bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Bugs in My Hair! by D. Shannon
Authors: Winther Connie 
Published: April 2016

Shannon, David. Bugs in My Hair! New York: Scholastic-The Blue Sky Press, 2013. Print.Bugs in My Hair! is an illustrated story book about head lice by acclaimed children’s author and illustrator David Shannon. This highly recommended book would be a good addition to any public, school, or health library interested in providing accurate but engaging information about head lice which is a common condition in the preschool and primary school age groups.The book sheds a humorous light on the not so funny topic of head lice through the experience of a young boy with this condition. Through this fictional account, Bugs in My Hair! portrays accurate medical information about head lice including method of transmission, symptoms, diagnosis, and cure. This book also dispels common myths about head lice, such as the ability to get head lice from animals, or using mayonnaise as a remedy. The story also depicts the social stigma and shame of having head lice and the feeling of being overwhelmed by the treatments, which would help a child understand the emotional experience or empathize with others who have head lice.The book has detailed and amusing illustrations such as the “lice-a-palooza” party on the host’s head. The age appropriate illustrations together with the hand drawn font keep the reader’s interest and charge the imagination.All in all, Bugs in My Hair!, is a fun and accurate read and a good way for children and parents to learn about head lice.Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Connie WintherConnie is a Medical Librarian with Alberta Health Services. She has a broad interest in health care and medical librarianship. When not working, she enjoys all types of outdoor activities with her family
The Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps by J. Winter
Authors: Campbell Sandy 
Published: April 2016

Winter, Jeanette. The Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books, 2011. Print. Jeanette Winter is a prolific and award winning American children’s author and illustrator. She tells us in her author’s note at the end of this book that, as a child, she wished that she “could have read about someone like Jane Goodall – a brave woman who wasn’t afraid to do something that had never been done before”. So she wrote this book. The picture book format and the Grade 3 reading level make this work appropriate for the lower elementary school target audience, children who are beginning to think about what they want to be when they grow up. While written mostly in poetic line form, the work is not particularly poetic. However the form does seem to give Winter the licence to begin sentences with conjunctions and end them with prepositions. The text reads more like folksy spoken American English than poetry. For example, “She woke at dawn and saw them slowly rise from their nests, sit for a spell, then go off to find food.” Winter’s illustrations are the delight of the book. They are simple, two-dimensional folk art works. In this volume Winter purposefully uses two distinct forms of presentation. In the early part of the book, which traces Goodall’s life from her English childhood until she travels to Gombe, the illustrations are square and centred on a coloured page with the text structured below them. Once Goodall has set up her camp in the forest, the illustrations are as wild and uncontained as the life Goodall led. The paintings splash out across the pages and the text fits in and around them wherever there is space. As an introduction to the life of a remarkable female scientist and role model, this is a work that belongs in every public and elementary school library. However, because the text is not exemplary of well-written English, it should not be used for classroom study. Recommended with reservations: 2 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Sandy Campbell Sandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines. Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.
Going Ape! by E. Bustos & L. Rodríguez
Authors: Chatterley Trish 
Published: April 2016

Bustos, Eduardo and Lucho Rodríguez. Going Ape! Toronto: Tundra Books, 2012. Print.There are many playful stories about monkeys available for young children, so it’s an asset to have this non-fiction picture book for the same age group where the primates are depicted as they are in nature rather than as characters in a narrative. This is an English translation of a Spanish book originally published in 2004.In two to three sentences, author Eduardo Bustos highlights a couple of unique points of interest for each of ten ape species. While jumping so quickly from one ape to another makes the text seem a little disjointed, the short length is appropriate for young readers. I appreciated that the work includes not just the commonly known apes like chimpanzees and gorillas, but also lesser known species like the Allen’s Swamp Monkey that has webbed feet! The text on the last page breaks from the format used previously; the full page highlights the variation that can be witnessed among the many ape species in the world in terms of size, coloring, and diet. Since the style already diverges significantly and seems aimed at a slightly older age group, I was left wanting more elaboration. For instance, following the statement, “It is interesting to learn about their habits,” I would have liked further details.The illustrations are the best feature of the book. The stylized images capture the recognizable looks of the various species. Each is represented by a full-page illustration of the ape’s face, as well as a smaller image of the full ape in its natural habitat on the opposing page with the text. There are over 200 species of primates in the world. The title page depicts twelve different types of apes, so I was disappointed that descriptions of only ten were included. Overall, though, it provides a nicely illustrated introduction to the world of primates.Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Trish ChatterleyTrish is a Public Services Librarian for the John W. Scott Health Sciences Library at the University of Alberta. In her free time she enjoys dancing, gardening, and reading books of all types.
My Name is Parvana by D. Ellis
Authors: Inglis Kathy 
Published: April 2016

Ellis, Deborah. My Name is Parvana. Toronto: Groundwood Books, 2012. Print. In this final book in the The Breadwinner series, we meet the indomitable Afghani protagonist, Parvana, again, at the age of 15. The story begins with Parvana being interrogated in an American military base after she is discovered in a bombed out school. She refuses to acknowledge her captors and remains silent. The story unfolds through Parvana’s flashbacks as she endures the various methods employed to make her talk, including food and sleep deprivation.. We learn that Parvana’s family has left the refugee camp and started a school for girls. It seems their dreams have come true, but there is danger everywhere. New laws are in place to protect women’s rights, but old habits and beliefs, die hard. Threatening notes begin to arrive. Parvana is accosted in the streets. Students and teachers are driven away by the threats, and without students the school will lose its funding. The setbacks continue to pile up until at last we realize why Parvana is alone and imprisoned. Through careful crafting, Ellis creates a story that is heartrending without being horrific. Skillful use of flashbacks and foreshadowing soften the shock of atrocities by giving us clues before they occur. She shows respect for her young readers by giving enough detail for them to understand what is happening without becoming gory. Despite the incredible challenges she faces, Parvana finds hope, and new dream, in the end. This novel also provides a wonderful opportunity to discuss the use of voice in writing. Some people would say Ellis, a white, Canadian woman, has no right to use an Afghani voice. Yet Ellis’ is an educated voice. She has spent time travelling in Afghanistan and interviewing Afghani children. In an interview for Page Turners Book Club, Ellis asserts that she is giving voices to people who do not usually appear in books and providing information for children and teens who are “hungry to find out about how the world works and how they can create their own place in the world”. My Name is Parvana is an appropriate companion for Ellis’ non-fiction book Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely Through a Never-ending War and other information texts about children’s lives in Afghanistan. While Ellis should not be the only voice for Afghani women and children, hers is certainly a powerful and effective one. Her goal of building connections for young Canadians and creating a climate for understanding is laudable. Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Kathy Inglis Kathy Inglis is a teacher-librarian and kindergarten teacher at South Park Family School in Victoria, BC and a Masters student in the Teacher-Librarianship through Distance Learning Program at the University of Alberta. Her favourite part of the job is seeing the excited look on the faces of students who have found that perfect book.
Virginia Wolf by K. Maclear.
Authors: Roche Matilda 
Published: April 2016

Maclear, Kyo. Virginia Wolf. Illus. Isabelle Arsenault. Toronto : Kids Can Press, 2010. Print. Vanessa awakes one morning to find her sister, Virginia, transformed. Virginia is not herself. She has become furtive and embittered, snippy and distinctly wolfish. While Isabelle Arsenault's illustrations have a consistent prettiness and amiable levity, the ambiguous and slightly sinister nature of Virginia's' transformation is undeniable. Kyo Maclear's narrative balances how children will interpret the change that has come over Virginia and Vanessa's attempts to return her sister to herself and how adults will understand the allusions to depression and alienation. Virginia is literally - in the context of a child's understanding and the illustrations - a wolf in an archetypal little girl's dress. She is also genuinely frightening in the depths and intensity of her withdrawal and this gives Virginia Wolf a lovely little frisson of fairy tale dread. Vanessa perseveres in trying to redeem her sister and rescue her from her dour transformation. It is creativity, honesty of self-expression and love that eventually reestablish the sister's rapport. As Maclear elegantly conveys, accompanied by an inspired and expressive page design, “Down became up. Dim became bright. Gloom became glad.” Inspired by Maclear's creative interpretation of the relationship between Virginia Woolf and her sister Vanessa Bell, the story can be enjoyed at many different levels. The reader can certainly intuit how much the writer and artist enjoy each other’s work and are relishing the imaginative potential of their subject matter. The layered complexity of the text is enriched by the intuitive collaboration between artist and writer evident in the evocative text and toothsomely vivid illustrations.Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Matilda Roche Matilda spends her days lavishing attention on the University of Alberta’s metadata but children’s illustrated books, literature for young adults and graphic novels also make her heart sing. Her reviews benefit from the critical influence of a four year old daughter and a one year old son – both geniuses. Matilda’s super power is the ability to read comic books aloud.
Not Your Typical Dragon by D. Bar-el
Authors: Aitken Leslie 
Published: April 2016

Bar-el, Dan. Not Your Typical Dragon. Illus. Tim Bowers. New York: Viking-Penguin Young Readers Group, 2013. Without didacticism, this picture book explores the plight of those who are not “typical;” along the way, it highlights the value of peacemaking. Crispin Blaze, the child of a long, proud line of dragons who breathe fire, breathes everything but. Band-Aids, bubbles and teddy bears are amongst his pacifying emissions. Finding acceptance in a world of knights and dragons becomes his challenge.Not intended as “beginning-to-read” material, the text is still admirably written for oral presentation by either a proficient reader or a storyteller. Phrasing and structure promote the build up of suspense. Sentences are generally short and crisp, allowing, as appropriate, for the dramatic pause. The vocabulary is well chosen, varied, and unpretentious. The storyline should prove both amusing and satisfying to kindergarten and primary school children.Tim Bower’s illustrations add to the humour of the tale. They are large and clearly delineated—a good accompaniment to the text when seen at normal reading distance. Bower’s colour palette, however, is sometimes delicate. Viewed from the distance at which a story hour audience might see them, some images seem to meld. Others are perfectly fine for group viewing: good choices would be Crispin’s exhalations of both birthday streamers and teddy bears.All in all, this book provokes spontaneous laughter and subtle reflection. Parents, teachers and librarians will find many occasions on which to present it.Highly recommended: 4 stars out of 4Reviewer: Leslie AitkenLeslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship involved selection of children’s literature for school, public, special, and university collections. She is a former Curriculum Librarian at the University of Alberta.
Granta 114: Aliens
Authors: Sivak Allison 
Published: April 2016

Aliens. Thematic issue of Granta: The Magazine of New Writing. 114 (Spring 2011) Granta is a quarterly magazine of new writing from both established and emerging writers; although aimed primarily at adult audiences, it could easily be considered as a journal with appeal to young adults particularly due to its diverse content and style, offering readers a greater scope of choice. Granta could often, I suspect, serve to pique the interest of older adolescents due in part to the periodical's contemporary approach to cover design, and its integration of visual art and poetry with prose, along with the obvious diversity and strength of the writing in general. An issue organized around the theme of 'Aliens' seems tailor-made to easily cross over from an adult to an adolescent audience. The black and silver cover with the hovering planet suggests science fiction; however, on closer look, the figures walking towards the planet wear suits and head coverings, and suggest displacement in earthly realms rather than within the final frontier. Indeed, most of the writings in this issue speak to feelings of alienation and alien environments. While stories are united by the emotional impacts of the characters’ strangeness in new environments, the works cover a broad scope; compare, for example, Chris Dennis’ fiction piece on a young drug addict facing life in prison, with Ann Patchett’s observations of a nun who taught her in childhood, who is now facing life outside the convent. The writing in this issue is strong, and at times, explicit in its sexuality and violence, although not gratuitously so. Librarians and teachers may feel some hesitation in subscribing to Granta for their students due to restrictions around students’ reading materials; this would be unfortunate, as such a publication provides students exposure to such important contemporary writers as Roberto Bolaño, Madeleine Thien, and Paul Theroux. Recommended: 2 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Allison SivakAllison Sivak is the Assessment Librarian at the University of Alberta Libraries. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Library and Information Studies and Elementary Education, focusing on how the aesthetics of information design influence young people’s trust in the credibility of information content.
Louis Jolliet, Explorateur et cartographe par M. Plouffe
Authors: Flamand Hélène 
Published: April 2016

Plouffe, Manon. Louis Jolliet, Explorateur et cartographe. Québec : Éditions de l’isatis. 2014 http://www.editionsdelisatis.com/les-collections/bonjour-lhistoire/louis-jolliet/Le nom de Louis Jolliet m’était familier, comme pour beaucoup de Canadiens-français et comme beaucoup de Canadiens-français, je ne connaissais à peu près rien des exploits de cet explorateur, de l’époque de la Nouvelle-France, né en 1645 et mort en 1700, qui a traversé des distances impressionnantes en canot et par bateau à la fois au nord et au sud du continent nord-américain. Saviez-vous qu’il s’était rendu aussi loin que le Nouveau-Québec et l’actuelle Louisiane, un parcours très impressionnant quand on connait les moyens de transport de l’époque.De ce livre, apprend bien des faits intéressants et méconnus sur ce héros, de sa naissance à sa mystérieuse disparition en 1700. Saviez-vous qu’il était aussi musicien, qu’il fut le premier organiste de la cathédrale de Québec et le premier seigneur de l’île d’Anticosti? Louis Jolliet, Explorateur et cartographe est présenté comme un récit, mais comporte de courts dialogues, sans toutefois être un roman. L’auteure y emploie des termes d’époque, tels que « lieues » et « Sauvages » (en référence aux Amérindiens), bien indiqués par un astérisque, qui nous renvoie à un lexique à la fin de l’ouvrage. Des termes spécialisés sont aussi compris dans ce lexique. A la toute fin de l’ouvrage, on y décrit également des personnages contemporains à Jolliet et on fournit des repères chronologiques de cette époque.Si l’ensemble a le pouvoir de rendre tout amateur d’histoire nostalgique, l’ouvrage paraîtra cependant vieillot aux yeux du lecteur juvénile. Les illustrations sont également plutôt vieillottes dans leur style et leur monochromie : seuls le noir, le gris et le rouge sont utilisés dans les illustrations.Note : Trois étoilesCritique par : Hélène FlamandDr. Flamand est psychologue scolaire de formation. Elle enseigne présentement à la Faculté St-Jean (University of Alberta), en plus de maintenir une pratique privée. Mme Flamand est mère de famille. Elle est également auteure d'une série de livres pour enfants.
Little Chicken Duck by T. Beiser
Authors: Deakin Andrea 
Published: April 2016

Beiser.Tim. Little Chicken Duck. Illus. Bill Slavin. Toronto, ON: Tundra Books, 2013. Print. When a duckling refuses a frog’s invitation to jump into the water and paddle, the frog introduces her to the other birds and asks them to reassure her. One by one they confess the fears they faced when they were young. The owl mistook fireflies for goblins’ eyes, the lark was afraid to sing, and the robin hated getting wet. Each bird they meet tells a tale of overcoming their fears until the duckling is playing happily in the water. But what, the duckling wonders, made the frog afraid when he was a pollywog? The frog admits it was ducks.Little Chicken Duck is an amusing introduction to facing one’s fears. The rhymes are strong and designed to allow young voices to join in while an adult reads aloud, and Bill Slavin’s illustrations are, as always, bold, brightly coloured and inviting. The animals’ fears are portrayed with character and humour. My favourite, an American bald eagle, dramatically pronounces his fear of thunderstorms as if he were holding forth on centre stage: with his beak powerfully declaiming, his wing thrust out for emphasis and with pointed claws. A child may not catch all of what Slavin is portraying, but then something must be left to trigger an adult’s sense of humour as they read.Recommended stars: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Andrea DeakinAndrea has been involved with books since she was class librarian in Primary School, Student Librarian in Grammar School, student librarian for the Education Faculty when she was a student, and school librarian in schools both in England and in Canada, except for the first two years in Canada where she arrived in 1959. When she retired from teaching ( English and History) she was invited to review in February 1971, and continued to review for press, radio, and finally on the Internet (Deakin Newsletter from Okanagan College) until she retired in 2011. Forty years seemed sufficient- although she still cannot keep her nose out of good children's and YA fare.
V is for Vegan: The ABCs of Being Kind by R. Roth
Authors: Smith Jorden 
Published: April 2016

Roth, Ruby. V is for Vegan: The ABCs of Being Kind. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 2013. Print.With adorable illustrations, bright colours, and brief, engaging text, this book would be a welcome addition to any library collection. Roth’s newest book, V is for Vegan, is a quirky and entertaining guide to human-animal relations and the vegan lifestyle. This book is a gentle and informative introduction to the vegan lifestyle, incorporating important vocabulary all vegans should know. It introduces the reader to major food groups in a vegan diet: legumes, grains, nuts, fruits, and vegetables; as well as touching on animal rights. This book is a brilliant resource to help children learn about their or their classmate’s dietary needs. The illustrations, also done by Roth, and rhymes garnered lots of laughs. My 4-year old niece’s favorite page: “Ee is for eggs-- from a chicken’s butt?! Wow.” For vegan and vegetarian parents, this book is a must have.This book was sponsored by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, an educational nonprofit corporation established to “develop an educational and cross-cultural perspective that links scientific, social, and artistic fields; to nurture a holistic view of arts, sciences, humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on the relationship of mind, body, and nature.” Their publishing house, North Atlantic Books, publishes many books on alternative health.Recommended: 3 of out 4 starsReviewer: Jorden SmithJorden is a Public Services Librarian in Rutherford Humanities and Social Sciences Library at the University of Alberta. She is an avid fiction reader and subscribes to Hemingway’s belief that “there is no friend as loyal as a book.”