scholarly journals How mamas love their babies by J. Fitzgerald & E. Peterson

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Adams
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Art Educators ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Many ◽  
Page Design

Fitzgerald, Juniper, and Elise Peterson. How mamas love their babies. The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 2018. The first children’s book from sociology PhD Juniper Fitzgerald and artist-activist Elise Peterson, How Mamas Love Their Babies gently approaches an intersectional understanding of motherhood, while also connecting the many shared experiences of becoming and being a mother. Peterson creates a beautifully layered environment to accompany Fitzgerald’s bold, yet simple text. By overlaying colourful multimedia collage techniques with black and white retro photographs, the illustrations are dynamic and textured. The bright, engaging page design is inviting and makes this a wonderful selection for art educators looking for literacy tie-ins. This book is notable for its acknowledgment and celebration of the many ways mothers work, love and care for their babies. Fitzgerald draws upon her personal experiences labouring in the sex industry to bring forward a unique space within the text by including parents whose work may be stigmatized. In doing so, she underlines the importance of ensuring children can find themselves, their caregivers and communities represented respectfully within the pages of a book. A powerful, inclusive and decisively feminist addition to any children’s collection or storytime, Fizgerald and Peterson encourage readers to welcome, value and honour the presence of all mothers in the lives of their children and communities. Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewed by: Alexandra Adams Alex is a busy mom, student and public library assistant, with a passion for Early Childhood Education and the Arts. She is currently working on her MLIS at the University of Alberta.

Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? by B. Sayers

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Feisst
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Young Adult Fiction ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Good Night ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Heavy Equipment ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time

Sayres, Brianna K. Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? Illus. Christian Slade.  New York: Random House, 2012. Print.If the title Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? seems a tad familiar, well, it probably is.  In the same vein as the ultra-popular Good Night, Good Night, Construction Site, Diggers presents the sweet nighttime rituals of diggers, trucks and other heavy machinery.  At first I thought this was a simple effort to take advantage of a similar, bestselling title however Sayres’ work does indeed hold its own.In this picture book aimed at ages 3-6, first time picture book author Sayres gives young heavy equipment aficionados a delightful take on the bedtime story.  In rhyming couplets and often in a humorous manner, all sorts of trucks, cranes and tractors get ready for rest under the watchful headlamps of their caregivers: “Where do garbage trucks sleep / when they’re done collecting trash? / Do their dads sniff their load and say, / ‘Pee-yew—time to take a bath’?”  Sure to get the young ones giggling.The sleepy-eyed dozers and tow trucks eventually give way to an equally sleepy young boy in his cozy bed, with a reminder that the trucks will be waiting for him when he wakes.  Save for one naughty truck, winking, under the bed (my five-year-old happily pointed this out).Though the illustrations by former Disney animator Christian Slade are rather cartoon-like and not realistic, they match the text well, are in soothing nighttime colours and allow for the trucks to have droopy eyes and smiling faces. Read in a lyrical fashion, or even as a song, this would be a nice end to any wee truck lover’s day.  This would make a nice addition to any public library or as a gift.Reviewer: Debbie Feisst Recommended: 3 stars out of 4Debbie is a Public Services Librarian at the H.T. Coutts Education Library at the University of Alberta.  When not renovating, she enjoys travel, fitness and young adult fiction.

scholarly journals A Community of Many Worlds

2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 108-110
Author(s):  
Vincent F. Biondo III
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Arab Americans ◽  
Arab American ◽  
First Person ◽  
Columbia University ◽  
Many Worlds ◽  
Museum Exhibit ◽  
Black And White ◽  
The Arts

This edited collection complemented a March 2001 museum exhibit and isbased upon a February 2000 Columbia University conference and a threeyearFord Foundation-sponsored research project. It provides a generaloverview of the history and diversity of Arab Americans in New York Cityand is particularly strong in the area of the arts, featuring several chapters onliterature and music, including several first-person narratives. This two-partbook, which surveys both the historical and the contemporary scenes, isfurther enhanced by forty black-and-white photographs, including thirteenby Empire State College’s Mel Rosenthal.New York contains the third largest Arab-American community, afterDearborn (Michigan) and Los Angeles. In the first chapter, Alixa Naffexplains that the community was formed around 1895, when Christian missionaries in Syria encouraged Arab Christians near Mount Lebanon to workin New York for a couple of years to make money for their families. Syrianand Lebanese immigrants initially gathered at Washington Street in LowerManhattan and soon moved to Atlantic Avenue in the South Ferry portion ofBrooklyn. From 1899-1910, 56,909 Syrian immigrants arrived in New York.In the book’s first part, two historical chapters are followed by entrieson literature, music, photography, and first-person accounts. Philip Kayalpoints out that Arab-American is a cultural and ethnic – but not a religious– category, for most Arab Americans are Christian, not Muslim. JonathanFriedlander reveals that the first Arab-American immigrant, AntonioBishallany, visited from Lebanon in 1854 to gather evangelical teachings foruse back home. This four-page and six-photograph entry on representationsin historical archives could be expanded into a larger work ...

scholarly journals Above by L. Bobet

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Colette Leung
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Humanities Computing ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Black And White ◽  
State Of Mind ◽  
White Good ◽  
The Times ◽  
Gray Areas ◽  
The Right

Bobet, Leah. Above. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books-Scholastic, 2012. PrintThis Young Adult urban fantasy novel takes place in present-day Toronto, Canada. The main character is Matthew, a teenager growing up in an underground, secret community known as Safe. This community was founded by Matthew’s guardian, Atticus, for disabled outcasts and people with abnormalities.  For example, Atticus has claws for hands, and Matthew has scales. In this underground community, Matthew is Teller, which means that he collects and remembers the stories of different individuals living in Safe. Matthew is in love with the traumatized girl Ariel, who can shape-shift into a bee and has wings. Ariel came to the Safe as a teenager, and lived in the city before then, but she is slow to trust others, including Matthew, and runs away frequently.Safe is threatened by an exile, known as Corner, who works with an army of shadows. Eventually, Corner invades Safe by following Ariel home after one of the times she ran away. This causes the community to disperse Above, which is actually downtown Toronto.  Once there, with the help of Ariel, Matthew has to reunite his community, and reclaim Safe. In order to do this, Matthew must discover the history of Corner, and its connection to Safe. He learns that there are two sides to every story, and not everything is black and white. Good people can make mistakes, and love and relationships are complex and defining elements of what it means to be human.Above has important messages about themes of “good” and “evil” and the gray areas in between. By blurring the lines between fantasy, magic, and medicine, these themes are easy to bridge into the real world. The focus on outcasts and disabled people gives the book a unique perspective, and the setting takes readers to both well-known and often passed over areas of downtown Toronto.The book suffers from poor setup, however, and slow character development.  Leah Bobet uses a stilted writing style, meant to reflect the main character’s education and state of mind.  Often this style makes the plotline difficult to follow, and undercuts some of the more intriguing descriptions of Toronto.  Readers are also launched into the world without explanation, which can make it difficult to figure out what is going on for the first half of the book. The story can be even more confusing as it is told in patchworks. Outside of Matthew’s main storyline, the narratives of other characters are interwoven into the book, so not all events are chronological.Above has a good premise that will appeal to the right group of young adults, but with the difficult writing level and the lack of setup, some of the target audience might lose interest before finishing the novel. It is worth nothing that some of the content deals with difficult topics, including mental illness, abuse, disability, poverty, gender-identification, people of different and mixed ethnicities, experimentation on people, and death.Recommended with Reservations: 2 out of 4 starsReviewer: Colette LeungColette Leung is a graduate student at the University of Alberta, working in the fields of Library and Information science and Humanities Computing who loves reading, cats, and tea. Her research interests focus around how digital tools can be used to explore fields such as literature, language, and history in new and innovative ways.

scholarly journals The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore by W. Joyce

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale Storie
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Public Library ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Animated Film ◽  
The Fantastic ◽  
Easter Eggs ◽  
Ipad App

Joyce, William. The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore.  Shreveport, LA: Moonbot Books, 2011.  iPad app. It seems strange that a story that expresses such love towards books as physical objects was first produced as an award-winning animated short film, and then adapted into an “interactive narrative experience” for the iPad.  The protagonist, Morris Lessmore, is transported via hurricane to another land where he encounters a young woman held aloft by a flock of anthropomorphized flying books.  One book leads him to a house full of more books, where he ends up living.  He takes care of the books, and lends them to drab, black-and-white people who bloom into full colour (à la Wizard of Oz) as soon as they receive their reading material.  Finally, as an old man, he is whisked away by the books, and the book that he wrote is used to draw a young girl into the house to take over his role as caretaker.It is usually the fate of new media to be unfavourably compared to more established media forms, but in this case, Morris Lessmore also suffers from being an adaptation rather than an original work.  This iPad version seems uncomfortably caught between the fluidity and liveliness of the original animated film and the sequential narrative of a traditional picture book. Like a video game adaptation of a major motion picture in which the player re-enacts a simple replay of the movie plot, many of the interactive features of this book app seem contrived, acting as tacked-on gimmicks rather than being truly integrated with the story as a unique experience. However, that does not mean that the narrative experience is entirely without merit.  The animation (taken directly from the film) looks amazing on the iPad’s vibrant screen, and finding the hidden “Easter eggs” on each page is quite entertaining for all ages.  Moonbot Studios also gets extra credit for its inventive use of the iPad’s touch interface - readers will enjoy swiping, coloring, dragging, and even playing the piano on the screen, even if these activities are sometimes tangential to the narrative itself.  Despite its shortcomings, Morris Lessmore stands out as exceptional in comparison to other picture book apps currently available for the iPad.  As a final incentive, it is very reasonably priced; for only $4.99 at the iTunes Store, the app is much less than your average print picture book (although there’s not much chance of finding it at your local library).Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Dale StorieDale Storie is Public Services Librarian at the John W. Scott Health Sciences Library at the University of Alberta. He has a BA in English, and has also worked in a public library as a children's programming coordinator, where he was involved with story times, puppet shows, and book talks.

scholarly journals E is for Environment: Stories to Help Children Care for Their World by I. J. Corlett

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Trish Chatterley
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Safety Concern ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
School Lunches ◽  
Everyday Activity ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
Reduce Carbon Dioxide ◽  
The University

Corlett, Ian James. E is for Environment: Stories to Help Children Care for Their World- At Home, At School, and At Play. New York: Atria Books, 2011. Print. This collection of 26 short stories was inspired by the author’s friends Matt and Stephanie, who ran around the perimeter of North America bringing environmental messages to schools. Their adventure sets the stage for the book when main characters Elliot and Lucy attend one of their sessions. Corlett brings their message of environmental awareness and conservation to elementary school-aged children in an accessible way. Each chapter is preceded by a full-page image by Canadian illustrator R.A. Holt. Each two-page story focuses on an everyday activity such as playtime or preparing school lunches. A question is posed to get kids thinking about changes Elliott and Lucy can make to help keep the planet a little healthier. Unfortunately, many of the explanations of why change is necessary are either lacking or non-existent. For instance, why is it important to reduce carbon dioxide emissions? This concept might be a difficult one for young children to comprehend without an explanation. Once the answer is given, other questions are presented for discussion and to encourage action. Each chapter ends with a couple of factual statements and a quotation. Families are meant to read the book together and then discuss. A child reading alone would not benefit as much from the prompting questions, as there would be no opportunity for discussion. The messages are short and simple and the language used is generally natural and informal. Though many of the environment-specific words are defined, others like ‘global warming’ would benefit from explanation. There are a few witty word choices with chapter titles that parents will appreciate (one is a reference to a Joni Mitchell song!) The quotations are eclectic from a variety of individuals, but some seem too mature for inclusion in a children’s book. Many are also unrelated to the environment. Though both the author and the illustrator are Canadian, all measurements referred to are American (miles, gallons, degrees Fahrenheit). Conversions should have been included in brackets. In the story about doggy dirt, the author recommends composting dog waste to put in the garden. Another story encourages vegetable gardening. It was not made clear that pet wastes should not be used on plants intended for human consumption because of the risk of spreading disease. Despite this safety concern, the book presents a wide variety of small changes that all families can make to reduce, reuse, recycle, and help keep the planet green. Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReview: 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.

scholarly journals Orchards by H. Thompson

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Huck
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
American Girl ◽  
Her Family ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Black And White ◽  
The Media ◽  
The University

Thompson, Holly. Orchards, New York: Delacorte Press, 2011. Print. Orchards is a poetic novel written by Holly Thompson. It tells the story of Kana Goldberg, an American girl, half-Jewish and half-Japanese, who is sent to spend the summer with her mother’s family in Japan working on their mikan farm. (Mikan is a type of Japanese orange.) A school-mate, Ruth, has committed suicide and Kana is a member of the group of girls who had excluded and locked horns with the girl over a boy, not realizing at the time that she suffered from bi-polar disease and that she was reaching out to the boy for support. The book is less about Kana accepting responsibility for her involvement in the confrontation with Ruth than it is about mending relationships and the process of Kana overcoming her anger and feelings of guilt. The book challenges us to set aside our own pre-conceived notions about bullying and consider the idea that everyone is vulnerable to depression, and that what gets sensationalized in the media as bullying is not always a black and white case of cruelty, but is sometimes a case of misunderstanding that escalates in dramatic fashion when emotions are mixed in. Kana’s fixation on Ruth and the pressure of a community that blames her and the other girls constitute an invisible burden that puts her at risk of the unthinkable, too. “Suicide can spread like a virus,” Kana’s grandmother warns. Kana’s ‘exile’ to a strange country turns out to be a chance to ground herself amongst her family, make peace with the presence of death in life, find confidence in who she is, and learn how to make a difference in the world of the living. Readers expecting a remorseful narrative may feel unsatisfied, but because the book reads quickly and the language is pleasurable, they may also decide to re-read it for a second impression. The reason it reads quickly is that Thompson has chosen to tell the story in a kind of free-flowing verse. Stanzas of varying lengths define sentence-like sequences, with the breaks between stanzas replacing the conventional sentence demarcators of full stops and capitalized first words. Line breaks play the role of commas, controlling the flow without impeding it. These syntactic arrangements complement the imagistic and uncluttered style of the writing, giving an inward, contemplative feel to the story. Because it is a subtle book, it would be most suitable for an older teen who is perceptive and has literary sensibilities. Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: John HuckJohn Huck is a metadata and cataloguing librarian at the University of Alberta. He holds an undergraduate degree in English literature and maintains a special interest in the spoken word. He is also a classical musician and has sung semi-professionally for many years.

scholarly journals Fortunately, The Milk by N. Gaiman

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne Pearce
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
New York ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Support Staff ◽  
Adult Readers ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Corner Store ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The University

Gaiman, Neil, Fortunately, The Milk. Illus. Skottie Young. New York: HarperCollins, 2013. Print.Mum has left to present a paper on lizards at a conference leaving a young boy and his sister at home with Dad for a few days. In addition to frozen meals she leaves Dad a long list of things to do and remember, including the fact that they were running low on milk. On the second day of Mum’s absence the children are dismayed to realize that the refrigerator is now void of milk. Dad heads out to the corner store to remedy this unfortunate disruption to their breakfast, only to be gone an exceptionally long time. When Dad finally returns, he recounts the most unbelievable adventure he had on his way home with the milk, including an encounter with space aliens, pirates and a time travelling stegosaurus named “Dr. Steg”.I am familiar with Neil Gaiman’s works for adult readers and this was the first book I have read by him intended for children. I was delighted to see that his imaginative style shines as bright, or dare I say even brighter, in this juvenile genre.  The narrator tells the story in a very candid style and I particularly enjoyed the places where the children interrupt their father to dispute the details of his story.The black and white illustrations on nearly every page of the book have an edgy hand-drawn quality to them that complement the lighthearted nature of the story. Skottie Young has conveyed exceptional detail in his drawings, focusing not only on the zany cast of characters but also with the depth using background images. I enjoyed how his artistry weaved and wrapped itself around the text on the page.Fortunately, The Milk is an adventure tale born out of the commonplace that shows one can find adventure even in a simple jaunt down to the corner store. As an adventure story it has a narrative momentum that will appeal to those who enjoy movement and action. Readers like myself, who enjoy action alongside breaks of description and character development, may find these aspects a bit lacking. Overall, this is a fun story that when accompanied by the illustrations would make it easy to read together with the whole family, as even younger children would manage to follow along.Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Hanne PearceHanne Pearce has worked at the University of Alberta Libraries in various support staff positions since 2004 and is currently a Public Service Assistant at the Rutherford Humanities and Social Sciences Library. In 2010 she completed her MLIS at the University of Alberta. Aside from being an avid reader she has continuing interests in writing, photography, graphic design and knitting.

scholarly journals Follow Your Money: Who Gets it, Who Spends It, Where Does it Go? by M. Hlinka

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patti Sherbaniuk
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Upper Elementary ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Spider Web ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
The Arts ◽  
History Of ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
The University

Hlinka, Michael.  Follow Your Money: Who Gets it, Who Spends It, Where Does it Go?  Illus. Kevin Sylvester. Annick Press, New York, 2013. Print.Follow Your Money is a fairly basic yet informative examination of the economy and its complexities, aimed at older kids and teens. The book starts off with a quick synopsis of the “spider web” of the economy and a brief rundown of the history of money and the concept of profit.  The author then breaks down the costs of various activities (a bus ride for example) and objects (baseball caps, sneakers), from raw materials to manufacturing costs, labour, transport, store markups, profits, etc. The author (a CBC commentator on business) is clever in what he has chosen, selecting objects and activities that are of interest to older kids and teens (computers, designer jeans, chocolate, cell phones, music, etc.).  There are also a couple of pages on fuel and its importance to the economy. The book then takes a brief look at banking and the pros and cons of credit and debit cards, and then finishes with resource suggestions for additional information and an index.The cost breakdowns may be too numerous and a little dry for some readers (depending on their interest and attention level), but they are a very effective method of getting the reader to think about where things come from, how various economic factors affect prices, and who gets the profits. The author includes interesting sidebars of historical facts and trivia about particular subjects- tea, for example, or disposable bags-adding a bit of humour in the process.  The illustrations are colourful and quirky and help clarify the points the author is making.Ideal for upper elementary and teen readers.Highly recommended:  4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Patti SherbaniukPatti is a Liaison Librarian at the Winspear School of Business at the University of Alberta. She holds a BA in English and an MLIS, both from the University of Alberta. She is passionate about food, travel, the arts and reading books of all shapes and sizes.

scholarly journals The Gentleman Bug by J. Hector

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Huck
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Text And Image ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Social Club ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
The Many ◽  
The University ◽  
The Town

Hector, Julian. The Gentleman Bug. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2010. Print. The Gentleman Bug is a charming book written and illustrated by Julian Hector and recommended for children aged 2 to 5. The story takes place in an urban, nineteenth-century locale called the Garden, which is inhabited by bugs, beetles and bees. The setting must be described as pan-European, since the Garden includes both Bugadilly Circus and something resembling the Moulin Rouge. The Gentleman Bug is a bespectacled bibliophile, who teaches a small class of younger bugs from the Garden. He may not be a stylish dresser, but his students are as devoted to him as he is to them. The Gentleman Bug is opposed by a group of four rivals that includes such churlish figures as Boss Beetle and Mayer de Mothschild. These bully bugs poke fun at the Gentleman Bug for his bookish ways. He is content to ignore them until the day the Lady Bug arrives in the Garden. Alas, she is befriended by his rivals, and so the Gentleman Bug attends the Pollen Hill social club dressed to the nines in a bid to win her attention. An embarrassing mishap with a waiter dashes his plans, but the Lady Bug notices the book he drops (surely bringing a book to a formal event is the sign of a hopeless bookworm) and secretly invites him to the opening of a new building – which turns out to be the town library – where she introduces herself as the new librarian. The entire town has assembled to admire the new library, and even Boss Beetle & co. discovers a newfound love of books. Meanwhile, the Gentleman Bug and the Lady Bug become fast friends, reading together on picnics. This is a book about the pleasures of reading and about finding friends who also enjoy reading: surely a fine message to deliver to budding young readers. The deeper lesson is that you will find true friends if you stay true to yourself and your true interests. When the Gentleman Bug's rivals are converted to reading, the book suggests that distractions will fall by the wayside when you find your purpose; either that or else that people who scoff at book lovers just haven't discovered what they are missing yet. The story is told as much through the illustrations as the text. The text is generally brief and understated, while the illustrations contain the specifics of the plot. The interplay between text and image achieves soft, humorous effects: when the protagonist crashes into a waiter, the text reads: "the rest of the evening didn't go quite as planned." Because of the many clever details that the author has included in the illustrations, he clearly expects readers to stop, interpret the pictures, and then take up the text again. He has managed to differentiate a cast of ten named characters, primarily through the illustrations, with the assistance of a guide to the characters printed on the endpapers. All of this will increase the potential for repeat reads. Although the protagonist is a gentleman bug, the book will appeal to female readers too, because the Lady Bug is a strong character and because girls and boys are portrayed as equals, both as readers and in gender roles. For example, the Gentleman Bug's students work together to sew him a suit. Likewise, it is refreshing to see that the Lady Bug is not overly feminized with long lashes or lipstick, for instance. The fact that she is a librarian might strike some as a cliché, but it does not seem out of place given the story, and the portrayal is free of the usual stereotypes of librarians. Finally, the book shows admirable restraint by eschewing a wedding bell ending, showing instead the beginning of a simple friendship between a gentleman and a lady.   Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: John Huck John is a metadata and cataloguing librarian at the University of Alberta. He holds an undergraduate degree in English literature and maintains a special interest in the spoken word. He is also a classical musician and has sung semi-professionally for many years. 

scholarly journals The Lonely Book by K. Bernheimer

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Desmarais
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Book History ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Public Library ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The Public ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
The University

Bernheimer, Kate. The Lonely Book. Illus. Chris Sheban. New York: Random House, 2012. Print.This charming story about a well-loved book will not easily be forgotten. It’s the sort of picture book I would have loved to discover during my childhood visits to the public library. The tale begins in a classic fairytale style, “Once there was a brand-new book that arrived at the library.” As the story unfolds, young readers learn all sorts of details about the inner workings of a public library, including the custom that many of the newest books are placed on a special shelf in a high traffic area.The “lonely book” of this story initially had a popular and fulfilling life on the new book shelf but eventually it is relegated to the children’s section, along with countless other well-loved titles. Years pass, the book becomes a little tattered and worn, and is now checked out all too infrequently. Then, one morning, a little girl named Alice discovers it and falls in love with the story about the girl and her life under a toadstool, and so she takes it home. “The book had never felt so beloved.” Readers will discover how lonely it becomes when Alice forgets to renew her old book, and especially so when it begins a new life in the library’s storage basement. In time, Alice longs for her favourite book and despairs that she may never see it again. The story ends on a cheerful note, however, when Alice is reunited with her once cherished book at the library’s big book sale.For those of us who understand what it is like to cherish a book from our childhood, this book will bring back fond memories. The soft watercolour illustrations complement the story beautifully and they evoke a magical time when children fall in love with books, read them late into the night, fall asleep with them under their pillows, and dream sweet dreams about favourite characters and events.Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Robert DesmaraisRobert Desmarais is Head of Special Collections at the University of Alberta and Managing Editor of The Deakin Review of Children’s Literature. A graduate of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information Studies, with a Book History and Print Culture designation, he also has university degrees in English literature and publishing. He has been collecting and enjoying children’s books for as long as he can remember.

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