scholarly journals Green by L. V. Seeger

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ortensia Norton
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Science Class ◽  
Older Students ◽  
Green Is ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Stop And Go ◽  
The World ◽  
The University

Seeger, Laura Vaccaro. Green. New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2012. Print. The book, Green reminds us that green is a pervasive colour in the world. Like her book, Black, White, Day, Night: A Book of Opposites, the die cuts will astonish you as two leaves turn into fish on the next page, making you anxious to flip the pages quickly to view the next image. But refrain from flipping too quickly or you will miss the beauty of the acrylic paintings on each page. Only gather a couple children around you as you read, or they will fight over who gets to have it in their arms. With only 38 words, the illustrations need to be looked at carefully. Allow time for their eyes to take in all the details. Be prepared to stop and go back to the previous page because they will realize that somehow they missed something important. Don’t be surprised if the children grab for the lime, reach down to smell the flower, or are scared by the tiger. They will rub the pages; they will feel the texture and might be disappointed that the page is smooth. Younger students will enjoy the predictability of the word ‘green’ on each page. It won’t take them long to recite the book with you, with only two or three syllables per page. Older students will be inspired by the art work and could use the book as an exemplar for an art project. Other students could pick a different colour and find words and pictures to describe the different hues of their chosen colour. Green could be used in science class, to discuss how each hue is created. I would love to see Ms. Seeger create a whole series of colour books!! Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 Stars Reviewer: Ortensia Norton Ortensia Norton is a Teacher Librarian with Edmonton Public Schools. She is currently enrolled in the TL-DL program through the University of Alberta. She thinks that her jobs as mom and librarian are the best jobs in the world because you get to see the delight on children's faces when they fall in love with a book.

scholarly journals The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade by J. Roberts

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley Bell
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Elementary Education ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Early Reading ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The World ◽  
The University ◽  
Desperate Attempt

Roberts, Justin. The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade. Illus. Christian Robinson. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2014. Print.This delightful narrative about young Sally McCabe will leave readers with a warm feeling in their hearts and the belief that they can make a difference in the world. A truly inspirational read, this book follows the story of Sally, the smallest girl at school, as she walks her silent world. On her journeys she notices the tiny details around her that are often overlooked, such as how others are negatively treating one another. In a desperate attempt to change these behaviours, Sally finds her voice and lets the entire school know what is on her mind.The language used by the author is beautiful and makes the reader reflect on the small important details in life that are often overlooked. The nature of the text is perfectly accompanied by the illustrations, which are simple in nature but fun and innocent as they resemble the brightly coloured crayon drawings of a child. This is a great read aloud, which will get young children thinking about the way they view the world and how they can have a positive impact on it. The rhyming text and predictable vocabulary makes it an accessible read for students at early reading stages.This book is a reflective read and does not have a bold climax or a lot of action in its plot. Therefore it may not appeal to all readers and some may not be as interested in the story. However, this story fills a niche that is often overlooked by writers and many readers will enjoy the style in which it is written. Overall this is a very inspirational story and will have even the smallest of us wanting to make a difference.Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Shelley BellShelley Bell is a grade 2/3 combined teacher with the Edmonton Public School Board and is currently working to complete her master’s degree in Elementary Education at the University of Alberta. Shelley is passionate about drama and literature and can often be found sharing a book or play with her husband Anthony and Rizzo her 4 year old Shih Tzu.

scholarly journals Found by S. Yoon

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara Kammerer
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Elementary Education ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Rightful Owner ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
The University

Yoon, Salina. Found. New York, NY: Walker Books for Young Readers, 2015. Print.The fictional picture book Found, written and illustrated by Salina Yoon, takes place in the forest and follows Bear, who found a stuffed bunny and tries to find its rightful owner by putting up FOUND flyers and searching for them.This book has a strong visual quality with fun illustrations in bold colours. The limited text on each page is appealing for younger and beginning readers and work collaboratively with the illustrations in an aesthetically pleasing manner. The story could be understood without looking at the text as the illustrations clearly dictate what is happening in the plot. Yoon includes a variety of ‘Lost’ posters throughout the book that are engaging to read, beyond the book’s text.Children can easily make connections to this picture book because of the idea of ‘lost’ and ‘found’ are familiar to them. Some readers may find the book’s ending unrealistic as the bunny’s rightful owner allows Bear to keep it. Young readers may recognize that in real life, this is often not the case, or they may have a false hope in the future when they find something they would like to keep that is not theirs.Recommended: 2 out of 4 StarsReviewer: Tara KammererTara Kammerer is a grade 2 teacher with Elk Island Public Schools and is currently completing her Masters Degree in Elementary Education at the University of Alberta. Tara loves how excited her grade 2 students get every time she brings a new book into the classroom to read aloud to them!

scholarly journals I Love You, Nose! I Love You, Toes! by L. Davick

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Feisst
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Young Children ◽  
New York Times ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Young Adult Fiction ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Series Books ◽  
Words And Images ◽  
The University

Davick, Linda. I Love You, Nose! I Love You, Toes! New York: Simon & Schuster-Beach Lane Books, 2013. Print.Graphic artist, illustrator and animator Linda Davick, whose colourful images have appeared in several seasonal counting series books such as the New York Times bestselling 10 Trick-or-Treaters, has penned her first book for children aimed at celebrating the unique qualities we all have. Starting from our head right down to our toes, the simply drawn children, with fun disproportionately-scaled features and descriptions to portray many kids, show off their various body parts. The book is essentially a whimsical love poem to our bodies that children will find entertaining, both in the prose and the illustrations.  Take this stanza as an example:I love you, nose, though there’s no doubt that when you sneeze some stuff comes out.The images are great, too: a little girl covering her nose to the smell of her baby sibling’s diaper, a child thinking about smelling pepper (spoiler alert: she sneezes), a stinky sock and fragrant flowers; young children will enjoy the interplay of words and images, especially about body parts and functions that are generally not discussed:I love the parts my friends don’t see: the parts that poop, the parts that pee.Ending with a sleepy boy drifting off to sleep, this would be a fun book to read with young children at night as part of a bedtime routine or even as part of an early-years story time, though the latter would certainly create a memorable experience for the students! Highly recommended: 4 stars of out 4 Reviewer: Debbie FeisstDebbie is a Public Services Librarian at the H.T. Coutts Education Library at the University of Alberta.  When not renovating, she enjoys travel, fitness and young adult fiction.

scholarly journals Commentary: The Transgender Child: A Lesson in Acceptance

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-40
Author(s):  
Wren Kauffman
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Minority ◽  
Critical Importance ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Minority Studies ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Transgender Children ◽  
The World ◽  
Gender Neutral ◽  
The University

In this interview, 12-year-old Wren Kauffman shares his earliest memories of "not feel[ing] right" in his body and how he conveyed this powerful sentiment to his parents. Wren and his mother Wendy discuss the transgender journey their family has gone on, which initially started by contacting the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services at the University of Alberta. Wren recounts how he told friends and classmates that he was transgender, talks about the support and openness he has received from teachers, friends, and schools, and of the critical importance of acceptance. Issues such as bullying, gender-neutral spaces, and diversity are also discussed. In addition, Wendy emphasizes the key role education plays in the inclusion of transgender children: "If we can start from a place of education, and explain that there is a really wide kind of variety of different ways that people can be born, that’s going to help society and people in general understand that transgender people are in the world."

scholarly journals The Best Birthday Party Ever by J. LaRue Huget

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Feisst
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
Young Adult Fiction ◽  
Elementary Grades ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Birthday Party ◽  
Layer Cake ◽  
The University

Huget, Jennifer LaRue. The Best Birthday Party Ever. Illus. LeUyen Pham. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books, 2011. Print. “My birthday is 5 months, 3 weeks, 2 days, and 8 hours away.  Today I started to plan my party.” And so the planning begins for the 5-year-old soon-to-be birthday girl in this charming picture book.  She has to start planning early if she wants the best birthday party ever.  She is going to invite all 57 of her friends including the mailman and the invitations will be sprinkled with fairy dust.  She will have 9 thousand balloons, streamers and napkins: all in pink.  On the menu is a 17-layer cake, each layer a different flavour, with 6 zillion candles on top.  Not only will there be: a magician, camel rides and a Ferris wheel, but each lucky guest will receive a hamster as a party favour. In a kid-friendly countdown style towards the big day, our sweet party planner gets more and more excited as her birthday approaches and the plans get more and more grandiose.  Only after her mother comments that this birthday party is “getting out of hand” does she agree to skip the sparkly necklaces.  The day finally arrives and while it may not be the party she dreamed of, she is appreciative and enjoys her day so much that she immediately begins plans for her next birthday. This beautifully illustrated read-aloud captures the excitement of a child as she looks forward to her special day and will appeal to lower elementary grades as well as preschoolers.  The whimsical mostly-pink drawings may be initially off-putting to boys but they are certain to relate and enjoy the story. Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Debbie FeisstDebbie is a Public Services Librarian at the H.T. Coutts Education Library at the University of Alberta.  When not renovating, she enjoys travel, fitness and young adult fiction. 

New Methods for C-N Ring Construction

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglass Taber
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Gold Complex ◽  
Cascade Process ◽  
State University ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Cornell University ◽  
University Of New Mexico ◽  
Memory Of Chirality ◽  
Cu Catalyst ◽  
The University

Chaozhong Li of the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry demonstrated (Organic Lett. 2008, 10, 4037) facile and selective Cu-catalyzed β-lactam formation, converting 1 to 2. Paul Helquist of the University of Notre Dame devised (Organic Lett. 2008, 10, 3903) an effective catalyst for intramolecular alkyne hydroamination, converting 3 into the imine 4. Six-membered ring construction worked well also. Jon T. Njardarson of Cornell University found (Organic Lett. 2008, 10, 5023) a Cu catalyst for the rearrangement of alkenyl aziridines such as 5 to the pyrroline 6. Philippe Karoyan of the UPMC, Paris developed (J. Org. Chem. 2008, 73, 6706) an interesting chiral auxiliary directed cascade process, converting the simple precursor 7 into the complex pyrrolidine 9. Sherry R. Chemler of the State University of New York, Buffalo devised (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 17638) a chiral Cu catalyst for the cyclization of 10, to give 12 with substantial enantiocontrol. Wei Wang of the University of New Mexico demonstrated (Chem. Commun. 2008, 5636) the organocatalyzed condensation of 13 and 14 to give 16 with high enantio- and diastereocontrol. Two complementary routes to azepines/azepinones have appeared. F. Dean Toste of the University of California, Berkeley showed (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 9244) that a gold complex catalyzed the condensation of 17 and 18 to give 19. Frederick G. West of the University of Alberta found (Organic Lett. 2008, 10, 3985) that lactams such as 20 could be ring-expanded by the addition of the propiolate anion 21. Takeo Kawabata of Kyoto University extended (Organic Lett . 2008, 10, 3883) “memory of chirality” studies to the cyclization of 23, demonstrating that 24 was formed in high ee. Paul V. Murphy of University College Dublin took advantage (Organic Lett . 2008, 10, 3777) of the well-known intramolecular addition of azides to alkenes, showing that the intermediate could be intercepted with nucleophiles such as thiophenol, to give the cyclized product 26 with high diastereocontrol.

Memorial

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
pp. 760-760
Author(s):  
Nancy House
Keyword(s):  
Isotope Geochemistry ◽  
Fine Arts ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Geophysical Data ◽  
Fort Worth ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The World ◽  
Seismic Acquisition ◽  
A Minor ◽  
The University

Donald Macpherson was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on 6 October 1941. He passed on 20 August 2020. Though he was a proud Canadian till the end, he clung to his Scottish culture and became a fixture with his bagpipes at many events throughout the Dallas–Fort Worth area. He attended the University of Alberta, initially studying music and fine arts and earning a bachelor's degree in 1964 with a minor in math and chemistry. He graduated with a master's degree in isotope geochemistry and geophysics from the University of Alberta in 1965. Don walked into the “best job in the world” as a geophysicist at Mobil Oil Canada in 1965. There, he was responsible for seismic acquisition crews, processing, and interpretation of geophysical data.

Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? by B. Sayers

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Feisst
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Young Adult Fiction ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Good Night ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Heavy Equipment ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time

Sayres, Brianna K. Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? Illus. Christian Slade.  New York: Random House, 2012. Print.If the title Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? seems a tad familiar, well, it probably is.  In the same vein as the ultra-popular Good Night, Good Night, Construction Site, Diggers presents the sweet nighttime rituals of diggers, trucks and other heavy machinery.  At first I thought this was a simple effort to take advantage of a similar, bestselling title however Sayres’ work does indeed hold its own.In this picture book aimed at ages 3-6, first time picture book author Sayres gives young heavy equipment aficionados a delightful take on the bedtime story.  In rhyming couplets and often in a humorous manner, all sorts of trucks, cranes and tractors get ready for rest under the watchful headlamps of their caregivers: “Where do garbage trucks sleep / when they’re done collecting trash? / Do their dads sniff their load and say, / ‘Pee-yew—time to take a bath’?”  Sure to get the young ones giggling.The sleepy-eyed dozers and tow trucks eventually give way to an equally sleepy young boy in his cozy bed, with a reminder that the trucks will be waiting for him when he wakes.  Save for one naughty truck, winking, under the bed (my five-year-old happily pointed this out).Though the illustrations by former Disney animator Christian Slade are rather cartoon-like and not realistic, they match the text well, are in soothing nighttime colours and allow for the trucks to have droopy eyes and smiling faces. Read in a lyrical fashion, or even as a song, this would be a nice end to any wee truck lover’s day.  This would make a nice addition to any public library or as a gift.Reviewer: Debbie Feisst Recommended: 3 stars out of 4Debbie is a Public Services Librarian at the H.T. Coutts Education Library at the University of Alberta.  When not renovating, she enjoys travel, fitness and young adult fiction.

Touched by Fire by I. N. Watts

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne Pearce
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Minor Characters ◽  
Her Family ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
Time Period ◽  
The Family ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

Watts, Irene N., Touched by Fire. Toronto: Tundra Books, 2013. Print.In the first decade of the 20th century, Miriam Markovitz and her family have fled their small town in the country to live in Kiev. She and her family are Jewish and the Tsar does not favor Jews. After narrowly escaping the pogroms, Miriam’s father Sam dreams of taking the whole family to America. Known as the “Golden Land”, in America Jews are free of persecution.     Over the next few years the family relocates to Berlin where Miriam’s parents and grandparents work hard to save enough money. The plan is for Sam to travel to New York ahead of the family. Miriam is fourteen years old when the first set of tickets to America arrives in the mail from her father. Leaving on the adventure of their lives, the Markovitz family must endure illnesses, family quarrels, and filth. For Miriam it seems crossing the ocean is the hardest thing she has very done, but she is destined to witness an even worse tragedy in her new country.     Touched By Fire is an enlightening story that brings to light many of the injustices Jews were forced to face, long before the anti-Semitism of the Nazis’ era. It is easy to form an attachment to the characters, and I found myself hoping and worrying for the Markovitz family. Miriam is especially vivid and comes out clearly as a strong and self-sacrificing heroine.These positive points aside, there were some peculiarities about this book that stood out in my mind. Firstly, Miriam’s journey is relatively tame, especially when you consider how graphic young adult literature has become. While there is a fair share of danger and hardship in the journey, Watts has left the harsher struggles to be faced by minor characters, leaving Miriam as merely a witness. I would also have liked more development of the characters Miriam met along the way. Leaving these characters underdeveloped reduced the impact of their struggles and made Miriam’s feelings about them somewhat flat. Finally, I must admit to some puzzlement as to why Watts chose to give the book the title Touched By Fire, as it refers strictly to the tragedy detailed in the conclusion, when most of the book’s focus is on Miriam’s journey and her maturation.In considering these criticisms alongside the overall story, I found myself divided as to how I felt about the book. I have to conclude that younger readers may not be drawn to these inconsistences and nuances, but would rather enjoy the story for the picture it paints of the time period. I have therefore given the book three out four stars. Touched by Fire is most suitable for children ages 9-13 and would be enjoyed by young readers that enjoy historical fiction.Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Hanne PearceHanne Pearce has worked at the University of Alberta Libraries in various support staff positions since 2004 and is currently a Public Service Assistant at the Rutherford Humanities and Social Sciences Library. In 2010 she completed her MLIS at the University of Alberta. Aside from being an avid reader she has continuing interests in writing, photography, graphic design and knitting.

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