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My Manitoba Friends A - Z.
Thomas Reid.
Grades 1 - 3 / Ages 6 - 8. 0/4
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excerpt:
"My Manitoba Friends is designed for the young reader to identify both the alphabet and Manitoba geography. Each page starts with a letter and ends with the next letter of the alphabet allowing the child to see the progression. Enjoy reading."
Based on his short introduction, author/illustrator Thomas
Reid seems to have had the best intentions for this picture book.
Unfortunately, it fails in a number of ways.
The background for each page is the outline of Manitoba with
a crocus off to one side that is never identified.. The province is
a soft shade of green with pale capital letters approximating the
location of the towns featured in the book. Each page targets one
over size letter, usually at the top. It is bright red, and shown
in both upper and lower case.
The first page reads "ALANA'S ALLIGATOR ATE AT ALTONA'S ANNUAL
BIRTHDAY BASH", followed by the question "CAN YOU FIND ALTONA ON
THE MAP?" There is a red tiered cake with three candles and a
green alligator with a party hat superimposed over the map. A
colour cameo of Alana is near the bottom.
Page two tells us "BILLY'S BELUGA BATHED BESIDE BRANDON'S
CRAZY CAMEL". A multicolored camel and a whale in a shower are
featured mid-page, Billy is at the bottom corner. The directional
question (can we find __), repeats at the bottom of each page in
the book. All the print is in upper case, which makes reading difficult.
As you may have deduced, this book has a cluttered layout. The
artwork is also extremely unappealing. "SAMANTHA'S SILLY SWAN
SOAKED SNOW LAKE'S TEPEE TOTALLY" shows a stream of water (?)
spewing from a swan and hitting the tent. The people appear
disembodied and distorted. Their cartoon-like features are
confusing. Most of the skin tones are the colour of cardboard;
ethnic variations are pink, puce green or dark brown.
Billy has a taupe face with startling pink patches at either
edge of his smile. This was probably supposed to represent a
healthy glow, but comes across as clown-like. Greg is worse off -
he has one normal eye and one where the white part is emerald
green. Both of Petunia's whites are green, and in combination with
her shrunken head has the effect of an evil Mr. Potato Head.
Even the title page confuses, over the background of correctly
placed pale letters is a random pattern of red letters surrounding
the red title. The least muddled page is at the center of the book.
It is a blowup of the Manitoba background found on every page, with
all the featured place names listed at the bottom.
As a concept, this book had promise. Unfortunately, the author's
rigid parameters force each descriptive sentence to end with the
next letter of the alphabet. It would have been much more
educational and engaging if each place could have been linked with
a memorable symbol that represents the community. e.g. Instead of
"WALLY'S WONDERFUL WALLEYE WELCOMING WINNIPEG'S EXTRA XMAS",(huh?)
couldn't he have welcomed the Golden Boy? Not only that, many kids
may be familiar with Manitoba's giant statues such as our giant
mosquito and catfish. Why not incorporate them?
All in all, this disappointing paperback should only be
considered for purchase by those desperate for Manitoba content.
Otherwise, it's not recommended.
A. Edwardsson works at a branch of the Winnipeg Public Library, where she is in charge of the Childrens dept. She has a Bachelor of Education degree, Child Care Worker III certification, and is a member of the Manitoba branch of the Canadian Authors Association.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to 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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