CM Magazine: CM Volume 2 Number 4

Table of Contents

From the Editor

In Remembrance

Book Reviews

Toni and the Dandelions.
Vivian Hitchman. Illustrations by Steve Pilcher.
Music composed by Mark Ferguson
Review by Brenda Partridge.
Grades K - 2 / Ages 4 - 8.

In Flanders Fields: The story of the Poem by John McCrae.
Linda Granfield. Illustrated by Janet Wilson.
Review by Lorraine Douglas.
Grades 4 and Up / Ages 8 to Adult.

The Night Voyagers.
Donn Kushner.
Review by Ted Monkhouse.
Grades 6 - 9 / Ages 11 - 14.

War.
Drama by Dennis Foon.
Review by Jennifer Sullivan.
Grades 11 and Up. / Ages 16 to Adult.

Video Review

If Only I were an Indian.
John Paskievich
Review by Charmagne de Veer.
Grades 7 and Up / Ages 11 - Adult.


Features

No Man's Land: The Battlefield Paintings of Mary Riter Hamilton
Index of War related Book Reviews
An interview with filmmaker John Paskievich
The Little Math Puzzle
The Great Canadian Trivia Contest

From the Mailbox

More indexes

CM
Editor
Duncan Thornton
e-mail: editor@mbnet.mb.ca

CM
Executive Assistant
Peter Tittenberger
e-mail: camera@mbnet.mb.ca

From the Editor

In remembrance.

This Remembrance Day is probably the last occasion to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Titles have been published to mark that anniversary for some time -- starting long before the electronic CM got up and running -- and they're still coming out. So there'll be more reviews treating the subject appearing in the magazine for a while yet.

This issue contains some Remembrance Day content -- a feature on a special touring exhibit; a review of a new book about the writing of the classic poem In Flander's Fields; a modest index of the titles we've reviewed that touch on the Great Wars and Canada's role in them. And there are also reviews of two titles -- Night Voyagers and War, that are about the violence and terror that remain to trouble those growing up today.

But while I wrote a piece in this space for Halloween, there's no Remembrance Day editorial. A long time ago I was a pretty good history student, but the two World Wars we remember tomorrow, wars that ushered our country into this prosperous modern world on the arms of limitless tragedy, are beyond the scope of two hundred words in CM, or my understanding.

But I offer as an epigraph the `moral of the work' from Winston Churchill's The Second World War:
In war, resolution; in defeat, defiance; in victory, magnanimity; in peace, goodwill.
As always, if you have comments or suggestions on anything published in CM, send e mail to the address beneath my name.

-- Duncan Thornton, Editor
editor@mbnet.mb.ca

Book Review

Toni and the Dandelions.

Vivian Hitchman. Illustrations by Steve Pilcher.
Music composed by Mark Ferguson.
Oakville: Grassroots Press, 1994. 36pp, cloth.
$19.95 / $25.95 with cassette / $34.95 with cassette and Teacher's Activity kit.
ISBN 0-9695997-1-4 (book).
ISBN 0-9695997-2-2 (cassette).
ISBN 0-9695997-0-6 (book and cassette).
ISBN 0-9695997-3-0 (teacher's kit, book, and cassette).
(CIP).
Distribution by Addison-Wesley Publishers.

Grades K - 2 / Ages 4 - 8.
Review by Brenda Partridge.

excerpt:

Toni loves dandelions. Every spring, Toni and her pet cat, Roop, play with the dandelions in the orchard. Toni serves dandelion soup, dandelion salad and dandelion tea. She makes dandelion bracelets, necklaces and flowery crowns. When the dandelion flowers turn white, Toni blows the fluffy seeds into the air. As they float away she whirls and twirls, dancing the dandelion twirl.

"A weed is just a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

As spring emerges into summer and the lawns and fields fill with golden dandelions, young children spend much time picking and presenting the colourful weeds to their favourite adults. When the golden heads turn to white fluff , those same young children delight in blowing the dandelion seeds into the world. To provide a permanent recollection of such memories, Vivian Hitchman has written a delightful, fanciful adventure of a young girl called Toni.

Toni becomes quite concerned about her springtime fun when her dad tells her that he is going to "mow down the dandelions in the orchard." As she lies in bed, gazing at her ceiling mobile of golden lions and contemplating the fate of the dandelions, the mobile-lions come to life and start singing a tune. They invite her to follow them through the window and into a jungle of giant green and yellow and white dandelions.

Toni's journey into the land of giant dandelions allows her to meet Simon, king of the lions -- king of the dandelions. Together they do the dandelion twirl until Toni remembers that her dad is going to cut the dandelions. Simon assures her that she need not worry, and the surprise ending proves him correct.

Dandelions are familiar to most young children. In this large picture book, Vivian Hitchman has used this common-place weed to create a fantasy even the very young will understand. She uses a minimum of vocabulary on each page to allow the very simple and effective illustrations of Steve Filcher to clearly convey the story to the reader or listener. I am impressed with the section at the back of the book that gives the historic origin of dandelions and tells where and why they are grown. Also included are instructions for three different ways to create an indoor dandelion garden -- a marvellous idea for a science-fair project!

Grassroots Press tells us that Vivian Hitchman is a commercial writer and photographer from Oakville, Ontario, who specializes in producing corporate newsletters and brochures. This multimedia package is her first project for children. Illustrator Steve Pilcher, from Toronto, won a silver award in 1991 for his work on Norbert Nipkin and the Magic Riddle Stone. Composer Mark Cassius Ferguson wrote the score and Hitchman herself narrates on the tape. She is accompanied by the St. Andrew's Children's Choir, and several actors who play the various parts.

The teacher's activity kit, prepared by the author and Sharyrn Panchuk, teacher of Mathematics and Design and Technology for the City of Hamilton, provides 63 pages of activities and blackline masters in the areas of: Arts; Language; Mathematics; Science, Design, and Technology; and Self and Society. Of particular interest to Ontario educators is that all activities are based on the Common Curriculum.

You can download a 26 second image audio exerpt of Toni and the Dandelions in aiff format (198K).

Recommended.

Brenda Partridge is a Library-Resource teacher at Percy Centennial Public School in Warkworth, Ontario.

Book Review

In Flanders Fields:
The story of the Poem by John McCrae.

Linda Granfield. Illustrated by Janet Wilson.
Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995. 32pp, cloth, 16.95.
ISBN 1-895555-65-5.

Grades 4 and Up / Ages 8 to Adult.
Review by Lorraine Douglas.

excerpt:

Ypres, a fourteenth-century town encircled by a moat, had been the home of a beautiful medieval cathedral and Cloth Hall. By the time John McCrae arrived in Flanders, however, the town, called "Wipers" by the soldiers, was ruined and refugees streamed from it. Troops were camped not far from the Yser Canal, where they cooked meals, wrote letters to loved ones, and strengthened friendships that, in some instances, began back in their homeland.

This beautiful tribute to one of the most popular poems ever written presents the story of its creator against the background of the First World War. John McCrae was an idealistic Canadian doctor who wrote the poem in 1915 shortly after his friend Lieutenant Alexis Helmer had died at Ypres. The text of the poem and accompanying paintings are interwoven through the book. The artist visited Flanders and has recreated the dark landscape of the war in oil paintings filled with expressive brushstrokes.

Linda Granfield includes numerous interesting details and reproductions from archival sources in her well-balanced and thoughtful text. Her writing is clear and easy to understand, but does not treat the subject simplistically. The controversy of McCrae's call to arms in the poem is discussed in the context of the times in which he wrote the poem. The continuing symbolism of the poppy in remembrance of war is explained. Endpaper maps bordered with scenes from the war show the geography of the major battles in France. This elegantly produced book is a valuable resource.

Highly recommended.

Lorraine Douglas is Youth Services Coordinator for the Winnipeg Public Library.

Book Review

The Night Voyagers.

Donn Kushner.
Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995. 220pp, paper boards, $16.95.
ISBN 1-895555-69-8. CIP.

Ages 11 - 14 / Grades 6 - 9.
Review by Ted Monkhouse.

Many of us recall the stream of political refugees fleeing the death squads of the U.S. supported, right-wing regimes of Guatemala and El Salvador. Many of us recall the "underground railway" to Canada, set up by the sanctuary movement of predominantly American churches and synagogues hiding these refugees from U.S. immigration authorities, who feared they might be left-wing extremists or Communists. Many of us will recall newspaper accounts of these refugees holed up in church basements and safe houses awaiting Canadian immigration hearings. Some of us will also recall their deportations, having been tricked into signing "deportation" documents. Most of us will recall this as an era of soul-searching over the immigration issue.

The Night Voyagers is a fictional account of one family fleeing their Central American homeland after the death squads have claimed the father, a "disappeared." The story is seen largely through the eyes of the traumatized younger son (ten years old at its beginning) as he, his mother, and older brother flee northward through Mexico and the U.S. To Canada.

The story also paints a picture of civil disobedience practiced by morally outraged citizens, thwarting a harsh immigration policy and those who carry it out. However, the author also incorporates the cultural and mythological heritage of these refugees into the story as they adjust to their new conditions. It is a sad story with a happy ending -- but filled with hope throughout.

Kushner, an eminent microbiologist at the University of Toronto, is also the award-winning author of The Violin Makers Gift (CLA Book of the Year) and Book Dragon (IODE Book Award), as well as a picture book, Dinosaur Duster. However, The Night Voyagers presents the reader with difficulties. The language, though technically correct, is not as easy flowing and natural as one might hope. In addition, the mingled reality and supernatural imaginings of the young hero are confusing to the reader, and require some perseverance to sort out.

Kushner perhaps is as zealous as his protagonists in trying to integrate too much culture, mythology, and symbolism -- as well as inconsequential detail -- so that the story gets bogged-down unnecessarily. The publisher suggests an interest level of age eleven and reading level of grades six to nine. I don't believe many youngsters of that age would stick with it, voluntarily. A glossary and listing of sources help only slightly. This story will probably be read to achieve specific purposes but, I suspect, infrequently for pleasure.

Recommended for use in discussion about immigration and multicultural issues.

Ted Monkhouse is a retired teacher-librarian in Guelph, Ontario.

Book Review

War.

Drama by Dennis Foon.
Winnipeg: Blizzard Publishing, 1995. 58pp, paper, $10.95.
ISBN 0-921368-53-4.

Ages 16 to Adult / Grades 11 and Up.
Review by Jennifer Sullivan.

excerpt:

The wannabe comes up to us, grinning. Pulls out this long bread knife, one of those flimsy things from a dollar store with a long plastic handle. Like ooo we're scared man, we were cracking up. The kid was laughing too, nervous like. . . And then he slides it into my brother's gut.

Dennis Foon, author of New Canadian Kid and Skin and Liars, gives us a violent jolt into the world of adolescence with his new play, War. Growing up to be a man is not easy in a society where brutality and aggression are a means of survival and dreams are held at knife-point.

And Foon's teens do have dreams. Their hopes are voiced in soliloquies that are often lyrical and powerful. There's seventeen-year-old Andy who wants to be an actor because Eastwood and Seagal are tough and impenetrable. Brad will do whatever it takes: gouge your eyes, kick, spear, smash noses into jelly to become a hockey player; violence is his passport to a better life. Shane, who dreamed of a king whose touch turned everything to gold, watches everything he touches blow away. Foon suggests that dreams are the sacrifices of war, flickering flames of hope that are violently extinguished.

In contrast to the dreamy soliloquies, the dialogue is sparse. The teens use slang; their words cut through the air like knives. The rhythm of the play is fast-paced, and the fragmented sentences convey a sense of urgency -- there's no room for discussion or emotion on a battlefield. Images of war are interspersed throughout the play to reinforce its theme of violence.

Foon makes excellent use of stark black and white photographs to emphasize the bleakness of the landscape and mirror the emotional isolation of the teens. There are no parents or women in this play. Women are talked about, talked over, but they do not have a voice. Only Sheila, Tommy s girlfriend, can inspire some unguarded feeling, but Sheila is a shadow, an ephemeral spark of humanity who is rubbed out by a violent rape.

This is a powerful play that should not be overlooked. In War, Dennis Foon allows his characters to speak freely; there is no moralizing narrator to guide or censure them. Perhaps it is this lack of intervention that makes the play so effective. Foon wrote War as a warning, hoping that the profane language, the bloody images, and the disturbing climax would reinforce the power and importance of his message: the Hurt we put out comes back on us. It would be possible to study this play in a classroom setting if the mature subject matter and themes are taken into account. Having students take on the actor's parts would be an excellent and provocative way to explore the role and glamorization and violence in our society, as well as its treatment of women.

Recommended.

Jennifer Sullivan has a Master's degree in English Literature and works within the Children's Literature Service of the National Library of Canada.

Video Review

If Only I Were an Indian

Directed by John Paskievich.
Winnipeg: National Film Board of Canada, 1995. 80 minutes.
Currently in theatrical distribution; contact the NFB for pricing and availability.

Grades 7 and Up / Ages 11 - Adult.
Review by Charmagne de Veer.

excerpt:

"The prophecy stated that our people would suffer under this domination of the white people. And at that time the world would have been in such a state that a lot of things were destroyed, that white people would come to the Indian and learn about the ways of our people. . .

A group of Czechs and Slovaks, disenchanted with both communism and its aftermath, gathers in a field to build and live in teepees, create and smoke peace pipes -- to get in touch with the North American aboriginal way of life and live it. When three aboriginal elders from Manitoba go to visit them, a film crew documents the trip and thus If Only I Were an Indian is born.

At the start of the film (which kicks off its commercial distribution with a launch at the Winnipeg Art Gallery November 10th), the sight of 150 pale, pasty Eastern Europeans -- clad only in thongs, whooping and dancing around in a pastoral valley -- is amusing to say the least. But director John Paskievich's sensitive handling of the situation turns it from a joke to a deeply touching tribute to aboriginal culture.

He begins the film from the perspective of a Cree couple and an Ojibway woman, all from Manitoba. They are, naturally, shocked by the sight of these Europeans mimicking their culture. But, focussing on the teepees (and not the Europeans) that dot the hillsides, the man remarks on how real the setting appears.

Paskievich quickly takes us to a series of up-close interviews with the Czechs. They discuss, without irony, how Russian communism left them lacking any sense of community, able to trust no one but their immediate family. One man describes how the "Indian" way of life has given him trusted friends and taught him that "human beings exist as part of a larger whole and only then does life have meaning." As the film moves along, their clothing and near-nakedness become less and less absurd.

Paskievich gives some historical perspective to their situation: well known throughout Europe are the novels of Karl Mays, which portray a cowboy hero who is helped by aboriginal peoples. And even more popular are the works of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton (many of whose stories were set in Manitoba's Carberry Hills, where he once lived). Seton predicted ecological disaster if Westerners did not adopt a harmonic acceptance of nature, and he even encouraged children to attend camps teaching aboriginal ways of life. One of the Czech "Indians" delivers a touching speech:
As a child, I didn't want to be an astronaut . . . but neither did I want to be a world record breaking potato sorter . . . we had no role models except from the Indians of those stories.

By the end of the film, when Paskievich returns to the perspective of the aboriginals, the humour of the movie becomes touching rather than mocking: the Czechs demonstrate their version of aboriginal dance for one of the elders but it is so sloppy and a-rhythmic that he can't join in. But he doesn't laugh. Instead he says, "it must be hard to learn traditional dances from a book . . . you need a teacher. That's not something these people have access to." He even discusses raising funds so he can fly some of the Czechs to his reserve in Manitoba to teach them. His comments reveal the film's greatest irony -- that the Europeans who once crossed the ocean to conquer a culture, now see that same culture as their only salvation.

Teachers may find the film's sound quality to be inadequate in a classroom setting, and its nudity (while not gratuitous) to be potentially distracting to young students. But in the classroom, If Only I Were an Indian will spark discussion about cultural issues.

Highly recommended.

Charmagne de Veer is a freelance writer and editor who currently writes for Herizons magazine.

An interview with filmmaker John Paskievich appears in this issue of CM

Feature

No Man's Land

The Battlefield Paintings of
Mary Riter Hamilton

Angela Davis and Sarah McKinnon

Six months after the end of the First World War, Mary Riter Hamilton undertook a "special mission" for the War Amputations Club of British Columbia. Her task was to provide paintings of the battlefields of France and Belgium for publication in a veterans' magazine, The Gold Stripe. She subsequently stayed in Europe for seven years, producing over 300 battlefield paintings during the years 1919 to 1922. A number of the first series of pictures were exhibited in Vancouver and Victoria in 1920 and reproduced in The Gold Stripe in the same year. Exhibitions were also held in England and France in 1922 and 1923.

Mary Hamilton gave some of her sketches and paintings to war veterans in Vancouver, but she never offered any of them for sale. Instead, when she returned to Canada in 1926, she donated 227 works to the Public ( now National) Archives of Canada. In one of her letters to the Dominion Archivist, Dr. A. G. Doughty, she said, "It is a great honour and privilege to know that the work done amid the inexpressible desolation of No Man's Land has been considered worthy of a place among the Memorials of our Canadian men, the survivors, and the fallen."

Some of these paintings have been seen in exhibitions in Canadian galleries over the intervening years, but the majority remained in the care of the National Archives. The forty works seen in No Man's Land: The Battlefield Paintings of Mary Riter Hamilton have been chosen from that collection.

In cooperation with the War Amps of Canada and the National Archives of Canada, CM magazine is proud to bring you reproductions of selected works from No Man's Land: The Battlefield Paintings of Mary Riter Hamilton.

The following images are in jpeg format, file sizes are in brackets:

No Man's Land: The Battlefield Paintings of Mary Riter Hamilton
Exhibition Schedule:

Previous
University of Winnipeg Gallery 1C03; Winnipeg, Manitoba -- Nov. 5th to Dec. 8th, 1989
National Archives of Canada; Ottawa, Ontario -- March 24th to April 25th, 1993
Acadia University Art Gallery; Wolfville, Nova Scotia -- Nov. 2nd to Dec. 2nd, 1994
Current
Moose Jaw Art Museum - Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan - Oct. 24th to Dec. 3rd, 1995
Future
Thunder Bay Art Gallery - Thunder Bay, Ontario - Fall 1996 (dates to be announced)

For more information about the exhibition or the War Amps of Canada send email to Canada's War Museum.

Feature

Canada and the Wars

1995 has seen many titles published that relate to the First or Second World Wars, and Canada's role in them -- in fact, the titles are still coming in, and so there will be more reviews yet to appear in CM. But this is a brief list of the what we've covered so far:

Almost a Lifetime
John McMahon
Review by Neil V. Payne
Grade 9 - 13 / Ages 13 - Adult

Blackouts to Bright Lights: Canadian War Bride Stories
Edited by Barbara Ladouceur and Phyllis Spence
Review by Grace Shaw
Grade 9 - 13 / Ages 13 - Adult

In Flanders Fields: The story of the Poem by John McCrae
Linda Granfield. Illustrated by Janet Wilson
Review by Lorraine Douglas
Grades 4 and Up / Ages 8 to Adult.

No Man's Land: The Battlefield Paintings of Mary Riter Hamilton
Sarah McKinnon and Angela Davis

The Old Brown Suitcase: A Teenager's Story of War and Peace
Lillian Boraks-Nemetz
Review by Janie Wilkins
Grades 5 - 10 / Ages 11 - 16

One Village, One War: 1914-1945
Douglas How
Review by Neil V. Payne
Grades 10 - 13 / Ages 14 - Adult

SADAKO Teachers' Guide
Naomi Wakan
Review by Elinor M. Kelly
Preschool - Grade 1 / Ages 3 - 7

The Ship That Voted No and Other Stories of Ships and the Sea
Tony Keene
Review by Neil V. Payne
Grade 7 - 13 / Ages 12 - Adult

Feature

Interview: John Paskievich

director of If Only I Were an Indian

CM interviewed award-winning director John Paskievich November 9th, the night before the launch of If Only I Were an Indian at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

CM: During the movie the view of these Europeans who dress up as Indians changes, from seeing them from the outside, as somewhat absurd, to seeing them more sympathetically, more as they see themselves. Did your perspective change while you were making the film?

Paskievich: It changed, but not so much when I was making the movie, as when I was doing the actual research. I went over there on Aeroplan points, actually, just to see what these Czechs and Slovaks were about -- I thought I might just make a novelty piece on a bunch of eccentrics. But while I was researching them, I found there was a lot there, and that these individuals were incredibly articulate and knowledgable about the world, and my attitude changed.

When I told the natives in Manitoba about this, their attitude was pretty much like mine at the start; they assumed these people were just eccentrics. And I didn't argue otherwise; I wanted them to experience what these people were about on their own.

CM: How would you sum up the attitude of the native elders?

Paskievich: At first they were sceptical. They had an open mind, but still a sceptical attitude. But then they really liked these people, they liked what they saw and the hard work the Indian activity involves -- everything over there is done by hand; here often the native artifacts are made in a much more commercial fashion. Even bead-work is something that relies on industrial goods. But the Czechs and Slovaks use only quills, rather than beads, for decoration. Though they have to use hedgehog quills, because there aren't any porcupines.

The elders were also impressed by the European's spirituality; that's something they weren't expecting. So the elders liked them. There was no animosity at all, just some scepticism at the beginning -- it would be like a Scotsmen visiting the Orient and finding this group of Asians who played the bagpipes and wore kilts . . .

CM: What did you take away from making If Only I Were an Indian?

Paskievich: I learned that all things are possible in human affairs in terms of sociology or anthropology. That all things are possible and too often we use boxes when we talk about issues like racism, for example. That to me is always a stupid issue; there's no such thing as race; people all blend together. But people in power seem to want to box people in, whether it's to keep power, or to help people, or to fight oppression. The whole issue of cultural appropriation has to do with boxes. I find the box thinking clumsy, and it doesn't make any sense. For instance at the Art Gallery opening (on November 10th), a company run by natives in Manitoba is supplying the soft drinks -- they've adopted white business culture. I wanted that because it seemed to me to parallel what these Czechs and Slovaks were doing in adopting native culture.

All these lines we've drawn are artificial. Talk about race doesn't make sense; you have to deal with specifics. I've always felt that, but this film made it immediate to me. Individuals can make themselves anything they want to -- Grey Owl was an Englishman, but he wanted to be an Indian, and I don't find that scandalous; why not? But at the same time of course, individuals and nations and groups do exploit others; that is so.

But I think the age of ideology is over. One of the horrible things about our century is that it has been the age of ideology. Political and cultural ideology, and even things like psychology, which was almost an ideology. It's all positivism, all-encompassing systems that profess to hold the truth, and it turns out everything is more complicated than that.

CM: This is a film about culture; I have to ask what your own cultural background is.

Paskievich: I grew up in an ethnic, working-class culture; I emigrated as a boy, after the war, in the fifties. My parents were illiterate refugees. The were victims of an ideology as well. From Ukraine. That's where some of my perspective comes from.

CM: Your film couldn't help but remind me that in North America, thousands of people try to recreate European medieval history in the Society for Creative Anachronism; and here were Europeans trying to recreate North American history . . .

Paskievich: I think you're going to see more of that; you're going to see all kinds of people seeking a kind of cultural intimacy of their own. In a way, we don't have a culture anymore. We have high culture, with the opera and the symphony; and we have low culture, with things like hockey and baseball; and then we have pop culture, which is different from popular culture -- pop culture is all business. What we don't have is a culture where all people get together and have rituals. Churches used to provide that, but I think most people now, that great middle class, are culture-less. Nobody knows how to dance or sing at ritual events . . .

What keeps the mass culture we have going is novelty, and money. But if we ever have a society with less money, I'm not sure what's going to happen, because we're kind of a culture-less society. We have a culture of work. Even people with lots of money put in eighteen hour days at work. . . It's all kind of strange.

A review of If Only I Were an Indian appears in this issue of CM

Feature

"The Little Math Puzzle Contest"

Tom Murray, the coordinator of the The Math Puzzle, has been kind enough to give CM permission to run the weekly Little Math Puzzle Contest (inspired by The Great Canadian Trivia Challenge.)

Royal West Academy (a high school) in Montreal, Quebec is sponsoring a little math puzzle contest.

This contest is open to all participants but is designed for students in grades five through ten. English will be the language used for all problems and if their solutions relate to a language, the language will be English.

Contest Format:

Each week a new puzzle will be presented and the answers and winners from two weeks earlier will be posted. Answers are to be received by 8:00 a.m. eastern time the following Friday.

The answers will then be judged, and a correct answer along with the winners' names, will be posted with the puzzle two weeks later.

Both individual students and entire classes are welcome to participate.

Do not to send your answers to CM. Instead, please send all answers to Andrea Pollock and Alex Nazarov at the following address:

math_puzzle@rwa.psbgm.qc.ca

With your solution please include your names, school, grade, and e-mail address, and your city.

Answer #8

Question #8 from 2 weeks ago was the following:

What are the next two integers? 21, 20, 18, 15, 11, 6, __, __

Subtract 1, then 2, then 3,..from a number to get the next number so the last 2 integers are 0 and -7

Winners Who Correctly Solved #8

  1. Joshua McNorton Grade 7
    St. Andrew School: Windsor, Ontario
  2. Corey Brezinsky, Jesse Meyer, Kelsey Whyte Grade 5
    Hastings School: Winnipeg, Manitoba
  3. Megan Clear, Shannon Toshack, Aron Houssin, Jesse Johnson, Danielle Rodych, Serge Couture, Keith Giroux, Christian Leclerc, Greg Anderson, Andrew Matthes, Kristina Head, Max Marak, Suzanne Walker, Claude Mousseau, Drew Dushnicky, Erin Knight, Lindsay Ashley, Alex Gajardo, Alea Goodmanson, Ginger Talbot, Kevin Fawley, Geoff Moen, Megan Jerlo, Reymi Ricard, Jill Somers, Lise=Anee de Rocquigny, Chantelle Denny, Stacey Ashley, Anne Bergeron, Joseph Chincheong, Lindsay Currie, Shelley Garvin, Bradley Hartmann, Christopher Lim, Jonathan Marsh, Benjamin Sanders, Adam Saurette, Jeffrey Sewell, Allyson Adams, Kyle Bodnarchuk, David Clarke, Dale Furutani, Melissa Gauthier, Kristel Horvath, Michael Jackson, Derek Kostenchuk, Eric Manraj, Natasha McKay, Holly McManus, Jeremie Piche, Christopher Vermette. Grade 5/6
    Ecole St-Germain: Winnipeg, Manitoba
  4. Russell Beswick, Ashley Douglas, Fraser Moore, Grade 6
    John MacNeil School: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
  5. Jerry De Quetteville
    Pilgrim Wood P.S.: Oakville, Ontario.
  6. Jane Scaplen's Grade 6 French Immersion class
    Marystown: Newfoundland
  7. Matthew Gignac, Sylvia Maniscalco, Bryan Banka, Stephania Spagnuolo, Mr. Ratushny's Grade 6 class
    St. Andrew School: Windsor, Ontario
  8. Edgar Lee
    Lakewood Academy: Glenwood, Newfoundland
  9. Laura Dyck, Chad Friesen, Monica Friesen, Lori Hepner, Jonathon Letkemann, Steven Locke, Caleb Reinink, Amanda Schmidt
    Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute: Winnipeg, Manitoba
  10. Peter Jewer and grade 5 class
    Lakewood Academy: Glenwood, Newfoundland
  11. Kelly Swift and Amanda Holding, Grade 4 Gregory Hogan School: Sarnia, Ontario
  12. Jill Houlihan Grade 8 Cunard Junior High School: Halifax, Nova Scotia
  13. Ashley Parise and Kristen O'Donnell
    Mrs. Hamilton's grade 7class
    Florenceville Middle School: Florenceville New Brunswick
  14. Kyle Hobin, Melissa Kelly, Shannon Trainor, Paul Murray, Jessica Buss, Laura Grundy, Christopher Laycock, Tara Myny, Grade 6
    Sacred Heart Elementary School: Sarnia, Ontario
  15. Hedges School Grade 8 Math class:
    Winnipeg, Manitoba
  16. Amanda Ladanchuk
    Gregory A. Hogan School: Sarnia, Ontario
  17. Chris Machado, Grade 8
    Gregory A. Hogan School: Sarnia, Ontario
  18. Grade 8 Math Class
    General Vanier School: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
  19. Edmond McRae, Matt Hoekstra, Kelly Maheu, Dana Falsetti, Grade 4/5
    Mrs. Harris' class, St. Margaret's School: Sarnia, Ontario
  20. Nick Humber and Brian Chartrand Grade 8
    Mr Garbaty's class, St. Margaret's School: Sarnia, Ontario
  22. Sarah McCormack and Anjali Helferty, Grade 7
    Gregory Hogan School: Sarnia, Ontario
  23. Ms. Laudonio's Grade 5
    Gregory Hogan School: Sarnia, Ontario
  24. Steven Weerdenburg, Grade 3
    Mrs. Robertson's class, Gregory Hogan School: Sarnia, Ontario
  25. Rob Ruffilli, Grade 4
    Gregory Hogan School: Sarnia, Ontario
  26. Mrs. Quinn-Vaillant's Grade 8 Class
    Our Lady of Mercy School: Sarnia, Ontario
  27. Denese Paradis Grade 6
    St. Margerets School, Sarnia, Ontario
  28. Derek from St. Margaret's school:
    Sarnia, Ontario (11 years old)
  29. Jennifer King, Grade 6
    St. Margaret's School: Sarnia, Ontario
  30. Mrs. Ralph's Grade 5 & 6 class
    Mr. East's Grade 7 class
    Mr. Robb's Grade 7 and 8
    Sinclair Public School:
    Roger Harris Kingston, Ontario
  31. Justin Levigne, Clinton Theissen, Dustin McLeod, Kaitlin, Kamron, Natasha, and Tiffany all in Grade 5
    Mr. Enns's class, General Byng School: Winnipeg, Manitoba.
  32. Megan Smith, Grade 6
    St. Margaret's School: Sarnia, Ontario
  33. Holly Falsetti, Grade 6
    St. Margaret's School: Sarnia, Ontario
  34. Halina Waverchuk's Grade 9 Math Class (Group 3)
    Venture High School: Montreal, Quebec
  35. Theresa Burke
    Gregory Vandenheuvel
    Melissa Le
    Noah Glover Gr. 6 Age:11
    Please include names and schools ..... whoever you are

Puzzle #10

This week's Question #10 is the following:

What are the next three letters in this set?

B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, __, __, __

Please remember to send your response by 8:00 am Friday, November 17 to:

math_puzzle@rwa.psbgm.qc.ca

Andrea Pollock and Alex Nazarov
math_puzzle@rwa.psbgm.qc.ca
Royal West Academy, Montreal West, Quebec.

Feature

"The Great Canadian Trivia Contest"

Steve Caldwell, the coordinator of the Trivia Contest, has been kind enough to give CM permission to run his weekly Great Canadian Trivia Contest, a great way to motivate students to spend some time in the Library.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR USERS OF THE VILLAGE

For those of you access us by way of The Village in Ontario please note that we're having a lot of difficulty with The Village. We have been able to only intermittently receive the Village and cannot send or reply to it.

Therefore we might have missed some correct answers this week and they will be recognized when we receive them. In light of this could respondents please use the Steve_Caldwell@colby.on.infoshare.ca address. We apologize to those who use The Village to receive the weekly question for any inconvenience.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR USERS OF SCHOOLNET

Apparently Schoolnet was offline for a time recently and as a result some participants had difficulty finding last week's question. Hopefully everything will be back on line this week. If you ever do not receive the question by Thursday then please contact me.

OCTOBER 23th's Question:

This is a "Who am I?" type of question. From the clues identify the famous Canadian.

  1. I was born in Ontario in 1879 and moved to New Brunswick.
  2. I made a fortune in finance in New Brunswick and moved to England at the age of 31.
  3. In England, I was elected to Parliament and purchased or founded a series of newspapers that became a newspaper empire.
  4. I was made a Lord and became a Cabinet Minister during World War I.
  5. During World War II, I was an influential member of Winston Churchill's war cabinet. My initial job was to look after aircraft production.
  6. I retained close ties with Canada and in particular my native province.

ANSWER:

This well known, influential, Canadian was Max Aitken, perhaps better known to history as Lord Beaverbrook.

WINNERS:

  1. Stephen Powell, Colonel By Secondary School: Gloucester, Ontario
  2. S. Wells, Sussex Junior High School: Sussex, New Brunswick
  3. Mrs. Manzerolle's Gr. 5 class, St. Andrew School: Windsor, Ontario
  4. Mr. Yeo's Gr. 9 class, Goose Lake High School: Roblin, Manitoba
  5. Josee Bisonette, Gr. 7, Ecole Lagimodiere: Lorette, Manitoba
  6. Nadine Gagnon, Gr. 7, Ecole Lagimodiere: Lorette, Manitoba
  7. Valerie Bohemier, Gr. 7, Ecole Lagimodiere: Lorette, Manitoba
  8. Brandon Okorofsky, Yorkhill Elementary School: Thornhill, Ontario
  9. Mr. Dingee's Gr. 7 class, Florenceville Middle School: Florenceville, New Brunswick
  10. Jane Scaplen's Gr. 6 French Immersion class, Sacred Heart Elementary School: Marystown, Newfoundland
  11. Shaun Lougheed, Mr. Bishop's Gr. 8 class, St. Peter Canisius School: Watford, Ontario

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:

When we hear the name Ottawa we generally think of the capital city or the river but there are also the Ottawa Islands.

In what body of water are the Ottawa Islands found?

DUE DATE FOR THIS ANSWER: November 18, 1995

SEND IN YOUR ANSWERS:

Remember, don't post your answers to CM. Instead, send your answers to Steve Caldwell at the following e-mail address:

Steve_Caldwell@colby.on. infoshare.ca

In addition to your e-mail address, please send your school's name and the grade and/or class that you are in, as well as your postal address.

Mail

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:

The paper version of CM organized reviews of non-fiction material by broad subject areas and by grade level. Could you do something like this, especially in accumulations of back issues?

Also I think you need to put the advertising so that it is in the reader's face, so to speak, otherwise the advertiser will not get the exposure they need to justify the money spent. It's crucial for your future solvency to make sure your adverizers get maximum exposure, but most people won't bother to click on to the advertising link just to see what advertisers have to say.

-- Louise Shah, Brandon, Manitoba

As you suggest, we will be making our indexing more ambitious as our backlist grows larger. We are also considering more effective ways to present our advertising, perhaps with banners at the top of a page, or, in the e-mail version, before the article the ad accompanies. -- DT

We welcome all feedback -- just send e-mail to editor@mbnet.mb.ca

Copyright © 1995 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