scholarly journals The Pond by N. Davies

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Borle
Keyword(s):  
Child Health ◽  
Undergraduate Student ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
School Library ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Aquatic Environments ◽  
Water Lily ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The Family ◽  
To Come

Davies, Nicola. The Pond. Illustrated by Cathy Fisher. Graffeg, 2017. In this picture book, a half-finished garden pond, “a muddy, messy hole that filled our garden,” becomes a metaphor for a family’s grief at the death of a father, “a muddy, messy hole that filled our hearts.” The story highlights the fact that when someone dies, the family loses not only the person, but also the activities that the family did with that person. Eventually, the mother in this story gets the pond lined and it starts to come to life with tadpoles, dragonflies and a water lily, mirroring the family’s progression through their grief.  The artwork really carries the story forward, and accompanied by the simple text Nicola Davies depicts aquatic environments in a variety of ways. Her work is cinematic, capturing the movement and messiness of pond life.  She uses dark colours, splatters, scribbles and fractures in lines to depict the family’s grief. Some of the images are beautiful.  Her water lilies on solid black backgrounds are exceptional. The images in this book will engage all ages. This book would be good for children coping with loss or those preparing to cope with loss and should be a part of public and school library collections.  Recommendation:  4 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sean Borle Sean Borle is a University of Alberta undergraduate student who is an advocate for child health and safety.  

scholarly journals A New Song for Herman by P. McAllister

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Borle
Keyword(s):  
Child Health ◽  
Undergraduate Student ◽  
School Library ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Green House ◽  
The Subject

McAllister, Paul. A New Song for Herman. Herman’s Monster House Publishing, 2017.There are many books designed to help children who are afraid of monsters.  This is the second book that Paul McAllister has written on the subject. In this one, Herman, a green House Monster turned Barista Monster, works at Sarah’s cafe and is famous for his mochaccinos. However, his work is suffering because he is being kept awake at night by an Attic Monster. It turns out that the Attic Monster is just baking cookies in an old Easy Bake Oven, so Herman offers him a job baking at the restaurant. The text is simple, but includes some repetition of the Attic Monster’s song “humba rumba lumba rumba gurgle gurgle bing!”, which children will enjoy and will want to repeat during a reading. Both the text and the illustrations help children identify with monsters rather than being afraid of them. Emily Brown has made the monsters look like cuddly stuffy toys. Even the Attic Monster who scares Herman turns out to be “the cutest little monster he’d ever seen.” Brown has also included fun details in the illustrations. For example, when Herman is at his most sleep deprived, he makes the coffee with dirt and Brown shows him holding a coffee pot that has a flower growing out of it. This fun book is recommended for public and school library collections.Recommended: 3 stars out of 4Reviewer: Sean C. BorleSean Borle is a University of Alberta undergraduate student who is an advocate for child health and safety. 

scholarly journals Bears in a Band by S. Parenteau

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Borle
Keyword(s):  
Child Health ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Undergraduate Student ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Brown Bear ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Musical Activities

Parenteau, Shirley.  Bears in a Band.  Candlewick Press, 2016.This is a great little book.  Children will love the rhymes, which tell the story of four brightly coloured teddy bears, who pick up instruments and begin to play.  They make a joyful noise that eventually wakes “Big Brown Bear." Instead of being angry, Big Bear joins as a conductor and the music becomes even better.There are two music messages in this book.  First, parents should celebrate their children’s musical activities and accept that there will be noise.  Second, everyone should attempt to find the music in themselves, and share that with everyone.The text is simple.  Young children will quickly memorize it.  “The bears all play a noisy song/They don’t care if the notes are wrong." The images are happy, uplifting and full of warm fuzzies. This would be a good bedtime picture book for young children.   I highly recommend this book for libraries. Highly recommended:  4 stars out of 4 Reviewer:  Sean BorleSean Borle is a University of Alberta undergraduate student who is an advocate for child health and safety.

scholarly journals The Pear Violin by B. Zhao

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Borle
Keyword(s):  
Child Health ◽  
Undergraduate Student ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Children's Books ◽  
Children’S Books ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Fantasy World ◽  
Suspension Of Disbelief

Zhao, Bingbo. The Pear Violin, illustrated by Gumi. Starfish Bay Children’s Books, 2016.Bingbo Zhao, who publishes under his first name, Bingbo, has published more than 370 children’s books and won more than 50 awards.  The Pear Violin is an imaginative picture book which starts from the idea that pears and violins are shaped alike. In Bingbo’s fantasy world, a squirrel cuts a pear in half, uses a twig and some of his whiskers to make a bow, and begins playing.  In this world foxes, elephants, bears, lions and a variety of other animals all inhabit the same forest.  The music of the violin is so powerful that it can make the fox stop chasing the chicken and the lion “let the rabbit lie in his arms, so that the rabbit would feel warmer when listening to the music.”  The music also has the power to make a small pear seed grow quickly into a tree and grow many pears.  All the animals make the pears into cellos, violins and violas and all play beautiful music together. Throughout the book Gumi (no last name given) illustrates the motion and emotion of the animals.  The animals’ faces show curiosity when the seed starts to grow and excitement when they play together in the concert. A suspension of disbelief is required for the enjoyment of this book.  Some children will ask, “Why don’t the pears rot?” and “Why are bears and elephants in the same forest?”   However, for most, it will just be a fun book which carries the message that music brings people together.  This book would be good for public libraries and school libraries.Recommended: 3 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sean BorleSean Borle is a University of Alberta undergraduate student who is an advocate for child health and safety

scholarly journals Isaac and His Amazing Asperger Superpowers! by M. Walsh

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Borle
Keyword(s):  
Child Health ◽  
Undergraduate Student ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
First Person ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Good Book ◽  
Negative Attributes ◽  
Positive Presentation

Walsh, Melanie.  Isaac and His Amazing Asperger Superpowers! Candlewick Press, 2016.This picture book is designed to help children better understand children who are on the Asperger’s/autism spectrum. Isaac, like many children with Asperger’s Syndrome, has symptoms that include needing to fidget, sensitivity to sound, exceptional memory for certain kinds of facts, and lack of verbal filters. Instead of making these as negative attributes, Melanie Walsh has used the “superhero” concept as a vehicle for their positive presentation. Telling the story in the first person allows Isaac to directly describe for the reader what his life is like. This allows readers to empathize more easily. For example, he says:  “Because I’m a superhero, I have lots of things to think about. I try to remember to be friendly and say hello to people I know, but sometimes I forget. I’m not being rude.” The artwork is brightly coloured. The images are simple and easy to understand, so it does not distract from the story.  This would be a good book to read out loud and discuss in a class where there is a child with Asperger’s. While it may not exactly represent all children with Asperger’s, it is a good generalization and will help other children be more accepting of others who have these “superhero” behaviours.Highly Recommended:  4 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sean BorleSean Borle is a University of Alberta undergraduate student who is an advocate for child health and safety. 

scholarly journals One Bear Extraordinaire by J. McGowan

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Borle
Keyword(s):  
Child Health ◽  
Undergraduate Student ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
The Moon ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
Good Book ◽  
Just Right

McGowan, Jayme. One Bear Extraordinaire.  Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2015.This picture book is a story about a bear who begins the tale as a “one man band”, playing a guitar, drum, cymbals, harmonica and tambourine.   Although legendary in the forest, he feels that, “something is missing”, so he sets out to find it.  As he journeys, other animals join him, but none of them fill the void.  Eventually the group encounters Wolf Pup, who wants to join but has no instrument.  Bear offers him several of his instruments, but he just chews them.  Finally, Wolf Pup howls at the moon and Bear realizes that what his song needed was a singer.  In the end Bear just has his guitar left, but he has four other band members and their tune “sounded just right.” There are two music messages in this book.  First, being a solo performer is fine, but making music with others is fine, too.  The second message is that everyone has something to contribute, if they are just given a chance. McGowan’s technique for creating pictures is unusual.  She builds up layers of paper, and then photographs the image.  Children will enjoy identifying objects and creatures in the brightly coloured pictures.  This is a good book and should be included in public libraries and school libraries.Recommended:  3 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sean BorleSean Borle is a University of Alberta undergraduate student who is an advocate for child health and safety.

scholarly journals Under the Bed Fred by L. Bailey

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Borle
Keyword(s):  
Child Health ◽  
Undergraduate Student ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Brown Bear ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Good Book ◽  
Award Winning ◽  
Page Book

Bailey, Linda. Under the Bed Fred. Tundra Books, 2017.In this offering of the “monsters are not scary” genre, award winning author Linda Bailey has written a chapter book for newly independent readers. There are five chapters telling the story of Leo, who is afraid of the monster, Fred, who lives under his bed. Eventually Leo befriends Fred and discovers he is not scary. He takes Fred to school, where Fred defends him against the class bully, who is portrayed as a red-headed child with a green shirt. Most readers will relate to dealing with a bully at school.The book is well paced for a new reader’s daily reading time. The text is simple and nearly every page has an illustration. One can imagine a child in Grade 2 or 3 being able to read a chapter each day and feel success at having completed a 63 page book by the end of a week.The illustrations are comic style. The monster looks a lot like a brown bear.  There are lots of action images, extreme expressions, and speech balloons.  The text appears as a very large typeface to emphasize something scary or loud. Sometimes the text is printed at an angle and sometimes words like “KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!”, “GRRRRRROWWLL!” and “CRASH! OOF! POP!” are printed over images for effect.Overall, this is a good book and it is therefore recommended for public and school libraries. Recommendation: 3 stars out of 4Reviewer: Sean C. BorleSean Borle is a University of Alberta undergraduate student who is an advocate for child health and safety. 

scholarly journals Hansel and Gretel and the Green Witch by L. North

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Borle
Keyword(s):  
Child Health ◽  
Undergraduate Student ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Beginning Readers ◽  
Junk Food ◽  
Healthy Foods ◽  
Health Message ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The Witch

North, Laura.  Hansel and Gretel and the Green Witch. Illus. Chris Jevons. St. Catharines, ON:  Crabtree Publishing, 2015. Print.This book is a “health message” twist on the Hansel and Gretel story.  The children in this story watch television and eat junk food.  They follow a trail of doughnuts into the forest, where they are captured by a witch. Instead of fattening them up, she forces them to do exercise and eat healthy foods, because she only eats healthy kids.   By the time the witch, who sometimes wears sweat pants and carries a megaphone,  thinks Hansel and Gretel are ready to eat, they are fit enough to run away. Children will like the brightly coloured pictures, which the illustrator, Chris Jevons, obviously had fun creating.  They will also be drawn in by Laura North’s completely original take on the story that they already know.  The story is simply told, with easy words for beginning readers. The two puzzles at the end of the book are not essential to the story, but would be a fun way to review the story with children.  This book is recommended for school and public libraries.Highly Recommended:  4 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sean BorleSean Borle is a University of Alberta undergraduate student who is an advocate for child health and safety.

scholarly journals The Bear and the Piano by D. Litchfield

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Borle
Keyword(s):  
Child Health ◽  
Undergraduate Student ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Concert Pianist ◽  
The City ◽  
Grand Piano

Litchfield, David.  The Bear and the Piano.  Clarion Books, 2016.In this folio sized volume, David Litchfield presents a charming story and some amazing artwork.  You first notice the light in the forest, where the bear finds a piano and begins teaching himself to play. Then as you follow his career as a concert pianist, you see the extraordinary light in the city, with a spotlight on his picture outside the theatre, above the marquee that reads “The Bear and the Piano.”  Inside Litchfield captures the light and dark of an old tiered theatre, with the bear in a tuxedo seated at a grand piano.  The music messages in the story are as charming as the images.  Although the bear is very successful as a concert pianist, he misses the forest and his friends.  When he returns home, he discovers that his friends have not forgotten him and when he plays for them he knows that they are “the most important audience of all.” The text and the images work well together.  This book should be included in school libraries and public libraries.Highly recommended:  4 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sean BorleSean Borle is a University of Alberta undergraduate student who is an advocate for child health and safety

scholarly journals Thomas Loves: A Rhyming Book about Fun, Friendship – and Autism by J. Welton

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Borle
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Schools ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Autistic Child ◽  
School Children ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Small Children ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Good Book ◽  
Limited Diet

Welton, Jude.  Thomas Loves:  A Rhyming Book about Fun, Friendship – and Autism.  Philadelphia, PA:  Jessica Kingsley Publications, 2015. Print.This picture book introduces the day-to-day life of a happy kid, who happens to be autistic.  The book starts out presenting Thomas like any other boy, playing with a train.  Slowly we learn that he likes to repeat strange sounding words, can't stand loud noises, has a limited diet, flaps his hands if stressed, and requires a picture-plan of what is going to happen each day. The author does not try to make you feel sorry for Thomas or pity him.  It is just an introduction to this particular boy. The book is aimed at pre-school children, and both the cartoon pictures by Jane Telford and the rhymed text by Jude Welton will make the book attractive to small children.  It would be a good book to use with children who are in a classroom with an autistic child.  At the end of the book there are author notes that provide facts about autism. I highly recommend this book for elementary schools, day cares and public libraries.Highly Recommended:  4 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sean BorleSean Borle is a University of Alberta undergraduate student who is an advocate for child health and safety.

scholarly journals Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship by J. Kensky & P. Downes

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Borle
Keyword(s):  
Picture Book ◽  
School Library ◽  
Healing Process ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Reading Level ◽  
Strict Adherence ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
Boston Marathon ◽  
Library Collections

Kensky, Jessica and Patrick Downes.  Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship. Illustrated by Scott Magoon. Candlewick Press, 2018  There are not many children’s books published about amputation, so a new book is always welcome. Jessica Kensky became a double leg amputee as a result of injuries sustained during the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Rather than writing a children’s book about amputation, she has written an autobiographical work in the form of a picture book. As a result, this is a strange mix of fiction, where readers hear the service dog’s thoughts, and strict adherence to autobiographical detail that is unnecessary in a picture book. For example, Jessica is depicted as a teenager, closer to the real age of the author, rather than as a young child, to whom young readers could more easily relate. Jessica goes through two amputations in the course of the story, reflecting the experience of the author, but this process is unusual for amputees and unnecessarily complicates the story for early readers. The text is also at a reading level that is higher than one would expect in a picture book, so younger children will need an adult to read the book with them. However, while it has flaws, the book is a comforting and positive story that will give child amputees hope as they see Jessica learn to be active again on her prosthetic legs. Scott Magoon’s simple and realistic illustrations will help children enjoy the dog, Rescue, and his role in Jessica’s healing process. Magoon does a good job depicting the dog in many states:  readiness, happiness, resting, helping, playing and swimming.   This book should be included in public and school library collections. It should also be included in hospital library collections, particularly those where children receive amputation care, such as pediatric cancer clinics and prosthetic clinics. It would be of interest to both children undergoing amputations and their families.  Recommended:  3 out of 4 stars Reviewer:  Sean Borle  Sean Borle is a University of Alberta undergraduate student who is an advocate for child health and safety.

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