scholarly journals The Walrus Who Escaped by R. & S. Qitsualik-Tinsley

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Education ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Special Kind ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Important Concept ◽  
Human Emotions ◽  
The Many ◽  
The University

Qitsualik-Tinsley, Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley.  The Walrus Who Escaped. Illus. Anthony Brennan.  Iqualuit, NU:  Inhabit Media Inc., 2014. Print.In this book, Rachael and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley retell another of the many Inuit legends that explain why things are the way they are.   According to this story, walruses used to have spiral tusks.  Raven, who is always a bit of a trouble maker and looking for a free meal, imprisons the walrus in ice because she wants his clams.  Imprisoning the walrus doesn’t get the raven any clams, but when the walrus gets free, the force straightens his tusks.The most interesting theme in this story is that of the “Strength in the Land”, which the authors explain variously as something that would be ill-described as “magic” and could be thought of as a “special kind of dream”.  Even in today’s Inuit culture, land strength is an important concept that is implied in many works, but is rarely directly addressed.  Qitsualik-Tinsleys deserve kudos for attempting to capture it in a children’s book.The text is overprinted on Anthony Brennan’s cartoon-like images which show the animals demonstrating human emotions such as contentment, frustration, anger and fear.  The colours are generally bright, with the light blues of the sea and the ice predominating. Highly recommended for public libraries, elementary education libraries and libraries that collect Canadian Indigenous Children’s works.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. 

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 Down by the River: A Family Fly Fishing Story by A. Weiner

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Reading Level ◽  
Fishing Trip ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Fly Fishing ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
The University ◽  
Riverine Landscapes

Weiner, Andrew.  Down by the River: A Family Fly Fishing Story. Harry N. Abrams, 2018.  This is a beautifully illustrated book that tells a simple story about a boy, Art, who goes on a fly-fishing trip with his mother and grandfather. The story recalls a time when Art’s grandfather taught his mother to fish.  April Chu has used a subdued palette for her two-page riverine landscapes, with lots of green and rich autumn colours in the environment. The book has a calm and peaceful feel about it that mirrors the contemplative nature of fly-fishing.  The text is simple and descriptive of a day spent on the river. The reading level is too difficult for the intended Kindergarten to Grade 2 audience, so an adult will need to read the book aloud, especially those sentences that could confuse young readers with difficult concepts or complicated jargon: “The line arced forward and the fly landed softly a few feet above the rock. It drifted with the current past the rock. There was a splash and the line went tight.”  The last three pages contain information about fly fishing, the clothing worn by fly fishers and where to get more information about the sport. The end pages are decorated with images of intricate flys with such fun and mysterious names as: “Ian’s Crunch Caddis,” “Black Fur Ant,” and “Purple Parachute Adams.” This book is a good introduction to fly fishing for younger children that also tells a charming story. Highly recommended for school and public libraries. Highly Recommended: 4 stars out of 4 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. 

scholarly journals Northern Dancer: King of the Racetrack by G. Joyce

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Junior High School ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The World ◽  
The University ◽  
Thoroughbred Racing

Joyce, Gare.  Northern Dancer: King of the Racetrack.  Markham, ON:  Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2012. Print.It is not often that you find a biography of an animal, but in this case, the animal was a national icon.  According to Gare Joyce, Northern Dancer, the great racehorse “made more money as an accomplished racehorse and sire than any Canadian athlete in history – even more than Wayne Gretzky ”.  The book begins with a genealogical chart that shows that of the 19 horses starting in the 2011 Kentucky Derby, 18 were descended from Northern Dancer.This book chronicles Northern Dancer from his birth through to his wins and standing at stud until his death at age 29.  Through his story, the reader also learns about the world of North American thoroughbred racing.  We meet the great jockeys:  Ron Turcotte, Willie Shoemaker and Bill Hardtack who all rode Northern Dancer to victories. We learn about the development of racehorses and the major races:  The Preakness, The Belmont, The Kentucky Derby and the Queen’s Plate.   Joyce writes informally and conversationally, as though he is telling one long story.  For example, he tells us that Northern Dancer “became unruly around his stall…At least once he ripped the shirt off his trainer.” Later we are told that a trainer inadvertently let Northern Dancer run hard the day before a race and people thought that no thoroughbred could “run the equivalent of two races on two consecutive days.   As it turned out, the only ones hurting after the Florida Derby were those who hadn’t bet on the heavily favoured Northern Dancer.”  The text is accompanied by many photos of Northern Dancer, including archival images of horse and jockey in races, at the wire and in the winners’ circle.           Overall, this is an enjoyable story of a remarkable horse.  Northern Dancer: King of the Racetrack is highly recommended for junior high school libraries and public libraries 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 Aluniq: and her friend, Buster by A. Pingo

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Medical Treatment ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Upper Elementary ◽  
Elementary Level ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The University ◽  
To Receive

Pingo, Anna.  Aluniq:  and her friend, Buster. Illus. Karleen Green. Inuvilauit Settlement Region, 2016.This is a simple story about separation of loved ones, a common, but none-the-less painful necessity in many remote communities. Aluniq is a little girl who lives with her Norwegian grandparents at the Qunngilaat Reindeer Station in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Aluniq has a pet reindeer calf named Buster. She has lived with her grandparents from birth because her mother has been away for years for tuberculosis treatment. Now that her mother is well and back in Tuktuuyaqtuuq, Aluniq must go to live with her parents, hundreds of kilometers away from the Station. But “Aluniq [is] frightened as she [doesn’t] know who these people [are].” Her grandparents are very sad to be separated from her and she is sad to be separated from them and from Buster. Although Aluniq does not recognize it at the time, this is also a story of reunion and of putting things right. Her parents are happy to have her return. This simple, but realistic story highlights the fact that many families in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region and other remote parts of Canada have been disrupted when people have had to leave home to receive medical treatment. It is clearly written and readable at an upper elementary level. Karleen Green’s drawings are rustic and unsophisticated, but are delightfully representative of the Inuit world and accessible to children. Available in English, as well as all three Inuvialuktun dialects, these books are appropriate for elementary school and public libraries and any collection of Canadian children’s literature.Highly recommended: 4 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 My Heart Fills with Happiness by M. Gray Smith

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
First Person ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The University ◽  
Book Publishers

Gray Smith, Monique.  My Heart Fills with Happiness.  Victoria, B.C.:  Orca Book Publishers, 2016.  Print.Indigenous author Monique Gray Smith has created a positive and up-beat board book showing how to find happiness in simple pleasures.  While the book has an Indigenous flavour, the contents are universal.  The book is written in the first person: “My heart fills with happiness when…..” and then each page lists something that makes the speaker happy.  The facing page is filled with one of Julie Flett’s simple but evocative illustrations.  The illustrations are of Indigenous people doing ordinary things:   baking bannock, walking on the grass, listening to stories and drumming.  The images have blocks of bold primary colours and simple uncluttered backgrounds. Recommended for elementary school libraries and public libraries 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 We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by R. Higgins

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Dark Hair ◽  
Curly Hair ◽  
Starting School ◽  
Moral High Ground ◽  
The University

Higgins, Ryan T. We Don’t Eat Our Classmates. Disney-Hyperion, 2018 This is a messy book. Ryan Higgins' drawings are much messier and less precise than his earlier books about Bruce, the bear. However, when you are Pamela Rex, a Tyrannosaurus rex starting school with a room full of delicious human classmates, things get messy, particularly when you have to spit them out. Ryan Higgins taps the absurd in both his images and text to keep children laughing. Penelope still wants to eat the children, even though her father “packed her a lunch of three hundred tuna sandwiches." There is also an image of Penelope trying to “make friends at recess,” but she is standing at the bottom of the playground slide with her mouth open. Penelope does eventually learn a small lesson in empathy when Walter, the class goldfish, bites her.  Higgins draws Penelope as a stuffed toy Tyrannosaurus rex, perhaps to prevent children from being frightened. The children are represented by the usual politically correct collection of stereotypes, often identified by clothing. There is one Jewish (yarmulke), one Muslim (hijab), two black (tight curly hair), one Indigenous (braids), one Japanese (the only child with a shirt and tie), and several generic “brown” children.  All of the children have dark hair. Blue-eyed blonds are conspicuous by their absence.  In addition to being a fun book, this volume allows every child to claim the moral high ground. Every child can say, “I wouldn’t ever do that!”, because all children know that “we don’t eat our classmates.” While this is a book about being different, clashes of values, and learning to get along, it is mainly a book that will amuse children. Recommended for elementary school and public libraries. Recommended:  3 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.          

scholarly journals Wild Eggs: a tale of Arctic Egg Collecting by S. Napayok – Short

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Knowledge ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Traditional Food ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Inuit People ◽  
The University

Napayok – Short, Suzie.  Wild Eggs:  A Tale of Arctic Egg Collecting. Illus. Jonathan Wright. Iqaluit:  Inhabit Media, Inc., 2015.  Print.Wild duck eggs are a traditional food for Inuit people.  This book is about a little girl, Akuluk, from Yellowknife who visits her grandparent in Nunavut and goes with them to gather duck eggs.  This is a modern story that is told factually.  Akuluk arrives in an aircraft, is picked up in a taxi van and her grandfather uses an all-terrain vehicle to go out onto the land.  It is also a story that teaches traditional ways.  Inuit words, such as munniit (eggs) and palaugaaq (bannock) are explained and appear in a pronunciation guide at the end of the book.  The traditional ways, such as never taking nests that have more than four eggs in them, are explained as Akuluk’s grandfather teaches her.The text is overprinted on Jonathan Wright’s artwork.  Parts of his pictures are quite clear and detailed, while others are suggestive and indistinct. This style works particularly well for the “almost invisible” caribou, “his brown and white fur match[ing] the rocks around him”.Wild Eggs is a clearly-written work that incorporates Inuit traditional knowledge with ease.  The book is also available in Inuktitut and is recommended for school and public libraries and particularly for libraries that collect polar children’s literatureHighly 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 Owl and the Two Rabbits by N. Sammurtok

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Small Children ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Working Together ◽  
Children's Stories ◽  
The University

Sammurtok, Nadia. The Owl and the Two Rabbits. Iqaluit, NU: Inhabit Media, 2019. Nadia Sammurtok, author of several children’s books including Caterpillar Woman and Siuluk: The Last Tuniq, has written stories of tundra animals. Like many Inuit children’s stories, this one is cautionary, teaching children not to play in dangerous places. In this story two small rabbits, who have been told to “remain hidden when they played outside,” get carried away jumping and attract the attention of an owl who wants to eat them. They escape by outwitting the owl and working together, two common survival themes in Inuit children’s stories.  Marcus Cutler’s artwork is bright and fun. Often northern scenes are portrayed as muted or dark, but Cutler’s skies are orange, red or purple, and the grasses are vivid greens and yellows. Small children will be able to enjoy the pictures on their own, but the text will require an older reader. While this book is not meant to be realistic—the animals speak and small rabbits are able to push a huge rock—Sammurtok does include some real animal behaviour from which children can learn. For example, “the rabbits' brown coats blended in with the tundra” and they freeze when threatened. Overall this is an enjoyable volume which would be a good addition to public libraries and elementary school libraries. 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 Niqinniliurningmik by B. Memogana

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Knowledge ◽  
English Translation ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Preparation Process ◽  
Cultural Resource ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Dried Fish ◽  
The University

Memogana, B., translator.  Niqinniliurningmik. Inuivialuit Cultural Resource Centre, 2016. This small book, with its simple drawings and text accomplishes three things.  It helps preserve and encourage use of the Inuvialuktun language and dialects.  It situates learning materials in the day-to-day life of the children using the materials, and it preserves and passes on traditional knowledge to younger generations. Kangiryuarmiutun is one of three Inuvialuktun dialects. This volume, in Kangiryuarmiutun with English translation at the end, describes and shows the process of making dried fish.  The target audience for this book is young children. The text is brief and in large print, but you really do not need the text to understand the content. Roberta Memogana’s simple pencil crayon figures stand against stark white backgrounds, each page showing a step in the fish preparation process:  catching, cleaning, salting, drying, smoking and eating. The figure is a woman in a parka, often kneeling, using an ulu, or “woman’s knife”, to prepare the fish.   This book should be included in school and public libraries where Inuvialuktun is spoken as well as in collections that specialize in polar 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 Grandmother Ptarmigan by Q. Mikkigak & J. Schwartz

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Origin Stories ◽  
The University ◽  
Traditional Stories

Mikkigak, Qaunaq and Joanne Schwartz.  Grandmother Ptarmigan. Illus. Qin Leng.  Iqualuit:  Inhabit Media, 2013.  Print.Inhabit Media Inc. has as one of its goals: the collection and publication of Inuit traditional stories.  This picture book is another of their unique products. Many Inuit stories have recurring themes, including kind and caring treatment of children and origin stories, which tell us why things are they way they are.  This collaboration between Inuit elder, Qaunaq Mikkigak and writer, Joanne Schwartz, includes both. In this story a baby ptarmigan wants his grandmother to tell him a bedtime story.  She insists, instead, that he go to sleep.  When she finally relents and tells him a story, he is frightened by it and flies away.  The book ends with his grandmother searching for him, uttering the familiar call, “nauk, nauk”.  In the story, ptarmigan play the roles of people.  They live in igloos, sleep under furs and have "armpits".  Illustrator Qin Leng shows the birds with human-like expressions and emotions. Leng's illustrations match the story in their simplicity.  Most of the pictures are drawings of the ptarmigan on white or blue-green backgrounds, with no ornamentation.There are several lessons about adult-child relationships that often appear in traditional Inuit stories.  The two that appear in this story are that young people should respect their elders, listen to them and do as they are told and that adults should be kind and caring towards children. In this story, we expect the baby ptarmigan to get into trouble for not going to sleep, but because the grandmother frightens him with the story, it is the grandmother who is left is a worried state, searching for him.Grandmother Ptarmigan would be a good addition to school and public libraries and those libraries with Canadian Indigenous folktale 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. 

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