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CM . . .
. Volume XXI Number 5. . . .October 3, 2014
excerpt:
Andrea Lynn Beck’s Good Morning, Canada is the energetic companion work to her previous picture book, Goodnight, Canada. The story follows a similar pattern to Goodnight, Canada with the text and its images working together to paint a picture of the things children would see and experience in different regions of Canada. In Good Morning, Canada, when each province is addressed with a “Good Morning”, rather than explicitly naming each province with each salutation (seen in Goodnight, Canada), objects reflecting the region are expressed. Each illustration in the text is reflective of the varied Canadian landscapes children may come to experience from green forest camp grounds to icy and snowy terrains. After each “Good Morning” on each page, the objects that children would likely be confronted with while living in Canada are addressed. These things include canoes, Canada geese, toonies, Mounties, and maple syrup, as well as many other uniquely Canadian signifiers. With each turn of the page, child readers will also learn about Canada’s physical landscape and how it is differently experienced from one place to another.
Good Morning, Canada is a lively and colourful text that can be used to begin the school day with. Young children will take delight in pointing out the Canadian details on each page. Reading the story aloud will also be likely to promote discussion of what children see in the morning while living in Canada. Another distinctive element in the text that children will be amused by is pointing out the pet dogs and teddy bears which are included in every illustration from the beginning to the end of the story. Good Morning, Canada will give young readers a sense of optimism with its reflections of the happiness that comes with waking up to each day in both rural and urban Canada. Recommended. Vasso Tassiopoulos is a graduate of the Master of Arts program in Children’s Literature at the University of British Columbia.
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The use of pencil crayons and paint on coloured paper for the illustrations in Good Morning, Canada gives readers of the work a sense of warmth and welcoming. The expressions of the children in each image carry a sense of happiness and serenity that comes with the preparation of facing each new day. Each illustration is full of life and brings forward an intricate and detailed view of the experiences of each child across this vast country. The story also provides a reflection of our diverse population which can be seen in the child protagonists’ joyful faces. Overall, the book carries an idealistic as well as a positive reflection of what it means to experience childhood in Canada.