 His life in his mature years features in many of his books, especially "A River Never Sleeps" and "Measure of the Year".In 1947 Haig-Brown won the inaugural Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award, recognizing his 1943 novel "Starbuck Valley Winter", which features trapping.He won award again in 1963 for "The Whale People", a novel that features Native Americans.