CM Magazine: Hannah's Collections.

________________ CM . . . . Volume VIII Number 3 . . . . October 5, 2001

Hannah's Collections.

Marthe Jocelyn.
Toronto, ON: Tundra, 2000.
24 pp., cloth, $17.99.
ISBN 0-88776-521-1.

Subject Headings:
Collectors and collecting-Juvenile fiction.
Counting-Juvenile fiction.

Preschool-grade 1 / Ages 3-6.
Review by Alison Mews.

**** /4

excerpt:

Altogether, Hannah had two dozen little creatures. She let Ellie look after the elephant family, who lived in the chocolate box. The others stood in a row along her shelf, lined up from the tallest to the smallest.
Hannah also collected jewelry. She had 5 rings. Sometimes she wore all of them on one hand. Or she might wear 4 on one hand and 1 on the other. Or 3 on one hand and 2 on the other.

And Hannah had still more collections to choose from! Which one should she take to school?

Hannah thought and thought. Finally, she pressed her fists against her eyes until she saw fireworks. Then she had an idea that would solve everything.

Children love to collect small objects like feathers and pretty seashells, and Hannah is no exception. Except that Hannah's passion for collecting is exceptional! She has gathered so many items that she has filled her room with her collections. She loves to sort and resort her 153 buttons - by colour, shape or size - and to arrange interesting patterns with her popsicle sticks. When her teacher invites the children to share a favourite collection with the class, Hannah finds it impossible to choose. Finally, she comes up with the perfect solution - she creates a new sculpture collection using pieces from all her other collections.

Former toy designer Marthe Jocelyn has focussed her considerable talents in the design of this visually stunning picture book. Mixed-media collages create a three dimensional smorgasbord of found objects that are so tactile-looking children will want to touch them. Her story will also touch a chord with children who cherish treasures or those who have experienced the agonizing dilemma of choosing favourites. This book, a sequel to Hannah and the Seven Dresses, was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for illustration. Whether for storytime or math class, this book will captivate children as they absorb information about classifying, sorting, counting and organizing.

Highly Recommended.

Alison Mews is the Director of the Curriculum Materials Centre in the Faculty of Education, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NF.

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

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

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