The Terrible Horrible Smelly Beach
Co-author Carrie Muller, illustrator: Paul G.Hammond. (Nimbus Books June 2022 ISBN9781774710982) Can the tricky mermaid persuade the Not-so Terrible, Horrible, Smelly pirate to clean up her polluted beach?
Piper
(Nimbus Books, 2018 ISBN 978-1-77108-605-9 Cover: James Bentley)
  • Shortlisted for the 2019 CCBC Geoffrey Bilson award for Historical Fiction for Young People.
  • 2018 CCBC's Best Books for Kids and Teens, Fall Edition.
  • 2019 Hackmatack Children's Choice nominee.
  • 2019 Woozles Battle of the Books.
      Piper is the story of a boy learning to play the forbidden bagpipes as he travels on The Hector, an overcrowded, disease-ridden immigrant ship, across the stormy Atlantic ocean to Nova Scotia.

"Johnny Piper's shoulders were shaking as he stood in front of the Captain. Dougal was trembling too, but he took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Please Sir," he said to the Captain "Let him stay. We need a piper in New Scotland."

Reviews
  • “A fascinating story of a unique part of Canada’s history. This story draws readers into the plight of those fleeing economic and political persecution. The story cleverly weaves in authentic details about Scottish heritage and life aboard ship, and makes the tragic, yet hopeful transatlantic voyage deeply, richly personal.”​ Geoffrey Bilson Award, judges comments.
  •  "A compelling tale of courage, resilience and hope." Julie Lawson.
  • "Jacqueline Halsey loves to imagine the lively stories that might live among the drier facts of History" Allison Lawlor, The Chronicle Herald. July 7, 2018
  • "Halsey vividly depicts the arduous journey that these early settlers endured in order to live free and own their own farms." Lisa Doucet, Atlantic Books Today, Spring 2018.
  • "The story of Dougal and his family is compelling." Rosanne Gauthier, The National Reading Campaign, July 17, 2018
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Explosion Newsie
(Formac Publishing, 2015 ISBN 978-1-4595-0401-1
Illustrated by Loretta Migani
Listed in Canadian Children's Book Centre - Best Books for Kids and Teens 2016
According to Macky's brother, Macky is the worst newsboy ever but 
in the aftermath of the the terrible Halifax Harbour Explosion, Macky
continues to deliver the newspapers that help people find their loved
ones. He proves that even the worst newsboy ever can be a hero.

"Jumping over fallen telegraph wires and uprooted trees, Macky ran downhill after his friend. Half the city was gone, the rest flattened or on fire." 

Reviews
  •  An entertaining, moving and important book that illustrates that we all have the power to be helpers in the face of tragedy. Kate Watson, welovedartmouth.com/explosion-newsie- Nov 14, 2015 
  •  The storytelling and illustrations combined bring this historic tragedy to life with appropriate depth, humour and accuracy." Halifax Public Library, Staff Favourites - 2015 
  •   Halsey is quite successful at turning a historical moment into a captivating story, one that will appeal the most to young school-aged children. The illustrations in Explosion Newsie are realistic and detailed. Migani excels at depicting facial expressions and action scenes; the reader can almost feel how cold it is outside! The illustrations complement the text well, and both work together to provide the reader with a realistic and compelling story. Highly Recommended.
  • CM magazine. Roxy Garstad is the Collection Assessment Librarian at MacEwan University in Edmonton., AB.Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. ***
  •  "The story and illustrations together create a compelling portrait of the time period: what life was like for a boy whose father was overseas and whose older brother had to work in a factory... Grim without being too graphic for its intended audience, the tender reunion at the end helps it to remain a heartwarming historical tale that is based on true events." (Lisa Doucet, Atlantic Books Today)
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Bluenose Adventure
 (Formac Publishing, 2013) 
A school-age picture book, Illustrated by Eric Orchard.
Nominated for the 2013 APMA Best Atlantic Published Book  Award.
   
Set on the famous schooner Bluenose, this is the story of ten year old Arty Brown and his friends who gut the cod aboard the fishing schooners in the north Atlantic in the 1920s.
“Arty looked in dismay at the slimy mess of fish guts dripping off the splitting table. He hauled up bucket of seawater and scrubbed the splitting are clean. Then, still wearing his boots, he collapsed on a bunk and was asleep before he’d even laid down.”
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The Terrible Horrible Smelly Pirate
(Nimbus Publishing, 2008.)    
Co-authored with Carrie Muller, and illustrated by Eric Orchard.
(Nominated for the Lillian Shepherd Award CA (2009)
Winner of the Mayor’s award for illustration CA (2009).

A fun pre-school picture book that topped local best-seller lists for many weeks.
“Pirate’s don’t take bubble baths,” spluttered the terrible, horrible, smelly pirate.
​“But supposing there be treasure hidden under them bubbles,” squawked Parrot Polly.
“Arrrrgh. That be different.”

Hot news - a sequel. The Terrible Horrible Smelly Beach,  illustrated by  Paul G Hammond will be published summer 2022.
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Peggy’s Letters
(Orca Books, 2005.)
A Canadian Children's Book Center 2006 ‘Our Choice’ starred selection. 
Nominated for the 2007 Hackmatack Children's Choice Award and the 
2007 Rocky Mountain Children's Book Award.
Voted an Honour Book in the 2007 Silver Birch Express Award.
Peggy's Letters is now available to be read on Tumblebooks.

This story is based on a compilation of my mother’s anecdotes about living in London during the Second World War. Through the eyes of eleven-year-old Peggy, the reader sees and feels what it was like to experience air raids, food rationing, loss and unlikely friendships in a war-torn city.
"Through a teary blur, I look at the black soggy wreck. Our home is just another bomb site.”
​
The Gran Plan
(Scholastic, 2006. ISBN 978-0-7791-6648-0  p-48)
Placed third in the 2003 Atlantic Writing Competition - Joyce Barkhouse award for Children's Literature.  Subsequently, published by Scholastic Education in their “Literacy Place for the Early Years” series.

Josh and his siblings, in an attempt to cheer up their Gran, take Dad’s idea of yard work a step further by creating a water garden in Gran’s back yard. Of course everybody, including Dad, gets covered in mud, which cheers Gran up no end.     
“Petals, and compost rained down on Dad, as he slid slowly, on his belly, down the short, gentle slope into the mud pond.”
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Picture
​Mom's in the Navy
​(Naval association of Canada 2019)
Illustrated by Lin Luo.
Starry nights, storms and a rescue at sea are some of the adventures Mom shares with Ava as she sails, in a Canadian Naval frigate, towards an earthquake stricken island. Ava has adventures too and finds her own way to help the island people.

"I waved until my arms ached and Mom's ship was just a tiny speck. Gramps gave me his handkerchief. I wiped my drippy eyes, and nose. "Don't be sad," he said. "You and Mom can email. We couldn't do that in my day."