scholarly journals Bug in a Vacuum by M. Watt

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne Pearce
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Graphic Design ◽  
Support Staff ◽  
Unexpected Event ◽  
Entire Life ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Complex Emotions ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The University

Watt, Mélanie. Bug in a Vacuum. Toronto, Ontario: Tundra Books, 2015. Print.“It was on top of the world when it happened. Its entire life changed with the switch of a button.” – So begins Bug in a Vacuum, a fun yet serious exploration of the range of emotions one can feel when coping with an unexpected event. A bug’s life is suddenly interrupted when it is sucked up into a vacuum while flying about a house. Tossed and turned, it awakes inside the vacuum and becomes aware of its confinement.  As the bug comes to terms with his predicament, it undergoes an emotional journey of denial, bargaining, anger, despair and acceptance. Interlaced between the bug’s journey, a small dog undergoes the same emotions as it copes with the loss of a toy that was also sucked up by the vacuum.Watt, who is well known for her work on the Scaredy Squirrel series, has truly achieved a golden mean with Bug in a Vacuum. The story is simple and yet deals with very complex emotions. It would be an excellent way to broach the subject of coping and emotions with children, especially those confronting a loss or change. Children can laugh at the bug’s struggles but then also relate to them. The text flows at a good pace, while the illustrations draw you in to explore extra details.The artwork of Bug in Vacuum is particularly unique in that it uses mixed media. The colors are muted and earthy in quality. The textures of furniture, carpets and the interior of the vacuum contrast against the glossy super-large eyes of both the bug and his canine companion. The mixture of artistic and digital textures creates a visually stimulating story of its own, that the reader will want to revisit.With such an excellent narrative and engaging illustrations Bug in Vacuum is bound to become a favorite of children and adults alike.Highly recommended: 4 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 Librarian at the HT Coutts Education and Physical Education Library. Aside from being an avid reader she has continuing interests in writing, photography, graphic design and knitting.

scholarly journals Sam & Dave Dig a Hole by M. Barnett and J. Klassen

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne Pearce
Keyword(s):  
Physical Education ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Graphic Design ◽  
Support Staff ◽  
Hard Work ◽  
Chocolate Milk ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The University

Barnett, Mac, and Jon Klassen. Sam & Dave Dig a Hole. Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2014. Print.Sam and Dave are on a mission to find something spectacular. They head out with shovel in hand to dig a hole. The digging is hard work but the determined duo makes progress. Pretty soon the hole is deeper than they are tall, and they rest over animal crackers and chocolate milk to strategize: should they continue downwards? Left? Right?This delightful story works hand-in-hand with the clever illustrations of Jon Klassen, revealing only to the reader, the spectacular things that Sam and Dave are missing as they change directions in their digging. My co-reviewer (a six-year-old niece) was wrought with frustration and giggles to see the gems and treasures that were passing Dave’s and Sam’s notice as they changed directions.In a clever way Mac Barnett has found a way to not only tell an entertaining story, but to also teach about choices and consequences. After the first reading, the co-reviewer and I discussed how the story might have been different if Sam and Dave had not changed directions. Klassen’s washed-out brownish images convey a beautiful underground world of dirt and gems.This book is best suited for children who are at least 5-6 years old, as they need to be able to understand the story as well as read the illustrations to understand it completely. Another co-reviewer (a 3-year old niece) was delighted with the illustrations but did not take away the same level of enjoyment and pleasure as her older sister. This book was a wonderful read.Highly recommended: 4 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 Librarian at the HT Coutts Education and Physical Education Library. Aside from being an avid reader she has continuing interests in writing, photography, graphic design and knitting. 

scholarly journals Don't by L. Trochatos

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne Pearce
Keyword(s):  
Physical Education ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Graphic Design ◽  
Support Staff ◽  
Learning To Read ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The Many ◽  
The University

Trochatos, Litsa. Don't. Illus. Virginia Johnson. Toronto: Groundwood Books, 2014. Print.“Don’t start a food fight with an octopus, it has six more arms than you do” is how Don’t begins its advice of the many things you should not do with particular animals and why. This colourful storybook warns of the potential concequences of engaging in a game of badminton with a frog or playing fetch with a turtle.Don’t is a quick and funny read. It is most suitable for children in preschool or kindergarten but it also works nicely with those in grades 1-2 who are learning to read. Virginia Johnston’s watercolour images are the highlight of this book, punctuating the humour and carrying the story along. The heavy cardboard pages also make it suitable for younger children who will enjoy the images of animals doing various activities. The book could have been a bit longer, my co-reviewers (two young nieces) wanted “more don’ts”.  Overall, a very enjoyable read.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 Librarian at the HT Coutts Education and Physical Education Library. Aside from being an avid reader she has continuing interests in writing, photography, graphic design and knitting.

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 You Just Can’t Help It by J. Szpirglas

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Personal Space ◽  
Upper Elementary ◽  
Open Mouth ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The World ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The University

Szpirglas, Jeff.  You Just Can’t Help It:  Your Guide to the Wild and Wacky World of Human Behavior, Toronto:  Owlkids Books, 2010.  Print. The publisher describes this brightly coloured and heavily-illustrated book as “The Naked Ape meets MAD Magazine”.  It is a fun and irreverent look at what makes people behave the way they do.  The four chapters cover senses, emotions, communication and interactions with other people and the world around us. The presentation of the material is excellent for the upper elementary (ages 9-12) audience.  Throughout there are different fonts, shapes, styles, colours and media.  One page contains many elements including sidebars, boxes, cartoons, drawings, photographs. On each page there is something fun.  For example on page 19, which covers the subject of kissing, facts about kissing are listed as “The Good”, “The Gross” and “The Unusual”.  There is also a photograph of a cat with oversized red whiskers drawn in.  The most amusing, though, is the composite picture of a robin with worms in its beak, looking like it is about to drop them into the open mouth of a human baby. The text includes many subjects that will interest pre-teens such as hand-gestures, personal space, slang, lying and fear. The language is age appropriate and there are occasional activities for readers to try. Szpirglas uses attention-grabbing headings to present facts.  For example, “Stinky Snarl” introduces a paragraph on facial responses to bad smells.  An experiment on reflex and emotional tears is titled “a real tearjerker”. This book is a nice blend of fun, fact and learning.  Highly recommended for school and public libraries. 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 Commentary: The Transgender Child: A Lesson in Acceptance

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-40
Author(s):  
Wren Kauffman
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Minority ◽  
Critical Importance ◽  
Transgender People ◽  
Minority Studies ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Transgender Children ◽  
The World ◽  
Gender Neutral ◽  
The University

In this interview, 12-year-old Wren Kauffman shares his earliest memories of "not feel[ing] right" in his body and how he conveyed this powerful sentiment to his parents. Wren and his mother Wendy discuss the transgender journey their family has gone on, which initially started by contacting the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services at the University of Alberta. Wren recounts how he told friends and classmates that he was transgender, talks about the support and openness he has received from teachers, friends, and schools, and of the critical importance of acceptance. Issues such as bullying, gender-neutral spaces, and diversity are also discussed. In addition, Wendy emphasizes the key role education plays in the inclusion of transgender children: "If we can start from a place of education, and explain that there is a really wide kind of variety of different ways that people can be born, that’s going to help society and people in general understand that transgender people are in the world."

scholarly journals Beyond the academic’s dilemma: Transdisciplinary and existential perspectives of re-enchantment

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rennie Naidoo
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Dialectical Tensions ◽  
Dialectical Approach ◽  
Sustainable Future ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The University

The purpose of this article is to stimulate debate about the developing paradoxes and dilemmas facing the university academic. This article argues that academics are increasingly being steeped in an inauthentic existence due, at least partly to, egocentrism and sociocentrism. A modest transdisciplinary- existential analytical framework is applied as an intellectual method to reflect on the prevailing monological perspectives stifling the role of academics, in working towards building a more sustainable future. Using concepts such as the subject, facticity and transcendence, the article investigates the dialectical tensions between some of these monological perspectives and proposes avenues to create new possibilities to progress the role of the academic. The article argues that the multilogical perspectives of transdisciplinary thinking and the empowering perspectives of existential thinking can provide academics with the necessary conceptual tools to transcend egocentrism and sociocentrism. While it is likely that new contradictions will emerge as a result of this synthesis, open-minded academics are urged to ignite their imaginative powers and take up the challenge of creating and acting on new possibilities. A transdisciplinary-existential dialectical approach can provide a richer understanding of present dilemmas in academia and the world, and suggest more satisfying paths to a sustainable future.

scholarly journals Zen Studio Meditation for Kids by P. Bonita & B. Silverman

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cori Sanderson
Keyword(s):  
Graphic Design ◽  
Radio Station ◽  
Design Elements ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Spare Time ◽  
Library And Information Studies ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
Second Year ◽  
The University ◽  
Age Range

Bonita, P., & B. Silverman. Zen Studio Meditation for Kids. Edoki Academy, 2016. Vers 1.15. Apple App Store, https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zen-studio-meditation-for-kids/id1051358262?mt=8  Suggested age range: 4+ Cost: Free with in app purchases (complete version $3.99 USD) Edoki Academy has effectively created an app that allows children to appreciate music and art as relaxation aids. Their Zen Studio Meditation for Kids is a painting app that allows children to virtually finger paint by filling in a grid of triangles with colours as music notes simultaneously play. The free version of the app offers two blank canvases and two canvases with tutorials that they can follow. The app is designed well and is intuitive enough that is does not need the clutter of menus or instructional detours. The only instances where guidance is visible are when new spaces on the grid are exposed to guide users to the next colour, or when the congratulatory confetti explodes on the screen to signify that a tutorial is completed. It is important to note that once a tutorial is completed the music continues to play and children can continue painting over the triangles as they please without the pressure to move on to a new tutorial. There is no feedback or time limit given for the tutorials because the point is to relax and enjoy the process. What makes the app unique is the layering of music that happens when the background meditation music blends with the notes that play each time a triangle is filled in with colour. This allows children to relax to the background music and be encouraged to create their own melodies as they are painting. The graphic design elements are simple and clean and there are no words that prompt you to select a canvas or a tutorial. Instead of words, the app uses animation and magnification to show that a selection has been made. It is very clear when a choice has been made because it appears in colour and the universal “play” triangle symbol appears, leading the user to click there to begin the painting.  A handbook for parents and teachers is also included in the app. This additional document provides information on mindfulness and the intentions behind Edoki Academy’s Zen Studio Meditation for Kids. It also offers some learning exercises and questions that parents or teachers can supplement with the app. This app is recommended for creative children who enjoy music and painting, or those who would benefit from learning new ways to reduce stress or anxiety and practice mindfulness. Screenshot of the homepage showing the two blank canvases and two tutorial canvases.   An example of a tutorial of a firetruck almost at completion. Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Cori Sanderson Cori is in her second year of the Master of Library and Information Studies program at the University of Alberta. In her spare time, she listens to podcasts and volunteers at her local campus radio station where she participates in a monthly library-centric radio show.  

KARST IN URBAN AREAS

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
PHILIP VAN BEYNE ◽  
VANDA CLAUDINO-SALES ◽  
SAULO ROBERTO DE OLIVEIRA VITAL ◽  
DIEGO NUNES VALADARES
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Graduate Program ◽  
The United States ◽  
South Florida ◽  
State University ◽  
William Morris ◽  
Important Data ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The University

In its third edition, the “William Morris Davis – Journal of Geomorphology” presents its second interview with geographers, to head the “Interviews” section, which opens each published issue. This time, it is the first international interview, carried out with Professor Philip van Beynen, from the University of South Florida, in the United States. Professor Philip van Beynen was interviewed on the topic “Karst in Urban Areas”, and brings important data on the subject, with beautiful illustrations and with examples from all over the world. The interview took place on September 17, 2020, with the participation of Vanda de Claudino-Sales (Professor of the Academic Master in Geography at the State University of Vale do Acarau-UVA) and Saulo Roberto Oliveira Vital (Professor of the Department of Geography and the Post-Graduate Program in Geography at the Federal University of Paraiba - UFPB), and was transcribed by Diego Nunes Valadares, master's student on Geography at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. Professor van Beynen was born in New Zealand, where he received his degree in Geography at the University of Auckland. He earned a master's degree from the same university, and a doctorate and post-doctorate from McMaster University, Canada. He has been a professor at the School of Geoscience at the University of South Florida since 2009, where he   has been developing research related to different components of karst environments. The interview shows his great expertise on the subject, and is very much worth to be read and seen even for those who are not specialists in karst.

scholarly journals Sustainability Higher Education in the Context of Bearn’s University of Beauty

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 10533
Author(s):  
Lesley Le Grange
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sustainability Education ◽  
Concept Analysis ◽  
Traditional Concept ◽  
Present Generation ◽  
The World ◽  
Role Players ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The University

Sustainability and its relationship with education has been the subject of much contestation in recent decades. This article reviews some of the debates on sustainability in the context of higher education and raises concern about the narrowing of the discourse on sustainability and sustainability education in the neoliberal university. The methods used in this article are philosophical, combining traditional concept analysis with concept creation. The later method holds that philosophical concepts are created or reimagined so that they have transformative effects in the world. The key finding of this conceptual exploration is that sustainability (education) can be liberated from the fetters of neoliberalism and can be imagined differently. This might be possible in the “University of Beauty”. Moreover, the potential for reimagining sustainability higher education already exists within the neoliberal university and in those who inhabit it. This is because sustainability higher education and those who inhabit the neoliberal university are always in the process of becoming. The article concludes that the present generation of students should be viewed as key role players in rethinking sustainability higher education.

Memorial

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
pp. 760-760
Author(s):  
Nancy House
Keyword(s):  
Isotope Geochemistry ◽  
Fine Arts ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Geophysical Data ◽  
Fort Worth ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The World ◽  
Seismic Acquisition ◽  
A Minor ◽  
The University

Donald Macpherson was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on 6 October 1941. He passed on 20 August 2020. Though he was a proud Canadian till the end, he clung to his Scottish culture and became a fixture with his bagpipes at many events throughout the Dallas–Fort Worth area. He attended the University of Alberta, initially studying music and fine arts and earning a bachelor's degree in 1964 with a minor in math and chemistry. He graduated with a master's degree in isotope geochemistry and geophysics from the University of Alberta in 1965. Don walked into the “best job in the world” as a geophysicist at Mobil Oil Canada in 1965. There, he was responsible for seismic acquisition crews, processing, and interpretation of geophysical data.

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