I love this firsthand account of growing up in Victoria, BC. And love that she also refers to one of my other favourite Canadian authors - Agnes Cameron. Definitely of its time yet still a classic I'd love to have on my bookshelf.

Wow, I loved this. With all the local history books I've devoured over the years, I can't believe this one escaped me. I had no idea Emily Carr wrote about Victoria itself, and her stories are the closest thing I'll get to my dream of time-travelling back to experience early Victoria.

The book did make me a little sad at times, though. The incredible wildlife and thick forests she tells of before Victoria became a city sound magical and won't be something we'll see again.

An interesting and fun viewpoint of the history of the city of Victoria. Helps a bit in connecting the street names with the people for which they are named. Mostly maintains the perspective of a child with some subtle longer term reflections sprinkled toward the end. That the crazy alignment of streets is explained as established by the wanderings of cattle will resonate with anyone who has tried to navigate them.

I really enjoyed this sampling of Emily Carr's biographical short stories. I did feel that the first half was a little slow, getting to know her and her family, but by the end of the book, I felt as if I knew Ms. Carr well and could imagine walking the streets of young Victoria. Having moved to British Columbia 4 years ago, and only visited Victoria a couple of short times, I loved learning about the early history of our capital city. I found myself checking Google Maps constantly to see where each story was taking place; now I can't wait to go back to Victoria!

I read half and decided that is good enough to count. It was OK, Little House on the Prairie meets Anne of Green Gables. The book club date passed before I finished and I just don't feel compelled to do so.