Table of Contents
Book Reviews
Franklin Has a Sleepover.
- Paulette Bourgeois. Ilustrated by Brenda Clark.
- Review by Lorraine Douglas.
- Pre-school - Grade 1 / Ages 3 - 5.
- Those Tiny Bits of Beans.
- John Weier. Illustrated by David Beyer.
- Review by Leslie Millar.
- Grades 3 - 5 / Ages 7 - 11.
- A Canoe Trip.
- Writers/Editors: Bobbie Kalman, Tammie Everts, David Schimpky, Samantha
Crabtree.
-
Illustrated by Barb Bedell and Ellen O'Hare.
- Photographs by Marc
Crabtree, Heather Halfyard, and Don Standfield.
- Review by William Benson.
- Grades 3 - 6 / Ages 7 - 11.
- Envoys Extraordinary:
- Women
of the Canadian Foreign Service.
- Margaret K. Weiers.
- Review by Grace Shaw.
- Grades 10 - 13 / Ages 14 to Adult.
- No Daughter of Mine:
- The
Women and History of the Canadian Women's Press Club, 1904-1971.
- Kay Rex.
- Review by Grace Shaw.
- Grades 10 - 13 / Ages 14 to Adult.
Video Review
- The Washing of Tears.
- Written and directed by Hugh Brody.
- Review by Thomas F. Chambers.
- Grades 11 and Up / Ages 16 to Adult.
Audio Review
Beware of the Credit Monster:- Win
the War for Your Dollars --
A Guide for Young Adults.
- Carole M. Wallace.
- Review by Thomas F. Chambers.
- Grades 10 and Up / Ages 15 - 18.
Friends of CM
Dundurn Press
News
Carol Matas Wins for Daniel's Story
Book Review
Franklin Has a Sleepover.
Paulette Bourgeois. Ilustrated by Brenda Clark.
Toronto: Kids Can Press, 1996. Unpaginated.
Cloth, $12.95. ISBN: 1-55074-300-7.
Paper, $4.95. ISBN: 1-55074-302-3.
Pre-school - Grade 1 / Ages 3 - 5.
Review by Lorraine Douglas.
***/4
excerpt:
When Franklin and
Bear were ready for bed, Franklin's parents gave them both a glass of
water and a good-night hug.
"Sleep tight,"
they said, turning off the light.
The two friends
lay still for a moment. Then Bear turned on his flashlight.
"Franklin?" he
whispered. "I don't feel good."
FRANKLIN, THE BEST-SELLING TURTLE, stars in his twelfth picture book. He
invites his friend bear for a sleep-over and is really excited. Franklin
tidies his room while Bear packs his bag and tucks his stuffed bunny on
top. The two decide to camp in the living room and have great fun until
its time to go to sleep. Suddenly Bear is homesick, until Franklin thinks
of a solution to Bear's problem.
As usual, the
homy details -- like bug porridge and a wooden-log phone -- in the lumpy
terrapin's life are well realised in Clark's watercolours. This new
adventure is as gentle as the earlier stories, but not as humorous as
Franklin Fibs (1991) or Franklin in the Dark
(1986).
Other sleep-over
stories, like Arthur's First Sleepover: An Arthur Adventure
by Marc Brown (Little Brown, 1994) or Ira Sleeps Over by
Bernard Waber (Houghton Mifflin, 1972) develop this new experience more
fully and have more interesting characters and plots. But this new
Franklin story will be popular and will be enjoyed at home and at story
times.
Recommended.
Lorraine Douglas is the Youth Services Coordinator for the Winnipeg
Public Library, and has appeared as Franklin at a number of library
programs. (And she's very glad she doesn't have to wear his fun-fur suit
all the time!).
Book Review
Those Tiny Bits of Beans.
John Weier. Illustrated by David Beyer.
Winnipeg: Pemmican Publications, 1995. Unpaginated, paper, $9.95.
ISBN: 0-921827-47-4.
Grades 3 - 5 / Ages 8 - 11.
Review by Leslie Millar.
**/4
excerpt:
. . . Oncle Henri
felt something nudge his foot under the table. Well, he looked up at
Tante Madeline, he was very confused. What was wrong? He had been eating
so well. Why had she nudged him? Then, he stopped eating, picked up his
knife and started cutting his beans in two. That's what Tante Madeline
had told him to do.
JOHN WEIER LIVES IN WINNIPEG, and has published three books of poetry and
short stories. Those Tiny Bits of Beans is his first
children's book.
Those Tiny
Bits of Beans is a folk-tale set in the Red River valley in "the
years after the hanging of Louis Riel." That information, along with the
French names and Aboriginal characters place it as a story with a
Métis origin. The historical setting is quickly established, and a
feeling of promise pervades the first few pages.
But soon history is
abandoned and the story goes awry. The tale is really about
Oncle Henri's penchant for gulping his food whole, his wife Tante
Madeline's public embarrassment over this distressing habit, and her plan
to guide him decorously through a wedding dinner. Unknown to them, a dog
sleeping under the table confuses their secret signals to each other.
Henri and
Madeline become so frustrated and angry with each other that they walk
out and leave the wedding. They see a dog run out into the field but have
no inkling of the role it has just played in their difficulties. The
story ends.
But "what
happened next?" some children are bound to ask. How did they resolve
their problem? How did they learn it was the dog's fault? Early on we
hear this is a story that later, when times were not so hard, people
(including Henri and Madeline) would laugh about. But we never hear how
they gained the knowledge and perspective that allowed this to become a
family tale shared and enjoyed in future years.
And the beginning
and end of this story do not seem to relate to one another, like an
unclosed circle. Marriage, humour, hard times, and changing lifestyles
are themes suggested but never explored. We are left unsure what the
story is really about. The beans do not play a significant enough role to
merit their prominence in the title; the joke is not funny enough to be
the central point of the story; and the lack of resolution is puzzling.
Weier needed to reshape this story to close the circle before going to
print -- it's probably a few re-writes from being finished.
David Beyer,
illustrating his third book, has chosen dark, solid colours. The lack of
gradation or shading, and the bold black outlines, remind one of a comic
book. While overall this has a simple and attractive appeal, at times the
exaggerated facial features have a vaguely frightening, mask-like
quality.
A handful of
words will prove challenging to the competent grade-four reader, but
grade three and four students are the right audience. That the story
depicts Métis people at an important point in their history (though
not much is made of this) may give this book extra appeal to teachers.
Not recommended.
Leslie Millar is a substitute teacher and volunteer in Winnipeg
Schools.
Book Review
A Canoe Trip.
Writers/Editors: Bobbie Kalman, Tammie Everts, David Schimpky, Samantha
Crabtree.
Illustrated by Barb Bedell and Ellen O'Hare.
Photographs by Marc
Crabtree, Heather Halfyard, and Don Standfield.
Niagra-on-the-Lake, ON: Crabtree, 1995. 32pp.
Library bound, $20.95. ISBN: 0-86505-619-6.
Paper, 7.95. ISBN: 0-86505-719-2.
Grades 3 - 6 / Ages 7 - 11.
Review by William Benson.
**/4
A CANOE TRIP is a visually appealing book -- a sort of
coffee-table book for the eight to eleven set. It appears to be
primarily promotional material for the children's camp system of Ontario.
The book is well
laid-out and organized, with a table of contents and index, and a
vocabulary section that defines important but uncommon words. A
Canoe Trip emphasizes safety and environmental awareness
throughout, with practical suggestions on how to deal with potentially
dangerous situations (like fires or encounters with bears).
Along with
teaching the basic parts of a canoe, the book explains the two basic
strokes used in canoeing, the sweep and the J-stroke. Fun is emphasized
throughout, and the main group of boys pictured certainly seem to be
having fun.
The major
drawback to A Canoe Trip is that it lacks a clear target
and purpose. The cover suggests it's for young children, but the pictures
include young people up to the teen years. The language used varies in
the same manner.
The book suggests
that children will go a week-long camp, yet the suggested list of food
and supplies would not last more than a few days. And though the book
stresses safety throughout, it fails to address the effects of being on
the water in the bright sun: there is one casual mention of a sun-screen,
but nothing about sunglasses, or the importance of having enough water in
the canoe to prevent dehydration. The same applies to insect repellent.
This lack of
realism extends to situations such as portaging. According to A
Canoe Trip, "Portaging is a welcome rest from paddling." One
wonders how these canoes were moved, because there's no mention of who
moved them or how.
Though it was
good to include a practical section on what to do if you wander off on
your own and become lost, it would have been better if they'd included
the whistle the child is supposed to use to be found in the supply list.
Similarly, though the illustrations show marshmallows, canned beans, and
some sort of hot drink, none of these items are included on the food
list.
It's difficult to
understand why a book of this kind, published in the nineties, has such a
preponderance of males in the photographs. It's also hard to understand
why the authors still use imperial rather than metric measurements in
their instructions.
To sum up, this
book lacks a focus; there are too many words for a coffee-table book, but
certainly not enough information to prepare a child to go on a real canoe
trip. Not unless they were to sign up with one of those excellent camps
in Ontario. A Canoe Trip does, however, look beautiful.
Recommended with reservations -- well packaged, but lacking in
substance.
William F. Benson is a school psychologist in Nanaimo, British Columbia
with interests in athletics and the outdoors.
Book Review
Envoys Extraordinary:
Women
of the Canadian Foreign Service.
Margaret K. Weiers.
Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1995. 288pp, cloth, $29.99.
ISBN: 1-55002-241-5.
Grades 10 - 13 / Ages 14 to Adult.
Review by Grace Shaw.
****/4
excerpt:
Diplomacy is not a career for the faint-hearted. However, it can be an
immensely satisfying one for a woman with a sense of adventure, a thick
skin, a yen to travel and live in foreign countries, a desire to make a
difference, and a gambler's instinct to beat the odds.
MARGARET WEIERS HAS WRITTEN a first-of-its-kind book recording the
stories of twenty-two female career officers in the Canadian Foreign
Service. Weiers has almost forty years of journalistic experience, and
her witty, precise style captures the struggles and victories of this
small but determined band of women, and fills an important chapter in
Canadian History.
Based on
interviews with many of the women themselves, and an extensive range of
articles, news stories, and books of political analysis, Envoys
Extraordinary chronicles the trials, resourcefulness in the face of
discrimination, and ultimate success of these women.
Until 1947, women
could not write the Foreign Service examination. Until, women could
only begin as clerks and secretaries and rose through the ranks only
through uncontestable ability. Witness Agnes McCloskey, who went from
obscure clerk to chief accountant in External Affairs, and wielded such
extensive power over budgets and expense accounts that she was both
feared and reviled for her parsimony.
Restrictions on
women in the foreign service keeping their jobs if they married persisted
until 1971, years after the practice had stopped in other government
departments. Nevertheless, eleven of the women Weiers profiles became
ambassadors, and two have been deputy ministers.
Although women
have established a firm beachhead in fields such as medicine and law,
External Affairs is still a male bastion. As in politics, where women
have succeeded as individuals, but not collectively, the odds are still
stacked heavily against women in the diplomatic corps.
Everyone would do
well to read these pages, in which much of Canada's history unfolds.
Weiers's conclusion is that for women, External Affairs is "Not for the
Faint of Heart."
Highly recommended.
Grace Shaw is a teacher at Vancouver Community College.
To order Envoys Extraordinary: Women
of the Canadian Foreign Service. contact:
Dundurn Press
2181 Queen Street East
Suite 301
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M4E 1E5
email orders@dundurn.com
phone 416-698-0454
fax 416-698-1102
toll free Phone 1-800-391-1653 Fax 1-800-391-1656
Book Review
No Daughter of Mine:
The
Women and History of the Canadian Women's Press Club, 1904-1971.
Kay Rex.
Toronto: Cedar Cave Books, University of Toronto Press, 1995. 276pp, paper, $14.95.
ISBN: 0-920403-08-5.
Grades 10 - 13 / Ages 14 to Adult.
Review by Grace Shaw.
***/4
excerpt:
No daughter of mine will ever become a reporter. . .
. .
.
. . . but had just not thought of women . . .
. .
.
. . . none has included a representation
of Canadian newswomen.
VETERAN TORONTO JOURNALIST Kay Rex (Canadian Press, the CBC, The Globe
and Mail) gives us a comprehensive look at the sixty-seven-year
history of the Canadian Women's Press Club with grace and wit. Begun by a
feisty group of women fourteen years before women had the vote, and in a
time when women were discriminated against not only in the professions,
but even in acquiring education, the CWPC provided a much-needed support,
network, and educational centre for women working as journalists and
authors.
Today newswomen
travel the world and work in all media, but these victories were hard
won, and Rex's book pays tribute to the "founders and fighters" and
their successors along the way. There are delightful insights into women
who played historic roles, such as Kit Coleman, the first club president
and the first woman war correspondent; Emily Murphy, who took her fight
to have women declared "persons" to the British Privy Council; and
Nellie McClung, the suffragette and satirist.
At its peak, in
1957, the CWPC had 675 members and 17 branches across the country that
met in a triennial national conference.
Highlights of the
CWPC's history included a break-through tour of post-war Britain (though
that does not sound like a big deal today), and an extensive 1955 trip to
Europe for seventy-odd women journalists that culminated in a hard-won
tour through the iron-curtained USSR, when the "Red" carpet was actually
laid out for them (note that future Prime Minister Lester Pearson was to
follow their lead).
As a result of
this trip, for the first time news stories from Russia were filled with
"the little human details missing for so long in dispatches sent out
from behind the Iron Curtain." While the CWPC journalists were unable to
get all of their pictures and collected literature out of Russia, they
did obtain film that gave North America "its first look inside the USSR
in 20 years."
Pictures and
articles filled Canadian publications for weeks, confounding "members of
the world press, who were having a hard time getting anything tangible in
the way of news out of the Kremlin-dominated USSR."
Other noteworthy
events included sponsoring thirty-three foreign journalists to come and
participate in Canada's centennial.
Everything in
this multi-faceted book is interesting, except for the boring list of
rules and regulations and the catalogue of difficulties in collecting
dues. Organizing this much material was likely a major challenge. The book begins with a
discussion of the personalities, and then follows with the history, of
the club, and there is some overlap and repetition between the
sections.
Most readers will
enjoy the picture section and be touched by the humanity revealed in the
women photographed -- as when the Vancouver chapter arranged the funeral
for their beloved Pauline Johnson.
This book will
appeal especially to women, and will be particularly instructive for
young or aspiring members of the media, those who study the role of women
in history, and all those who take their present rights and privileges
for granted. And of course, it will be an education for men.
Highly recommended.
Grace Shaw is a teacher at Vancouver Community College.
Video Review
The Washing of Tears.
Written and directed by Hugh Brody.
Nootka Sound & Picture Co. Distributed by the National Film Board.
NFB ON#: 9194090.
Grades 11 and Up / Ages 16 to Adult.
Review by Thomas F. Chambers.
*/4
THE MOWACHAHT INDIANS have lived at Yuquot, on the southern tip of Nootka Island,
B.C., for over four thousand years. British explorer Captain
Cook visited the island in 1778. He was followed by fur traders who
renamed the native village Friendly Cove. Spanish adventurers later
visited the island and planned to use it for the centre of a new empire
of the north west.
The theme of
The Washing of Tears is the near loss of the traditional
native way of life after the arrival of Europeans in North America, and
the recent rebirth of native culture. The video combines interviews with
natives about their loss with breath-taking shots of the ocean, footage
of whales sounding, and old photos of native whalers. There is no clear
explanation for the problems (illness, depression, alcoholism) that some
natives now face despite the renaissance of native
culture.
The lengthy
scenes of natives speaking about their problems are frankly boring. They
cover ground that newspapers, magazines, and other videos have been
discussing for years, and do not add anything to the larger population's
understanding of native issues.
The Washing
of Tears stresses the importance of native culture and traditions
to the peoples of the west coast. Scenes of natives dancing and
discussing their culture illustrate this point. The implication is that
without the renewed interest in native traditions, the Mowachaht would be
lost in the modern world, in the hustle and bustle of towns and cities.
Even with their culture to support them, however, there is a sense that
they have suffered a great loss.
The direction is
weak, however. Scenes change quickly without any explanation. For
example, at one point the viewer is suddenly in New York, and only
gradually realizes that the Friendly Cove natives have left Canada --
though there is no clear reason for this, until one sees them examining
artifacts in a museum, artifacts that presumably came from the west
coast.
The tape would
have benefitted greatly from an introduction. Since there is none, the
frustrated viewer must make assumptions and guesses. Without the brief
cover notes, The Washing of Tears would appear to be a
haphazard look at one small group of North American natives and how
Europeans changed their society. In all the video adds little to our
understanding of Canada's natives, their culture, or their problems.
Recommended with reservations.
Tom Chambers is a professor at Canadore College in North Bay
Ontario.
Audio Review
Beware of the Credit Monster:
Win
the War for Your Dollars -- A Guide for Young Adults.
Carole M. Wallace.
St. Louis Park, MN, U.S.A: Venture Forward, Inc., 1994. Two Audio
Cassettes, $14.95 (U.S.).
ISBN: 0-964-1587-0-1.
Grades 10 and Up / Ages 15 - 18.
Review by Thomas F. Chambers.
**/4
THESE TWO TAPES ARE DIVIDED into four programs, each a lively discussion
between two financially naive radio announcers and the fictitious
investment advisor, Sage Counsellor. For someone with little or no
experience they offer sound advice. The major weakness is that much of
the information is American and not relevant to a Canadian audience.
Canadians, for example, can't deduct the cost of mortgage interest from
their income tax while Americans can.
The first program
answers the question "Who is the credit monster?" by explaining the
dangers of buying on credit. The advice to teenagers who are beginning to
earn interest from part-time jobs is excellent. The tape urges young
adults to use money wisely, to save and earn interest rather than to pay
interest on debt.
In the interests
of verisimilitude, the interviews are interrupted by commercial messages.
But while these ads illustrate the points made in the program, they
aren't really necessary.
The program two
explains compound interest and discusses how to make financial security a
priority by saying, earning interest, and deferring taxes. Again, the
advice on deferring taxes isn't relevant to Canadians because there is
no exact American equivalent of RRSPs.
The third program
discusses the risk involved in various types of loans and investments,
from savings accounts to loans to family members and friends. It also
explains how banks make money by lending customer's money, and the
differences between government and corporate bonds.
There is a brief
and informative discussion about investing in stocks and how this can be
riskier than buying bonds. It also points out that stocks can provide
greater returns through the combination of dividends and capital gains.
In addition, there is a useful discussion on inflation and how it can
erode interest income.
Program four
discusses how to accumulate money through savings accounts, savings
bonds, and mutual funds. There is reference to the difference between
front-end and no-load mutual funds, but this is too brief to be of much
value. Program four also suggests that everyone should establish an
emergency fund equal to three months' worth of living expenses. Once this
fund is set up, the money should be put into something secure and
eventually into the equivalent of an RRSP.
The tapes are
easy to follow and well suited to a young audience. But the American
focus makes them less valuable to a Canadian audience.
Recommended with reservations.
Tom Chambers is a professor at Canadore College in North Bay
Ontario.
Friend of CM
Dundurn Press
Envoys Extraordinary:
Women of the Canadian Foreign Service
by Margaret K. Weiers
Many books have detailed the careers of men in Canada's diplomatic service but women's roles have been essentially ignored. The one exception to this generalization is the redoubtable Kathryn Agnes McCloskey, who joined External Affairs in 1909 when the entire department consisted of less than 10 employees. McCloskey went on to become the department's chief accountant and the first woman with a diplomatic posting abroad.
Other women had a more difficult path. By the Second World War women still couldn't be hired as officers within External Affairs, so they joined as clerks and secretaries but soon did officers' work - without the benefit of officers' pay. Finally, they did become officers, and one of them, Margaret Meagher, went on to become the first Canadian woman ambassador.
In Envoys Extraordinary, these women relate their stories in interviews with the author. All told, 11 have become ambassadors, two have been deputy ministers - women who made it in a man's world. The book also looks ahead to the aspirations of a new generation of upwardly mobile young women in an era of instant communication, where the computer modem and the fax machine have replaced the diplomatic courier.
Margaret K. Weiers, who worked for nearly 40 years in daily journalism at the Regina Leader-Post and the Toronto Star, was a foreign service officer for two years in the mid-1950s.
288 pages, 40 illustrations, 150 x 230 mm
$29.99 (US$26.50/£16.75) (cloth)
1-55002-241-5
September 1995
To order Envoys Extraordinary: Women
of the Canadian Foreign Service. contact:
Dundurn Press
2181 Queen Street East
Suite 301
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M4E 1E5
email orders@dundurn.com
phone 416-698-0454
fax 416-698-1102
toll free Phone 1-800-391-1653 Fax 1-800-391-1656
News: Manitoba
Carol Matas Wins 1996 Manitoba Young Reader's Choice Award
The Manitoba School Library Association has announced that Carol Matas has won the 1996 Manitoba Young Reader's Choice Award for Daniel's Story (Scholastic, 1993).
Nominees for the 1997 M.Y.R.C.A. are:
- Adam and Eve and Pinch Me, by Julie Johnstone.
- Lester Publishing, 1994.
Sara has lived in countless foster homes, and eagerly awaits her
sixteenth birthday so she can take to the road. Things become complicated
when a woman comes to town in search of her long-lost daughter.
- Bringing up Beauty, by Sylvia McNicoll.
- Maxwell Macmillan Canada, 1994.
Bathtub floods, messed-up art projects and accidents on neighbours' rugs
are just a few consequences of raising a puppy. The whole family agreed
to look after Beauty -- a seeing-eye dog in training -- but somehow
twelve-year-old Elizabeth lands the responsibility.
- The Golden Aquarians, by Monica Hughes.
- HarperCollins, 1994.
It is 2092, and Walt, 13, joins his father on the planet Aqua. The
Colonel is obsessed with transforming uninhabited planets's resources for
use by the Earth colonists. But when Walt discovers intelligent forms of
life, he is pitted against his father in a life and death struggle.
- The Invisible Polly McDoodle, by Mary Woodbury.
- Coteau Books, 1994.
A series of break-ins have occurred at Polly McDoodle's apartment
complex, and the police believe it is an inside job. Sixth-grader Polly
decides to investigate the crimes. It takes all of her intelligence and
intuition to solve the mystery.
- Just Call Me Boom Boom, by Martyn Godfrey.
- Scholastic Canada, 1994.
Boom Boom's temper may get him kicked out of the JAWS Mob at John Allen
Watson School, but it might come in handy when it's time to face some
nasty criminals. Fun and adventure from a popular author.
- Out of the Blue, by Sara Ellis.
- Groundwood Books, 1994.
Megan is shocked when her mother reveals a 24-year-old secret -- her
first daughter, Natalie. How can Megan accept her new half-sister as part
of the family? With compassion, poignancy and humour, their problems and
adjustments are deftly portrayed.
- Painted Devil, by Michael Bedard.
- Lester Publishing, 1994.
In this sequel to A Darker Magic, a job at the library offers teenaged
Alice refuge from the turmoil at home. But changes occur and premonitions
arise when she and Mr. Dwyer, the librarian, plan to stage a "Punch and
Judy" puppet show. A thriller not soon forgotten.
- Past Tense, by Ken Roberts.
- Groundwood Books, 1994.
Max Derbin lives in a household that can only be called eccentric.
Strangest of all is Uncle Chuck, a cellular phone addict and segment
producer for talk shows. This hilarious, off-the-wall story is full of
unexpected turns and great compassion.
- Stop the Presses, Ida Mae! By Mary Blakeslee.
- McClelland & Stewart, 1994.
This sequel to Ida Mae Evans Eats Ants finds the irrepressible sixth grader writing an astrology column for a paper and conducting tarot
readings for school mates. Investing in mining stocks seems to be Ida
Mae's undoing, but Great Aunt Glory comes to her rescue in this
fun-filled read.
- The Time of the Wolf, by Thomas MacDonald.
- Maxwell Macmillan Canada, 1994.
Aaron finds an orphaned wolf pup and nurses it back to health. The two
are inseparable until one day, Aaron has to leave. Set in the 1800s, this
is a plausible account of two friends who help each other find their own
fate.
- Wanderer's First Summer, by Janet Erbach.
- Polestar Press, 1994.
It should be the summer of freedom -- for Kee to leave home and wander
the oceans with her whalins, the telepathic sea creatures that protect
the islands. But island inhabitants watch Kee too closely in this
enchanting fantasy-adventure.
- Who's Got Gertie? And How Can We Get Her Back? (A Stevie Diamond
Mystery), by Linda Bailey.
- Kids Can Press, 1994.
Stevie and Jessie are in the thick of things again. While helping Gertie
-- their 72-year-old neighbour -- prepare for a big movie, the detectives
find she's gone missing! Suddenly they have a summer project far more
exciting than daycamp.
- Why Did the Underwear Cross the Road? by Gordon Korman.
- Scholastic Canada, 1994.
Justin has big ideas for winning the class good deed contest, but one
hare brained scheme after another backfires with hilarious results. In
this zany adventure, readers learn a lesson about cooperation and
friendship.
- Witch's Fang, by Heather Kellerhals-Stewart.
- Polestar Press, 1994.
Three teenagers risk life and limb in order to fulfil their dream, with
near-tragic results. As they attempt a first ascent on the last unclimbed
summit in southern B.C., they realize that the struggle to attain a goal
is as important as the goal itself.
- With a Painted Past, by Hazel Hutchins.
- Annick Press, 1994.
Allison's summer holiday tangles her up in a mystery in a world of one
hundred years ago. In a big test of courage, Allison learns a lot about
herself, her present and her connection to the past.
Annotations courtesy of "Our Choice," the Canadian Children's Book Centre.
-
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
WELCOME | BOOK REVIEWS BY AUTHOR | BOOK REVIEWS BY TITLE
AUDIO/VIDEO/CD-ROM REVIEWS | VOLUME II INDEX | SEARCH