear my voice when I…

Healthy Aging Naturally: Proven Strategies for Disability-free Longevityby Felix Veloso, M.D.Published by YNWPReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$18.88 ISBN 9-781988-783604 The 2019 UN World Population Prospect report suggested that by 2050, 25% of the North American and European populations may be 65 or older. Clearly, now’s the time to address what an aging population will mean for society, and how those of us approaching our “golden years” can live happier and healthier lives as we age. University of Saskatchewan professor, author, and neurologist, Dr. Felix Veloso, brings more than 40 years of expertise to the subject, and I found his well-researched book, Healthy Aging Naturally: Proven Strategies for Disability-free Longevity, full of vital information and interesting statistics. Furthermore, he’s wisely structured his book with a conversational through-thread – between “Dr. Ferurojo” and patient “Anita Tykinlee” – so readers feel they are actually part of a story. Tykinlee asks the questions we might ask if we were in a doctor’s office, concerned about our own or an aging loved one’s health, and Ferurojo/Veloso does an exceptional job of answering her questions in an easy-to-understand, conversational style while also organically inserting the scientific facts – and quoting numerous studies from around the globe…

The Burned-Out Healer: A Path to Trauma Release and Reconnection to Selfby Jacquie BaloghPublished by Wood Dragon BooksReviewed by Michelle Shaw$19.99 ISBN 978-1-989078-23-5 In The Burned-Out Healer, Calgary-based hypnotherapist Jacquie Balogh shares her journey from burnout towards spiritual and physical harmony and provides a practical roadmap for others to recognize and address their own energetic exhaustion. Jacquie has been involved in healing for most of her life. Even as a child, she says, she had a special knack for reading people, for knowing things about them she had no realistic way of knowing. “I was able to see things around them such as auras and visitors from another realm. I was able to decipher what those things meant and help people along their journey by sharing this knowledge with them.” Jacquie naturally gravitated towards a career that would involve helping others and became a licensed practical nurse, which initially she thoroughly enjoyed. But after fifteen years she was disillusioned, she says, with a system that seemed to focus more on bureaucracy than healing. She decided to train in other avenues of healing such as reiki, tarot, mediumship and hypnotherapy, incorporating her knowledge into her own healing work. But even though…

Wheel the World: Travelling with Walkers and Wheelchairsby Jeanette DeanPublished by Your Nickel’s Worth PublishingReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$19.95  ISBN 9-781988-783505 I’ve just spent a pleasant afternoon with Jeanette Dean’s book Wheel the World: Travelling with Walkers and Wheelchairs. As the entire world’s currently anchored with the Coronavirus pandemic, we need travel books like Dean’s: over a few hours and 202 pages, she took me on well-described journeys around the globe, across Canada, and through my home province of Saskatchewan while I practiced social isolation on my comfortable couch. The title infers that this might be a “How To” book, but I’m suggesting it’s a wonderful armchair- adventure title for people with mobility issues or fully able bodies.   Dean and her husband, Christopher Dean, are British-born educators – now retired – who share passions for travel and photography. Saskatoon’s been home since 1966, and there Jeanette spent twenty-two years teaching at the R.J.D. Williams School for the Deaf. In her latter years, Dean’s arthritis has seen her transition from walker to wheelchair, but these challenges have not metaphorically slowed her one iota. She states: “Above all, this book is intended as an expression of the joy of travelling itself, regardless…

MENtal Health: It’s Time to Talk by Allan Kehler Published by Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing Reviewed by Marlin Legare ISBN 9781988783475 $17.95 Review Dedicated to Kirk Ackerman Mental health issues, awareness, and destigmatization has been on the forefront social consciousness in the past few years. Mental health has also been the topic of honest discussion now more than ever in modern human history. We benefit from such services as Sask HealthLine, a confidential and free service that can be reached 24/7 at 811, community mental health services, and specific support groups related to mental health issues such as alcohol and drug addiction, problem gambling, crisis intervention, domestic violence support, and others. Despite the fact that more resources than ever exist and that the stigma of talking about mental health issues has dropped significantly, people still continue to suffer in silence from mental health battles. Unfortunately, many of these battles are waged unknown to the world by men and boys. Due to this silence and societal and physiological factors, Statistics Canada estimates that men are three times as likely to die from suicide than women. Allan Kehler, who has an accomplished career in education and counselling, professional speaking and authoring books…

Raw: PrEP, Pedagogy, and the Politics of Barebacking Edited by Ricky Varghese Published by University of Regina Press Review by Toby A. Welch $34.95 ISBN 9780889776838 I have never learned as much from a book as I did from Raw. Considering that I love expanding my knowledge about almost any topic, that is a great thing! ‘Raw’ I understood but I had no idea what the subtitle of this book meant – I learned fast. PrEP, the acronym for pre-exposure prophylaxis, is an antiretroviral medicine used to prevent HIV infection. Pedagogy in general terms means educating and sharing information, often with social, critical, and cultural responsibilities. Barebacking is having intercourse without using a condom, a reference most used these days to describe two men engaging in anal sex. Now that we have the title cleared up, let’s jump in! A massive amount of time and research went into the compilation of this book. Each of the 14 contributors, including the editor of the tome, has an impressive resume. As for what this book is about, the editor sums it up best in his introduction: “Each of the authors in this project provides a rigorous examination of the ideological, socio-political, ethical,…

My Health in Hand (Healthcare Organizer) by Debbie Cancade-Schmidt, Shauna Baumann, and Sheila Warner-Johanson Published by Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing Review by Shelley A. Leedahl $24.95 ISBN 9-781927-756812 Do you envy those who seem ultra-organized? They can find whatever they need immediately, because they’ve taken the time to establish a system. We all know how easy it is to lose track of important information – you know, appointments scribbled on scraps of paper, or receipts from the drugstore. Wouldn’t it be great to have one handy place to store all this critical healthcare material? I believe it would, and thus I’m pleased to hold in my hands my brand new system: My Health in Hand, a practical and user-friendly healthcare organizer. The trio of women who thought up the idea for My Health In Hand, a sturdy, coil-bound record-keeping book that would fit in a purse or glove compartment, must have had quite the brainstorming sessions, for they seem to have considered everything one needs to manage healthcare details. Users begin by completing the “My Profile” pages, with spaces for critical details like hospitalization number, next of kin, and your doctor’s phone number. Beyond the usual information, the authors provide…

My Soul Still Dances: Living with Parkinson’s by Sister Adelaide Fortowsky, with Sister Rosetta Reiniger Published by DriverWorks Ink Review by Keith Foster $19.95 ISBN 978-1-927570-38-8 No one can ever know the pain inflicted by Parkinson’s disease – unless they’ve experienced it. Sister Adelaide Fortowsky, an Ursuline Sister, lived with this disease for more than twenty years and wrote about her ordeal in a diary. Published as My Soul Still Dances: Living with Parkinson’s, she records the progress of the disease as she slowly deteriorates. Born Bertha Fortowsky in 1930 on the family farm near Cavell, SK, she was so frail at birth that a midwife, fearing the newborn wouldn’t live, baptized her. She joined the Order of St. Ursuline in 1950, taking the name Sister Adelaide, and made her final vows in 1956. After teaching elementary school in Saskatchewan villages and towns for twenty-nine years, she joined the staff at St. Angela’s Academy, an all-girls high school with live-in students, at Prelate, SK. She taught until 2003, when her Parkinson’s affliction became severe. This is not an easy read. Parkinson’s has no known cause or cure. When “normal” activities were no longer normal, Sister Adelaide felt trapped in her…

Goodbye Stress, Hello Life! by Allan Kehler Published by Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing Review by Shelley A. Leedahl $15.95 ISBN 978-1-927756-53-9 Stress: every person deals with some amount of it. Some turn to vices (drugs, alcoholism, over-eating); some become angry, fearful, or depressed; many become physically ill; and fortunate others view stress as a challenge to be dealt with in positive ways (ie: changing routines, practicing mindfulness, exercising). If stress is threatening to sink you, reading Saskatonian Allan Kehler’s latest book, Goodbye Stress, Hello Life!, could be a swell start to swimming out of it. Kehler is a public presenter with a wealth of experience, both professional (addictions counsellor, clinical case manager, and college instructor) and personal (mental health and addiction issues) that fuel his authority on stress and living a healthier life. The blurb on Goodbye Stress, Hello Life! is a strong motivator for any potential readers: [Kehler] empowers you to take an honest look at what lies beneath your stressors, and provides the tools to heal through a holistic approach. You will be inspired to stop existing and start living …” What I appreciate most about this book is the great and diverse analogies Kehler employs, ie: he…

Hanna’s Letter by Darren Ulmer Published by DW Ulmer Publishing Review by Leslie Vermeer $9.95 978-0-99502421-2 It’s said that books are a way to start a social conversation. That’s certainly the case for Darren Ulmer, author of the children’s book Hanna’s Letter, which follows a child living through her parent’s serious illness. Ulmer wrote the book to give families a resource to talk about and prepare for the effects of life-threatening illnesses. When Hanna finds out that her father has throat cancer, her world turns upside down. She feels sad and helpless until she realizes there’s one person who can help: Santa Claus. Her selfless letter to Santa, which forms the centre of the book, represents an important step in her journey, and her family’s, through a cancer diagnosis and recovery. We see Hanna’s fear, her wistfulness, and ultimately her hope as the wish expressed in her letter comes true. Beautifully illustrated by Diane Lucas, Hanna’s Letter is a compassionate story based on real life. Saskatoon-based writer and speaker Ulmer is himself a cancer survivor, and the book is modelled on his family’s experience. “This was a very personal story, my story,“ he says, but he fictionalized it to help…