scholarly journals Give Me Back My Bones! by K. Norman

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Borle
Keyword(s):  
Child Health ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Educational Work ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Front End ◽  
Hand Bones ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Shoulder Blade

Norman, Kim. Give Me Back My Bones! Illustrated by Bob Kolar. Candlewick Press, 2019. This book is a blend of fun and education. A pirate skeleton, whose bones have been spread across the ocean floor, wants to reclaim them. He “claim[s] his clavicle” and “hanker[s] for [his] humerus.” The text is a poem filled with surprising and creative descriptions of what the individual bones do: “Who can spot my shoulder blade, / my shrugging jacket-holder blade, / my shiver-when-I’m-colder blade? / Oh, scapula, come back!” The text is printed on Bob Kolar’s simple, bright,  two-dimensional illustrations. There are some fun things to find in the illustrations. For example, when the pirate is looking for his hand-bones, we see them in the sand, hidden among hand-shaped corals. A squid returns his arm-bones.  In some images fish peer at him suspiciously as he slowly collects his missing parts.  As an educational work, this book is excellent. The front end papers show all of the disconnected bones with their names. The back end papers show the whole skeleton together with the bones named. Because it is a jaunty poem and fun to read, children will want to re-read it and will eventually memorize it. As a by-product of fun, they will learn what metacarpals and phalanges are.  This book is highly recommended for pediatricians’ offices, as well as public and school libraries. Highly Recommended:  4 out of 4 starsReviewer:  Sean C. Borle Sean C. Borle is a University of Alberta student in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry 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 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 Tales from the Tundra: A Collection of Inuit Stories by I. Kaslik

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Publishing House ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Publishing Company ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Traditional Technique ◽  
Internal Dialogue ◽  
The University

Kaslik, Ibi. Tales from the Tundra: A Collection of Inuit Stories. Illus. Anthony Brennan. Iqaluit: Inhabit Media, 2010. Print. Inhabit Media is an Inuit-owned, independent publishing company that “aims to promote and preserve the stories, knowledge, and talent of northern Canada.”  This collection of five traditional Inuit stories from different regions in Nunavut is one of their most recent offerings.  Three of the stories tell of how specific animals came into being.  One tells how the raven and loon came to look the way they do and the fifth, The Owl and the Siksik, is a typical story of outwitting the enemy. Anthony Brennan’s illustrations have a two-dimensional fantasy quality to them that is more reminiscent of cartoons or Japanese anime than of traditional Inuit art.  Many of the creatures are outlined in black and then filled with solid colour.  While the backgrounds are usually ice-blue, and there are pastel colours in the images, many of the main parts of the drawings are black, giving the book an overall ominous look. While these stories are described in the forward as “contemporary retellings”, Kaslik’s voice is similar to that of an elder telling stories and her style is traditional.  The language is simple and direct, occasionally incorporating Inuit words.  Animals are anthropomorphized.  They do the same sorts of things that humans do and have human emotions and foibles.  For example, in “The Raven and The Loon”, the two birds sew clothes for each other.   When Raven thinks that Loon is sewing too slowly, she reacts impatiently: “Please, sew faster!” impatient Raven pleaded.” Kaslik also uses internal dialogue, another traditional technique, to allow the reader to listen to the characters reasoning out their actions. For example, “Siksiks often go in and out of their dens,” thought the owl, believing himself to be very clever.  “Today I will find a siksik den and wait there until I see one.” There are few children’s books of Inuit mythology available, and fewer that have the authenticity of being published by an Inuit publishing house.  Overall, this volume is a small, but welcome addition to the field, through which many children will be able to learn about the mythology of the Inuit.  For public and school libraries everywhere. Highly recommended:  4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Sandy Campbell Sandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines.  Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give. 

scholarly journals I'm Sad by M.I. Black and D.R. Ohi

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Borle
Keyword(s):  
Young Child ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Ice Cream ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
The One ◽  
Whipped Cream

Black, Michael I, and Debbie R. Ohi. I'm Sad. Simon & Shuster Books for Young Readers, 2018. This book is about a sad flamingo and his friends, a girl and a potato, who try to cheer him up. This absurd collection of characters talk about whether or not flamingo will always feel sad and what makes them feel less sad. Much of the dialog is silly.  When the potato says that he knows what cheers him up, the picture is of a happy potato and the word “DIRT!!!” in giant letters.  Coming after a discussion of ice cream as a “cheer me up”, “dirt” is unexpected and funny. At the end of the book the flamingo asks, “Will you still like me if I’m sad again tomorrow?” The potato responds with an almost nasty, “I don’t even like you now.”  This response is meant as a joke and the next two pages show uproarious laughter.  However, young children may not understand that it is not usually an appropriate response and some people would find it hurtful.   Debi Ridpath Ohi’s simple illustrations do a good job of presenting expressions and emotions. There are often broken black lines around the images, which, strangely, make the characters, particularly the flamingo, look like they are constantly trembling. Apart from that, the images are fun. The most amusing is the one showing the potato as a fourth scoop of ice cream on a cone, with whipped cream and a cherry on top.  This book might give a sad young child a few moments of laughter and in the end delivers the message that it’s OK to feel a little bit sad. With these two thoughts in mind, this book is recommended for libraries for young children: daycares, schools, and public libraries.   Recommended:  3 out of 4 starsReviewer:  Sean Borle Sean Borle is a University of Alberta undergraduate student who is an advocate for child health and safety.

scholarly journals The Great Sheep Shenanigans by P. Bently

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
School Libraries ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Harry Potter ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Intended Audience ◽  
Small Children ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Peter The Great ◽  
The University

Bently, Peter.  The Great Sheep Shenanigans.  Illus. M. Matsuoka. London:  Andersen Press, 2011. Print. In this tale, it is really the wolf, Lou Pine (hear the French loup and Lupin, the werewolf from Harry Potter), who gets up to shenanigans, rather than the sheep.  The text is a clever and funny rhyme that tells the story of the wolf trying to catch a lamb to eat.  Along the way, we hear sheep-related cultural and literary references from, “the wolf in sheep’s clothing,” to Red Riding Hood. “I’m just in the mood for a Gran-flavoured snack,” the wolf tells us. The wolf makes many attempts to catch a lamb, but is always thwarted, if not by his own silliness, then by the water-gun toting Ma Watson, by bees, by Red Riding Hood’s Granny, and finally, by Rambo the Ram, who butts him into “a big pile of poo!”  While the intended audience is pre-school, the author sprinkles in some big words, such as “derrière”, “kersplat”, “skedaddling” and “vindaloo”, that children will enjoy and repeat, but adults will need to explain and pronounce on the first reading. The text is often printed over the illustrations, sometimes in extra-large font to emphasize a point.  Sometimes it is part of the illustration.  When “Lou found a thicket of blossoming trees,” the words from the phrase “Down came the blossom” float down the page with the blossoms.  The illustrations are as much fun as the text. The sheep are most often depicted as balls of white with heads, ears and four small pegs for legs.  Lou Pine is a two-dimensional creature, while Rambo the Ram blows steam out his nose and wears boxing gloves. The sheep occasionally have glasses, bow-ties or hair-bows. Because the rhyme is jaunty and the illustrations are fun and inventive, this will be a book that small children will want to have read to them over and over.  Highly recommended for public and elementary school libraries. Recommendation:  4 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sandy CampbellSandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines.  Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.

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 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 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 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.

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