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 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 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 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 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 Cat Comes Too by H. Hutchins and Dog Comes Too by same author

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Banski
Keyword(s):  
World View ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Beginning Readers ◽  
Entire Body ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Line Drawings ◽  
Word Play ◽  
The World ◽  
The University ◽  
Selection Of

Hutchins, Hazel.  Cat Comes Too. Illus. Gosia Mosz.   Toronto: Annick Press, 2013._____________  Dog Comes Too.  Toronto: Annick Press, 2013.Nicely sized for children’s hands, these two little board books should delight both pre-schoolers and beginning readers. Their story lines are simple and humorous.In the first, a curious kitten follows a pair of human feet (the entire body is never revealed but seems feminine) up the stairs to the attic and, there, has a fine frolic amidst the storage.  In the second, a puppy follows a heavy-booted pair of legs (gender unclear) on an outdoor hike that proves challenging, but not impossible, for the small canine striver.Gosia Mosz’s colorful line drawings give us, simultaneously, both the world view of each young pet and a sense of its indomitable personality.  With very few words, and a vocabulary level well within the range of most three- to six-year-olds, Hazel Hutchins produces a delightful amount of word play, particularly in Dog Comes Too:            “Too far                        Too hot            Too tired, pup?                        Big rest             Two friends                        To the top             Together”   (Dog…pp.15-19)(For the children who read this book, a formal lesson on homonyms may come years later, if at all; no matter. They will have internalized the concept, anyway.)In these works, Hutchins and Mosz demonstrate the features of good composition for the very young: simple plotlines; recognizable settings; text that is readily memorized, then read; illustrations that are wedded to the text; characters that are lovable; and a viewpoint not unlike their own--all this and witty wording, too.  Brilliant.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 Gabby, Drama Queen by J. Grant

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Aitken
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Reading Teachers ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Child Reader ◽  
The University ◽  
Selection Of

Grant, Joyce.  Gabby, Drama Queen. Illus. Jan Dolby.  Markham, Ontario: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 2013.  Print.This book is best described as “busy.”  The plot is both imaginative and complex, busying itself with a subplot—a play within a story, and incorporating spelling and phonics as integral elements of the text.  The book features appended activity pages.Briefly, the protagonists, Gabby and Roy, become actors, bringing their stage and props into existence through the magic of letters spilled from a picture book   Conveniently, they create a stage, a crown, and a stream.  Children will probably not notice (but reading teachers will) that the story is a good introduction to lessons on consonant blends.The illustrations are cheerful, whimsical, and, once again, busy; they should engage a child’s attention.  Still, regarding the beginning reader, the book is inherently problematic.  The child who is only just beginning to sound out and spell the words “crown” and “stream” will not be able to read independently such sentences as “Queen Gabriella swanned dramatically onto the stage.”If the book is to fulfill its dual purposes of instructing and entertaining the child reader, its first reading, at least, will require adult assistance.  This reviewer would suggest de-emphasizing the didactic elements, and letting the playfulness of the storyline carry the day. Reviewer: Leslie AitkenRecommended: 3 stars out of 4Leslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship involved selection of children’s literature for school, public, special, and university collections.  She is the former Curriculum Librarian at the University of Alberta.

scholarly journals Garbage Delight by D. Lee

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Aitken
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Intended Audience ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Line Drawings ◽  
Color Palette ◽  
Good Target ◽  
The University ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Better Than

Lee, Dennis.  Garbage Delight.  Illus. Sandy Nichols. Toronto: Harper Collins, 2015. Print.Should anyone doubt the power of illustration in children’s literature (no children’s literature specialist would—but should anyone) all doubt can be dispelled by a comparison of this new work illustrated by Sandy Nichols, with Lee’s earlier one of the same title: Garbage Delight, illustrated by Frank Newfeld, classic edition, Harper Collins, 1977. In the original work, Garbage Delight is the title poem of a collection as irrepressible as its intended audience.  (Five and six-year-olds would be a good target.)  Frank Newfeld’s illustration of the “Garbage…” eater is “Bigfoot,” a ferocious stuffed animal with a unicorn’s horn, an alligator’s teeth, and a lion’s claws—and, oh yes, a dress. Introduced to us on page 18, Bigfoot returns to preside over a table laden with a spectacular array of food—all in living color: the jelly, the “hamburgles”, ice cream, and cake that the poem promises, along with a whole lot more. Interestingly, there isn’t any real “garbage” on that overflowing table; it is just the prospect of the gluttony to follow that strikes us as obscene, hilarious, and memorable.The new edition, focusing on one single poem, and physically designed for the very young, enables illustrator Sandy Nichols to take a very different tack from that of Newfeld. Nichols has the freedom to tell a whole story: a bear cub clambers into a fenced yard where a pair of toy creatures, one reptilian (possibly a stegosaurus), one sheep-like, are picnicking.  The cub, eschewing the picnic treats, tears into and devours the garbage.  When it collapses from its exertions, the toy creatures wrap it lovingly in their picnic blanket and cart it out of their yard.  Ultimately, the cub returns to its much relieved mother.The color palette Nichols uses is delicate, her line drawings often evocative. Her depiction of the reptile beating a pan with a spoon while the horn-tooting sheep, cub in tow, brings up the rear is particularly charming.  (For reasons unknown, it connotes an illustration of the nursery rhyme “Hey-Diddle-Diddle” for this reviewer.  We even see the moon come out, although no one jumps over it!) To describe in a single word her storyline, her illustrations, her evocations, and her tone, I can do no better than the publisher’s notes accompanying the text: winsome.  In sum, Nichols’ work is a fresh and entirely valid interpretation of a Canadian children’s classic.  Well done.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 former Curriculum Librarian for the University of Alberta.

scholarly journals Building the Spanish Juvenile Fiction Collection at the University of Alberta’s HT Coutts Education Library

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Lacroix
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Selection Criteria ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Collection Selection ◽  
Practical Information ◽  
Juvenile Fiction ◽  
The University

This article describes why and how the University of Alberta Libraries built a Spanish language children’s literature collection. Selection criteria, findability, visibility, and assessment are addressed in the context of this collection. Practical information is provided to help librarians build similar collections and promote them.

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.

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