Na Peataichean a thàinig gu Sràid Phalmerston / The Pets That Came to Palmerston Street

About the Author, Illustrator and Translator

The Author


Dr. Laurie Stanley-Blackwell is a retired history professor whose research interests include built heritage and the history of Maritime Canada. She is the author of academic books and articles, and historical websites relating to religious, social, medical, and material history.

Since her childhood when she read by flashlight, Laurie has been an avid reader. She fondly remembers being read to as a child and later sharing this treasured experience as a parent with her daughter. With its relatable and light-hearted storyline, this book is designed to delight and engage the pre-reader and young reader in both English and Gaelic.

The Illustrator


Teresa MacKenzie is curator of the McCulloch House Museum & Genealogy Centre in Pictou, Nova Scotia, and author of Pictou town (The Pictou Bee Press, 2023). A talented and highly regarded graphic artist, she brings flourish and personality to her watercolour paintings by combining her love for history, architecture, nature, and art.

Teresa’s illustrations in this children’s book are full of joy and life, and reflect her ability to bring a child’s perspective of wonder to her world view. She shares an affinity with the famous British illustrator, Beatrix Potter, in her love for animals and nature and in the rich detail, gentleness, and whimsy of her illustrations.

The Translator


Effie Rankin was born in North Uist in the Western Isles of Scotland and is a native Gaelic speaker. She holds an MA in Celtic Studies from the University of Glasgow and an Education Diploma from Jordanhill College. Effie immigrated to Nova Scotia in 1972 to help initiate a Gaelic program in several schools in Inverness County, Cape Breton. She has taught Gaelic at many levels elsewhere in Canada, including St. Francis Xavier University, and in the United States.

Effie is the compiler and translator of As A' Bhràighe | Beyond the Braes: The Gaelic Songs of Allan The Ridge MacDonald, 1794-1868 (UCCB Press, 2004). She also prepared the Gaelic translation for the classic children’s story, Around the Year with the Malagawatch Mice | Feadh na Bliadhna Còmhla ri Luchain Mhalagawatch (Cape Breton University Press, 2011).