scholarly journals The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep: A New Way of Getting Children to Sleep by C.-J. Forssen Ehrlin

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Aitken
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Children's Literature ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Psychological States ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
Domestic Instability ◽  
The University ◽  
Selection Of

Forssen Ehrlin, Carl-Johan.  The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep: A New Way of Getting Children to Sleep. Illus. Irina Maununan.  New York: Crown Books for Young Readers, 2014. Print.Carl-Johan Forssen Ehrlin, the psychologist who wrote this book, introduces the work with instructions for its calm, slow, emphatic reading.  He then begins the bedtime story proper, a ten page text in which he uses the word sleep or one of its variants (asleep, sleeping, sleepy) approximately 100 times.  It may be that he uses the words “yawn,” “tired,” and “relax” just as frequently; frankly, it seems too daunting a task to count and confirm this possibility.  The literary effect is tedious—given the subtitle, probably intentionally so. There is a storyline, albeit a thin one.  It is much enhanced by the delicate drawings by Irina Maununen; a young child might well pore over these.  However, storytelling is not the main purpose of the book.  Its main purpose would appear to be hypnosis.   That is just a guess; the publisher’s blurb does not actually confirm it.  The blurb does, however, rave about the book’s ability to put children to sleep.  Quite so. This is not a work of children’s literature; it is a “how to” book for adults.  Its advice should not replace common sense.  Childhood sleeplessness can stem from serious causes.  It can be the result of underlying medical conditions, of pain, of breathing difficulties.  It can indicate worrisome psychological states: stress, anxiety, and fear.  It can be the result of a socio-economic environment that is typified by deprivation and hunger, domestic instability, the presence of danger.  A book outlining hypnotic techniques does not obviate any of these root causes of sleeplessness.  However, in the event that they are all ruled out or remedied, and that a child is found to suffer from nothing more than a deep need for the comforting presence of a loving adult as he or she falls asleep, why not just ensure that one can be there?All this being said, the book is currently popular.  As I write this review, my public library lists thirty holds on fourteen copies of it.  Many parents must be waiting in line for an introduction to Forssen-Ehrlin’s methods.  Meanwhile, the old standbys of sleep induction, the rocking, the reassuring, the crooning of lullabies, might just prove equally effective as his book.Not RecommendedReviewer: Leslie AitkenLeslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship involved selection of children’s literature for school, public, special and academic libraries.  She is a former Curriculum Librarian of the University of Alberta.

scholarly journals Owls Are Good at Keeping Secrets: An Unusual Alphabet by S. O'Leary

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Aitken
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
The Other ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The University ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Child Readers

O’Leary, Sara.  Owls Are Good at Keeping Secrets: An Unusual Alphabet. Illustrated by Jacob Grant. Tundra Books, 2018. From first to last, the phonic examples in O’Leary’s alphabet book are disarming:                 “Aa                 Alligators think you’d like them if you got to know them.”                 “Zz                Zebras would like to be first. Just once.“ Unlike so many other authors of this genre, O’Leary rarely struggles to find simple, memorable examples of words that begin with the appropriate vowels and consonants. The sole exception in his work is the use of “Chipmunks” to illustrate the sound of the letter “C.” Child readers would have to be mature enough to recognize the digraph (ch) and be alert to its sound. That exception being noted, all of the other phonic illustrations—even the ones for the “difficult” sounds—are straight-forward, playful and engaging.                 “Qq                 Quail get quite tired of being told to be quiet.”                 “Uu                 Unicorns believe in themselves.                 “Yy                 Yaks giggle at their own jokes.” Joseph Brant’s illustrations are all that they ought to be: large, clear, colourful and, most importantly in this type of book, unambiguous. His depiction of voles for the letter “V” is particularly endearing. Those of us involved in the field of children’s literature might want this illustration and its motto on our flag:                 “Vv                 Voles always want just one more book.” In any case, we should ensure that this delightful book is on our children’s library shelves. Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Leslie Aitken Leslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship included selection of children’s literature for school, public, special and academic libraries. She was a Curriculum Librarian for the University of Alberta.              

scholarly journals The Good Little Book by K. Maclear

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Aitken
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Public Library ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The Public ◽  
Child Psychologists ◽  
Clear Vision ◽  
Intended Reader ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
The University

Maclear, Kyo.  The Good Little Book. Illustrated by Marion Arbona.  Tundra Books, 2015.In this work, Maclear uses allegorical techniques to expand on compelling themes.  Her protagonist is unnamed; he is “the boy,” every boy who loves to read.  The Good Little Book is every book that captivates a reader.  Its author is unnamed.   Its characters are not delineated.  Only a captioned illustration, one of Arbona’s many colorful offerings, provides clues to the book’s plot and impact:“It carried him to the deep sea and steered him towards a faraway land. It dazzled him and stumped him and made him laugh and gasp.  He read it through.  Then he turned back to the beginning and read it again.”[pp.11-12]Humour is a feature of the work; Maclear likes to play with words--literary words. The Good Little Book resides with others, one of which has won the “Called a Cat” medal.  We are informed, however, that “The good little book…had no shiny medals…it didn’t even own a proper jacket.” [p.3]The protagonist’s compulsion to read and reread his good little book introduces the first theme: books transport us to imagined worlds.  When the book is lost, then rediscovered, a secondary theme emerges: books are to be shared.Text and illustration lead the reader to surmise that “the boy” is school-aged, a child physically mature enough to walk his dog while riding a skateboard.  He is, of course, an avid and independent reader.  Tormented by the loss of his book, he is old enough to hunt for it on his own, to scour crowded and heavily trafficked streets, to search the public library.  Initially, he appears to have an age appropriate appreciation of the book’s capacity to occupy his mind, to move his thoughts.“The book the boy thought couldn’t do anything did many things.” [p.11] “It did become a loyal companion, there to see him to sleep and distract him when he had to “think things over.””[p.13].To this point, the boy’s relationship with the book seems in keeping with the primary theme: book as intellectual transport.  Suddenly, his thought processes revert to those of a much younger child.“The boy worried. How would such a good and quiet book survive?  What would it do if it found itself at the edge of the unknown? Or among frightful enemies?...the book did not have skills that would help it in the dangerous wild….”[pp.19-20 ]The story becomes even more anthropomorphic when the book is discovered by various creatures:“A squirrel thought it might be a thriller.  A sparrow thought it might be a romance.  A raccoon thought it might be a sandwich.” [p.29 ]These developments raise a question: “Who is the intended reader?”  A child who has completed grade three would generally have both the ability and the maturity to read the book and to appreciate its messages.  This reader might, initially, identify with the protagonist’s dilemma. But would this same youngster identify with thinking that becomes, in the lexicon of child psychologists, animistic?  One can readily imagine a nine-year-old reader’s sudden dismissal of the work as, “…a little kid’s book.” One can also imagine that a preschooler would listen with rapt attention to the anthropomorphic sections, but zone out during the development of the book’s themes. Finally, it may be that only librarians, booksellers, and children’s literature specialists would appreciate the humour.  In sum, maintaining a clear vision of the intended reader or listener is a requisite in any kind of storytelling; The Good Little Book falls short in this regard.Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer:  Leslie AitkenLeslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship involved selection of children’s literature for school, public, special, and university collections.  She is a former Curriculum Librarian at the University of Alberta.

scholarly journals What Pet Should I Get? by Dr. Seuss

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Banski
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Children's Literature ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Controlled Vocabulary ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Line Drawings ◽  
Color Palette ◽  
Waking Up ◽  
The University

Seuss, Dr. What Pet Should I Get? New York: Random House Children’s Books, 2015. Print.This title will be of great interest to children’s literature specialists and researchers.  The end notes tell us that in 1991, when Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) died, the manuscript was left in a box of his studio projects.   His widow, Audrey, and former secretary, Claudia Prescott, discovered it in the fall of 2013.  The manuscript comprised line drawings to which pieces of paper containing potential text had been attached. In some instances, multiple versions of text had been taped on top of each other.Cathy Goldsmith, Seuss’s art director for the last eleven years of his life, surmises that Seuss began the book between 1958 and 1962.  If she is correct, Seuss was by this time a very well established figure in children’s literature, having had success with such treasures as And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street (1937); The 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins (1938); Horton Hatches the Egg (1940); and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1957).Seuss had ventured into writing for children after a very successful career as a cartoonist.  (In particular, his design of advertisements had proven lucrative.) Beginning in the late 1950s, however, his artistic and literary talents were to be employed in yet another direction, the Beginner Books that Random House would publish to foster reading interest among children in their primary school years.  The challenge was to create an interesting picture book using the controlled vocabulary (200 to 300 very basic words) of the “Dick, Jane and Baby Sally” variety of primer.  Seuss was up for the challenge.  Certainly, The Cat in the Hat, also 1957, had astonishing success in this regard. It may well be that What Pet Should I Get? was another such attempt. In any case, its story line is simple: two children in a pet store face the dilemma of selecting just one of the vast array of adorable possibilities.Goldsmith and the editors at Random House have done their best to create the book Seuss might have intended.  They have made decisions about not only which lines of text might best suit his drawings, but also the color palette he might have selected, the position and nature of the font, and so forth.  The end result is mixed in terms of its literary impact.  The drawings are pure Seuss; his signature is all over them.  The color palette is, arguably, what he might have chosen.  The text, however, is dull.  It never lifts from the page—possibly because Seuss felt he must restrict his vocabulary choices.            THEN . . .            I saw a new kind!            And they were good, too!            How could I pick one?            Now what should we do?            We could only pick one.            That is what my dad said,            Now how could I make up            that mind in my head?                                                (page 18, unnumbered)          This is scarcely lively, engaging Seuss.  When he was at his best, his writing maintained a consistent beat, a measured foot, and, often, an internal rhyme.  He repeated, distorted and created words in the cause of a rollicking rhythm.  Consider this stanza describing the fiendish Grinch in flight with the holiday loot that he has stolen from Whoville.              Three thousand feet up! Up the side of Mt. Crumpit,             He rode with his load to the tiptop to dump it!             “Pooh-Pooh to the Whos!” he was grinch-ish-ly humming.            “They’re finding out now that no Christmas is coming!            “They’re just waking up! I know just what they’ll do!            “Their mouths will hang open a minute or two            “Then the Whos down in Who-ville will all cry BOO-HOO!The passage simply spirits the reader along.  Sadly, What Pet Should I Get? does not contain this kind of writing.  Still, we must treasure the manuscript.  It gives us insight into the artist at work: what he envisioned, how he began, what he decreed to be finished or not.  This early draft of What Pet Should I Get? was probably not quite what Seuss had hoped it would be.  It was not perfect.  It was not finished.  He set it aside.  The inescapable conclusion is that he, who gave much to his readers, demanded much of himself.Rating: Not applicable in this caseReviewer:  Leslie AitkenLeslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship involved selection of children’s literature for school, public, special, and university collections. She is a former Curriculum Librarian at the University of Alberta.

scholarly journals The Day War Came by N. Davies

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Aitken
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Her Family ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Refugee Child ◽  
The University ◽  
The Guardian ◽  
Walking To School ◽  
Selection Of

Davies, Nicola. The Day War Came. Illustrated by Rebecca Cobb. Somerville, Massachusetts, Candlewick Press, in association with Help Refugees, 2018. A young school girl begins her day happily by breakfasting with her family, walking to school with her mother, and commencing the normal, pleasant learning activities of her classroom. In an instant, her world changes; she is orphaned and alone in a devastated landscape. War has come; she articulates its reality:                 “War took everything.                 War took everyone.                 I was ragged, bloody, all alone.” Simple, forceful, poetic lines such as these carry forward this story of a child refugee. Though it could be read and understood by primary school children, it would resonate with readers young and old alike.  Nicola Davies indicates that her book was inspired by the Guardian newspaper website which featured an account of a refugee child who was refused school entry because there was no chair for her to sit on. In Davies’ own words:                 “…hundreds and hundreds of people posted images of empty chairs, with the hashtag #3000 chairs, as symbols of solidarity with children who had lost everything and had no place to go.” Davies’ interpretation of this reality for young readers is engrossing and moving. Her storyline is perfectly interpreted by the watercolour and graphite pencil illustrations of Rebecca Cobb. Using an expressionistic style, Cobb captures the feelings of confusion and disbelief, abandonment and isolation felt by the displaced child. She also brings a sense of hope to the story’s conclusion. The teamwork of Davies and Cobb is brilliant. Together, they have created a moving and memorable piece of children’s literature. Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Leslie AitkenLeslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship included selection of children’s literature for school, public, special and academic libraries. She is a former Curriculum Librarian of the University of Alberta.

scholarly journals Where Do You Look? by M. & N. Jocelyn

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Aitken
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Font Size ◽  
Older Students ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Sensitive Issue ◽  
Language Classes ◽  
The University ◽  
Selection Of

Jocelyn, Martha and Nell Jocelyn.  Where Do You Look?  Toronto: Tundra Books, a Division of Random House of Canada, 2013. Print.This picture book is a playful exploration of homonyms—in this case, those that are spelled alike.  The text comprises a series of questions; e.g.,    “Where do you look for a letter?  In the mailbox?”  Or on the page?” The illustrations, which incorporate collage and photographic techniques, are colourful and well defined—perfect for story hour viewing.  The accompanying questions are an invitation to participate; children will enjoy guessing what further meanings of a word might next be illustrated.  Beyond story hour, the book is appropriate, both in terms of font size and vocabulary, for independent reading by beginners.A further possibility for this book is its use in English as a Second Language classes.  Gleaning the contextual meaning of a word is always difficult when learning a new language and the Jocelyns provide a light-hearted approach to the problem.  To avoid the sensitive issue of using a beginner’s book in a lesson for older students and adults, introduce it as something an ESL learner might like to share with a child.  (Confess: those of us who love children’s literature have been playing that card forever!)Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer:  Leslie AitkenLeslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship involved selection of children’s literature for school, public, special, and university collections.  She is a former Curriculum Librarian at the University of Alberta.

scholarly journals Not Your Typical Dragon by D. Bar-el

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Aitken
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
Normal Reading ◽  
Colour Palette ◽  
The University ◽  
Reading Distance ◽  
Selection Of

Bar-el, Dan.  Not Your Typical Dragon. Illus. Tim Bowers. New York: Viking-Penguin Young Readers Group, 2013. Without didacticism, this picture book explores the plight of those who are not “typical;” along the way, it highlights the value of peacemaking.  Crispin Blaze, the child of a long, proud line of dragons who breathe fire, breathes everything but.  Band-Aids, bubbles and teddy bears are amongst his pacifying emissions.  Finding acceptance in a world of knights and dragons becomes his challenge.Not intended as “beginning-to-read” material, the text is still admirably written for oral presentation by either a proficient reader or a storyteller.  Phrasing and structure promote the build up of suspense.  Sentences are generally short and crisp, allowing, as appropriate, for the dramatic pause.  The vocabulary is well chosen, varied, and unpretentious.  The storyline should prove both amusing and satisfying to kindergarten and primary school children.Tim Bower’s illustrations add to the humour of the tale.  They are large and clearly delineated—a good accompaniment to the text when seen at normal reading distance. Bower’s colour palette, however, is sometimes delicate.  Viewed from the distance at which a story hour audience might see them, some images seem to meld.  Others are perfectly fine for group viewing: good choices would be Crispin’s exhalations of both birthday streamers and teddy bears.All in all, this book provokes spontaneous laughter and subtle reflection.  Parents, teachers and librarians will find many occasions on which to present it.Highly recommended: 4 stars out of 4Reviewer: Leslie AitkenLeslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship involved selection of children’s literature for school, public, special, and university collections.  She is a former Curriculum Librarian at the University of Alberta.

scholarly journals Melvis and Elvis BY d. Lee

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Aitken
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Home School ◽  
Beginning Readers ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Good Selection ◽  
Selection For ◽  
The University ◽  
Final Selection ◽  
Selection Of

Lee, Dennis.  Melvis and Elvis.  Illus. Jeremy Tankard. Toronto: Harper Collins, 2015. Print.In this new anthology of poetry for children, the inimitable Dennis Lee lets us explore our moods: silly or serious, playful or pugnacious, riotous, rebellious and just plain rude. In typical Lee fashion, he eschews sentimentality:            The dog got fat—            His belly exploded            And that was that.                                       (“Cabbagetown,” p. 22)but he is also capable of stealing the heart with simple, lovely metaphor:            Bobolink, bobolink,            Take me along.            I’ll be the silence            And you be the song.                                        (“Bobolink,” p. 21)He teases the tongue with creative wordplay (a Dennis Lee trademark):            I thought I saw a potamus,            Asleep upon a cotamus,            But when I reached the spotamus,            The potamus was notamus.                                        (“The Notapotamus,” p. 29)Ever true to his audience, he does not flinch from the reality of childhood emotion, be it longing:            If you could like me,            Like me now,            As deep as the dreams            In your heart allow.                                           (“The New Friend,” p. 30)or loathing:            Doodle, doodle, poppyseed strudel,            I’ve got a friend and he smells like a poodle.                        * * *            Push him down a wishing well—            Still can’t stop that awful smell.                                                (“Stinkarama,” p. 26) The book is cleverly structured, beginning and ending with poems about Melvis the monster and Elvis the elf, the final selection subtly acknowledging both the “inner monster” and the “inner elf” of the child.Jeremy Tankard’s illustrations are highly suited to the text.  He uses bold outline, vivid color, and complementary backgrounds to effect focus, clarity and mood.  Preschoolers and beginning readers should have no trouble relating poem and picture.This is a book that could be shared repeatedly with children at bedtime or in storyhour.  However, a parent, teacher, or librarian would want occasionally to interject, “Do we sometimes feel like that?  Would we actually say that or do that?” That being understood, it is a good selection for home, school and public libraries.Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer:  Leslie AitkenLeslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship involved selection of children’s literature for school, public, special, and university collections.  She is a former Curriculum Librarian at the University of Alberta.

scholarly journals The Muskox and the Caribou by N. Mike

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Aitken
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Publishing House ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Primary School Teachers ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Line Drawings ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Colour Palette ◽  
The University ◽  
Selection Of

Mike, Nadia.  The Muskox and the Caribou. Illustrated by Tamara Campeau. Iqaluit, Nunavut, Inhabit Media, 2017. In simple, sensitive, and well-structured prose, Nadia Mike relates the story of a lost muskox calf that is adopted by a female caribou. Her own fawn, like the other newborns in the herd, is short haired, long legged, and agile. The musk ox calf, by comparison, is shaggy, stocky, and stumpy. The herd’s young caribou tend either to ignore or reject him. The doe, however, instinctively protects him until he is mature enough to find his way to a muskox herd. The story is not sentimentalized; neither is it excessively anthropomorphized. Admittedly, the young caribou “giggle” as the muskox attempts to splash in the pond with them and the little muskox wonders, “Why do they make fun of me?” Anthropomorphizing to this degree seems reasonable in conveying to young children that animals of one species are instinctively cautious, sometimes hostile, toward those of another. Mike’s storyline is expertly enhanced by the line drawings and delicate colour palette of Tamara Campeau. An experienced wildlife illustrator, Campeau presents a realistic picture of both Canada’s tundra, and the animals which inhabit it in spring and summer. As well as a heart-warming story, there is an introduction to the natural sciences here, an opportunity to discuss the concept of species, to study a little further our northern ecosystems, and to explore the mothering instinct that leads a female of one species to temporarily adopt the infant(s) of another. Primary school teachers, school and public librarians, and parents across the nation would find this book an excellent introduction to the nature and culture of Canada’s Arctic. Hats off to Nunavut’s first independent publishing house for this fine piece of children’s literature. Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer:  Leslie Aitken Leslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship involved selection of children’s literature for school, public, special and academic libraries. She was formerly Curriculum Librarian for the University of Alberta.

scholarly journals This Is Sadie by S. O’Leary

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Frail
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Adult Readers ◽  
Old People ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
Award Winning ◽  
White Horse ◽  
Imaginative Play ◽  
The University

O’Leary, Sara. This Is Sadie. Illus. Julie Morstad. Toronto: Random House-Tundra Books, 2015. Print."The days are never long enough for Sadie. There are so many things to make and do and be". This is Sadie is a delightful tribute to the power of imaginative play. The author-illustrator team of Sara O’Leary and Julie Morstad who created the award-winning Henry books have produced another gem that will be enjoyed by children and adults alike. O’Leary draws in her young readers with questions and invitations throughout the text and even on the inside cover: “Sadie is a small girl with a big imagination...Maybe you’re a bit like her...Come inside”.  The language is simple yet infused with whimsy and magic. There are usually no more than 2 or 3 lines of text on a page which allows Morstad’s ethereal illustrations to be showcased to their fullest. Sometimes the text and the illustrations interact playfully together such as the scene in which Sadie is leaping into a “pool” shaped like a book filled with children’s literary characters. The lines of text appear in three gentle waves.  The artwork was done in gouache, watercolour and pencil crayon and includes many amusing little details which will encourage readers to peruse them again and again. Sadie is endearingly irreverent. She is seen hammering nails into boards and playing records on the page that reads: "Sadie has learned to be quiet in the mornings because old people need a lot of sleep".She imagines herself as a character in scenes derived from many well-known tales such as the “The Little Mermaid”, “The Jungle Book” and “Alice and Wonderland”. In the latter she appears as the mad hatter rather than Alice. Parents or teachers wishing to present images of young girls that defy the typical “princess” conventions will appreciate that Sadie also appears as: an ocean explorer, a builder, and Mowgli from the Jungle Book. The story provides many opportunities for adult readers to engage with children as they can compare their imaginary adventures to Sadie’s and perhaps even write about or draw them, taking a cue from the conclusion: “This is Sadie and this is her story”. It would be a fantastic addition to any school or home children’s literature collection and would make a particularly attractive gift. The inside cover unfolds into a poster reminiscent of a medieval tapestry. Sadie sits astride a regal white horse with a quiver of arrows on her back while tiny fairies flitter in in the background. It is recommended for ages 3-7.Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Kim FrailKim is a Public Services Librarian at the H.T. Coutts Education Library at the University of Alberta. Children’s literature is a big part of her world at work and at home. She also enjoys gardening, renovating and keeping up with her kids.

scholarly journals Cheesie Mack Is Not a Genius or Anything by S. Colter

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale Storie
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Elementary School ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Fifth Grade ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
Best Friend ◽  
Grade 5 ◽  
The University

Cotler, Steve.  Cheesie Mack Is Not a Genius or Anything. Illus. Adam McCauley.  New York: Random House, 2011. Print. The protagonist of this story is Ronald “Cheesie” Mack, an energetic boy who, at ten years and ten months of age, has just finished Grade 5.  In his own words, his story is about “a mysterious old coin, an evil sister…a dead sister…runaway rodents, a super-best friend, a fifth-grade graduation disaster, some really unusual words (including a few that I made up), and The Haunted Toad”. The plot is equal parts mystery novel, elementary school pranks, and sibling rivalry, with a running commentary on friendship woven through the book. The strength of this novel is the first-person narration, which stays lively from Chapter 0 (“This Story is Over!”) to the very last page (“This is not a Chapter. Visit CheesieMack.com if…”).  Cheesie Mack is a self-aware narrator who makes frequent asides to the reader, in order to provide foreshadowing, define words, explain character motives, and encourage readers to visit his website.  Readers who enjoy plot-driven books may find Cheesie’s interludes annoying, since they act as frequent distractions from a plot that seems meandering at times.  The book weaves multiple plot threads together, but takes its time doing so.  Readers may feel as though the author will never return to earlier plot threads to resolve them (although he does successfully tie these pieces together at the end). However, young readers who appreciate a light-hearted character-driven story will definitely enjoy this book.  Readers of a similar age will be able to relate to Cheesie’s sentiments towards his best friend and to his ongoing battles with his sister.  His comical interjections and mock dialogue with his readers ensure that the book remains playful and engaging, even when the plot may not be.  For those who don’t want the story to end, there is always the CheesieMack.com website. Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Dale StorieDale Storie is Public Services Librarian at the John W. Scott Health Sciences Library at the University of Alberta. He has a BA in English, and has also worked in a public library as a children's programming coordinator, where he was involved with story times, puppet shows, and book talks.

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