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The Northern Circumpolar World.
Bob MacQuarrie.
Subject Heading:
Grade 7 / Age 12. *** /4
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excerpt:
Viking sagas tell us that Scandinavian adventurers visited Iceland and Greenland before the end of the first millennium. Viking families from Norway and the colonies in Britain settled in Iceland in 870 CE. From the mountain tops of western Iceland, these colonists could dimly see another island to the west. Around 983 CE, Erik the Red led a group of settlers from Iceland to this island, which he named Greenland.
Canadians tend to forget that the northern circumpolar world is
occupied by eight other countries: the United States, Russia, Iceland,
Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Denmark? Yes, Denmark is still
involved in the governing of Greenland and, as a result, is considered a
circumpolar country.
Starting in Canada and ending in Alaska, Bob MacQuarrie takes readers on an eastward journey round the planet's northern rim. Each "stop" provides information about the country and its peoples' way of life and concludes with interesting tasks, such as gathering more information on the country or thinking about the differences between countries or the difficulties connected with living in the north. In addition, MacQuarrie provides chapters on climate, plants, animals, history, native peoples, links, and challenges.
While this informative and fascinating book was written as the new Grade 7 social studies textbook for the Northwest Territories, its pictures and thumbnail sketches of the countries make it a worthwhile purchase for schools in other provinces.
Highly recommended.
Marsha Kaiserman is Head of Conferences Cataloguing at Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI) in Ottawa.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.
Copyright © 1997 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
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - APRIL 25, 1997.
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