As always, please send any comments to the address beneath my name.
ISBN: 1-895688-36-1 (cloth) / 1-895688-30-2 (paper).
Little Wonders: Animal
Babies and Their Families.
ISBN: 1-895688-37-X (cloth) / 1-895688-31-0 (paper)
Marilyn Baillie. Illustrated by Romi Caron.
Toronto: Owl Books, 1995 (Distributed by Firefly).
32pp, cloth $14.95 / paper $5.95.
Grades K - 4 / Ages 5 - 9.
Review by Luella Sumner.
***/4
excerpt:
A young male meerkat stands on guard. He sniffs the air for the scent of
a fox. He scans the desert sand for the shadow of an eagle's wing. When
he's sure there is no danger nearby, a soft chirp and purr from him tells
the others, "it's safe." Out of an old termite's nest tumble five
playful meerkat kits. Their baby-sitter, a young female, is right at
their side. She plays with them and grooms them. The kits suckle milk
from her. Some day she might have her own babies. But for now she is much
too busy baby-sitting.
THESE TWO TITLES are from the new Owl Books series "Amazing Things
Animals Do. . . ." Author Marilyn Baillie and illustrator Romi Caron have
produced a pair of books sure to interest children and parents alike.
Baillie, a former
editor of Chickadee Magazine, has edited and compiled previous
science books from Owl. Caron studied painting and drawing in Prague
before emigrating to Canada in 1990. She has worked as an assistant
animator, and created illustrations for the Canadian Museum of Nature.
The text of the
books can be difficult. Words like "predator" and "antennae" mean that
children under ten will probably need help, or will want the books read
to them. But this will be no hardship for the adult reader, as the facts
about animal habits and behaviour are fascinating.
Each book begins
with an illustration with hidden secrets that the reader is challenged to
find, and ends with a quiz about the animals described. (The secrets and
the answers are also given.)
Dr. Katherine E.
Wynne-Edwards of Queens University
served as consultant for the books. This makes it surprising that there
is at least one misleading statement -- the section on the emperor
penguin in Little Wonders says, "There are always some
adult penguins around to keep the chicks . . . safe from animals that
would like to eat them." But there are no land animals in Antarctica
where the emperor penguin lives; there are seals and whales in the ocean
that might prey on penguin chicks, but the reference is to chicks on land. A
comparison of the text with other sources didn't reveal any other
apparent inaccuracies.
Little
Wonders: Animals Babies and Their Families tells of twelve
different animals or birds with strange or amusing ways with their
babies. For example: the sea otter wraps her baby in a strand of kelp to
keep it from drifting away in the ocean; the crocodile mother gently
carries her youngsters to the water in her great mouth; and the
red-billed hornbill hides her babies in a hollow tree with the entrance
plastered over with mud.
Time to Eat: Animals Who Hide and Save their Food
tells of another twelve wild creatures who store food for later
consumption: the spider wraps her tasty insect supper in silk to snack on
later; the leopard drags her prey up into a nearby tree, safe from
hyenas; and the beaver stockpiles tasty branches for the long cold winter.
Recommended.
Luella Sumner is a librarian in Red Rock, Ontario.
Book Review
Canada: Its Land and People.
Don Massey and Patricia Shields.
Edmonton, Reidmore Books, 1995. 242pp, paper, $21.95.
ISBN: 1-89073-89-8.
Grades 4 - 6 / Ages 8 - 11.
Review by Michel F. Kallio.
****/4
THIS SECOND EDITION of Canada: Its Land and People has been
completely rewritten and updated. The book's large size (27 x 21cm),
easy-to-read typeface, 250 colour photos, and 75 new maps make it
a welcome addition to any school library.
From the
introduction to the conclusion (with its challenging questions about
various photographs of Canada), this book is a delight to the eye.
The chapters are
grouped geographically: "Prairie and Plain," "Canada's North," "The
Great Lakes Lowland," and so on. In each chapter, the reader meets a
family of Canadians and learns about their lifestyle, helping students
understand their neighbours in other parts of the country. Readers also
learn how where you live affects how you live.
The chapters also
briefly discuss the history of each area to help show how the local economy,
lifestyle, and architecture were shaped by time. Temperature and
precipitation records help convey what living in different regions of the
country is like.
Highly recommended for both school and public libraries.
Michele F. Kallio is a former teacher/librarian living in Blacks
Harbour, New Brunswick.
Book Review
The Reluctant Deckhand.
Written by Jan Padgett. Illustrated by Amanda Forbis.
Vancouver: Pacific Educational Press/National Film Board, 1995. 122pp, paper, 8.95
ISBN: 1-895766-01-X.
Grades 5 - 6 / Ages 10 -12.
Review by Leslie Millar.
***1/2 /4
excerpt:
As one whale sank
below the surface of the water, another whale would rise up, the sun
glistening off its white and black body. A puff of vapour rose in the
still air. Then two whales surfaced together, a mother with her baby
close at her side. As they sank below the surface, yet another huge body
exploded out of the water, flinging spray high into the air.
Tess had seen
orcas before. They passed by Lund, always far out in the strait. But now
she was in the water with them, in their own element. And she was in a
tiny kayak. The whales were bigger than the kayak, and the were moving
quickly, much faster than the kayak could.
JAN PADGETT IS A WRITER and film-maker who lives in Powell River, B.C.
She wrote and directed the animated film The Reluctant
Deckhand, and wrote this companion novel as well (both the film and the accompanying teacher's guide
are also reviewed in this issue). Although she
has written several short stories, The Reluctant Deckhand
is her first novel.
The
Reluctant Deckhand is the account of a ten-year-old girl's summer
on a her mother's fishing boat, working the waters between Vancouver
Island and the mainland of British Columbia. At first, Tess is resentful
and reluctant to spend her summer on the Henry Bay, away from her
best friend Candice, from the beach, and from the Sea Fair, where the
basket she had made over the winter was going to be entered in a contest.
But Tess's mother, Sue, doesn't want to spend the summer away from her
daughter, and figures Tess is old enough to help out with the fishing.
Candice gives Tess a parting gift -- a kitten who becomes a comforting
companion.
At first, Tess is
afraid of storms, rough waters, and sinking, and afraid of something
happening to her mother. While on the boat, Tess experiences a great
variety in weather, beautiful geography, and close encounters with
dolphins and orca whales. But by the end of summer, Tess's skills
have grown -- she learns to fish and navigate, and her confidence in the
water has grown too.
Her new skills are
tested when she helps rescue a boat in distress. After this climactic
experience, it seems the "bug" has caught hold of Tess. She is reluctant
to see the summer end, and is already looking forward to next summer on
the boat.
Padgett's prose
style is articulate and unsentimental. She describes the fishing and the
land and sea thoroughly. The language and metaphors used make this novel
suitable for grades five and six. The map of the route taken at the
beginning of books, and the glossary of nautical and fishing terms at the
end will be appreciated by teachers and students alike. The scattered
black-and-white illustrations by Amanda Forbis (who did the animation for
the film) are charming and expressive. Little filmstrip-like images
beneath the main pictures add extra detail.
Tess is a
likeable and intelligent ten-year-old. She and her mother make strong
female role models. And there are brief encounters with other women who
could be seen as role models: Anne the lighthouse keeper; Christine the
wildlife photographer; and Auntie Betty, a native elder.
The
Reluctant Deckhand is likely to be of interest to boating people,
or to those who have an interest in boating or live near the water. At
times the inspiration seems to flag, and drama is lacking -- either
between the characters and nature, or among the characters themselves.
Tess is so reasonable and mature, and the conflicts with her mother are
handled in such a civilized manner, that it's almost worth dissecting
their conflict resolution techniques to make a sort of "how-to" guide.
Still, this
well-told tale has a kind of shimmering beauty. As Tess leaves her
carefree summers of berry-picking and playing on the behind, she enters
another, more mature stage of childhood. It is more self-aware stage, and
entails more self-reliance, responsibility, and work, but still is
fraught with possibilities for joy and beauty.
Highly recommended.
Leslie Millar is a substitute teacher and volunteer in Winnipeg
schools.
Book Review
Notes Across the Aisle.
Edited by Peter Carver.
Saskatoon, SK: Thistledown Press, 1995. 187pp, paper, $9.95.
ISBN: 1-895449-45-6.
Grades 9 and Up / Ages 13 - 18.
Review by Grace Shaw.
****/4
excerpt:
It is usually the
events which seem insignificant that have the most profound effects in
life.
All my life, all
my loves, it is she I search for on the streets, among the faces of
strangers. And when I see black hair cascading like a waterfall, I take a
second look.
WE CELEBRATE THISTLEDOWN'S second anthology of short stories for young
adults. The success of the Blue Jean collection (1992)
seemed to call for another national competition, from which the seventeen
stories in Notes Across the Aisle were taken.
Some of the
winning writers are as young as eighteen; for many, this is their first
time in print. The plots are varied and diverse; the themes deal with
relationships, angst, coming of age and making sense of our world; the
settings range from "a steamy Sri Lankan summer, wartime Halifax, the
dinosaur badlands, a Northwest Company fort of 200 years ago, and a
future when human contact thrives only by modem."
The characters
all make their way through a complex world, though they are not perhaps
as developed or memorable as those of the Canadian masters of the short
stories like Valgardson or Munro.
We can only hope
there will be a third volume.
Highly recommended.
Grace Shaw is a teacher at Vancouver Community College.
Book Review
Fear of Words: Censorship and the Public Libraries of Canada.
Alvin M. Schrader.
Ottawa: Canadian Library Association, 1995. 195pp, paper, $29.95.
ISBN: 0-8880202-74-3.
Professional / Post-Secondary.
Review by Maryleah Otto.
****/4
excerpt:
. . . the fear of words will never cease and the desire to censor them
will never die.
. .
.
Unless public librarians live the principles of intellectual freedom and
access as agents of all of the body politic, through policies, procedures
and integrity, they abdicate their claim to institutional prerogative and
institutional autonomy
. .
.
The evidence from this study suggest that public librarians as a
community should be more consistent champions of the rights of children
and young adults to have unqualified access to library materials. . . .
age-related restrictions and other institutional barriers to access
violate the "social contract" for intellectual freedom that public
library staff unofficially, if not officially, endorse. . . . How a
balance can be achieved between social ideology that expects public
librarians to protect children and the larger moral imperative to
restrict the rights of minors, is and remains an unresolved -- and
difficult issue.
THESE ARE SOME OF THE CONCLUSIONS that Alvin Shrader draws from his
superbly crafted research study of censorship in Canadian public
libraries:
This study, the first national project of its kind in the world, has
attempted to identify the scope and nature of community pressures to
censor materials housed in the nation's public libraries and to document
the ways in which public librarians across the country responded to these
pressures.
Shrader's
credentials to undertake such a project are more than adequate. With a
doctorate in library science from Indiana University, he has been a
professor in 1982 in the School of Library and Information Studies at the
University of Alberta. He is a long-time member both of the Intellectual
Freedom Committee of the Library Association of Alberta and of the
Advisory Committee on Intellectual Freedom of the Canadian Library
Association. He has also been on the Board or Directors of the Library
Association of Alberta. Previous professional experience includes several
years in Ontario.
In Part One of
this study, Shrader explains that a review of the literature on
censorship in Canadian public libraries revealed very little research
into the kinds of community pressures that exist, how pervasive they are,
or how often public librarians remove, or restrict access to, materials
challenged.
In outlining the
conceptual framework of the project, he notes several important earlier
U.S. Studies, emphasizing the need for a precise distinction between
censorship ("a presumption in favour of thought control") and selection
("a presumption in favour of liberty of thought"). Shrader approaches
his work by examining three main aspects of the context in which
censorship exists:
- political and constitutional factors
- social and community factors
- institutional factors
He then identifies and explores three stages in the censorial process:
- the occurrence itself
- its resolution or outcome
- its effect on subsequent responses.
Shrader gathered
information nationally, in English and French, from a three-year period
from 1985 through 1987. A questionnaire covered five main areas of
inquiry:
- institutional characteristics
- access policies and practices related to intellectual freedom
- direct challenges to collections and their effects on access policies
and practices
- covert censorship (deliberate theft or mutilation of materials)
- acquisition pressure (attempts to promote certain points of view or
causes)
The study design included a checklist of thirty controversial materials
based on the lists of challenged items identified in three previous
publications about Canadian public library censorship incidents. Other
design elements, limitations of the study, and the data analysis methods
used are fully described in the text.
Part Two of
Fear of Words is a detailed presentation of the findings
uncovered by the exploration of the five main areas of interest outlined
above. The hundreds of responses quoted reveal the multitude ways
Canadian public librarians deal with issues related to access. These
quotes also make fascinating reading!
Shrader's
conclusions (suggested by the excerpts at the beginning of this review)
include several other factors affecting censorship -- most importantly,
those that operate at the level of the individual psyche. Shrader's plans
for further research on these factors illustrate just how complex the
issue is -- they involve insights from reader-response theory, social
learning theory, and anthropology. Investigating them will require more
complex research designs than the present one, but Shrader is confident
their study will yield much enlightening information on censorial
attitudes in general.
Included in the
book are several bibliographies, an index, the survey questionnaires
themselves, covering letters, various statements on intellectual freedom,
the 1995 Book and Periodical Council Freedom to Read Week Reading List,
and a list of materials challenged between 1985 and 1987. There are also
thirty-three tables and figures to illustrate the data analysis.
Fear of
Words is a landmark study that I hope will be read carefully by
all public librarians in Canada. It exemplifies an unusually high level
of research methodology in its attempt to uncover information and analyze
data accurately. It is honest about its limitations.
The only
reservation I have is that Shrader expresses his own personal view of the issue so passionately. One is always tempted to suspect that a researcher finds just what they want to find in any
available data unless a scientific impartiality and objectivity has been
rigorously applied.
The problems
inherent in materials selection or rejection reach deep into the human
psyche, and into a kaleidoscope of cultural, religious, political, and
economic conditions. Public librarians will forever be caught between one
man's meat and another's poison. Besides, values and tastes are always in
flux. Ideologies hailed as true in one era or one region are taboo in
others. Yet the concept of freedom -- not to be confused with license --
is dear to the human soul.
I believe Shrader
is correct when he writes:
In the last resort, it is not the force of law but only
the force of free intelligence that can save a people from its own folly.
In this light, I believe it is better to err on the side of more access
rather than on the side of less.
Shrader seems to believe that humanity can trust its innate potential for
good, and that we are, finally, more inclined to embrace truth and
justice than their opposites. I hope he's right.
This landmark
study on the crucial issue of censorship deserves a careful reading by
Canadian librarians in all field of practice.
Highly recommended.
Maryleah Otto is a former children's librarian in Toronto and London,
Ontario, and the author of four published books for children. Her
graduate work, apart from library science, dealt with the literature of
modern romance languages.
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Book Review
"The Reluctant Deckhand"
Teacher's Guide for the Novel and Film.
Vancouver: Pacific Educational Press/National Film Board, 1995. 36pp,
paper, 5.95.
ISBN: 1-895766-15-X.
Professional.
Review by Leslie Millar.
***1/2/4
THIS THIRTY-SIX-PAGE guide to reading and viewing The Reluctant
Deckhand (the novel and film are also reviewed in this issue) was created by a team of educators and consultants. It
points out the broad curricular connections that can be made between the
book or film and language arts, social studies, science, math, and art
classes. It states the big ideas in the novel and film -- like meeting
challenges, and changing and growing as a result. The teacher's guide
also describes several specific activities that can be done in class
after reading or viewing and discussion.
The activities
suggested are developed within four themes:
- relationships
- stewardship of the earth
- life on the coast
- the storyteller's art.
The activities could be implemented within this theme structure or
individually, as the teacher desires. Two black-line masters for
animation and storyboard activity are included.
The themes and
activities have been thoughtfully developed. Of the many suggestions in
the guide, several are sure to be useful, or the source of inspiration
for teachers or students to develop other ideas.
Recommended.
Leslie Millar is a substitute teacher and volunteer in Winnipeg
schools.
Video Review
The Reluctant Deckhand.
Written and Directed by Jan Padgett. Illustrated by Amanda Forbis.
Vancouver: Pacific Educational Press/National Film Board, 1995.
Grades 3 - 6 / Ages 8 - 12.
Review by Leslie Millar.
***1/2/4
THE ANIMATED VERSION of The Reluctant Deckhand is a
thirty-three minute film in six parts (the accompanying novel and teacher's guide are also reviewed in this issue). Each part, indicated by a new log
entry, details significant event in Tess's summer.
The animation has
the clunky cuteness of a moving watercolour. The reason is the "cut-out"
animation technique uses. The figures are drawn, painted, cut out, and
re-attached with joints that are manipulated bit by bit under the camera
to create movement. The result is deliberately two-dimensional and
choppy.
A short
documentary about the making of the film follows. In it we are introduced
to the real Henry Bay, the boat that inspired the story. We meet
author and director Jan Padgett, who describes the conception and
execution of the idea in the film. We also meet designed and animator
Amanda Forbis.
The animated film
and documentary will be enjoyed by students eight to twelve years old.
The documentary lends itself well to story-making and art-enrichment
activities.
Recommended.
Leslie Millar is a substitute teacher and volunteer in Winnipeg
schools.
Video Review
Run, Sockeye, Run: The Life Cycle of the Sockeye Salmon.
Vancouver: Insight and Sound Creations, 1995. 23 minutes, VHS, $??.??
Distributed by Moving Images Distribution.
Grades 4 - 10 / Ages 9 - 14.
Review by Janice Foster.
***/4
excerpt:
Okay, sockeye, listen up! The sooner we get started the sooner we'll be
on our way . . .
SO BEGINS the award-winning documentary Run, Sockeye, Run.
A computer-animated `Salmon Leader' coaches his `team' of Adam River
Sockeye on their formidable journey up the Fraser River to their spawning
grounds. The novel approach adds interest and variety to this depiction
of the life-cycle of the salmon.
Run,
Sockeye, Run uses appropriate vocabulary to accurately outline
the different stages of the salmon's journey from the Pacific Ocean to
the spawning grounds of the Adam River in British Columbia. The
spectacular photography clearly shows the geography of the route (with
map inserts to orient the viewer). The footage also provides an excellent
portrayal of the dangers and enemies the fish face on their upstream
adventure. Underwater close-ups offer valuable insights into spawning
activities ranging from males battle for a mating opportunity to the
wonders of egg hatching.
The `real-life'
sequences are enhanced by narrated information and musical interludes.
The film concludes in the same animated format with which it begins.
The video is well
paced to both sustain viewer interest and retrieve information. The
musical interludes prevent visual information powerfully without the need
for narration; these pauses encourage the viewer to watch closely and
make the video a good way to strengthen both visual and verbal skills.
And the computer-animated salmon `coach' is a clever technique, though it would
be more effective if the tone of his dialogue varied more; as it is, it's
not also easy to pull out the facts in his narration, especially where
the information isn't obvious in the visuals. The map inserts, though
useful, would be clearer if they were larger and better labelled.
But most of the
footage is clear and crisp, and overall, Run, Sockeye, Run
is an imaginative video well worth considering as a resource for educational
collections.
Highly recommended as an introduction to or elaboration on topics
such as life cycles or animal science studies.
Janice Foster is currently the teacher-librarian/enrichment facilitator
at Oakenwald Elementary School in Winnipeg.
News -- Manitoba
Margaret Buffie Wins for The Dark Garden
AT THE MANITOBA LITERARY AWARDS April 27, Margaret Buffie won the McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award for her Young Adult novel The Dark Garden (reviewed in
CM vol. II, No. 26), also recently short-listed for the Ruth Schwartz Canadian Book Award.
Buffie has
previously won the Young Adult Canadian Book Award for Who is
Frances Rain, and was nominated for the Governor's General Award
and the C.L.A. Book of the Year Award for her third novel, My
Mother's Ghost.
This was the
first year the Manitoba Literary Awards have included the Book for Young
People Award. Also short-listed were Linda Holeman for Saying Goodbye, Carol
Matas for The Primrose
Path, Sheldon Oberman for The White Stone in the Castle
Wall, and Diana Wieler for RanVan: A Worthy Opponent.
-
CM
Editor
Duncan Thornton
e-mail: cmeditor@mts.net
-
CM
Executive Assistant
Peter Tittenberger
e-mail: cm@umanitoba.ca
Copyright © 1996 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
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Canadian Library Association
Margaret Buffie Wins for The Dark Garden