scholarly journals Toca Lab: Plants by T. Boca

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Schock
Keyword(s):  
English Teacher ◽  
High School English ◽  
Running Water ◽  
Small Children ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Turn On ◽  
Sound Effects ◽  
The University ◽  
Google Play ◽  
Play Experience

Boca, Toca. Toca Lab: Plants. June 2017. Version 1.1.1. iTunes App Store, https://itunes.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1225994089?mt=8 Ages: 4-6Price: $2.99Available for Apple, Google Play, and Kindle Fire Toca Lab: Plants, from developer Toca Boca complements other apps in the Lab series, which aim to make science accessible through play. Toca Lab: Plants provides an open and unstructured environment to both nurture and experiment with plants. Upon opening the app, players enter a lab where a plant bobs happily in in the center, waiting to be played with; the plants are quite friendly and invite the player to interact. Five lab stations offer chances to experiment: a grow light, watering tank, nutrition station, cloning machine, and crossbreeding apparatus. In playing with these lab tools, the player can propagate plants, discover new plants, nurture others in pots, and keep track of them all in a botany chart. The plants, as characters in this app, are endearing. They respond with joy and exuberance to stimuli they like and with fear and shudders at stimuli they dislike. They even giggle and shake their leaves in response to touch. The lab itself is visually interesting and begs to be explored. Each station has machines to turn on, knobs to crank, faucets to open, or buttons to push. Since the play is wordless and largely without text (species are labelled with their Latin and common names at some points), the sound effects help to clarify what is happening and the materials in use, such as running water or electricity. The graphics are classic Toca Boca: beautiful bold colours, exaggerated blocky shapes, quirky plant characters, and uncluttered scenes. While all these elements – the app’s open play that supports experimentation and discovery, the beautiful visuals, and the endearing plants – make for a compelling play experience initially, the app is limited in extending play beyond these initial encounters. When compared with the imaginative possibilities in Toca Builders or Toca Blocks, for example, which allow users to create new spaces, scenes, structures, and worlds, Toca Lab: Plants feels limited. Players can only create so many new plants before the species begin to repeat themselves. Similarly, with the experiments, once all the plants have been moved through each experiment, the play is essentially mastered. Other than the plant chart (which is simply compiled as the player plays), there is no opportunity to construct something here, such as a garden or living structure with which to extend the world. Still, the app is beautiful and engaging, invites discovery and experimentation, and provides surprises and excitement as plants grow and change in response to the player’s actions. There is much fun to be had here in Toca Lab: Plants.  Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Katherine Schock Katherine is a high school English teacher currently working on an MLIS at the University of Alberta. Her passion for children’s literature is kindled daily by her two small children and her much larger students. 

scholarly journals Fatima and the Clementine Thieves by M. Messier

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Schock
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Red Deer ◽  
Natural World ◽  
English Teacher ◽  
High School English ◽  
Small Children ◽  
Her Family ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Strong Statement ◽  
The University

Messier, Mireille. Fatima and the Clementine Thieves. Illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard. Red Deer Press, 2017Fatima helps her grandfather in their clementine orchard every day, caring not only for the trees and their harvest, but also for the spiders that protect the trees from insects. But when elephants ravage the orchard that she and her grandfather rely on, Fatima worries how they will save both the orchard and the elephants. Relying on advice from neighbours, Fatima’s grandfather determines to shoot the elephant mother and two calves, spending his last coins on a gun and ammunition. But Fatima seeks a solution outside human invention and rallies her spider friends to protect the orchard, saving both the orchard and the elephants from destruction.Messier’s Fatima is capable and inventive, driven not only by care for her family but also for the natural world: the spiders, the elephants, and the clementine trees. In a story otherwise populated by men, Fatima is a leader, embracing and befriending spiders who are usually feared or ignored, seeking solutions that will be best for all. Messier ensures that Fatima’s voice fills the pages; though the story is occasionally awkward in its transitions from scene to scene, her joy, her fear, her tenacity, and her words hold this story together. While the treatment of the orchard as the family’s sole livelihood is perhaps simplistic, Messier makes a strong statement about violence, in the end turning a gun into a support for a repaired clementine tree.Grimard’s beautifully warm illustrations are the star here, evoking Fatima’s joy and the grandfather’s devotion to her; the beauty and power of the elephants; and the strength of the smallest creatures, whether little girl or spider. Fatima and the Clementine Thieves is a lovely book that reminds readers how, with compassion and tenacity, someone small can make a powerful difference. Recommended for ages 5-7.Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Katherine SchockKatherine is a high school English teacher currently working on an MLIS at the University of Alberta. Her passion for children’s literature is kindled daily by her two small children and her much larger students. 

scholarly journals The Great Sheep Shenanigans by P. Bently

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
School Libraries ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Harry Potter ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Intended Audience ◽  
Small Children ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Peter The Great ◽  
The University

Bently, Peter.  The Great Sheep Shenanigans.  Illus. M. Matsuoka. London:  Andersen Press, 2011. Print. In this tale, it is really the wolf, Lou Pine (hear the French loup and Lupin, the werewolf from Harry Potter), who gets up to shenanigans, rather than the sheep.  The text is a clever and funny rhyme that tells the story of the wolf trying to catch a lamb to eat.  Along the way, we hear sheep-related cultural and literary references from, “the wolf in sheep’s clothing,” to Red Riding Hood. “I’m just in the mood for a Gran-flavoured snack,” the wolf tells us. The wolf makes many attempts to catch a lamb, but is always thwarted, if not by his own silliness, then by the water-gun toting Ma Watson, by bees, by Red Riding Hood’s Granny, and finally, by Rambo the Ram, who butts him into “a big pile of poo!”  While the intended audience is pre-school, the author sprinkles in some big words, such as “derrière”, “kersplat”, “skedaddling” and “vindaloo”, that children will enjoy and repeat, but adults will need to explain and pronounce on the first reading. The text is often printed over the illustrations, sometimes in extra-large font to emphasize a point.  Sometimes it is part of the illustration.  When “Lou found a thicket of blossoming trees,” the words from the phrase “Down came the blossom” float down the page with the blossoms.  The illustrations are as much fun as the text. The sheep are most often depicted as balls of white with heads, ears and four small pegs for legs.  Lou Pine is a two-dimensional creature, while Rambo the Ram blows steam out his nose and wears boxing gloves. The sheep occasionally have glasses, bow-ties or hair-bows. Because the rhyme is jaunty and the illustrations are fun and inventive, this will be a book that small children will want to have read to them over and over.  Highly recommended for public and elementary school libraries. Recommendation:  4 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sandy CampbellSandy 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.

scholarly journals STEM Buddies EN by Z. Soufan

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raven Germain
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Logical Organization ◽  
Fantasy Novels ◽  
Multiple Question ◽  
Second Year ◽  
The University ◽  
Google Play

Soufan, Ziad. STEM Buddies EN. Project Hikaya, 2018. Vers. 1.1.2. Google Play Store, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stem_buddies.en This educational application uses a combination of multimedia elements such as video, audio, and text to create an engaging and interactive storytelling experience that teaches children about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM) topics. The app consists of three parts: an animated story, a short quiz, and downloadable colouring pages. Upon opening the app, the user is prompted to watch the animation first, with learning objectives presented for the chosen topic. After the short, subtitled, five-minute video, in which the viewer has the opportunity to pause and rewind, the user is then directed to either the quiz or the colouring pages, which reflect the material presented in the video. This intuitive and logical organization ensures that the informative video is a precursor for the interactive activities and consequently enables learning through reflection and repetition. Through accessible language, the current module, “Water Cycle,” seamlessly integrates an original, engaging story and memorable characters with pedagogical elements that explain how rain forms (evaporation, condensation, precipitation), the importance of water, and the problems associated with the lack of rain. The simple, five-question quiz contains multiple question types and uses audio, text, and pictures to provide children with multiple avenues for identification and learning. Through the quiz, children are required to make intelligent decisions regarding what they have learned. Feedback is given in the form of gamification, with correct answers being positively reinforced by the attainment of gold stars, and completion of the quiz resulting in a personalized certificate of achievement for that module. A myriad of colouring pages, available for use within the app or for individual download, reflect familiar themes and characters and continue to provide some interactivity after the module has been completed. Available in English and Arabic, this new, free application currently only contains one subject module, with more scheduled to be released in the future. With superior graphic design, no ads, and no in-app purchases, the possibility for distractions and unintended purchases are removed. Despite these desirable features, the video and narrative itself could be more interactive on the textual and visual level by incorporating hotspots for touching, swiping, and exploring. I would recommend it for use in public libraries and by teachers in elementary schools for children aged 5 to 9. Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Raven Germain Raven Germain is a second year MLIS student at the University of Alberta with a love of children’s literature. When not studying, she enjoys travelling, playing piano, and immersing herself in fantasy novels.

scholarly journals The Dog by H. Mixter

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
School Libraries ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Golden Retriever ◽  
Small Children ◽  
Therapy Dog ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Sick Children ◽  
The University

Mixter, Helen. The Dog. Illustrated by Margarita Sada. Greystone Books, 2017.  In The Dog, Helen Mixter has kept her text brief and simple, and allowed the images to convey the story.  It is a story about a boy who is ill and how much his quality of life is improved by the introduction of a therapy dog.  Margarita Sada’s artwork easily shows the fatigue, sadness and illness of the boy and the unconditional affection of the dog. The dog, who looks like a young golden retriever, is never given a name, perhaps to keep her more generic. She is depicted as having boundless health and energy. She even has rosy cheeks, indicating health. The colours that Sada uses are bright and natural and the pictures will attract and hold the attention of small children. Inspired by a visit to a Vancouver children’s hospice the book gently presents how effective a therapy dog can be for very sick children.  The Dog would be a good addition to public and school libraries. It would also be an excellent addition to libraries in children’s hospitals. Highly recommended:  4 stars out of 4 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.   

scholarly journals Slither and Slide: What’s Outside by N. Hilb

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Black Bear ◽  
Lead Author ◽  
Learning Activity ◽  
The West ◽  
Small Children ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Photographic Images ◽  
First Case ◽  
The University

Hilb, Nora, Simon Shapiro and Sheryl Shapiro. Slither and Slide: What’s Outside. Toronto:  Annick Press, 2012. Print. Nora Hilb, who is listed as lead author on this book, is a prolific illustrator living in Argentina.  The text is by Toronto authors Simon and Sheryl Shapiro. Together, this team of three has produced an entertaining and educational book which progresses through the seasons from spring to winter. Each two page spread has four integrated parts. On the left page is a photograph of something outside. The first is of a fruit tree in blossom. On the facing page is an image of children outside, doing something that mirrors what is in the photograph.  In the first case, to mirror the tree, they are watering a plant. The accompanying text is in the form of a three line rhyme about what the children are doing. The rhyme is followed by one word in large capital letters. For example, one of the winter photographs shows a row of wind turbines and is matched with a drawing of a child with a pinwheel. The accompanying text reads, “The blustery wind/that blows in from the west/ for windmills and pinwheels, it’s really the best/ WHIRR!” One can easily imagine reading the rhyme to a child and then spelling the word out at the end as a learning activity. Many children will learn to recite the rhymes. The high-quality photographic images are the work of a variety of people. Hilb’s drawings are whimsical, with lots of bright colours and action. The page pairs are fun. The image of a waterfall is paired with an image of children at the beach dumping water from one bucket to another. The rainbow image is paired with children colouring with a rainbow of crayons. The picture of the black bear is paired with an image of a child in a bear-costume pretending to scare his Dad. Overall this is an attractive book that incorporates a little learning and lots of ways to engage and amuse small children. Highly recommended. Recommendation:  4 stars out of 4 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.  

scholarly journals Sweetest Kulu by C. Kalluk

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Character Trait ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Small Children ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Arctic Hare ◽  
The University

Kalluk, Celina.  Sweetest Kulu. Illus. Alexandria Neonakis.  Iqaluit, NU:  Inhabit Media Inc., 2014.  Print.“Kulu” is an Inuktitut term of endearment for babies and small children.  In this work, traditional throat singer and author, Celina Kalluk, shows all of the gifts that nature brings to a newborn baby.  The images show the baby cradled and adored by many creatures.  Each creature brings a character trait as a gift for the baby.  “Caribou chose patience for you, cutest Kulu.  He gave you the ability to look to the stars, so that you will always know where you are and may gently lead the way”.  With each gift, Kalluk uses a different adjective to describe the baby – happy Kulu, admired Kulu, beloved Kulu. Illustrator, Alexandria Neonakis has created an image for each animal in rich and deep colours.  The images spread over two facing pages with text over-printed. Each image is gentle and tender.  The baby is shown nestled between the front hooves of a musk-ox, curled up against a polar bear or snuggled up in the paws of an Arctic hare.  The baby is reflected in the water when the Arctic char brings a gift of tenderness.This book is a beautiful representation of a mother’s love for her baby reflected in the traditional Inuit connection to the land and nature.  It is a calming and peaceful book, which will become a bedtime read-aloud favourite. Highly recommended for elementary school libraries, public libraries and babies’ rooms everywhere.Highly Recommended:   4 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sandy CampbellSandy 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.

scholarly journals Cub’s Journey Home by G. Graham

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fire ◽  
Red Deer ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Reading Level ◽  
Running Water ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The University

Graham, Georgia.  Cub’s Journey Home. Markham, ON:  Red Deer Press, 2015.  Print.Georgia Graham is a fine artist, but as a writer, needs a good editor.  Like her earlier work Where Wild Horses Run, this is a beautifully illustrated book.  Graham’s landscapes, trees, rivers, rocks, bears and flowers are all highly realistic. She tackles a variety of environments including snow, running water, forest fire, a burnt landscape and a garbage dump. Many of the images are frame-worthy.  There are flaws in the flames of her forest fire, some of which look like they belong on racing cars; however, in the next image, she absolutely captures the complexity of the fire reflected on swamp water.  Unfortunately, the text is an amalgamation of strange images and unusual or extravagant word choices. Why, for example, is a baby bear growing inside the mother called a “speck”?  There is so much purple prose that the reader is constantly distracted.  There are “long needles of sunlight” that “stab”.  The snow covering the den is “a curtain of lacy ice”. “A breeze runs its icy fingers through his fur.”  The cub “skedaddles”.  “A dark blanket [of smoke] rises up and steals the stars from the sky.” The whole text would have been much better if Graham had just written in her natural voice, as she occasionally does, to good effect.While the unusual word choices make the reading level of the text much too advanced for a picture book, the images, with their excellent rendering of Alberta landscapes, make it valuable.  This book is recommended with reservations for elementary school libraries and public libraries. Recommended with reservations: 2 out of 4 starsReviewer:  Sandy CampbellSandy 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.

scholarly journals The Dreaded Ogress of the Tundra by N. Christopher

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Full Text ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Reading Level ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Small Children ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Cautionary Tales ◽  
The University

Christopher, Neil.  The Dreaded Ogress of the Tundra.  Iqaluit:  Inhabit Media, 2015. PrintAmautaliit are giant ogresses who eat small children.  They roam the Arctic tundra looking for unsupervised children such as orphans or those who have wandered away from camp.  They sneak up on the children, capture and carry them away in their disgusting baskets containing rotting seaweed and giant bugs.  These stories have two themes.  First, they are cautionary tales designed to keep children from wandering away from camps and villages. Second, they usually show the children using their ingenuity or ancient magic to escape the not-too-smart amautaliit.This is an updated and revised version of Christopher’s 2009 volume, Stories of the Amautalik, which contains versions of the two stories presented in this work.  However, this edition of the book is more like a junior handbook to amautaliit (plural of amautalik). While this book has many illustrations which are appropriately dark, scary and creepy, there is much more text than one usually finds in an Inhabit Media book.  At least half of the pages are full text and like Stories of the Amautalik, the reading level is high for young children. The book includes a seven-page introduction to amautaliit, which describes who these creatures are, their clothing, their baskets, their caves and how they hunt small children.  At the end of the book there is an “Other Ogres and Ogresses” section, which gives single page, illustrated descriptions of similar creatures, including a giant spider that assumes a human-like form. Even though this is a revision of an earlier work that many libraries will have, the expanded content would make it a useful addition to libraries with children’s collections, and particularly to academic libraries that collect works on Arctic myths and legends.Highly Recommended:  4 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sandy CampbellSandy 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. 

scholarly journals Penguinaut by M. Colleen

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Metcalfe
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Outer Space ◽  
Public Library ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Sound Effects ◽  
Additional Detail ◽  
Grade One ◽  
The University ◽  
Master Of Education

Colleen, Marcie. Penguinaut. Scholastic, 2018. In the book Penguinaut, Marcie Colleen uses the story of a hopeful penguin to convey a message about adversity to young children. It is a story about a small penguin named Orville who overcomes challenges in order to achieve his big dream of going to space. Emma Yarlett’s illustrations are creative, entertaining, and fun. They help the reader understand just how small little Orville is in comparison to all of his other animal friends, reinforcing the idea that one should not be afraid of failure when achieving their dreams, despite any challenges they may face. It is evident that Marcie Colleen decided to use the style of text, paired with the illustrations, to help add enthusiasm, detail, and voice. The words “big” and “bigger” are in large capital letters, and sound effects are bolded. Speech bubbles are used for dialogue instead of quotation marks. The sentence “He was all alone” is accompanied by an illustration of stars in the dark outer space. And a picture of a note given to Orville by his friends to show their support is written in handwriting, including a hand-drawn picture. Penguinaut is a heart-warming book that offers lessons about adversity, resiliency, and friendship. Considering the length of the book, I believe there is room to explore these topics by including some additional detail to the story of Orville, the penguin. The messages this book conveys makes Penguinaut a good addition to an elementary school or public library. Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Erika Metcalfe Erika is a grade one/two teacher in Edmonton and is currently completing her Master of Education at the University of Alberta. When she is not teaching or studying, Erika is on the hunt for new books to read to her students!

scholarly journals Gina’s Wheels by M. H. Bishop

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Role Model ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Reading Level ◽  
Small Children ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The Disabled ◽  
The University ◽  
Adult Reader

Bishop, Mary Harelkin. Gina’s Wheels. Regina, SK: DriverWorks Ink, 2014. Print.While this is a picture book and the protagonist is just entering kindergarten, the language is quite a high reading level and the text dense.  It is definitely a book that needs an adult reader. The artwork in this book is simple and unsophisticated, but will engage small children with the work.  Illustrator Diane Greenhorn does resort to the visual cliché of diversity in the classroom, including the obligatory red-head, blonde, African American, brown-skinned children and child with a hijab, although kindergarten-aged Muslim girls are often not covered.The messages that the book conveys are complex.  It is about a child, Gina, who encounters Métis Paralympian Colette Bourgonje, who has a wheelchair.  Gina is sufficiently moved by the meeting that she goes home and for several weeks does everything while sitting in a stroller, to understand the experience of being in a wheelchair.  When she enters kindergarten and meets a child in a wheelchair, her experience helps her befriend the child.While the book does a good job of presenting how to interact with a disabled person, the concept of the Paralympics and the integration of a disabled child into school, it does not present the things that Gina had to do to adapt to life seated in a stroller.  As is often the case when the able-bodied write about the disabled, rather than from the disabled person’s perspective, the reader does not learn much more about life as a disabled person.  However, the book does present disability in a positive light and also shows Bourgonje as a role model.  It also presents Gina as a role model of a child demonstrating understanding and empathy and Gina’s Mom as a role model as a parent who is positive about disability and supportive of her child’s exploratory learning.   Because there are few children’s books about disability, and fewer still about disabled Indigenous people, this book is recommended with reservations for public library and elementary school libraries.Recommended with reservation:  2 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sandy CampbellSandy 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.

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