My Mommy, My Mama, My Brother, and Me: These Are the Things We Found by the Sea

And these are the things we find by the sea
My mommy, my mama, my brother, and me.

With this gentle refrain, the debut picture book from celebrated author and playwright Natalie Meisner (Double Pregnant) reflects on her own two-mom, two-son family’s early days growing up in Lockeport, Nova Scotia.

Living by the sea offers myriad charms for the two young brothers in this poetic ode to beachcombing. When the fog disappears, the path to the beach beckons, with all the treasures it leaves behind: lobster traps, buoys, fused glass, urchins, a note in a bottle. But best of all is all the neighbours they meet along the way. An unforgettable instant classic for families of all shapes and sizes. Featuring glorious watercolours by Mathilde Cinq-Mars, which capture the warmth and magic of time spent with family by the sea.

Natalie Meisner is a writer from Lockeport, Nova Scotia. Her plays have been produced across the country, won numerous awards, been collected in book form and appear in numerous Canadian Anthologies. Her previous book, Double Pregnant: Two Lesbians Make a Family, is a lighthearted and informative true account of two lesbians who want to have children. Her plays have won the Canadian National Playwriting Competition, been shortlisted for the Herman Voaden, and been produced by CBC Radio. A wife and mother of two great boys, Natalie divides her time between Lockeport, Nova Scotia, and Salt Spring Island, BC.

Born in Quebec, Mathilde Cinq-Mars is a graduate of the Université de Strasbourg in visual arts. Recent illustration projects include Mr. Mergler, Beethoven, and Me, and the Acadian song collection Grande Tintamarre! Her illustrations have also been exhibitedat the Art Gallery of Ontario as part of the Youth Solidarity Project, at the Seigneurie d’Anhaive in Belgium, and at the Cabinet Amateur in France. She lives and works in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, with her daughter and a lot dried flowers.