scholarly journals Bone Hollow by K. Ventrella

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Daignault
Keyword(s):  
Book History ◽  
Film Studies ◽  
Death And Dying ◽  
Middle Grade ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Dust Jacket ◽  
Fantasy Novels ◽  
Horror Story ◽  
The University ◽  
The Town

Ventrella, Kim. Bone Hollow. Scholastic Press, 2019. Gabe isn’t sure what happens after he falls off a roof during a storm trying to rescue Miss Cleo’s prize chicken. And he isn’t sure why, when he wakes up in Miss Cleo’s room, no one will speak to him and everyone is crying. But it eventually becomes unignorable: Gabe died in that storm. Well, he almost died. Kim Ventrella’s second novel Bone Hollow, aimed at middle-grade readers, follows Gabe and his loyal dog Ollie as Gabe tries to figure out what happened to him, and what he’s supposed to do now that he’s dead. After some meanderings between the woods outside his town and the town itself, Gabe meets Wynne, a mysterious girl who shows him her home, the titular Bone Hollow. At the core of the book, Bone Hollow is a misty but cozy refuge from a world Gabe doesn’t fit into anymore. Gabe is searching for a new place to fit in, and Wynne is urgently searching for someone to take her place. Bone Hollow is a novel that takes its time, dwelling on sensory details that are alternately lush (like Miss Cleo’s sweet-and-savory biscuits) and grotesque (like Ollie’s propensity to lick every bit of Gabe he can find, including inside the wound that killed him). It’s not quite an adventure story, as there is no villain to defeat or ally to rescue. It’s not really a meditation on death; that theme is pervasive, but frequently interrupted. It’s not a gross-out or horror story, as plot threads that move in those directions—e.g., a creepy mortuary owner, and a hollow man with a bird inside his mouth—are abandoned as soon as they are begun. It’s a mix of all these things, in a way that defies expectations. Bone Hollow suffers somewhat from slow pacing and an unclear plot motivation. The climactic choice that Gabe must eventually make is barely foreshadowed before the halfway mark (although it is spoiled on the book’s dust jacket). Besides this momentous decision, his other movements through the story seem more orchestrated than agential: even after the tornado blows out, Gabe is buffeted around by childhood bullies, scared adults, ghosts, and speeding cars. He reacts to these events with grit, bravery, and no small amount of stubbornness, but he is, predominantly, reacting. Readers who are looking for an atmospheric, creepy, but ultimately reassuring story about loss, change, and finding one’s purpose may appreciate Ventrella’s blend of comforting and unsettling prose. Gabe’s voice is individual, funny, and charmingly Southern—you can tell he’s upset when he starts saying “gosh darn it!”—and his friendships with both his dog and Wynne are carefully traced. Squeamish readers might not appreciate the mild gore—mostly off-screen—and others might simply be put off by the focus on death and dying among humans and animals alike. For those who relish a more morbid take, this book might be a welcome addition. Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Amanda Daignault Amanda Daignault is a PhD Candidate in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta. She studies contemporary children's middle-grade fantasy novels, using methods of book history and bibliography to figure out where all those giant trilogies came from and what they're doing.

Polar Bear Morning by L. Thompson

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Desmarais
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Polar Bear ◽  
Book History ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
English Literature ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
The University

Thompson, Lauren. Polar Bear Morning. Illus. Stephen Savage. New York: Scholastic Press, 2013. Print.Ten years ago, Lauren Thompson and Stephen Savage collaborated on “Polar Bear Night”, which was a splendid picture book that swiftly became a New York Times best seller. “Polar Bear Morning” follows up on the simple story of a polar bear cub that ventures out onto the arctic tundra for an adventure, but this time our favourite cub meets a new friend. The story begins when the cub emerges from her dark den, peeks out at the clear blue sky, and follows the sound of seagulls. Soon after heading out into the snow and ice, she notices something tumbling down a snow hill. It’s a snow cub! The moment when the cubs first meet is beautifully portrayed in a two-page spread that shows two furry faces in profile looking at each other without words on the pages, which perfectly captures a child’s speechless, wide-eyed bliss upon meeting a new friend.The story continues with several charming scenes that show how the friendship develops: they climb the snow hill and tumble down together; they sprint beside the sea; they race past seals, walruses and whales; they pause at the ice’s edge; and finally, they jump into the sea together. It’s a delightful portrayal of a budding friendship, with simple, yet charming illustrations rendered in a gentle palette of soft blues, greys, pinks, and browns. This picture book is a joy to read and has all the makings of a beloved classic, including frolicsome illustrations, thoughtful design, and a captivating story. It’s a wholly satisfying picture book that will be a pleasure to read again and again.Recommendation: 4 stars out of 4Reviewer: 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.

scholarly journals Mastiff: Beka Cooper Book 3 by T. Pierce

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristine Moruzi
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Film Studies ◽  
Police Force ◽  
Postdoctoral Fellow ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Female Protagonists ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Slave Traders ◽  
The Government ◽  
The University

Pierce, Tamora. Mastiff: Beka Cooper Book 3. New York: Random House, 2011. Print. The final book in the Beka Cooper trilogy begins three years after the close of the previous book, Bloodhound, at the funeral of Beka’s fiancé. Instead of grief, Beka is relieved to be free of this unhappy relationship; enthusiastically, she begins a new hunt for the King’s abducted son, along with her supernatural cat, Pounce; her scenthound, Achoo;  and her partner, Tunstall. Soon joined by the deceptively capable mage, Farmer, and the lady knight, Sabine, the group follows the heir’s trail through noble houses, discovering corruption in all levels of the government. Pierce is known for her strong female protagonists, and Beka is no different. Fiercely loyal and honest, Beka is an upstanding member of the Tortall police force who believes in protecting the poor. When she discovers that the prince is being held by slave traders, she becomes even more determined to rescue him. Her relationships with her friends are tested by a shocking betrayal that causes innocents to die. The story is fast-paced and includes a growing relationship between Beka and Farmer that provides a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. Although it could be read as a standalone novel, some elements of the narrative are explained in the previous books. Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Kristine MoruziKristine Moruzi is a Grant Notley Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta, where she is examining representations of girlhood in Canadian children's literature between 1840 and 1940.

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.

scholarly journals Sass and Serendipity by J. Ziegler

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristine Moruzi
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Film Studies ◽  
Romantic Love ◽  
Postdoctoral Fellow ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The People ◽  
The Family ◽  
Sense And Sensibility ◽  
The University

Ziegler, Jennifer. Sass and Serendipity. New York: Delacorte Press, 2011. Print. Based loosely on Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, this book follows two very different sisters, the serious and sensible Gabriella (Gabby) and the younger, more romantic, Daphne. Both girls are reeling from their parents’ divorce and reduced financial circumstances and both deal with these problems in different ways. Gabby, firmly allied with her mother, blames her father for abandoning the family and rejects all notions of romantic love. Daphne idolises her father and believes that the boy of her dreams is waiting for her. When a crisis leaves the girls and their mother homeless, help comes from an unexpected source and both girls begin to see new possibilities in the people around them, especially two new suitors. This is a light, somewhat entertaining read, but both Gabby and Daphne are so self-centered and one-dimensional that the story quickly becomes tedious. Gabby is angry and mean to almost everyone around her, although her one friend Mule amazingly continues to tolerate her appalling behaviour. Daphne is so obsessed with romance that she is oblivious to the family concerns. Somehow, however, the girls find suitable boyfriends and this, more than anything else, causes them to become better sisters, daughters and friends. Recommended with reservations: 2 out of 4 starsReviewer: Kristine MoruziKristine Moruzi is a Grant Notley Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta, where she is examining representations of girlhood in Canadian children's literature between 1840 and 1940.

scholarly journals Cicadas’ Singing by Jiani

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Desmarais
Keyword(s):  
Book History ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Private Tutor ◽  
Chinese Characters ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Knowing That ◽  
Difficult Time ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
The University

Jiani. Cicadas’ Singing. Edmonton: Gold Mum Publishing, 2011. Print. Cicadas’ Singing was published last year by newly established Gold Mum Publishing, which specializes in bilingual books for children. I had been taking Mandarin lessons from a private tutor recently, so this seemed like an ideal opportunity to review a book with English, Chinese characters, and pinyin (the system to transliterate Chinese characters into the Latin alphabet). The story is about a girl named Huahua who lives in 1960s China with her divorced mother. We learn that this is a difficult time to be divorced because divorced women were thought to be “dirty”, but no reason or context is provided to help readers understand this form of discrimination. Following the word “dirty” is a clumsy transition to a description of Grandma Du, who is introduced as a garbage collector; she apparently is also considered dirty, “but not in the same way”. Huahua develops a friendship with Grandma Du and they begin spending time playing with homemade toys and singing songs. Knowing that Huahua desperately wants to go to kindergarten, Grandma Du offers her some advice: “Huahua is a pretty girl and will marry a wealthy man.” Once again, the story introduces to us a cultural curiosity that begs further description, nuance, or context, but instead the story makes another rough transition, this time to the day when Huahua is old enough to attend kindergarten. Huahua goes off to school and starts to avoid her older friend because “others thought Grandma Du was dirty”. Huahua pretends not to know Grandma Du, so they no longer see each other and soon thereafter we learn that Grandma Du has died. Huahua attends the funeral with her mother where they notice an unusually large number of singing cicadas, hence the title. The first problem with this book is the story, which will likely be difficult and unsatisfying for young readers. The English text has a number of problems with punctuation, diction, and grammar, and the brief cultural notes in the appendix are woefully inadequate to explain many of the cultural references. The illustrations have a certain appeal, but they are too often overwhelmed by dense layers of text. Here’s hoping that this series improves with time. Not recommended: 1 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.

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 Mine! by S. Crum

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Very Young Children ◽  
Children And Parents ◽  
Dust Jacket ◽  
Picture Story ◽  
The University

Crum, Shutta. Mine! Illus. Patrice Barton. New York:  Alfred A. Knopf, 2011.  Print. The dust jacket notes for Mine! tells us that it is about “two very young children and an adorable dog navigating the trials and triumphs of sharing.” In keeping with this theme, apart from a single “Woof?” barked by the dog, the only text is the word “mine” repeated ten times. However, when the pictures are left to tell the story, the text is really superfluous. Artist Patrice Barton has captured the chaos that happens when you put a baby, a toddler, a pile of toys, a dog, and a dog dish full of water all together in the same space without parental interference. The result is soaked children, water and wet toys thrown everywhere, and of course, a dripping dog. Children will love trying to find where all the different toys have gone from picture to picture. While the images are done in soft pastels, rather than the bright and bold colours we might expect to find in books for very young children, they are nonetheless engaging. Throughout, Barton manages to communicate movement in the images. Swoosh lines follow flying feet, jiggle lines show us the baby’s unsteady movement, and dashed lines show us where the balls or toys have flown or bounced. Over the course of the chaos, there is a delightful four page sequence where the baby stands up, totters across two pages and, overleaf, takes a flying leap, flattening the toddler, and sending the wet toys flying everywhere. That, of course, is the point where the adults reappear and begin picking up wet children and clothing. Because of all the wet and wild action in the book, the theme of sharing, or rather, not sharing, gets lost. So as a book with a message, Mine! does not work particularly well.  However, both children and parents will enjoy the entertaining picture story. Recommendation:  3 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 Public Event: Free Public Lecture: Dr. Jaimie Baron

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Rose Ackerley
Keyword(s):  
Film Studies ◽  
Assistant Professor ◽  
Public Event ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The University ◽  
Public Lecture

Dr. Jaimie Baron, an Assistant Professor of Film Studies at the University of Alberta, will present a lecture on the ethics of sonic appropriation, on Friday, November 18, 2016 from 4:00pm-6:00pm at Harbour Centre, Room 7000. Please see the poster attached for more details.

scholarly journals Bon Appétit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child by J. Hartland

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Desmarais
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Book History ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
English Literature ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Line Drawings ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The University

Hartland, Jessie. Bon Appétit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books, 2012. Print.Master chef and author Julia Child (1912–2004) was adored by audiences from the moment she first starred in her own television cooking show in 1963. It was an immediate success because people were captivated by Child’s warm, high-spirited personality and her enthusiasm for good food and wine. Indeed, she regularly toasted viewers with a glass of wine and her trademark “Bon appétit!” in her distinctive voice. Young readers are introduced to Child in this delightful picture book biography that is a feast for the eyes. It offers a surprisingly thorough account of her life, and includes scenes from her early childhood in Pasadena, California, her brief career with an American spy agency, and her struggle to publish the now famous “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”, to name but a few of the highlights. In one especially amusing spread, readers are shown how to make chicken galantine in 32 numbered panels, which make clear that Child encouraged her fans to try new foods and cooking techniques. Author-illustrator Jessie Hartland uses simple cartoons and a handwritten typeface to tell the story, and it is immediately apparent from the opening pages that the book is jam-packed with artwork and text, but the overall effect is one of considerable charm and animation. The endpapers are crammed with line drawings of kitchen tools, ingredients, and objects from Child’s life, which have English and French labels for readers who want to learn some essential vocabulary in both languages. For readers who want to learn more about Child, the book includes a useful bibliography, brief epilogue, and web links that show Child’s actual kitchen from her house in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the restaurant where she had her first meal in France. This adorable publication will appeal to foodies of all ages. Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 stars    Reviewer: 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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