scholarly journals A Little Book About Feelings by A. Schiller

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Desmeules

Schiller, Abbie. A Little Book About Feelings. California: The Mother Company, 2013. Print.A Little Book About Feelings is a product of Ruby’s Studio, a video and print series designed to educate children and parents with respect to social and emotional learning. Adapted from the video “Ruby’s Studio: The Feelings Show,” the purpose of this book is to educate children on how to understand and communicate their feelings. The Ruby Studio is produced by The Mother Company, which is a mom-run American-based company dedicated to providing resources for parents who seek to offer their children educational entertainment.With simple text and beautiful stills of handcrafted caricatures from the program as illustrations, this book is most useful for younger children. It begins by explaining what feelings are, then describes how some feelings may feel, as well as how feelings change. The story also deals with the importance of expressing your feelings as well as listening to them.Overall, this book is a helpful resource for children and parents. With bright illustrations and simple text, this book serves as an informative and entertaining resource on feelings for children.Highly recommended:  4 out of 4 stars.Reviewer: Robin DesmeulesRobin is an Academic Librarian Intern at the J.W. Scott Health Sciences Library at the University of Alberta.  Robin is an avid devourer of fiction of all kinds.

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Desmeules

DeLand, M. Maitland. The Great Katie Kate Explains Epilepsy. Austin, TX: Greenleaf Books, 2014. Print.The Great Katie Kate Explains Epilepsy marks the fourth book in this educational series written by M. Maitland DeLand. As a radiation oncologist who specializes in the treatment of children, Dr. DeLand began this series as a way of helping children and their caregivers learn about the child’s particular condition. Each book in the series recounts a story of a child learning about their illness from the Great Katie Kate, a young, readheaded superhero who swoops in to answer their questions and help them combat the “Worry Wombat,” a furry manifestation of the child’s anxieties that only goes away once their questions are answered.Based on the premise that kids are sharp and that information can help them, this book provides concise and clear information about epilepsy. It documents the experiences of Jimmy, a young boy who has seizures and is taken to hospital. There, he encounters the Great Katie Kate, who takes Jimmy and several other young people on a journey where she and the other children explain epilepsy, its diagnosis, and its treatment.Overall, the book provides clear explanations of the types, diagnosis, treatment, and management of epilepsy. Any complex terms in the book are the actual medical names bound to be used by their treatment teams. Although the text may be too long or complicated for a very young child to read on their own it is of an acceptable level for 8-12 age range. The illustrations are colourful and generally informative.Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Robin DesmeulesRobin is an Academic Librarian Intern at the J.W. Scott Health Sciences Library at the University of Alberta.  Robin is an avid devourer of fiction of all kinds.


2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell

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.  


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