Find Scruncheon and Touton: All Around Newfoundland. Nancy Keating & Laurel Keating. St. John's, NL: Tuckamore Books, 2011. 32 pp., pbk., $10.95. ISBN 978-1-897174-69-2. Subject Headings: Newfoundland and Labrador-Juvenile literature. Dogs-Juvenile literature. Preschool-grade 2 / Ages 2-7. Review by Alison Mews. ** /4

excerpt:

This is Scruncheon. He's a Newfoundland Dog.

This is Touton. She's a Labrador Retriever.

Find them and the objects listed as you explore the familiar Newfoundland and Labrador sights throughout the book!

Find Scruncheon and Touton: All Around Newfoundland, a bright and engaging book, is a cross between Where's Waldo?, the I Spy books, and Richard Scarry's Busytown books - but with a Newfoundland setting. Mother-and-daughter team Nancy and Laurel Keating have lovingly depicted scenes of geographical or cultural significance, starring two breeds of dogs that not only represent both the island and mainland portions of Newfoundland and Labrador, but are familiar to children everywhere.

     Each double-page illustration has a different setting and a list of items to find within the picture. For example, in a crowded family kitchen party, readers are tasked to find Touton and another 10 objects, including two pies, knitting needles and rubber boots. The kitchen is a nostalgic composite of traditional Newfoundland kitchens, complete with daybed, wood stove, hooked rugs, birch broom, homemade bread cooling and salt beef bucket. The Keatings have chosen to be inclusive rather than accurate with their illustrations, jumbling together landmarks by theme (nature park, city park, museum), rather than attempting to portray a specific place. While the book is not a "virtual tour" of the province, as stated on the back cover, there are many recognisable symbols of the province. In addition to the 11 panoramic scenes, the final four pages reproduce small images (such as a puffin, an iceberg and an igloo) that readers are challenged to find in the book.

      Young children will enjoy many hours pouring over this book to look for the objects listed or pictured. However, if they treat the paperback like the Highlights Magazine's "Hidden Pictures" pages and circle the objects, the book will have a limited lifespan. Because the book has no storyline and the illustrations contain tiny images, it is recommended for individual or small group use.

Recommended.

Alison Mews, a recently retired librarian, lives in St. John's, NL.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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