scholarly journals Brave Music of a Distant Drum by M. Herbstein

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Sivak
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Education ◽  
Red Deer ◽  
Slave Trade ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Sexual Assaults ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The Public ◽  
Slave Ship ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
The University

Herbstein, Manu. Brave Music of a Distant Drum. Red Deer, AB: Red Deer Press. 2012. Print. A young African-American man, Zachariah Wiliams, comes to visit his mother, who has been enslaved all her adult life. He, too, is a slave, but views his Brazilian owners as benevolent Christians, who have taught him how to read and write, gave him some pay for his bookkeeping work, and have promised to set him free in the coming years. He is reticent to meet with his mother who has never converted to Christianity, and with whom he is not close; she calls him by the name Kwame Zumbi, and she is uninterested in his successes working for his owners. She has asked him to smuggle some paper from his office, for she is going to tell a story she wishes him to write down for his own daughter to read when she is older.Ama's story is brutal in a way that is familiar to many readers, but not predictable. She tells of a failed rebellion on the slave ship, the beatings and sexual assaults that were a part of her everyday life, and of her love for Tomba, Zacharias' father. She writes of her intimacy with the daughter of her owners, emphasizing the strangeness of a girl who attempts to treat Ama well as a slave, but who does not truly want Ama to have her freedom. Although Ama has some momentary victories against people involved in the slave trade, she is never ultimately free. The novel does not attempt to fulfill a reader's hope for Ama's emancipation, and in this way, is more realistic than some fictional narratives of slavery in the Americas; it also avoids 'containing' the issue of slavery by ending with an individual's escape. This makes for a difficult, but strong novel.This young adult novel is based on author Herbstein's earlier historical novel for adults, Ama: A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Herbstein has made an unusual move here, revising the original novel for a younger audience, and has made thoughtful choices in doing so. He has shortened the story significantly, skimming over much of Ama's experiences that take place between her kidnapping in her village, and her forced placement on a slave ship headed for Brazil. (He skillfully explains this change as the limited amount of paper that Zachariah been able to procure; Ama wishes to retain only the details of her brutal enslavement in Brazil.) Herbstein's use of shifting first-person perspective, alternating between Ama and Zacharias, efficiently conveys Ama's blunt telling with her son's change from disbelief to anger at the injustice she has endured—an injustice that implicates his Brazilian owners. Brave Music of a Distant Drum is a brutal, thoughtful, well-written book that would be excellent for teenage readers.Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Allison SivakAllison Sivak is the Public Services 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.

scholarly journals Tinybop. Me: A Kid’s Diary by A. Seixas

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Sivak
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Education ◽  
Young Children ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The Public ◽  
The People ◽  
Library And Information Studies ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
Audio Recordings ◽  
The University ◽  
Colour Hair

Seixas, Ana. Tinybop. Me: A Kid’s Diary. 2016. Apple App Store, https://itunes.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1126531257?mt=8.  Ages 3-7 (depending on parent assistance)Cost: $2.99 This app allows young children to create a digital diary filled with their own writings, photos, audio recordings, and drawings. The child creates an avatar from a varied array of options for skin colour, hair colour and style, facial features, and accessories. The app then encourages the child to respond to prompts, such as, “A song about me would be titled…,” “This is an interesting fact about my family,” and, “If I were an animal, I would look like this.” Some questions require a textual response, while others ask the child to draw, record, or take a snapshot of their response to the prompt, thereby taking advantage of the affordances offered by a tablet or phone. Other activities include the option to create a family tree, to create avatars of the child’s friends, and to answer all kinds of questions about the people in the child’s life. A child can draw, record, and photograph daily activities, such as their life at school. Children can use the app to explore their own ideas, experiences, and feelings through both serious and silly questions. A Kid’s Diary takes a simple process and makes it even more accessible to quite young children. Ana Seixas’ illustrations use eye-popping colours, with good use of contrast and negative space to make clicking easy. The language of the questions is simple and displayed in a large font. Younger children should be able to use this app with the help of caregivers reading the text for the children’s answers. Caregivers should know that the company foregrounds their privacy policy on the developer site, noting that the app does not collect information about the users through the application itself. It is highly recommended as a fun way for children and their caregivers to learn more about themselves and the world they observe around them. Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Allison Sivak Allison Sivak is the Public Services 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.

scholarly journals Brave Music of a Distant Drum by M. Herbstein

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Quirk
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
South African ◽  
Red Deer ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Slave Ship ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
The University ◽  
Important Purpose

Herbstein, Manu.  Brave Music of a Distant Drum. Markham, ON: Red Deer Press, 2011.  Print. This is a powerful and thought-provoking novel, which offers remarkable insights into one of the darkest chapters in human history.  South African author Manu Herbstein was awarded the 2002 Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for Ama: A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade, and in Brave Music of a Distant Drum, Herbstein re-imagines Ama’s story for a younger, North American audience. The novel chronicles the meeting between an elderly woman at the end of her life and the son who does not remember or understand her.  It soon becomes clear that the divide which separates mother and son cannot be overcome until he listens to her story.  Kidnapped as a teenager by Bedagbam slave raiders, young Ama was traded several times by powerful slave owners in Africa before she found herself on a slave ship bound for South America.  Now elderly and blind, Ama needs her son to write her history down so that it will not be drowned “in the swamp of lost memories.” It is a heart-breaking story, but one that is filled with courageous acts of resistance and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of hope.  Following in the tradition of Alex Haley’s Roots (1976) and Lawrence Hill’s The Book of Negros (2007), it is apparent that Ama’s son needs to understand his parents’ history before he can make sense of his own life in the present. This novel is recommended for young adults (16+), and this is an important guideline for two reasons.  First, readers who lack sufficient literary and historical knowledge will have trouble interpreting the clues that reveal that the novel is set in eighteenth-century Brazil.  More importantly, although the novel’s realistic depictions of horrific violence serve an important purpose, this violence is challenging for even a mature reader. Recommended: Four stars out of fourReviewer: Linda QuirkLinda is Assistant Special Collections Librarian at the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library at the University of Alberta.

scholarly journals 9 Degrees North: The ABCs of North Ghana

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Dalmer
Keyword(s):  
Red Deer ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Northern Ghana ◽  
School Students ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Northern Regions ◽  
The University ◽  
Made In

Tools for Schools Africa Foundation. 9 Degrees North: The ABCs of North Ghana. Red Deer, Alberta: Tools for Schools Africa Foundation, 2011. Print. Since 2003, Tools for Schools Africa Foundation has been working to increase educational opportunities in northern Ghana. A registered charity based out of Red Deer, Alberta, they have been working to advance the quality of life of those living in the northern regions of Ghana by improving access to post-primary education. One of their recent projects includes the publication of an ABC book for primary school students. 9 Degrees North: The ABCs of North Ghana is an amazing piece of beautiful artistry; each letter colourfully depicting animals, activities, plants, traditions, history and other aspects of Ghanaian life. Each of the 26 letters is illustrated by a different artist, allowing readers to be introduced to a variety of artistic mediums, including oils, pastels, watercolours and pencil. The artistry from letter to letter is unique, featuring different uses of colour and technique, yet each image is consistently impressive. The accessible and well-written sentences that accompany each illustration introduce readers to Bolga baskets (grass baskets made in Bolgatanga), Kapok trees (used by people and farm animals for its shade), Oware (the national game of Ghana), and the Black Volta River (full of crocodiles) amongst many other interesting facts and features about this country. In addition to the few sentences used to explain the illustrations associated with each of the 26 letters, there is a detailed appendix with additional facts about the object or focus of each letter which could serve as a useful teaching tool for using this book in the classroom. The appendix also includes several additional photographs and paintings of Ghana. 9 Degrees North: The ABCs of North Ghana is highly recommended for elementary school libraries as well as public libraries. With its varied and vibrant illustrations, and with proceeds from the sale of this book supporting scholarships for girls in northern Ghana, this will also make an excellent addition to any reader’s collection. Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Nicole Dalmer Nicole Dalmer is a Public Services Librarian at H.T. Coutts Education & Physical Education Library at the University of Alberta. She is interested in health literacy, pinball, and finding the perfect cup of coffee to accompany a good read.

scholarly journals Black Cat Bone: the Life of Blues Legend Robert Johnson by J. P. Lewis

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Sivak
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Education ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The United States ◽  
Older Children ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Library And Information Studies ◽  
Poetic Text ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University

Lewis, J. P. Black Cat Bone: the Life of Blues Legend Robert Johnson. Illus. Gary Kelley. Mankato: Creative Editions, 2006. Print.Although this book is designed as a large-format picture book, Black Cat Bone is more likely to appeal to older children (middle school and adolescents) as a poetic text, with its rich illustrations and unusual narrative flow. The foreword of the book addresses a reader who knows some about blues musicians, as well as has some hint of the history of blues music in the United States. The language of the text is not trying to tell a linear story, but to be more evocative of a time, and of some of the historical context. The book actually has several texts: the address of the historical context that bookends the work, the bluesy poems which make up the majority of the text, excerpts from Johnson's own lyrics, and a footer running throughout the book, which provides aphoristic summaries of Johnson's story: “He was destined for legend not a field hand's work.” Each text tells a part of the interpretation of Johnson's story. With the images, it adds up to a faceted narrative of the man and his musical legacy. The illustrations alternate between impressionistic pastels in deep dark colours, reinforcing the air of mystery around Johnson's life as understood by popular culture. Kelley's other illustrative style is reminiscent of Indonesian shadow-puppets, dramatic and exaggerated in their execution. A particularly lovely example is show in full on the cover, a depiction of Johnson and the devil facing each other, each with a hand on the guitar. This image is reproduced in the text, split by the page turn in a clever design turn. Recommended: 3 stars out of 4Reviewer: 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.

The Case of Teacher-Librarianship by Distance Learning at the University of Alberta, Canada

2011 ◽  
pp. 78-90
Author(s):  
Dianne Oberg
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Elementary Education ◽  
Emerging Technologies ◽  
Framework Analysis ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Certificate Programs ◽  
Online Distance Education ◽  
Online Distance ◽  
The University

The online distance education program, Teacher-Librarianship by Distance Learning, was developed and implemented in the Department of Elementary Education at the University of Alberta, Canada beginning in 1996. At the time, neither the university nor the department had the interest, funding or infrastructure required for such an undertaking, but these developed over time through a combination of careful planning and serendipity. The program’s instructional team has utilized various approaches to establish, maintain and continue the program: a distance education theoretical framework, analysis of distance education research, one-time government incentive funding, and on-going policy relevant research and evidence-based practice. Current challenges facing the organization are program growth, new and emerging technologies, and maintaining flexibility. The solutions to these challenges include a cohort model for the majority of program delivery; a stand-alone course introducing new and emerging technologies as a launching pad for integration of these technologies; and graduate certificate programs for meeting the short term needs of teachers new to the field.

scholarly journals The Good Little Book by K. Maclear

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Aitken
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Public Library ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The Public ◽  
Child Psychologists ◽  
Clear Vision ◽  
Intended Reader ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
The University

Maclear, Kyo.  The Good Little Book. Illustrated by Marion Arbona.  Tundra Books, 2015.In this work, Maclear uses allegorical techniques to expand on compelling themes.  Her protagonist is unnamed; he is “the boy,” every boy who loves to read.  The Good Little Book is every book that captivates a reader.  Its author is unnamed.   Its characters are not delineated.  Only a captioned illustration, one of Arbona’s many colorful offerings, provides clues to the book’s plot and impact:“It carried him to the deep sea and steered him towards a faraway land. It dazzled him and stumped him and made him laugh and gasp.  He read it through.  Then he turned back to the beginning and read it again.”[pp.11-12]Humour is a feature of the work; Maclear likes to play with words--literary words. The Good Little Book resides with others, one of which has won the “Called a Cat” medal.  We are informed, however, that “The good little book…had no shiny medals…it didn’t even own a proper jacket.” [p.3]The protagonist’s compulsion to read and reread his good little book introduces the first theme: books transport us to imagined worlds.  When the book is lost, then rediscovered, a secondary theme emerges: books are to be shared.Text and illustration lead the reader to surmise that “the boy” is school-aged, a child physically mature enough to walk his dog while riding a skateboard.  He is, of course, an avid and independent reader.  Tormented by the loss of his book, he is old enough to hunt for it on his own, to scour crowded and heavily trafficked streets, to search the public library.  Initially, he appears to have an age appropriate appreciation of the book’s capacity to occupy his mind, to move his thoughts.“The book the boy thought couldn’t do anything did many things.” [p.11] “It did become a loyal companion, there to see him to sleep and distract him when he had to “think things over.””[p.13].To this point, the boy’s relationship with the book seems in keeping with the primary theme: book as intellectual transport.  Suddenly, his thought processes revert to those of a much younger child.“The boy worried. How would such a good and quiet book survive?  What would it do if it found itself at the edge of the unknown? Or among frightful enemies?...the book did not have skills that would help it in the dangerous wild….”[pp.19-20 ]The story becomes even more anthropomorphic when the book is discovered by various creatures:“A squirrel thought it might be a thriller.  A sparrow thought it might be a romance.  A raccoon thought it might be a sandwich.” [p.29 ]These developments raise a question: “Who is the intended reader?”  A child who has completed grade three would generally have both the ability and the maturity to read the book and to appreciate its messages.  This reader might, initially, identify with the protagonist’s dilemma. But would this same youngster identify with thinking that becomes, in the lexicon of child psychologists, animistic?  One can readily imagine a nine-year-old reader’s sudden dismissal of the work as, “…a little kid’s book.” One can also imagine that a preschooler would listen with rapt attention to the anthropomorphic sections, but zone out during the development of the book’s themes. Finally, it may be that only librarians, booksellers, and children’s literature specialists would appreciate the humour.  In sum, maintaining a clear vision of the intended reader or listener is a requisite in any kind of storytelling; The Good Little Book falls short in this regard.Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer:  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.

scholarly journals The Sloth Who Slowed Us Down by M. Wild

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Darilyn Randall
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Education ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
Division 1 ◽  
Speed Up ◽  
Children's Literacy ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The University ◽  
Descriptive Writing

Wild, Margaret. The Sloth Who Slowed Us Down. Illustrated by Vivienne To, Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2018. You’ll want to make a speedy trip to the nearest bookstore to pick up a copy of Margaret Wild’s The Sloth Who Slowed Us Down. Together with Vivienne To’s illustrations, this simple story about how a little sloth can be a big example could make anyone want to stop and smell the roses. Life seems to speed up every day, work needs to get done faster so we have time to quickly make dinner, quickly exercise, and then quickly move on to the next thing we feel like we need to speed through. In her newest children’s book, Wild’s descriptive prose directly mirrors Sloth as he teaches Amy’s family the importance of taking our time and enjoying living in the moment. Realistically, we are all very busy, moving from one task to the next without indulging in the little things, the happy moments and the details. Everyone from busy families to teachers to even grown-ups with grown-up jobs and responsibilities could benefit from giving this adoring story a read. The colourful but soft illustrations created by To provide new detail and add more expression to Wild’s story each time it’s read. Illustrations of Sloth make you want to snuggle him while you read this story and feel like a child again. Through her descriptive writing, Wild portrays Sloth’s actions quite clearly. She includes phrases, such as “Sloth had a long, leisurely bath. . .” that roll off the tongue in a way that makes you feel like you’re taking your time, but in the best sort of way.  Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Darilyn Randall Darilyn Randall is a fourth-year student at the University of Alberta completing her Bachelor of Elementary Education. She is interested in teaching in a Division 1 classroom where she can incorporate children’s literacy into cross-curricular activities.

scholarly journals The Walrus Who Escaped by R. & S. Qitsualik-Tinsley

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Education ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Special Kind ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Important Concept ◽  
Human Emotions ◽  
The Many ◽  
The University

Qitsualik-Tinsley, Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley.  The Walrus Who Escaped. Illus. Anthony Brennan.  Iqualuit, NU:  Inhabit Media Inc., 2014. Print.In this book, Rachael and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley retell another of the many Inuit legends that explain why things are the way they are.   According to this story, walruses used to have spiral tusks.  Raven, who is always a bit of a trouble maker and looking for a free meal, imprisons the walrus in ice because she wants his clams.  Imprisoning the walrus doesn’t get the raven any clams, but when the walrus gets free, the force straightens his tusks.The most interesting theme in this story is that of the “Strength in the Land”, which the authors explain variously as something that would be ill-described as “magic” and could be thought of as a “special kind of dream”.  Even in today’s Inuit culture, land strength is an important concept that is implied in many works, but is rarely directly addressed.  Qitsualik-Tinsleys deserve kudos for attempting to capture it in a children’s book.The text is overprinted on Anthony Brennan’s cartoon-like images which show the animals demonstrating human emotions such as contentment, frustration, anger and fear.  The colours are generally bright, with the light blues of the sea and the ice predominating. Highly recommended for public libraries, elementary education libraries and libraries that collect Canadian Indigenous Children’s works.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 Little Humans by B. Stanton

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerri Trombley
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Elementary Education ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
York City ◽  
School Division ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
The People ◽  
The University

Stanton, Brandon. Little humans. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2014. PrintFrom the creator of Humans of New York, comes the most dynamic, colourful and diverse group of little people of New York City. Brandon Stanton’s ability to capture the unique personalities of his subjects and “tell” a story through pictures is both captivating and brilliantly vivid. The ‘Little Humans’ are shown throughout the book in bright close-ups and even brighter clothing. Each page is filled in entirely with a close-up photograph of a child in different situations. Cultural diversity and differences are prominent in the photographs, but the text tackles the sameness we all share.“Little humans can be tough…but not too tough to need a hug.”Set against New York City streets, Little Humans embodies the ethnic diversity of the people of NYC. The text is limited, but has themes of resiliency, strength, identity and character woven throughout. Stanton writes of how little people are strong, talented and helpful.The story itself could have been written with more depth; however, the lack of narrative allows the reader to engage with the photographs and imagine the story of each unique person that is highlighted.Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Kerri TrombleyKerri Trombley is a Vice Principal with Sturgeon School Division and is currently completing her Master’s Degree in Elementary Education at the University of Alberta. She shares her love of literature with all of her students.

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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