scholarly journals I Want My Mommy! by T. Corderoy

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Separation Anxiety ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Picket Fence ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
The University

Corderoy,Tracey. I Want My Mommy!  Wilton, CT: Tiger Tales, 2013. Print.This charming picture book addresses separation anxiety, which is common among young children being left with occasional caregivers.  The story is depicted with mice playing the roles of people.  Arthur is a small mouse, who is staying with his grandmother while his mother goes out for the day.  Arthur has "never been apart from Mommy for the whole day before".  He misses her a lot.  Although his grandmother distracts him with dragons, sword fights and lunch, Arthur is still sometimes sad and thinks that his mom has returned every time the doorbell rings.  Allison Edgson's illustrations are bright, attractive and somewhat romantic.  Grandma's garden has a white picket fence with an arched trellis, hollyhocks and climbing roses.  Throughout, Arthur is dressed in a green dragon suit.   The images are sometimes two-page spreads with text over-printed or smaller round pictures with in text the white spaces around them. The text is a large font, with a few words bolded or capitalized for effect.  The text is age appropriate for pre-kindergarten to grade three, but intended to be read aloud by an adult.I Want My Mommy! allows children to see their own situation depicted in a story.  Children can  empathize with Arthur and see that he does cope with being away from his mother and that his mother does return. This is an excellent book for public libraries and elementary school libraries and pediatric health collections. Highly recommended: 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 The Spirit of the Sea by R. Hainnu

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
Upper Elementary ◽  
Human Form ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Non Fiction ◽  
Underwater Image ◽  
The University

Hainnu, Rebecca.  The Spirit of the Sea. Illus. Hwei Lim. Iqualuit, NU:  Inhabit Media, Inc., 2014.  Print.This volume is another of Inhabit Media’s fine productions of Inuit legends.  It tells an old story, which exists in many variations. This version comes from Rebecca Hainnu, who lives in Clyde River, Nunavut.  While Hainnu’s previous works have been non-fiction including children’s books on mathematics and tundra plants, she does a fine job of storytelling, as well.   Arnaq is a beautiful young woman who is tricked into marrying a fulmar (a kind of bird) when he appears in human form.  When her father tries to rescue her, he ends up sacrificing her to the fulmars to save his own life. She sinks to the bottom and becomes the Spirit of the Sea.  As Nuliajuq, she controls the sea animals and hunters must appease her to have good hunting and calm seas.Throughout the volume, text appears on one page and an image on the facing page.  The text, which is appropriate for upper elementary readers and above, is meant to be read aloud and generally has the sound of a traditional storyteller’s voice.  However, there are occasional modern phrases that are incongruous and break the flow.   “Eventually, Arnaq succumbed to complete depression”.  The text contains some Inuktitut words, which are italicized and listed in the pronunciation guide at the end of the volume.The watercolours by Hwei Lim are beautiful and ethereal.  The colours are mainly blues and browns, reflecting the marine environment.  The underwater image of Arnaq looking up at the bottom of a boat is particularly effective.The Spirit of the Sea is highly recommended for elementary school libraries, public libraries and libraries specializing in Canadian Indigenous materials. Highly Recommended:  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 Sweetest Kulu by C. Kalluk

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Character Trait ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Small Children ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Arctic Hare ◽  
The University

Kalluk, Celina.  Sweetest Kulu. Illus. Alexandria Neonakis.  Iqaluit, NU:  Inhabit Media Inc., 2014.  Print.“Kulu” is an Inuktitut term of endearment for babies and small children.  In this work, traditional throat singer and author, Celina Kalluk, shows all of the gifts that nature brings to a newborn baby.  The images show the baby cradled and adored by many creatures.  Each creature brings a character trait as a gift for the baby.  “Caribou chose patience for you, cutest Kulu.  He gave you the ability to look to the stars, so that you will always know where you are and may gently lead the way”.  With each gift, Kalluk uses a different adjective to describe the baby – happy Kulu, admired Kulu, beloved Kulu. Illustrator, Alexandria Neonakis has created an image for each animal in rich and deep colours.  The images spread over two facing pages with text over-printed. Each image is gentle and tender.  The baby is shown nestled between the front hooves of a musk-ox, curled up against a polar bear or snuggled up in the paws of an Arctic hare.  The baby is reflected in the water when the Arctic char brings a gift of tenderness.This book is a beautiful representation of a mother’s love for her baby reflected in the traditional Inuit connection to the land and nature.  It is a calming and peaceful book, which will become a bedtime read-aloud favourite. Highly recommended for elementary school libraries, public libraries and babies’ rooms everywhere.Highly Recommended:   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 Cub’s Journey Home by G. Graham

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fire ◽  
Red Deer ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Reading Level ◽  
Running Water ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The University

Graham, Georgia.  Cub’s Journey Home. Markham, ON:  Red Deer Press, 2015.  Print.Georgia Graham is a fine artist, but as a writer, needs a good editor.  Like her earlier work Where Wild Horses Run, this is a beautifully illustrated book.  Graham’s landscapes, trees, rivers, rocks, bears and flowers are all highly realistic. She tackles a variety of environments including snow, running water, forest fire, a burnt landscape and a garbage dump. Many of the images are frame-worthy.  There are flaws in the flames of her forest fire, some of which look like they belong on racing cars; however, in the next image, she absolutely captures the complexity of the fire reflected on swamp water.  Unfortunately, the text is an amalgamation of strange images and unusual or extravagant word choices. Why, for example, is a baby bear growing inside the mother called a “speck”?  There is so much purple prose that the reader is constantly distracted.  There are “long needles of sunlight” that “stab”.  The snow covering the den is “a curtain of lacy ice”. “A breeze runs its icy fingers through his fur.”  The cub “skedaddles”.  “A dark blanket [of smoke] rises up and steals the stars from the sky.” The whole text would have been much better if Graham had just written in her natural voice, as she occasionally does, to good effect.While the unusual word choices make the reading level of the text much too advanced for a picture book, the images, with their excellent rendering of Alberta landscapes, make it valuable.  This book is recommended with reservations for elementary school libraries and public libraries. Recommended with reservations: 2 out of 4 starsReviewer:  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 Elisapee and her Baby Seagull by N. Mike

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Natural World ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Mickey Mouse ◽  
Life Lessons ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
The University

Mike, Nancy.  Elisapee and her Baby Seagull.  Inhabit Media, 2017.In this picture book, Nancy Mike tells the story of an Inuit girl who raises a seagull from a chick to adulthood and finally returns it to the wild. Through caring for Nau, the seagull, Elisapee learns “how to care, how to feed an animal and how to have patience.” Finally she learns to let go as the grown-up Nau joins the other seagulls. Mike’s text is simple and age appropriate for the intended lower elementary audience.Charlene Chua’s pictures fill most of the book with colour. The text is overprinted on the backgrounds. Her artwork is cartoonish. The characters have oversized eyes and tiny noses, reminiscent of Mickey Mouse or some manga characters. However, her images do capture the natural world of the Arctic environment. Chua has included some fun visual jokes, such as a large gull trying to fit into a small box and a krill jumping from a boy’s hand when he’s trying to feed the gull.This book gently introduces some life lessons in an Inuit context. Highly recommended for public libraries and school libraries and for libraries that collect Inuit children’s literature.Highly recommended:  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 Llama Llama Gram and Grandpa by A. Dewdney

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Separation Anxiety ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
Intended Audience ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Good Book ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The University

Dewdney, Anna. Llama Llama Gram and Grandpa.  New York, NY:  Viking, 2015.  PrintThis is one of a series of Llama Llama books by author/illustrator Anna Dewdney.   In this volume, Llama Llama is staying away from home for the first night.  The rhymed story takes him from packing at home to being left at his grandparents and unpacking.  It is there that he discovers that his “fuzzy llama” is missing.  At bedtime he has a meltdown where “Llama’s lips begin to quiver./ Llama starts to shake and shiver./ Llama needs Fuzzy near,/but FUZZY LLAMA ISN’T HERE!”.  Grandpa Llama produces his own childhood toy and all is well.  The text works well as a read-aloud for the age 3-5 intended audience. While all of the creatures in the book are llamas, they are fully anthropomorphized.  The llamas drive cars, eat at a table with cutlery and grow carrots in a garden.  They are essentially people who look like llamas.  As a result young children will easily identify with the little llama missing his “fuzzy”.  Dewdney’s artwork is excellent.  The colours are bright and the characters engaging.  In addition to the very human facial expressions, Dewdney uses the llama’s ears to show emotion – up and perky when happy or excited, droopy when sad or lonely.This would be a good book to read with a child who is anxious about staying away from home.  It provides a starting point for talking with children about separation anxiety, though distress that Llama Llama feels is more related to his missing toy than about being away from his mother.   This book is highly recommended for public libraries, elementary schools and day cares.Highly recommended: 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 Sometimes I Feel Angry / Sometimes I Feel Nervous / Sometimes I Feel Jealous / Sometimes I Feel Lonely / Sometimes I Feel Sad Illus. A. Sandland.

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Literacy Learning ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Small Children ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The North ◽  
The University

Sometimes I Feel Angry /   Sometimes I Feel Nervous / Sometimes I Feel Jealous /   Sometimes I Feel Lonely /   Sometimes I Feel Sad. Illus. Amanda Sandland. Iqaluit: Inhabit Education, 2017. The Nunavummi Reading Series from Inhabit Education situates emotional literacy learning in the Canadian Arctic. These books are part of a leveled reading series and are graded at Fountas & Pinnell Text Level J (books designed to be read aloud to young children). Amanda Sandland’s illustrations are spare and uncluttered.  Backgrounds are plain or contain simple landscapes. The characters developed by Ali Hinch are anthropomorphized animals representing small children.  The nervous caribou has a hat and satchel and Aqi, the sometimes sad and lonely bird, has boots. Some of the characters appear in several books. One of the most helpful things about these books is that the resolutions are realistic. The characters display real emotions and reactions. These situations are resolved through talking with friends and recognizing which responses are healthy and which are not. There are none of the trite “quick-fixes” that so often appear in children’s books related to emotions. There are many children’s series that address emotions, but because these books are set in the Arctic and use Arctic animals, children in the North will be more comfortable with the content. The characters do things that Northern children would do: playing one-foot high kick, looking for fossils, picking berries, ice-fishing and going sliding. Children who do not live in Northern environments will be able to learn more about the North, as well as about emotions. This is a high-quality, relatively inexpensive series that is highly recommended for elementary school libraries and public libraries.  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. 

At the Heart of It: Dene dzó t’áré by R. Taniton & M. Willett

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Book Series ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Bear Lake ◽  
The People ◽  
The University

Taniton, Raymond and Mindy Willett.  At the Heart of It: Dene dzó t’áré.  Markham, On:  Fifth   House, 2011.  Print. Indigenous author Raymond Taniton is a member of The Sahtugot’ine, or the “people of Great Bear Lake”.  In At the Heart of It, Taniton invites readers into his world.  We meet his family, see the Sahtu Region where he lives, meet the elders in the community, learn how to make a traditional hand drum, learn some games and read some of the stories.  The stories are particularly important. This book is the most recent in Fifth House’s “The Land is Our Story Book” series, all co-authored by writer Mindy Willett. Taniton concludes this volume by saying, “The land is our storybook. It is our school, our library, our church. It is where we learn our stories and where we discover who we are as true Dene people. The land is at the heart of it all”.  And in this book Taniton and Willett do succeed in helping us to understand “the land”. This is a picture book, an educational book and a celebration of what it means to be Satugot’ine. Tessa Macintosh’s photographs are used throughout. The top of each page has a border image of the beaded toes of twenty-one moccasins. Often a large image will form the background of a page with text and other images superimposed.  For example, for the story “The Lake is the Boss”, the background is an image which looks out through the mouth of a cave.  The story is about a giant wolf that lived in the cave. The text, along with smaller images of the island that the wolf became when he turned to stone, is superimposed on the cave photograph.  The images and text, taken together, form many lessons for young people.  The stories provide metaphorical and philosophical lessons, but the book also provides practical lessons, such as the illustrated steps to making a drum.  As a whole, the book celebrates Raymond Taniton’s family, the Sahtugot’ine people and their way of life.   Highly recommended for elementary school and public libraries. Highly Recommended:  4 out of 4 starsReviewer:  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 On the Shoulder of a Giant: an Inuit Folktale by N. Christopher

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Bowhead Whale ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Quality Work ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

Christopher, Neil.  On the Shoulder of a Giant:  an Inuit Folktale. Iqualuit:  Inhabit Media, 2015. Print.This is another in a series of works designed by Neil Christopher, one of the founders of Inhabit Media, to preserve traditional Inuit stories.  In this book he retells a story, which is known in various forms all across the Arctic, of a giant who adopts a hunter as his son.  This giant, named Inukpak,  is one of the inukpasugjuit or “great giants” of Inuit stories.  Inukpak is so big that he can walk across the Arctic in “just a few days” and when he stands in the sea the water "never come[s] up past his knees". He is so big that he thinks that the hunter is a lost child, so he adopts him and carries him on his shoulder.This is a simple retelling, designed to teach about the mythical giants and to explain why the story is found in many cultures across the Canadian Arctic.  However, it also models a big person/small person relationship in which small people do not correct or talk back to big people.  Children will relate to the hunter, who is treated as a child and because the story is told from the hunter's perspective.  The giant sometimes doesn't recognize the impact of his own actions.  For example when he runs back to shore, he creates waves that swamp the hunter, but the giant thinks the hunter has been playing in the water.  "The hunter wanted to tell the giant that he had not been playing in the water.  He also wanted to explain to Inukpak that he had caught a bowhead whale, not a sculpin.  But, once again, the little hunter did not want to argue with a giant, so he just said, 'Okay.' "This is mainly a picture book. The illustrations run over two-page spreads with text over-printed on them.  Jim Nelson does a good job of presenting the difference in size between the giant and the human.  Inukpak is presented as a happy fellow, with black shaggy hair and a full beard.  Children will be amused by the giant picking up a polar bear by the scruff of its neck, like a kitten. The images are realistic and the backgrounds are lovely representations of Arctic landscapes. Overall, this is an enjoyable and high-quality work that should be included in elementary school libraries, public libraries and libraries specializing in Arctic children’s books.Highly Recommended:  4 out of 4 starsReviewer:  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 Saila & Betty by C. Rooney

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Reading Materials ◽  
Reading Text ◽  
Level I ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
The University

Rooney, Christina. Saila & Betty, illustrated by Ali Hinch. Inhabit Education, 2016.Inhabit Education has launched a series of text levelled readers, called the Nunavummi Reading Series.  Saila and Betty has been levelled using the Fountas & Pinnell Text Level Gradient Level: I, which makes it appropriate for upper level Grade 1.   It is a picture book with two to three sentences per page including simple dialog.  The sentences get progressively more difficult through the book.  Ali Hinch’s comic-like artwork is black-line with bright colours for infill.  The animals all show animation and emotions.   While this is primarily a reading text, it contains a wellness message, as well.  The story is a simple one about birds, who fly very well and seals, who swim very well discovering that while their strengths are different, and they are not very good at each other’s strengths at all, they can still be friends and have fun together. It is great to see curriculum materials being developed with Arctic themes.  These will be very valuable learning tools in Arctic classrooms and as supplementary reading materials in southern classrooms.  Highly recommended for elementary school libraries and public libraries. Highly Recommended:  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 Better Together by Sh. & S. Shapiro

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tami Oliphant
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Musical Instruments ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Library And Information Studies ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
Soccer Team ◽  
The University ◽  
Mixing Water

Shapiro, Sheryl, and Simon Shapiro. Better Together. Illus. Dušan Petričić. Toronto: Annick Press, 2011. Print. This concept book is infused with a cheerful, slightly mischievous spirit as the authors and illustrator explore a wide variety of, and a broad notion of, mixes. Kids might be familiar with many of the mixes—mixing cinnamon and sugar to spread on toast, mixing water and dirt to create mud, mixing blue and yellow to make green or mixing water and flour to create glue. Other mixes are more abstract—mixing up each team member’s different skills to make a great soccer team or mixing up musical instruments to make raucous music. Each mix is explained by a playful, rhyming poem that is easy-to-read and delightful to read aloud. The writers themselves decided to mix things up—the book is this husband-and-wife’s first collaborative effort and their obvious pleasure in wordplay is apparent. For example, the first poem, which explains what mixes are, contains the line “You stir and squoosh them, squish and moosh them” to create a brand new thing. The lively text is supported by the equally zippy illustrations. The first illustration is a highlight as Petričić shows how mixing the separate ingredients of ideas, paper, and drawings can produce a wonderful new thing: a picture book. The mix of vivid illustrations and energetic text has created a fun book that both kids and parents will enjoy. The book is recommended for children ages 4-7. Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Tami Oliphant Tami works as a research librarian at the University of Alberta Libraries and for the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta. She earned her Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of Alberta and her doctorate from the University of Western Ontario. She has worked in academic libraries, public libraries, communications and planning, and as a sessional lecturer and researcher at the University of Alberta and the University of Western Ontario. 

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