CM Magazine: Little Canada.

________________ CM . . . . Volume XVIII Number 41. . . .June 22, 2012

cover
Little Canada.

Matt Napier. Illustrated by Renné Benoit.
Ann Arbor, MI: Sleeping Bear Press, 2012.
20 pp., board, $10.95.
ISBN 978-1-58536-178-6.
Subject Headings:
Riddles, Juvenile.
Board books.
Canada-Juvenile literature.

Preschool / Ages 1-4.

Review by Dave Jenkinson.

**1/2 /4

excerpt:

Riddle 1

Look to our flag – what do you see? It’s coloured red and falls from a tree.

Answer:

Maple leaf

Little Canada contains 10 riddles that call for youngsters to identify something that is iconically Canadian. Each recto presents a four line rhyming riddle that is contained within a box which, in turn, is superimposed on a visual hint. Turning the page reveals the answer on the verso along with a new illustration of the riddle’s object. For example, the riddle found in the excerpt above covered most of a Canadian flag while the answer illustration was of a leaf from a maple tree in its fall coloration. The other nine riddles involve hockey, a beaver, poutine, a donut (How is a donut a Canadian icon? It is if it’s from Tim Hortons), an inuksuk, a canoe, the R.C.M.P., the CN Tower and a loon.

For most youngsters, these 10 things will be a mixture of the known and familiar as well as the unfamiliar or yet to be experienced. For example, I “knew” what poutine was, but it is only in recent years that this food stuff has become a menu item in Western Canada and can actually be tasted.

Other board books in this series will focus on sports: baseball, hockey, soccer, basketball and football.

Recommended.

Dave Jenkinson, CM’s editor, lives 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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