British Columbia. (Canada Close Up). Carrie Gleason Toronto, ON: Scholastic Canada, 2009. 44 pp., pbk., $6.99. ISBN 978-0-545-98900-8. Subject Heading: British Columbia-Juvenile literature. Grades 3-5 / Ages 8-10. Review by Robert Groberman. *** /4

excerpt:

One-quarter of the world's temperate rainforests are in British Columbia along the coast, on the islands and on the mainland.

These forests grow where there is plenty of rainfall and mild temperatures. They are home to a wide range of plants such as mosses, lichen, ferns and fungi, and birds, insects and animals such as cougars, lynx, wolves, bears, deer and elk.

Carrie Gleason's nonfiction work, British Columbia, is one from a series called "Canada Close Up." In this volume, Gleason introduces young readers to the geography, history, economy and some contemporary snapshots of living in BC. She also devotes a chapter to the unique Aboriginal contributions to BC of totem poles and their place, both historical and current, in the lives of BC's First Nations.

     British Columbia contains full-colour graphics on every page, mostly photographs to illustrate the location or topic described in the text. The geography chapter, "The Lay of the Land," includes photos of sea lions on the BC coast, a Kermode or "spirit bear," the Burgess Shale in the Rocky Mountains, and an avalanche at Whistler. All photos are informative, and the captions add meaning to what has already been learned from the text.

      Of special interest in this book is the use of coloured, bordered pages to present information in point form or in capsules. Pages entitled "Big B.C. Facts," "West Coast Eats" and "Points of Pride" present quick facts about mountain heights, interesting foods and famous British Columbians, respectively.

      British Columbia is a book which can be read as isolated chapters by students doing research, or it can be browsed by picture readers who can get quite a lot of information from the photos and their captions. A short glossary at the end of the book defines words that have been printed in bold text in the primary text. Words like "archipelago," "temperate," and "uninhabited" are well explained and give a sense of the reading level of this text.

Recommended.

Robert Groberman is a grade three teacher at Kirkbride Elementary School in Surrey, BC.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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