The Delta is My Home

McLeod, T. & Willett, M. (2008). The Delta is My Home. Calgary, Alberta: Fitzhenry and Whiteside Co.
(Photographed by Tessa Macintosh)

This book is a collaborative effort by a grade 6 student (Tom Mcleod) and his teacher. Tom lives in Aklavik, Northwest Territories where he spends a lot of time on the land hunting and fishing with his family. The Delta is My Home tells about Tom's family and their life in Aklavik - his school, hunting trips, interviews with CBC radio, his Mom's wonderful bannock, and a big flood. Tom's father is a Renewable Resource Officer and Tom adds facts about wildlife behaviour and preservation to his stories.  Tom's stories are in one font while his teacher's comments are in another font. Through beautiful colour photographs of the landscape, wildlife and everyday life on each page and Tom's personal stories enhanced with added information from his teacher, this book really gives a sense of Tom's life in the north.

Intermediate, Teacher resource

World Book Encyclopedia 2012

Kobasa, P. (Ed.). (2012). The World Book Encylopedia.Chicago, IL.:World Book Inc.

This reference set consists of 22 volumes, 21 with alphabetical entries and one index. The index includes a 32 page section on "Writing, Speaking and Research Skills" which includes directions for writing reports, book reports and research papers (including tips on editing), tips for public speaking, and a research section which focuses on getting to know the library and assessing the reliability of sources.  This section, while it has some good pointers, is very text heavy with black and white line drawing illustrations of students. The introduction to the set states many articles are written at different grade levels depending on the curriculum/age appropriateness of the topic (eg. mouse is written at a primary level while cell uses more advanced vocabulary) and some articles progress from simpler to more complex language as the entry progresses. World Book editors also assert that they use current research into how children read maps to guide their map design.  Each entry includes cross references within World Book, a list of related articles/books and headings within the text to guide reading. I tried to look up a "wonder" question we had in kindergarten - "Do polar bears hibernate?" - and found the answer after looking up bears, then following the 'related articles' suggestions to polar bears and finally to hibernation.  This required using three different volumes.  Polar bears don't hibernate, by the way.  While students often love the feeling of holding a big, thick, heavy book, these books use small, consistent font, small photos (often colour) and graphs, tables and diagrams in subdued colours which are not engaging for young readers (or adults for that matter). Having to pull out several volumes rather than click a mouse to follow links is also cumbersome. While the information has strong authority, being chosen by expert editors, the editors do make decisions about what content is important (23 pages for horses and 4 pages for bears). A print encyclopedia is one way to find accurate information (I did answer my 'wonder' question) but it is not as engaging or convenient as many contemporary non-fiction print or online options.

Intermediate, Young Adult, Teacher resource

(Although the editors argue World Book is for 'all ages', it is not accessible for primary students without adult help.)

Pearson School Atlas

Morrow, R. (2004). Pearson School Atlas. Toronto, Ont.: Pearson Education Canada.

 This is one of the few atlases in our library. Although it is dated, it does include Nunavut and still has many useful features. The graphics are colourful and include charts, graphs, photos, satellite photos, topographic maps and even road maps.  While this is a world atlas, there is a definite concentration on Canadian information making it useful for social studies curriculum. The variety of types of maps included also make it useful for teaching mapping and how to read various types of maps, graphs and diagrams.  Using it with the document camera would make a great group lesson. Information on geology, biomes, industry (including forestry) and some historical facts about the growth of Canada also have great curriculum connections. Some of the statistics are outdated, however, and a lesson in accessing current information on the web would be an appropriate compliment to this atlas.

Late Primary (with support), Intermediate, Teacher resource