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A Boy Named Tommy Douglas
ISBN 978-1-988242-41-5
This book is also available in French, titled
La Jeunesse de Tommy Douglas
ISBN 978-2-925064-13-8
Books are available in bookstores across Canada
through Sandhill Book Marketing.
Midtown Press, Vancouver, B.C.
Available Spring, 2022
Hardcover $19.95
Age range 5 - 10 years
Thanks to the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation
for supporting the publication of this book.
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It came as a great surprise to learn
that the younger generation of Canadians do not know about Tommy
Douglas, the man who brought Medicare to Canada. And certainly,
most children have never heard his name.
When Tommy was a boy in Winnipeg,
he fell and hurt his knee. His parents couldn’t afford to seek
medical help, and his knee injury led to osteomyelitis. The doctors
made the frightening decision to amputate his leg. A specialist
surgeon saved his leg performing the surgery at no cost. Now Tommy
could run and play games again. Tommy never forgot that other
children whose parents didn’t have money to pay for surgeons were
not so fortunate.
Tommy became a church minister, but
his dream was to become a politician and bring medical care to
society. He campaigned to become a member of provincial parliament.
People loved his fiery speeches and he became the premier of Saskatchewan.
It took until he was fifty-seven years old when Medicare arrived
for people in Saskatchewan, giving full medical care for every
person.
Tommy went on to national politics
and was asked to be the leader of the New Democratic Party. His
dream came true when on July 1, 1968 parliament voted to bring
Medicare to all of Canada.
A little-known childhood illness
inspired a young boy who was not big for his age and not from
a wealthy family to grow up with a dream to make an important
difference to the lives of every child and adult in Canada.
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A Boy Named Tommy Douglas is illustrated
by Joan Steacy
Beryl Young dedicates this book to Ed Broadbent with thanks for his
lifelong commitment to social democracy.
Reviews:
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"A Boy Named Tommy Douglas, a well-written and
illustrated biography of someone who, a hundred years after his
birth was named The Greatest Canadian of All Time, merits being
in all schools and public libraries."
Highly Recommended
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Canadian Review of Materials, March, 2022
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"Charming kids book tells the Tommy Douglas story.
This book would be a great gift for any child ..... to remind
them what real Canadian radicalism looks like."
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Tom Sandborn
Review: Vancouver Sun and Province
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"A Boy Named Tommy Douglas is a well-written book with
double-page illustrations that support the text ..... Fluent readers
in the late primary and early intermediate grades should be able
to read the book independently."
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Canadian Teacher Magazine: Winter 2023
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"A stroke of good fortune reverses this near tragedy, and
Tommy never forgets what almost happened to him — nor about
other unfortunate children with parents who couldn't afford to
pay surgeons. He felt it wasn't fair, and as an adult, he set
out to change this injustice."
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BC BookWorld, Vancouver, B.C. August, 2022
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Featured in the Canadian Children's Book Centre's
BEST BOOKS for Kids and Teens 2022.
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"Joan Steacy's detailed, emotional illustrations have a comic
book style. The expressions and emotions are palpable."
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translated from the French in Lurelu, Hiver 2023, vol.45,
no3. p.58.
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Leader of the New Democratic Party Jagmeet Singh
with a copy of A Boy Named Tommy Douglas.
The Ontario NDP candidate for Beaches-East York, Kate Dupuis, is to
his left and my friend Mary Sanderson to his right.
This original painting by Richard Widdifield of
Radisson, Saskatchewan is
of Tommy Douglas, painted in 1991. The iconic painting hangs in the
former
church of Tommy Douglas in Weyburn, Saskatchewan which is now
the T.C. Douglas Calvary Centre for Performing Arts.
 
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