CM Magazine: Baboo: The Story of Sir John A. Macdonald's Daughter.

________________ CM . . . . Volume V Number 19 . . . . May 21, 1999

Baboo: The Story of Sir John A. Macdonald's Daughter.

Ainslie Manson. Illustrated by Bill Wand.
Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books/Douglas & McIntyre, 1998.
28 pp., cloth, $15.95.
ISBN 0-88899-329-3.

Subject Headings:
Macdonald, Mary Margaret Theodora, 1869-1933-Juvenile literature.
Macdonald, John A. (John Alexander), Sir, 1815-1891-Family-Juvenile literature.
Handicapped women-Canada-Biography-Juvenile literature.

Grades 3-4 / Ages 8-9.
Review by Lorraine Douglas.

* /4

excerpt:

Sir John A. Macdonald was not like other fathers. His daughter Mary knew that. Only one father in the whole wide world was the first prime minister of Canada.

Mary Macdonald was the daughter of Sir John A. Macdonald and was affectionately called "Baboo" by her father. She was born with brain damage and was not able to walk or speak clearly. Mary was included in her family's activities and attended parliament to see and hear her father speaking. This picture book contains a letter Sir John A. wrote and also a letter Mary dictated. Later, she was given a typewriter which enabled her to keep up correspondence until her death in England at the age of sixty-five.

Teachers and librarians looking for picture books illuminating events in Canadian history would be more interested in Manson's earlier books. Life during the Second World War is beautifully and poignantly rendered in Just Like New, and the explorations of Alexander Mackenzie are delightfully told in A Dog Came, Too. This new volume is not of the same quality as Manson's earlier works as it lacks sparkle and energy.

Not Recommended.

Lorraine Douglas is Head of Children's Services at the Winnipeg Public Library, MB

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - MAY 21, 1999.