From record-breaking tea clippers to rum runners and sea monsters, life on the west coast has never been dull.

The Sadred Balance
Greystone Books, 2007 ISBN: 978-1-55365-166-6	Adrienne worked with Dr. David Suzuki on the third revision of The Sacred Balance, which was first published in 1997. In this book we reflect on our place in the world and how we cannot separate ourselves from the environment. The basic message is this: We are creatures of the Earth, utterly dependent on its elements, which are not just external factors, but incorporated into our very essence. As such, The Sacred Balance explores our intimate relationship with air, soil, water, and other living things. Chapters also explore ideas about love and the sacred, as well as good news stories showing how people have “restored the balance.” Comments on the first edition: “This book is the most complete expression to date of an environmental ethic from one of the world’s leading conversation writers, combining science, theology, poetry and philosophy to express a world view towards which the human species must shift in the twenty-first century. The Sacred Balance has a beautiful spirit.” - E. O. Wilson, author of The Diversity of Life
Tales from the West Coast: Smugglers, Sea Monsters, and Other Stories
Altitude, 2003 ISBN: 1-55153-986-1	“Toward the tail it appeared serrated, …with something moving flail-like at the extreme end. The movements were like those of a crocodile. Around the head appeared a sort of mane, which drifted around the body like kelp.” From record-breaking tea clippers to rum runners and sea monsters, life on the west coast has never been dull. Rich in seafaring legend and adventures, these stories will take you on a voyage of discovery into the past and around the world. Chapters include: A Cargo of Crinoline (bride ships come to BC); A Clipper on the Coast (legendary clipper, Thermopylae); The Wreck of the Janet Cowan; The Voyage of the Tilikum; Malahat: Queen of the Rum Fleet; Caddy: It Came from the Deep (sea monster Cadborosaurus); Serving in the Gumboot Navy; and, A World Both Wide and Narrow (Life of Wylie (Capi) Blanchet). Purchasing: You can purchase this title directly from the author.
West Coast Adventures: Shipwrecks, Lighthouses, and Rescues Along Canada’s West Coast
Altitude, 2003 ISBN 1-55153-990-X	“…The ship began to break up almost at once and the women and children were lashed to the rigging above the reach of the sea. It was a pitiful sight to see frail women, wearing only night dresses…trying to shield children in their arms.” - Crewman of the Valencia The southwest coast of Vancouver Island is a reef-studded stretch, notorious for dramatic winter storms and thick cloaks of summer fog. Many ships have found themselves well off course, even lost, during sudden storms. This book tells the stories of the sailors, lighthouse keepers, and linemen who have weathered these west coast storms. Chapters include: The Rescue of the Puritan; Honeymoon on the High Seas (Charles and Frances Barkley); Life on the Lights (William Daykin of Carmanah Light); Coastal Lifeline (David Logan, lineman on the lifesaving trail); Putting Bamfield on the Map (Bamfield Cable Station); The Valencia Tragedy; and Rescue of the Coloma. Purchasing: You can purchase this title directly from the author.
The Green Classroom: 101 Practical Ways to Involve Students in Environmental Issues
Pembroke Publishers, 1991 ISBN: 0-921217-60-9	Also published in French: La Class Verte: 101 activités pratiques sure l’environnnement, Les Editions de la Cheneliére, ISBN: 2-89310-072-4) In one comprehensive package, The Green Classroom gives teachers background information on major environmental issues as well as over 100 integrated activities, ready-to-use in any classroom. Important issues from waste, to acid rain and energy are introduced with fascinating facts to enliven any lesson. Strategies for involving students include activities in science, language arts, creative thinking, consumer education, art and music, social studies, history and mathematics. Students discover wonderful opportunities to develop skills, explore issues and research ways that they can help make a difference in their classroom, community and the world beyond. “*The Green Classroom* is an interesting collection of activities that can be adapted for students at all grade levels…. It is a wonderful source of environmental education activities that invite student involvement. Games, songs, and large and small group activities are included.” - Green Teacher magazine “Adrienne Mason has provided teachers — and parents, Scouters, Guiders, camp counselors and others — with an important resource combining background information on environmental problems with excellent activities to involve youngsters in these issues. Teachers from kindergarten to community college will find this book a useful, up-to-date environmental resource. Their students, and the environment, will both benefit by it.” - Canadian Geographic Purchasing: This title is now out of print. Look for it at a second-hand books shop or in your local library.
The Nature of Spiders: Consummate Killers
Greystone Books, 1999 IBSN 1-57805-044-8	Published in the US as: The World of the Spider, Sierra Club Books Published in French as: L’Univers des Araignées: Virtuoses de la Prédation, Editions du Trécarré, 2-89249-861-9 Spiders are one of the most successful groups of animals on earth. There are almost 38,000 species of spiders, and they are found in every type of environment throughout the world, including seashores, deserts, caves, and mountains. The species include the huge, hairy tarantula, which lives a mostly subterranean life; the colorful crab spider, which often hides in flowers and may prey on bees or wasps; and the ubiquitous orb-weaver, which may rebuild its wheel-shaped web every evening. Besides exploring the physical characteristics and behavior or spiders, nature writer Adrienne Mason describes the role of spiders in myth and legend. She also examines how spiders are used in scientific research today and how the use of pesticides and loss of habitat are affecting them. Throughout the book, stunning photographs show beautifully colored spiders on flowers or leaves, gossamer webs shimmering in the sunlight, and close-ups of monstrous-looking spiders. The result is a fascinating look at these creepy yet captivating creatures. “Spider is a marvelous look at one of the most successful animal groups on our planet. … the text provides a good primer of spider biology, behavior, and folklore. Mason delves into the common families of spiders, spider silk, and its manufacture, anatomy, breeding, predation, and relationships with humans.” Booklist “Mason writes clearly, introducing the different groups of spiders and giving solid scientific explanations for characteristics that might otherwise appear merely bizarre. Tales of hunting, courtship, web-spinning, and dispersal fill the pages with surprise and enlightenment. Stunning photographs and line drawings make this a combination of coffee-table and reference book for all ages.” B.C. Bookworld “This book is an excellent introduction to the world of spiders. It offers clearly written information, detailed drawings to support certain materials, and lots of superb photos. The author imparts to her topic a sense of awe…. The information covered will satisfy the curiosity of anyone wanting to know more about spiders, and will whet the appetite of budding arachnophiles to know more.” Canadian Field Naturalist “Photographed up close, the spiders in this slender text display an otherworldly beauty. But it’s the text that makes this book shine. Even veteran arachnophobes will be charmed by author Adrienne Mason’s lively writing about the diversity of spiders and her delight in the strange details of their eating habitats and sex lives.” Amazon Honours: Short-list for the Canadian Science Writers’ Association Science in Society Book Award Purchasing: This book is out of print, but please look for it at second-hand book shops or your local library.

The Sadred Balance

Greystone Books, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-55365-166-6

Adrienne worked with Dr. David Suzuki on the third revision of The Sacred Balance, which was first published in 1997.

In this book we reflect on our place in the world and how we cannot separate ourselves from the environment. The basic message is this: We are creatures of the Earth, utterly dependent on its elements, which are not just external factors, but incorporated into our very essence. As such, The Sacred Balance explores our intimate relationship with air, soil, water, and other living things. Chapters also explore ideas about love and the sacred, as well as good news stories showing how people have “restored the balance.”

Comments on the first edition:

“This book is the most complete expression to date of an environmental ethic from one of the world’s leading conversation writers, combining science, theology, poetry and philosophy to express a world view towards which the human species must shift in the twenty-first century. The Sacred Balance has a beautiful spirit.”

- E. O. Wilson, author of The Diversity of Life

Tales from the West Coast: Smugglers, Sea Monsters, and Other Stories

Altitude, 2003

ISBN: 1-55153-986-1

“Toward the tail it appeared serrated, …with something moving flail-like at the extreme end. The movements were like those of a crocodile. Around the head appeared a sort of mane, which drifted around the body like kelp.”

From record-breaking tea clippers to rum runners and sea monsters, life on the west coast has never been dull. Rich in seafaring legend and adventures, these stories will take you on a voyage of discovery into the past and around the world.

Chapters include: A Cargo of Crinoline (bride ships come to BC); A Clipper on the Coast (legendary clipper, Thermopylae); The Wreck of the Janet Cowan; The Voyage of the Tilikum; Malahat: Queen of the Rum Fleet; Caddy: It Came from the Deep (sea monster Cadborosaurus); Serving in the Gumboot Navy; and, A World Both Wide and Narrow (Life of Wylie (Capi) Blanchet).

Purchasing: You can purchase this title directly from the author.

West Coast Adventures: Shipwrecks, Lighthouses, and Rescues Along Canada’s West Coast

Altitude, 2003

ISBN 1-55153-990-X

“…The ship began to break up almost at once and the women and children were lashed to the rigging above the reach of the sea. It was a pitiful sight to see frail women, wearing only night dresses…trying to shield children in their arms.”

- Crewman of the Valencia

The southwest coast of Vancouver Island is a reef-studded stretch, notorious for dramatic winter storms and thick cloaks of summer fog. Many ships have found themselves well off course, even lost, during sudden storms. This book tells the stories of the sailors, lighthouse keepers, and linemen who have weathered these west coast storms.

Chapters include: The Rescue of the Puritan; Honeymoon on the High Seas (Charles and Frances Barkley); Life on the Lights (William Daykin of Carmanah Light); Coastal Lifeline (David Logan, lineman on the lifesaving trail); Putting Bamfield on the Map (Bamfield Cable Station); The Valencia Tragedy; and Rescue of the Coloma.

Purchasing: You can purchase this title directly from the author.

The Green Classroom: 101 Practical Ways to Involve Students in Environmental Issues

Pembroke Publishers, 1991

ISBN: 0-921217-60-9

Also published in French: La Class Verte: 101 activités pratiques sure l’environnnement, Les Editions de la Cheneliére, ISBN: 2-89310-072-4)

In one comprehensive package, The Green Classroom gives teachers background information on major environmental issues as well as over 100 integrated activities, ready-to-use in any classroom.

Important issues from waste, to acid rain and energy are introduced with fascinating facts to enliven any lesson. Strategies for involving students include activities in science, language arts, creative thinking, consumer education, art and music, social studies, history and mathematics. Students discover wonderful opportunities to develop skills, explore issues and research ways that they can help make a difference in their classroom, community and the world beyond.

“The Green Classroom is an interesting collection of activities that can be adapted for students at all grade levels…. It is a wonderful source of environmental education activities that invite student involvement. Games, songs, and large and small group activities are included.”

- Green Teacher magazine

“Adrienne Mason has provided teachers — and parents, Scouters, Guiders, camp counselors and others — with an important resource combining background information on environmental problems with excellent activities to involve youngsters in these issues. Teachers from kindergarten to community college will find this book a useful, up-to-date environmental resource. Their students, and the environment, will both benefit by it.”

- Canadian Geographic

Purchasing: This title is now out of print. Look for it at a second-hand books shop or in your local library.

The Nature of Spiders: Consummate Killers

Greystone Books, 1999

IBSN 1-57805-044-8

Published in the US as: The World of the Spider, Sierra Club Books

Published in French as: L’Univers des Araignées: Virtuoses de la Prédation, Editions du Trécarré, 2-89249-861-9

Spiders are one of the most successful groups of animals on earth. There are almost 38,000 species of spiders, and they are found in every type of environment throughout the world, including seashores, deserts, caves, and mountains. The species include the huge, hairy tarantula, which lives a mostly subterranean life; the colorful crab spider, which often hides in flowers and may prey on bees or wasps; and the ubiquitous orb-weaver, which may rebuild its wheel-shaped web every evening.

Besides exploring the physical characteristics and behavior or spiders, nature writer Adrienne Mason describes the role of spiders in myth and legend. She also examines how spiders are used in scientific research today and how the use of pesticides and loss of habitat are affecting them.

Throughout the book, stunning photographs show beautifully colored spiders on flowers or leaves, gossamer webs shimmering in the sunlight, and close-ups of monstrous-looking spiders. The result is a fascinating look at these creepy yet captivating creatures.

“Spider is a marvelous look at one of the most successful animal groups on our planet. … the text provides a good primer of spider biology, behavior, and folklore. Mason delves into the common families of spiders, spider silk, and its manufacture, anatomy, breeding, predation, and relationships with humans.”

Booklist

“Mason writes clearly, introducing the different groups of spiders and giving solid scientific explanations for characteristics that might otherwise appear merely bizarre. Tales of hunting, courtship, web-spinning, and dispersal fill the pages with surprise and enlightenment. Stunning photographs and line drawings make this a combination of coffee-table and reference book for all ages.”

B.C. Bookworld

“This book is an excellent introduction to the world of spiders. It offers clearly written information, detailed drawings to support certain materials, and lots of superb photos. The author imparts to her topic a sense of awe…. The information covered will satisfy the curiosity of anyone wanting to know more about spiders, and will whet the appetite of budding arachnophiles to know more.”

Canadian Field Naturalist

“Photographed up close, the spiders in this slender text display an otherworldly beauty. But it’s the text that makes this book shine. Even veteran arachnophobes will be charmed by author Adrienne Mason’s lively writing about the diversity of spiders and her delight in the strange details of their eating habitats and sex lives.”

Amazon

Honours: Short-list for the Canadian Science Writers’ Association Science in Society Book Award

Purchasing: This book is out of print, but please look for it at second-hand book shops or your local library.






Tales from the West Coast From record-breaking tea clippers to rum runners and sea monsters, life on the west coast has never been dull.	West Coast Adventures Tales of shipwrecks, lighthouse life and dramatic rescues along Canada's west coast.	The Sacred Balance "The Sacred Balance has a beautiful spirit."	The Nature of Spiders "Spider is a marvelous look at one of the most successful animal groups on our planet." - Booklist