Publishing stories of fascinating Prairie People and Unsung Heroes

Welcome to the blog of Deana Driver - author, editor, and publisher of DriverWorks Ink, a book publishing company based in Saskatchewan. We publish stories of inspiring, fascinating Prairie people and unsung Canadian heroes - written by Prairie authors including Deana Driver. We also publish genres of healing and wellness, humour, children's fiction, and rural poetry. Visit our website to learn more about our books.

Sunday, January 17, 2021

Students learn about Reconciliation from Mistasiniy: Buffalo Rubbing Stone book by Mary Harelkin Bishop

Saskatoon author and educator Mary Harelkin Bishop wrote Mistasiniy: Buffalo Rubbing Stone with the hope that it would give readers of all ages a better idea of the concept of reconciliation - a path of respectfulness between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada.

It has been gratifying to see the book receive awards at the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards and Hollywood Book Awards, but the greatest gifts have come when students and teachers send messages about what they learned from reading this book.

Mistasiniy: Buffalo Rubbing Stone tells the story of Danny, who lives on a family farm homesteaded by his great-great-grandparents, and Zach, a Cree boy who lives in the nearby town. When their Grade 6 teacher assigns a Canadian heritage project in which students must write about their family histories, Danny is paired with Zach, the only Indigenous boy in the class. At first, Danny and Zach can’t seem to get along. Then Danny finds out that his great-great-grandmother’s journal talks of breaking the land and building and living in a sod house. She also tells of how the First Nations people in the area helped her save her infant son’s life by using traditional medicines when he was very sick. The more Danny digs into his family’s history, the more he realizes that his and Zach’s pasts are complicated and connected.

A Grade 5/6 classroom in Saskatoon recently read Mistasiniy: Buffalo Rubbing Stone and used a Literature Circles learning format. In images sent via a PowerPoint slideshow, the teacher shared with us what the class learned from this important book:


Students learned about Reconciliation from Mistasiniy: Buffalo Rubbing Stone book

Some of the valuable lessons the students learned from Mistasiniy: Buffalo Rubbing Stone by Mary Harelkin Bishop are:

  •        People can change.
  •          You should give everyone a second chance.
  •          Every child is different and has unique experiences.
  •          Everyone’s culture, race, and religion is valuable.
  •          Don’t judge someone based on their past.
  •          Everyone makes mistakes.
  •          We learned about marginalization and how it harmed Indigenous Peoples.
  •          It is important to learn about the true history of Canada, which has not always happened in Canadian schools.
  •          It is never too late to do the right thing.
  •          Reconciliation is learning to heal, learn and move forward together.
















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Thank you to the teacher and Grade 5/6 class for sending us their work and responses to this book. 

Mistasiniy: Buffalo Rubbing Stone has been called “a must-read book for all youth” and a book that will help teachers become better teachers, kids become better friends, parents become better parents, and neighbours become better neighbours.

The author, Mary Harelkin Bishop, is a retired teacher who spent much of her career working in core neighbourhood schools. She has also been a teacher-librarian. Most recently, she was an educational consultant with Saskatoon Tribal Council, with a focus on helping students research and write the history of their families and reserves, and their hopes for the future.

Mistasiniy: Buffalo Rubbing Stone is available from www.driverworks.ca
(ISBN 978-1-927570-32-6, Juvenile fiction, Ages 10 and up)  
Schools and libraries should contact DriverWorks Ink
directly for discounts on orders.

Monday, January 11, 2021

Submissions Call - True stories of Canadian Aviation and Funny Stories about Farm Life

Send in your true stories of adventures in Canadian aviation and your funny stories about life on a farm!

DriverWorks Ink wants to publish your stories in the third volumes of the Flight: Stories of Canadian Aviation book series and the Fun On The Farm: True Tales of Farm Life book series.

Here are the details and deadlines:

Send your story submissions for Flight: Stories of Canadian Aviation, Vol. 3

If you or someone you know has a great story of Canadian aviation to contribute to the next volume of Flight, please send your submission by email or mail. Submissions must be true short stories (no poems please) about events that occurred to Canadian pilots or other aviation personnel. We want true stories of danger, heroism, helping, joy, adventure, silliness, misfortune, etc.

Flight - Stories of Canadian Aviation, Volume 1

Flight - Stories of Canadian Aviation, Volume 2

Send your story submissions for Fun On The Farm 3

DriverWorks Ink is pleased to invite you to share more of your true short stories (or poems) about funny things that have happened on Prairie farms for volume 3 of the Fun On the Farm series. Tell us about events, interactions, people, or pranks that have happened to you or someone you know related to life on a Prairie farm. We want to make readers giggle, shake their heads in wonder, or downright belly-laugh when reading this book, just as they did with Volumes 1 and 2. Note that we've said "Prairie" farms since most of the stories have happened on the Prairies, but we will entertain stories that occurred on other farms in other Canadian provinces and territories.

Fun On The Farm - True Tales of Farm Life

Fun On The Farm Too - True Tales of Farm Life

Submission guidelines for the books:

  • They must be true stories.
  • Stories should be 750 to 2,500 words.
  • Please provide details including your name, address, phone number, and email address, as well as the names, dates, location, and other details of the people and places in your story. Be sure to get permission to share the stories of others.
  • All submissions will be accepted, but not all will be published.
  • Photos may be submitted upon acceptance of your story.
  • Those whose stories are published will receive two complimentary copies for each story published in that volume of the book and can purchase more copies at a 40% discount to sell at venues not already supplied by DriverWorks Ink.

Please send your submission ideas before Jan. 27, 2021 by email to: ddriver at sasktel.net or by mail to: DriverWorks Ink, 110 McCarthy Blvd. N., Regina, SK S4R 6A4. You don’t have to have the entire story written, but we do need to know what will be coming so we can plan our new releases.


Please contact Deana Driver of DriverWorks Ink if you have a story to share but you do not wish to write it yourself. She would be happy to consider writing the story to share it in that way. Thank you in advance.