This is the story of how an innovative postwar publishing venture started by Fredericton’s Brunswick Press pioneered Canada’s now vibrant tradition of children’s book publishing. Under the leadership of Michael Wardell, and with the backing of Lord Beaverbrook, Brunswick Press became an early adopter of process-colour offset printing, giving it the production capacity to launch Canada’s first modern children’s picture book series in 1952. The venture was aided by the wave of cultural nationalism that followed the release of the influential Massey Report in 1951, prompting a significant expansion in the cultural and educational infrastructure both in New Brunswick and in the rest of Canada and establishing a market for Canadian-published books.

In Beaver Books for a Dime, Susan R. Fisher and Margot Stafford offer a detailed history of the juvenile publishing program carried out by Brunswick Press between 1952 and 1984, compiling a comprehensive review of all the press’s children’s titles, including editions and variants. As well as highlighting this largely unexplored catalogue, this study challenges the established narrative about children’s publishing in Canada, broadening the conversation on the history and contribution of cultural production in New Brunswick.