TORONTO – Guests will gush over Mark Reid’s collection of Canuck photographs. Table tops will tempt with artwork by Ted Harrison. And gift exchangers will cackle over the cartoons of Aislin.
The Canadian spirit imbues a wide range of new coffee-table books that make grand gifts or displays this holiday season. Here are some selections:
-“100 Photos That Changed Canada” (HarperCollins Canada Limited), edited by Mark Reid, is a bestselling heavy hardback of striking Canuck images and commentary from historians, journalists and writers. The book is separated into four eras, starting at 1847 through the present. Not all the photographs are easy to look at – “The Culling Fields,” taken in 1969 by Duncan Cameron, for instance, shows a Canadian seal hunter about to club a cub – but all are powerful snapshots of the country’s history. Other examples include Phil Nolan’s 1996 “Shawinigan Handshake” shot of Jean Chretien grabbing the neck of a demonstrator at a Flag Day ceremony in Hull, Que.
-Glossy, vibrant artwork capturing the essence of the Yukon make up “Ted Harrison, Painting Paradise” (Crown Publications, the Queen’s Printer for British Columbia). Written by Katherine Gibson, the large and hefty softcover contains 260 pages of stunning images as well as a profile of Harrison’s life and photographs of his upbringing in England. Harrison, 83, lives in Victoria, B.C., and holds the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia.
-Another substantial eye-catcher is the shiny, red hardcover “The Collected Doug Wright: Canada’s Master Cartoonist” (Drawn & Quarterly). Edited by Seth and Brad MacKay, this heavy, 240-page tome contains dozens of images from the iconic “Doug Wright’s Family” comic strip that ran in newspapers starting in the late 1940s. Also included are photographs and letters from the late artist regarded as Canada’s equivalent to Charles Schulz.
-“Aislin’s Shenanigans … and Other Recent Cartoons” (McArthur & Company) sees witty Montreal-based political cartoonist Terry Mosher (who goes by the pen name Aislin) lampooning world leaders and events from 2006 through 2009. Softcover and smaller than the average coffee-table book, guests can easily flip through the dozens of cutting cartoons that cover everything from two unresolved wars to Canadian and American politics and the time Michelle Obama touched the Queen. Jack Rabinovitch, founder of the Scotiabank Giller Prize, wrote the introduction for the book, Aislin’s 42nd.
-Offering an overview of the work done by all Canadian political cartoonists in 2008 through 2009 is “Portfoolio 23, the Year’s Best Canadian Editorial Cartoons” (McArthur & Company). Edited with text by Warren Clements, the softcover is the same size and weight as Aislin’s book and also includes photos and biographies of the cartoonists with examples of their work.
-In the heavy hardback “A Boy After the Sea: An Untold Story,” chef Kevin Snook – who spends his time between Vancouver and Bray-on-Thames in England – offers a collection of recipes from oceans, rivers and lakes. With a foreword and recipe by Heston Blumenthal, the glossy pages contain stunning shots of meals made by 26 renowned chefs from 14 countries, including Canada’s Michael Stadtlander. The book also highlights problems surrounding sustainable fishing and fish farming. Proceeds from the sales of the book go to the Dan Snook Trust Foundation, named after the author’s late son who loved to fish and cook.
-“Doors” (Firefly Books) is a gorgeous glossy hardback profiling – you guessed it – doors. Toronto-based graphic designer Bob Wilcox selected 500 photographs of doors from around the world for this 272-page dazzler, starting with ancient doorways to the most modern architectural entryways. Jerome Markson, a home designer and fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, wrote the foreword.
-Theodore Brasser lays out a plush pictorial history of tribal groups in 12 regions across North America in the weighty, 368-page hardback “Native American Clothing” (Firefly Books). Brasser, a former curator at the Canadian Museum of Anthropology, includes more than 300 photographs from museums and private collections, as well as essays to provide context for the clothing.
