The Book of Changes Review
CM Magazine
Volume 1 Number 1
June 16, 1995
Wynne-Jones, Tim.
The Book of Changes.
Toronto: Groundwood Books, Douglas & McIntyre, 1994.
143pp, paper, $7.95, ISBN 0-88899-223-8. CIP.
Tim Wynne-Jones's first collection of stories, Some of the Kinder Planets, won the 1993 Governor General's Award for Children's Literature and the Canadian Library Association Children's Book of the Year Award. Readers who chuckled their way through that collection enjoying the author's ability to create wonderfully humourous and believable characters and situations will not be disappointed in The Book of Changes.
The seven stories which make up this collection all deal in some way with the theme of courage and personal integrity. Each of the protagonists must battle with a problem only too familiar to today's young adults. In ``The Clark Beans Man" Dwight has to learn how to cope with a bully. Tobias wrestles with an overdue class project, Solly finds living in a ``Mad House" with his eccentric family frustrating, and Barnsey discovers on Christmas Day that his parents are breaking up. Relationships between the multi-faceted characters in Wynne-Jones's stories are complex, dialogue convincing, and each story true to the voice of its young protagonist. Despite serious themes, all seven have a light ironic touch which makes them pure pleasure to read.
These stories are rich enough in character and theme to make wonderful discusssion pieces for students from Grade 6 up. Several of the stories would make excellent read-alouds for upper elementary and junior high school students. Highly recommended.
Grades 6-9/ Ages 11-14
Val Nielsen is a Teacher-Librarian at Acadia Junior High School in Winnipeg.
Volume 1 Number 1
In this Issue
A message from the editor
News
Canadian Children's Book Week
Information from the Canadian Children's Book Centre
Reviews
- Branch of the Talking Teeth, by Ishbel Moore
- A review by Helen Norrie
- The Book of Changes, by Tim Wynne-Jones
- A review by Val Nielsen
- Canadian Copyright Law, by Lesley Ellen Harris
- A review by Neil Campbell
Articles
- Notables
- The best in books and videos for young people in the last year
Advertising Feature
- Canadian Copyright Law
- Published by McGraw Hill
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ISSN 1201-9364
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