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CM . . . . Volume XXIII Number 25 . . . . March 10, 2017
excerpt:
According to the description in Weigl's 2017 PK-12 Catalogue, "The 'Governing Canada' series introduces young readers to the primary persons and representative bodies of Canada's government. Each title in the series explores their roles and responsibilities, where they work, and what a typical day is like for them. The engaging quiz and key word list in each 'Governing Canada' book enhance students' knowledge of Canada's system of government." The publisher identifies the books' reading levels as being grade 4. In each book in the series, nine pairs of facing pages constitute the book's "chapters" with the amount of large font text to illustration ratio being tilted slightly in favour of the illustrations. Among the books, the chapter titles remain essentially the same, with the role, i.e. Senator, Member of Parliament, etc., being inserted where appropriate. As can be seen from the first excerpt above, taken from The Queen, a book's opening chapter "defines" the book's subject matter. "Canada's Government" provides a brief overview of the three branches of government, the judicial, executive and legislative. This information is accompanied by a most useful diagram that visually displays "who" makes up the three branches, and this diagram is repeated in all six books. Overall, "The Role of the [insert noun]" chapters are the weakest, and their contents really never do provide young readers with a clear statement of what the role of a [insert noun] is. "Becoming the [insert noun]" chapters explain how, for example, "Monarchs are born into their roles" while Members of Parliament are elected. "Reporting to Work" literally means the physical locations where the individual carries out her/his duties, and so MP s gather on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, ON, while the Governor General "works" at her/his official residences of Rideau Hall in Ottawa and the Citadelle of Quebec in Quebec City. Found in each of the previous two chapters is a "Quick Fact" box that provides a bit of trivia, such as that in The Member of Parliament: "Canada's House of Commons met for the first time in 1867. There were 181 members then. Now there are 338." "Governing the Nation" and "Leading in Public" each provide four examples of the official duties and public relations functions carried out by the office holder. "A Day in the Life" provides a timeline from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and suggests what might be occupying the [insert noun] over that 12 hour period. The last chapter, "[Insert noun] in History" provides four "significant" holders of the office, with one of them always being a woman. Closing matter consists of a four-question "Quiz" page, a "Further Information" page directing readers to four websites (though the sites vary among the books) and a closing page that is shared between a "Glossary" of seven to 10 terms that had been bolded in the text and a brief "Index". Weigl is to be commended for undertaking what is really an impossible task, that of "introduc[ing] young readers to the primary persons and representative bodies of Canada's government." In writing the text for what are to be introductory books, the series' authors must attempt to walk that thin line between providing too much information and too little while likely doing some of both. And so reviewers, like myself, will question why books such as The Senator and The Member of Parliament would draw comparisons between the structures of Britain's and Canada's governments? Yes, the two countries do share a common political history, but this series is about governing Canada "now". And reviewers will point out instances of too little information, such as that found on p. 14 of The Governor General, where it says that the GG, as Commander-in-Chief, "chooses leaders for the troops." If young readers remembered [and understood] the term "figurehead" used earlier on p. 4, then they would recognize that the GG's role in the selection process is simply symbolic. The attractively designed books are generously illustrated with photographs, and deliberate care appears to have been taken to select photos which include women and minority groups, thereby subtly reinforcing the idea that anyone can aspire to fill one of these roles [the monarchy, of course, being the exception]. Three of the books' covers feature images of the current office holders (the monarch, PM & GG), but where the designer had a choice, a woman was selected, and so Rona Ambrose, leader of the Official Opposition, is front and centre on The Member of Parliament while Denise Batters, a Saskatchewan Conservative, anchors The Senator (Admission: I had to go the Senate website to identify her. It seems that Senators, unless they run afoul of the law, have a pretty low profile). Finally, Elizabeth Dowdeswell of Ontario was selected for the cover of The Lieutenant Governor. As an aside, this last mentioned title, The Lieutenant Governor, seems quite out of place (and unnecessary) as the "Governing Canada" series is presently constructed. Perhaps Weigl intends to expand the series and add titles on provincial and territorial governments. In short books, such as those in this series, pages cannot be wasted. In a series about governing Canada, why is there a full-page plus photo of Britain's House of Lords on p. 8 of The Senator? Surely the space on p. 22 occupied by the simple four-question recall "Quiz" could have been used much more profitably, especially in terms of engaging the reader in active learning. And the websites on the "Further Information" page need to be better linked to each book's contents. Simply supplying a URL is not enough. For example, the Parliament of Canada website has an interactive activity, "Setting the Agenda", which calls for the user, either a pretend MP or a Senator, to make decisions about how s/he is going to use her/his hours between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. A direct link to that game on the "A Day in the Life" page of The Senator or The Member of Parliament would have enriched that content. On p. 12 of The Governor General, it is noted that each Governor General has his/her own personally designed flag while the first entry on the "Further Information Page" notes that "The current governor general's website has a page that explains the role he plays in creating coats of arms." Moving that link from p. 23 to p. 12 could have led to an engagement activity for the reader. Simply put, the potential of the websites has not been actively exploited, and, instead, the reader seems to be the one who is expected to be active. As a side note, two of the encyclopedia websites cited offer young users the opportunity to "Activate My Free Trial", something that parents and/or schools may not appreciate. While the six volumes in the "Governing Canada" series are attractively packaged, they are light in content. The grade 4 RL, as determined by the publisher, seems to fight somewhat with the texts' short length and large font size, making it difficult to ascertain the book's actual intended audience. Recommended with Reservations. 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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