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CM . . . .
Volume V Number 9 . . . . Janaury 1, 1999
While The Big City/Big Country Counting Book is Ian Crysler's first
book, readers may also know him through his photography of the plasticine-based
works of his wife, Barbara Reid.
Highly recommended.
Dave Jenkinson lived in the big country as a child, but he now lives in
the big city where he teaches children's literature courses in the Faculty of
Education at the University of Manitoba.
To comment on this
title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.
Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association.
Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice
is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without
permission.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - JANUARY 1, 1999.
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Photographer Ian Crysler has produced a most imaginative dual counting book.
Young children can elect to begin at the book's "country" side and, via rural
scenes, count from "1" to "10" before flipping the book over and again count up
to 10, but this time by using things found in the "city." While it initially
appears that Crysler is saying that rural and urban children live in different
worlds, he, in fact, cleverly reveals that the two groups of children have much
in common although the specific form of their commonalities may differ
somewhat. For example, the city's "One shiny red truck" is a racing fire truck
while the rural "One shiny red truck" is a practical pickup. "Five silly
geese" march across a farmer's yard, but "Five silly geese" made of plastic
serve as urban decorations. A city vendor proffers "seven tasty hotdogs" while
rural children get to roast the same number over the embers of a glowing
campfire. "Eight slippery swimmers" prepare to plunge into a city's indoor
pool, but their rural counterparts can jump off a floating dock moored in the
middle of a forest-surrounded lake. The book's real unity comes at the its
middle where the big country and the big city each contribute five children to
the shared double page of "Ten funny friends." The coloured photos vividly
capture the contrast between the country's wide-open spaces and the city's
building-dominated silhouette.