scholarly journals Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans by D. Brown

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Hurricane Katrina ◽  
New Orleans ◽  
Graphic Novels ◽  
School Library ◽  
Public Library ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Library Journal ◽  
Hospital Patients ◽  
The University

Brown, Don. Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015. OverDrive Read. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.While it wasn’t the “big one” that meteorologists had predicted for New Orleans, the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Katrina’s landfall on August 29th, 2005 was monstrous in proportion. Many will surely remember the news stories, but Drowned City gives the reader an as-it-happened view of the various hardships faced by the residents and rescuers. Stories from all walks of life are here - the heroic acts of residents with boats who saved their neighbours, the hospital patients kept alive by friends and family after generators lost power, the forced separation of pets from owners, and the trains and cargo ships turned away as a result of mishandled organizational efforts. Throughout the story, Brown subtly explores the racial politics of the event, including Gretna’s police force turning away displaced New Orleanians, and George W. Bush comfortably surveying the chaos and squalor in the city below from his private jet. Once the streets had drained, the dead were accounted for - all 1,833 of them.Drowned City has already been featured on year-end lists from Kirkus, School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. Rather than approach the story with a harshly dogmatic invective, Brown’s compassionate, matter-of-fact prose exposes the situation for what it was - a catastrophe that impacted millions of lives, featuring both acts of heroism and gross incompetence. Matching the text are the author’s gritty watercolours, crafted with a muted palette that effectively sets the tone of the book. This combination is used to illustrate the struggles that dogged survivors: stifling heat and stench without the reprieve of air conditioning.New Orleans’ recovery story remains complex; though rejuvenated tourism spending far surpasses pre-Katrina levels, its African American populations have dropped significantly since the storm. Brown’s book evocatively captures the event that changed everything for this great city and is a prototypical example of the power of graphic novels for historical subjects. A must for library collections.Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Kyle MarshallKyle Marshall is the School-Aged Services Intern Librarian for Edmonton Public Library. He graduated with his MLIS from the University of Alberta in June 2015, and is passionate about diversity in children's and youth literature.

scholarly journals Kiviuq and the Bee Woman by N. McDermott

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Picture Book ◽  
School Library ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Reading Level ◽  
Older Children ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Human Skulls ◽  
The University ◽  
Library Collections

McDermott, Noel.  Kiviuq and the Bee Woman. Iqauit, NU, Inhabit Media, 2019. When we last heard of Kiviuq, he had just survived a harrowing encounter with scary monster mermaids or tuutalik (Deakin Review by Kirk MacLeod). In Kiviuq and the Bee Woman, the grandfather who narrated Kiviuq and the Mermaid continues the bedtime story to his grandchildren. Kiviuq begins paddling home, but comes upon a tent where an old woman invites him to rest and dry his clothing. She turns out to be a giant Bee Woman who wants to cut up Kiviuq and put him in her cooking pot. For a bedtime story, both the text and the illustrations are quite scary. Illustrator Toma Feizo Gas lets us see into the dark, dramatic and frightening world of the Bee Woman, who is a determined killer. “She shouted, ‘I am Iguttarjuaq, the Bee Woman, and I am going to kill you with my ulu’.”  The accompanying image shows a woman with pointy teeth and insect mouth pincers, who is shaking a sharp ulu (knife) at Kiviuq. As is the case with many of Inhabit Media’s publications, the reading level is higher than one would expect to find in a picture book. For younger children, this book will need some adult intervention. In addition to the scary content, human skulls talk, the woman eats her own eyelids and “Kiviuq, realized the woman was boiling human meat.” Some of the language is difficult. For example, Kiviuq “fainted” of fright, but “feinted” to get away. McDermott also intersperses many Inuktitut words, which will slow down younger readers. These are defined at the end of the book. Overall, this excellent product from Inhabit Media should be included in public library collections and school library collections, but should probably be placed in collections designed for older children.  Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: 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 This Book is Gay by J. Dawson

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Sex Education ◽  
School Library ◽  
Community Building ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Cultural Identification ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Queer Youth ◽  
Sexual Health Information ◽  
The University ◽  
High School Library

Dawson, James. This Book is Gay. London: Hot Key Books, 2014. Print.As North American jurisdictions play host to battles over proposed sex education curricula, barriers to providing basic sexual health information to youth are becoming painfully evident. In the place of strong classroom instruction, many governments expect parents to engage in these conversations, but even progressive parents may feel inadequately prepared for discussing sex education with their LGBT children. Similar issues exist surrounding cultural identification and attainment; where most youth simply observe or take part in family and societal practices, queer youth must undertake greater lengths to self-educate and identify.Enter James Dawson’s publication, This Book is Gay, which serves as part sex education, part cultural information manual for all things LGBT. With strong credentials as a former teacher and YA author, Dawson also deployed an international survey and conducted interviews to add statistics and quotations that expand and diversify the experiences captured within the book. The book covers a vast array of topics complete with catchy chapter titles, including terminology (“The Name Game”), homophobia and transphobia (“The Fear” and “Haterz Gonna Hate”) and, a topic of interest to most LGBT teens, same sex education (“The Ins and Outs of Gay Sex”). Within these chapters is a balance of reader empowerment, stereotype dismantling, community building and jokes - lots of jokes - to keep the reader entertained and informed throughout. Adding to the levity and frankness of Dawson’s tone are illustrator Spike Gerrell’s ebullient comics (think lightning bolts retreating from a gonorrhea patient’s groin).An uplifting read that will inform and entertain all types of readers, I highly recommend This Book is Gay. The book does use certain colloquialisms native to Dawson’s United Kingdom, but these should serve as only very minor distractions - or even points of curiosity - to the non-British reader. This Book is Gay would work as a very thoughtful gift to a newly out or questioning teen, but there needs to be a place for it in every junior high and high school library. As a stand-in for a funny, frank and extremely knowledgeable older sibling, this book should do the trick.Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Kyle MarshallKyle Marshall is the School-Aged Services Intern Librarian for Edmonton Public Library. He graduated with his MLIS from the University of Alberta in June 2015, and is passionate about diversity in children's and youth literature.

scholarly journals Online programs in school library education: Preparing librarians to support twenty-first century learners

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianne Oberg
Keyword(s):  
School Library ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
School Librarians ◽  
Online Programs ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Online Distance Education ◽  
Library Education ◽  
Online Distance ◽  
The University

The online distance education program, Teacher-Librarianship by Distance Learning (TL-DL), was developed and implemented at the University of Alberta, Canada beginning in the late 1990s. In this paper, TL-DL is used as an example to explore: how an online program was established and maintained and how the challenges facing the program have been and are being addressed. TL-DL‟s approach to preparing school librarians to support student access to new and emerging technologies was compared and found to be similar to the approaches used in two other types of programs identified through recent research conducted in the United States and Australia. Emerging from the research are questions about the need for shifts in curriculum content and pedagogy to engage digital age learners.

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.

scholarly journals Icky Mr. Fox and the Missing Friend by A. Bitskoff

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Merran Carr-Wiggin
Keyword(s):  
Public Library ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
Fine Motor ◽  
Decoding Skills ◽  
Young Audiences ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Theatre For Young Audiences ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
The University ◽  
Age Range

Bitskoff, Aleksei. Icky Mr. Fox and the Missing Friend. IckyPen Ltd, 2017. Vers. 19.0.1. Apple App Store, https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/missing-friend/id1236379583?mt=8. Age range: 0-5Price: $2.79.Also available in a Lite version with ads at no cost. This simple, quirky digital text takes children on a journey to rescue Mr. Mole from Icky Mr. Fox and builds early digital navigation and vocabulary skills. Children experience the story read aloud, with the text displayed on the screen along with charming illustrations. The app features some interactive elements. Many objects on the screen are clickable and the name of the object appears in writing and is spoken aloud. Other interactive elements include the ability to make the sun rise, turn lights on and off in a room, or move characters in one direction or another. The interactions are intuitive and young children should easily be able to identify the interactive features and navigate the interface. The app somewhat replicates the experience of reading a book, moving from screen to screen with the touch of an arrow. The illustrations are highly appealing, with adorable characters, painterly background illustrations and harmonious colour schemes. The tone of the illustrations and sounds is gentle and pleasing, and would not stretch the tolerance of parents for annoying levels of noise. The language and storyline are simple and lack creativity, but keep the interest of a child with a certain level of suspense. The app enables children to follow a story in sequence, to recognize the relationship between sound and text, and encourages them to build fine motor skills and touch-screen computer skills. Children touch the screen to make text and sound appear and swipe to make characters move. Children in the higher end of the age range may build early reading or text decoding skills through seeing and hearing words. The stated age range for the app is 0-5; children aged 2-5 would benefit most. This app is fun for both adults and children and is an engaging way for children to learn digital skills. Children can find more adventures featuring Icky Mr. Fox created by the same developers. Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Merran Carr-Wiggin Merran Carr-Wiggin’s experience at Edmonton Public Library includes positions as a Summer Programmer, in the Children’s Department, and at the Strathcona Branch. She is a candidate in the Master of Library and Information Studies program at the University of Alberta, and her work as an actor includes theatre for young audiences.  

scholarly journals If I Was Your Girl by M. Russo

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Small Town ◽  
American South ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Male Gender ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Cautious Approach ◽  
Ya Literature ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time ◽  
Trans Youth

Russo, Meredith. If I Was Your Girl. Flatiron Books, 2016.At 18 years old, Amanda is taking a cautious approach to her new lease on life. Assigned the male gender at birth and named Andrew, Amanda endured bullying as a child and disappointment from a father who viewed his “son” as effeminate and ill-equipped to handle life’s challenges. Post-transition life in Atlanta wasn’t much easier, and a traumatic instance of violence led Amanda’s mother to decide to send Amanda to live with her father in small-town Tennessee. While the rural American South might not seem like an accepting environment for a transgender teen, Amanda is keeping her past sex a secret.As Amanda decides not to reveal her past to the Lambertville locals (known in the transgender community as going “stealth”), she starts to live the life of an average teenager for the first time. Her beauty attracts much attention from boys, and she finds friend groups with both the in crowd and social misfits - all of whom appear to be harbouring secrets of their own. As things get increasingly serious with her boyfriend Grant, Amanda grapples with sharing her own history.Russo’s debut novel depicts a round protagonist with whom all teens should be able to relate, on some level. As a trans woman herself, Russo deftly depicts teenage belonging and the politics of going stealth, while acknowledging that she intentionally chose a character that could easily “pass” to demonstrate the conflict. Moreover, the author’s note sends an inspirational message to trans youth that validates the uniqueness of their experience and the importance of self-love.Although Russo occasionally falls into YA romantic cliches, it’s not as though the genre is overflowing with romantic storylines featuring trans characters. If I Was Your Girl is a vital and timely addition to YA literature, and should have a place in every library for transgender, cisgender and non-binary teens alike to discover.Recommended: 3 stars out of 4Reviewer: Kyle MarshallKyle Marshall is the Planning, Assessment & Research Analyst for Edmonton Public Library. He graduated with his MLIS from the University of Alberta in June 2015, and is passionate about diversity in children's and youth literature.

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 The Highway Rat by J. Donaldson

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Feisst
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
School Library ◽  
The Other ◽  
Young Adult Fiction ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The Road ◽  
Poetic Justice ◽  
Narrative Poem ◽  
The University ◽  
Adult Reader

Donaldson, Julia. The Highway Rat. Illus. Axel Scheffler. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2013. Print.The children’s literature dream team of author Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler are at it again with this delightful take on Alfred Noyes’ classic narrative poem, “The Highwayman.” Donaldson and Scheffler, best known for their popular Gruffalo series as well as Room on the Broom, have created a lush narrative replete with repetitive phrases and rich illustrations that will captivate children while engaging the adult reader in an intelligent manner.“The Highway Rat was a baddie; the Highway Rat was a beast. He took what he wanted and ate what he took…” Indeed!  The Highway Rat holds up fellow travelers and those he meets along the way with a voracious attitude and pointy sword.  Though he prefers sweets, he takes anything –even a bunch of clover deemed tasteless and dull –to satisfy his greed and without a morsel of regret. As the other creatures along the road grew thinner and thinner, the Highway Rat grows plump until one plucky duck delivers poetic justice and some just ‘desserts’ to this nasty rat. Children will be pleased with the appropriate comeuppance for the Highway Rat that arrives with a healthy message of kindness and sharing.Fans of Donaldson and Scheffler’s previous work will not be disappointed, in particular those who have encountered “The Highwayman” as younger readers.  This rollicking book will make a nice addition to any elementary school library collection and is best suited for students in K-3. 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.

scholarly journals Baraboo Reads

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Treasa Bane
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
School Library ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Community Action ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
University Of Wisconsin ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

After an incident of anti-Semitism occurring at the Baraboo (WI) High School, the Baraboo community initiated a Community Action Plan. Baraboo Reads, a collaborative effort between the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County campus, Baraboo Public Library, Baraboo High School library, and middle school library, became a part of that action plan. As an academic librarian, I was involved in the planning, budgeting, and selection for Baraboo Reads. The Baraboo Reads was a complacent failure, but there is much to be learned about the impact of these types of incidents on small communities and how larger efforts toward inclusivity can be learned from such failures.

scholarly journals The Wolf’s Boy by S. Williams Beckhorn

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Reading Skills ◽  
Public Library ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Human Relationships ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Self Discovery ◽  
Advanced Readers ◽  
Children’S Work ◽  
The University ◽  
The Village

Williams Beckhorn, Susan. The Wolf’s Boy. Disney-Hyperion, 2016.Shortly after he is born, Kai’s parents discover his clubfoot and decide to abandon him to a pack of nearby wolves. Rather than become a meal for the wolves, they care for him until his mother comes to reclaim him to a human upbringing. Yet still, Kai’s childhood in the human village is not exactly easy for someone whose foot is considered to have made him tabat (cursed). He is dogged by taunts from his peers, who call him “Wolfboy”, and reproaches from his father, who is quietly ashamed of his son’s perceived limitations. Banned from taking part in hunting, Kai toils doing children’s work and harbours a secret artistic streak. His loneliness is eventually placated when he adopts a local wolf club (Uff) but, eventually, their existence in the village becomes untenable and Kai sets out with Uff on a dangerous adventure of self-discovery. Along the way, they learn to hunt, meet a giant Ice Man and develop a friendship that is believed to be impossible between humans and wolves.The Wolf’s Boy is Beckhorn’s second foray into prehistoric children’s fiction, following her 2006 novel Wind Rider. Here, she fashions a fairly complex story for young readers, with liberal usage of the villagers’ fictitious language that is seemingly unsupported with definitions (until the reader stumbles across the book’s glossary of term definitions). These challenges, however, will reward advanced readers looking to hone their reading skills on more advanced prose. Beckhorn quickly departs from The Wolf Boy’s familiar Jungle Book beginnings to establish the novel as a memorable work in its own right, and she uses beautiful, descriptive language to tackle bullying, promote body diversity and even explore the ancient beginnings of humans’ fears of “otherness”.Given Beckhorn’s success at using a prehistoric setting to illustrate the depth and genesis of human relationships with animals, it’s almost surprising that authors have not mined this territory consistently before. With certain appeal for children interested in prehistory, dogs and survival stories, The Wolf’s Boy will reward strong readers.Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Kyle MarshallReviewer biography: Kyle Marshall is the Planning, Assessment & Research Analyst for Edmonton Public Library. He graduated with his MLIS from the University of Alberta in June 2015, and is passionate about diversity in children's and youth literature.

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