CM Magazine: Canada Recycles.

________________ CM . . . . Volume XVIII Number 36 . . . . May 18, 2012

cover
Canada Recycles. (Canada Close Up).

Peter Cook & Laura Suzuki.
Toronto, ON: Scholastic Canada, 2012.
57 pp., pbk., $6.99.
ISBN 978-1-4431-0715-0.

Subject Headings:
Recycling (Waste, etc.)-Canada-Juvenile literature.
Water minimization-Canada-Juvenile literature.
Refuse and refuse disposal-Canada-Juvenile literature.

Grades 2-5 / Ages 7-10.

Review by Janice Foster.

**** /4

excerpt:

Why recycle at all? Why not just dump everything and make new stuff?

We can’t always makes new products. We are running out of the supplies, or natural resources, we make them from.

We get our wood and paper from trees. But most of the world’s forests have been cut or burned down. Metals are used to make everything from cars to coins to electronics. But it’s getting harder to find places to mine metals.

Young readers will likely be familiar with the term recycle, especially with the blue box and its symbol found at home and at school. But are they familiar with why we recycle and how recycling works? Canada Recycles, by authors Peter Cook and Laura Suzuki, not only provides answers to these questions but also stimulates further questions and potential action on this important environmental topic.

Canada Recycles links closely with science learning outcomes focussing on the environment and sustainability. The book’s format includes a table of contents, an index and a useful glossary for terms that are in bold-faced type within the text. Text boxes with interesting facts, such as why the colour blue was chosen for the first curbside recycling bins, are interspersed throughout the book. The use of different coloured pages for the various chapters is also visually appealing.

Nonfiction books can be challenging for junior readers. The larger text, the clearly written sentences and the inclusion of at least one coloured photograph on each double page spread makes Canada Recycles appealing even to a reluctant reader. It lends itself to a teacher read-aloud or even a literature circle format for a group of readers. In heightening awareness and understanding of recycling, this book can serve as a springboard for school and community projects to improve the world in which we live.

Highly Recommended.

Janice Foster is a retired teacher and teacher-librarian in Winnipeg, MB.

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

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364 Hosted by the University of Manitoba.

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