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CM . . . . Volume XXIII Number 21 . . . . February 10, 2017
Three of the four books in the new "Canadian Writers" series have, as their subject matter, "pioneers" in the field of Canadian Children's literature, namely authors Jean Little and Gordon Korman and poet Dennis Lee whose first works for juveniles appeared in the 1960s and '70s. The "newcomer" is author/illustrator Mélanie Watt. Her 2000 Leon the Chameleon introduced her writing and illustrating skills to Canadian children. As the four books are all part of a series, they share a common structure which consists of nine two-page chapters and one four-page chapter, plus a series of focussed single pages. The opening "Introducing [name]" consists of three paragraphs that are headed "What stories made [name] famous?", "What is so special about [name]'s books?" and "How has [name] contributed to education?". "Once Upon a Time" deals with the author's date and place of birth and happenings prior to her/his starting school while "School Years"obviously provides some information about the authors' school experiences. Readers will learn that "Mélanie [Watt] struggled in school because she was a visual learner" and that "A seventh grade English project started Gordon's writing career." Together, "Early Writing" and Road to Success" briefly trace the authors' paths to becoming published. The two pages devoted to "Creative Writing Tips" offer four tips, with those tips being somewhat different for each writer. That for Dennis Lee suggests "Keep Your Eyes and Ears Open", "Gather Your Ideas", "Write, Write, Write" and "Writing Takes Dedication". Jean Little's pages offer "'Show Don't Tell'", "Face the Facts", "Give Your Characters Room to Grow" and "Stick With It". It is unclear as to whether these tips were actually provided by the authors themselves or were derived from secondary sources. One of the strongest sections of these series is the four pages headed "Fantastic Fiction" in which seven books of each writer are highlighted and briefly "booktalked". The two pages of "Milestones" identify eight significant events in each writer's life. Dennis Lee's includes his being awarded the Order of Canada in 1994 while that for Mélanie Watt notes that in 2011 her "Scaredy Squirrel" series became a television series. The single page "Breakthrough Books" identifies the book or books that launched the individual's writing career. In most cases, "Latest News" is not really that current, and its contents, as well as those of "Insider Info", could have been absorbed into other sections of the book. The "Inside Info" pages are completed by a screen capture of the home page of the authors' websites. There are three single pages in which the content is common to all of the books. One is "The Publishing Process" which provides a useful flowchart that shows the steps that happen between "Manuscript to the publisher" and "Book available to readers in stores". Another common content page is "Basic Biography Writing" that includes an outline that can be followed in creating a biography. The final example of the common content is "Author Speak" which I thought might be a personal comment from the subject of the biography. Instead, it consists of 19 "of the more common writing terms" and their definitions, terms such as "foreshadow", resolution" and "theme". Near the end of each book, there's a 10 question recall quiz, and by turning the book upside down, the answers are revealed. Highlighted words in the text are defined in a section titled "Key Words". The books' last page is an index. Overall, each of these four books in the "Canadian Writers" series is a worthwhile school and public library purchase. While the text is generously illustrated with full-colour photos, many are distracting in terms of a particular book's focus, while others are virtually valueless. Yes, Jean Little did attend the University of Utah, but in a slim 32-page book, did that fact merit a full-page photograph of a building on the University of Utah campus? And yes, World War II ended when Dennis Lee was almost six years old, but did that fact need to be supported by a sepia photo of a Lancaster bomber with the caption, "During World War II, more than 1 million Canadian men and women served in the military"? Similar negative illustration examples can be found in the books about Korman and Watt. Each book also has a map that takes up two-thirds of a page. The map shows the province in which the author was born, as well as bits of the surrounding provinces. Given the books' target audiences, shouldn't these upper elementary students already know where Quebec and Ontario are located? Nonetheless, all four books merit shelf space in an elementary school library. Recommended. Dave Jenkinson, CM's editor, lives in Winnipeg, MB. 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.
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