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2005
finalists.

2005 Hackmatack

Children's Choice Book Award/Prix littéraire - le choix de jeunes

In 1953 Nova Scotia zoologist Sherman Bleakney made a surprising discovery. He found a female Blanding's turtle living near Kejimkujik Lake. Until then, scientists did not know that the freshwater Blanding's turtles lived in Nova Scotia. This relict population is unique to Atlantic Canada and its east coast origins remain a mystery. In 1990, this small population of Blanding's turtles in southwestern Nova Scotia became a protected species and three years later was designated a threatened species.

Set in Nova Scotia's Kejimkujik National Park, this remarkable story is about a young Mi'kmaw girl and her family's encounter with a Blanding's turtle hatchling. Richly illustrated by the award-winning artist Jeffery C. Domm, The Hatchling's Journey provides us with first-hand experience observing the turtle hatchlings emerging from their nests and their fascinating journey into the Kejimkujik woods for winter.

Kristin Bieber Domm and Jeffrey C. Domm have previously worked together on the best seller from the Natural Heroes Series, Ahmed and the Nest of Sand: A Piping Plover Story, published in 2000. Jeffery C. Domm also illustrated the first book in the Natural Heroes Series, Tangled in the Bay. Kristin Domm's children's writing has also appeared in Cricket Magazine.

Thematic Links

• Blanding's turtles
• Kejimkujik National Park, Canadian national parks
• Endangered species, protecting
• Mi'kmaw culture and history, native cultures
• Sacred places

Suggested Activities

• Find out more about Kejimkujik National Park/National Historic Site.
• Learn more about Mi'kmaw language and culture.
• Find out more about the Blanding's Turtle Recovery Team. Visit the Blanding's Turtle hatchlings overwinter in the NS Museum of Natural History.
• Research other endangered animals and find out what is being done to protect them.
• Write a sequel to The Hatchling's Journey.