Table of Contents

From the Editor

Special Holiday Double Issue!

Book Reviews

Chester's Barn.
Lindee Climo.
Review by Harriet Zaidman.
Grades K - 4 / Ages 5 - 10.

The Bear-Walker and Other Stories.
Basil H. Johnston. Illustrated by David A. Johnson.
Review by Adele Case.
Grades 3 - 8 / Ages 7 - 13.

It's Elementary!
Investigating the Chemical World
Douglas Hayward and Gordon S. Bates. Illustrated by Nyla Sunga.
Review by Harriet Zaidman.
Grades 4 - 8 / Ages 10 - 14.

Northern Frights 2.
Edited by Donald Hutchion.
Review by Michele F. Kallio.
Grades 9 - 12 / Ages 14 - 16.

Don't tell anyone, but --
UFO experiences in Canada.
Vicki Cameron.
Review by Chris Rutkowski.
Grades 10 - 13 / Ages 14 - Adult.

Two Shores / Deux rives.
Thuong Vuong-Riddick.
Review by Kathleen L. Kellett-Betsos.
Grades 11 - 13 / Ages 15 - Adult.

Spells for Clear Vision.
Neile Graham.
Review by Liam C. Rodrigues.
Grades 11 - 13 / Ages 15 - Adult.

Video Review

Through Wolf Eyes: The Story of a Gray Wolf.
Review group led by Brian Rountree.
Grades 4 - 6 / Ages 8 - 11.

Features

The Great Canadian Trivia Contest
The Little Math Puzzle
The Cyberspace Treasure Hunt
will return in the new year.

CM
Editor
Duncan Thornton
e-mail: cmeditor@mts.net

CM
Executive Assistant
Peter Tittenberger
e-mail: cm@mts.net

From the Editor

Special Holiday Double Issue!

This issue of CM would be fatter than usual if you bothered to print it all out. But even on the screen you might notice that the pixels seem unusually . . . thick.

That's because we're publishing a special seasonal double issue. The next one will go out on January 5th. It's not like you were going to be spending much time on the Internet over the holidays anyway, right? I mean, I do this for a living, but I hope not.

And unlike Halloween, I have nothing grumpy to say in this editorial about Christmas. I watched the Grinch last night and got all choked up. Today I fly to Montreal to visit family, where we'll watch the Alistair Sim version of A Christmas Carol (non-colourized) and get all choked up. Then we'll eat until we also become unusually . . . thick.

I hope you all have equally happy holidays.

So Merry Christmas from me and Peter, and everybody else at CM. See you in the new year!

Book Review

Chester's Barn.

Lindee Climo.
Montreal, Tundra Books: 1982. 32pp, paper, $7.95.
ISBN 0-88776-351-0.


Grades K - 4 / Ages 5 - 10.
Review by Harriet Zaidman.

excerpt:

With Gabriel is Bathsheba and her twin lambs. They are only three days old and are still learning to follow their mother and nurse. Before they are allowed to go out with the others, the lambs will have their long skinny tails docked . . . It is too early in the year for grass so Chester will begin to feed them a mixture of grain sweetened with a special molasses when they are two weeks old.

This is the fourth printing of a beautiful book about the life of farm animals. The reader is attracted initially because of the striking illustrations that depict cows with graceful curves, sheep with soft, round fluffy wool, Clydesdale horses with handsome muscles, and draft horses with outstanding dapples. Chester the farmer is part of the story, but the animals are the protagonists, and Chester is presented as a silohuetted figure.

The gorgeous pictures in rich earth tones would be enough to convince many people to buy this book for their children. It was the winner of the Amelia Frances Howard - Gibbon Award for the best illustrated children's book in 1983. But the story is another reason, and make the book an excellent purchase for young children. Using story form, Climo informs children all about farm life -- the old barns of the early farmers, the different rooms within the barns,and about the life of the farm animals. She describes all aspects of a farm animal's life with great detail, but the information is provided very gently.

The animals are anthropomorphized; they have names and personalities, but reality is never abandoned. They lead animal lives, and the reader is reminded that Chester does not name the animals that he sells for slaughter because he doesn't want to develop any attachments to them. The logic of why the animals are kept in their specific situations is clearly explained, and the reader understands the continual hard work that a farmer must put in to take care of his animals properly.

The text is unusually long for a picture book, but the friendly, warm style of writing is captivating, and a child can inspect the pictures while listening to the story. The description of new life among the animals and the activities that make them happy are things that interest children, and Climo has found the right formula. This is a well deserved reprinting.

Recommended.

Harriet Zaidman is a Winnipeg teacher/librarian.

Book Review

The Bear-Walker and Other Stories.

Basil H. Johnston. Illustrated by David A. Johnson.
Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, 1995. 64pp, cloth, $19.95.
ISBN 0-88854-415-4.

Grades 3 - 8 / Ages 7 - 13.
Review by Adele Case.

excerpt:

Nanabush immediately knew that he was being deceived by the old woman, so he spoke to her sharply: ``If that's the way you want it, okay with me. When I arrived I was very hungry. I asked you to feed me, but you hid those loaves of bread because you are stingy. Fine. From now on you will be a woodpecker. You will have a hard time getting food too, living as you will from a tree."
It is said that in that instant the old woman became a woodpecker.

-- from ``The Woodpecker"

The Bear-Walker and Other Stories is a collection of nine stories known to members of the Ojibway people, who call themselves the Anishinaubaek. The book is a beautiful publication, elegantly illustrated with line drawings and evocative full-page coloured paintings by David A. Johnson. The artist incorporates masterful line drawings superimposed on backgrounds of the sky, mountains, or water. Often, creatures of the forest, birds, or fish are added to graphically enliven the story, and these may be literal representations or (in the case of the lynx) show a demon-like feline against a background of storm and lightning. The fine paper, gorgeous book jacket in mauve with an inset from the first story, as well as the generous margins and Johnson's flowing black-and-white illustrations should give the book wide appeal.

All the stories have the flavour of myth, and talk about hunters who must travel widely and suffer greatly in difficult times. A few, including ``Bull Frog" and ``Vision," seem to end inconclusively, or leave the interpretation to the readers. ``The Great Lynx" suggests that all people fear the unknown, and realize that nature can unleash untold harm -- through storms, high winds, or earthquakes. Thus we long for spiritual guidance. Implicit in many of the tales is the idea that we must live in fellowship with other living creatures, and that we should care for other living things and all growth and life in our environment.

Both ``The Bear-Walker" and ``Woodpecker" have clear moral messages; the latter suggests that we will reap as we sow, for the stingy old woman who refused to share her baking with a hungry hunter is transformed into a foraging woodpecker.

This book is written in simple language, much suited to the younger reader. The excellent design and the sparkling illustrations, however, should influence many adult readers to add it to their library.

Recommended.

Adele Case is a high-school teacher who lives in West Vancouver.

Book Review

It's Elementary!
Investigating the Chemical World

Douglas Hayward and Gordon S. Bates. Illustrated by Nyla Sunga.
Vancouver: Pacific Educational Press, 1994. 91pp, paper, $10.95.
ISBN 0-88865-088-4.


Grades 4 - 8 / Ages 10 - 14.
Review by Harriet Zaidman.

excerpt:

Over 200 years ago, a French chemist named Antoine Lavoisier was the first to measure the percentage of oxygen in air. You can repeat his experiment using simple materials from the kitchen.
Use a knife and a fork to pack a pad of steel wool into the bottom of a clear jar or glass. Avoid touching the sharp steel wool with your bare fingers. Rinse the steel wool thoroughly with tap water and then invert the jar in a pan or bowl full of water. If the jar will not stand up or starts to float, remove some of the water.

It's Elementary! is the kind of book teachers, parents and kids love. It is educational, well written, and interestingly illustrated. It introduces young enquiring minds to basic scientific principles through a large number of experiments. The experiments are conducted with materials that really are available in most homes, or are easily attainable. The instructions are clear and stress safety, although none of the included experiments really have potential for accidents.

The text explains difficult scientific principles in a reader-friendly way. It is clear and concise and relates the principle to real life. The history of the scientific discovery of the elements and their use is also included. By conducting these experiments children should come to realize that chemistry is part of daily life and that science is something everyone can discover

It's Elementary! is divided into eight chapters. They include information about stars, elements, water, bubbles and soap, chemical changes, plants and people, food chemistry, and body basics. Within each chapter are separate pages on different aspects of the chapter's topic. Each page has an appropriate humorous black and white cartoon drawing (a girl mining rock candy; an egg sobbing on a beach). The appendices at the back are very valuable, and will be useful to any child long after they have outgrown the experiments (but because the experiments are so much fun, kids may not outgrow them). They include a blank Periodic Table, a list of the discovery of the elements, a list of the Nobel Prizes for Chemistry, and an extensive index.

This book will appeal to parents who want to teach their kids about science without spending a lot of money on equipment and materials. It will appeal to teachers who want kids to discover that the world around them is full of wonder, history, and scientific discovery. It will provide lots of ideas for classes that participate in science fairs. And it will appeal to kids because the experiments demonstrate scientific truths quickly, in an interesting, humorous, and readable way. The beauty of the text is that it appeals to a wide range of ages while not talking down to anyone; it is conversational in tone. The text requires careful reading when it discusses scientific principles, but will be comprehensible to the conscientious reader.

The cover of It's Elementary! has a sleuth with a magnifying glass investigating the periodic table. Reading this book makes one confident that a students will uncover a lot of truths over and over again in their lives, which will make the knowledge stick.

Recommended.

Harriet Zaidman is a Winnipeg teacher/librarian.

Book Review

Northern Frights 2.

Edited by Donald Hutchion.
Oakville, ON: Mosaic Press, 1994. 222pp, paper, $16.95.
ISBN 0-88962-564-6.


Grades 9 - 12 / Ages 14 - 16.
Review by Michele F. Kallio.

excerpt:

Old Faris ruined it. He really did. Even up until last night, Mischief Night, I felt okay about pumpkins. Now I'm spooked.

And so will the reader be! The above opening from Toronto writer Nancy Kilpatrick's ``Punkins" sets the pace for the entire book. A collection of stories by Canada's best fantasy/horror writers, Northern Frights 2 is a terrifying trip to the Dark Side.

The anthology is an excellent companion for a long winter's night -- or any night when you don't plan to get any sleep. Each of the eighteen authors offers up their best dark dream for the reader's enjoyment. Authors include Sean Dolittle (``These Broken Wings"), Diane L. Walton (``Objects in the Mirror"), and Edo van Belkom (``The Cold"). The collection as a whole, edited by award-winning writer/film-maker Don Hutchion, takes terror to new heights, and will appeal to both teens and adults.

This well-presented volume will be a favourite in school and public libraries.

Recommended.

Michele F. Kallio is a former teacher/librarian living in Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick.

Book Review

Don't tell anyone, but --
UFO experiences in Canada.

Vicki Cameron.
General Store Publishing House: Burnstown, Ontario, 1995. 195pp, paper, $16.95.
ISBN 1-896182-20-8.


Grades 10 - 13 / Ages 14 - Adult.
Review by Chris Rutkowski.

In a remarkably bold step towards truth in advertising, the title of this book says it all. Perhaps the publisher hopes no one will buy it.

UFOs and aliens are common themes on bookshelves and television programs today, so it is hardly surprising that another Canadian work has appeared concerning these subjects. What is curious is the inability of the author to deal with the topic in a meaningful way.

Cameron admits her lack of experience and background in the subject in the first few pages, and even explains that her work is ``not definitive and may not even represent what's out there." She did not investigate any UFO sightings, analyze them in any way, or deal with eyewitness accounts ``in a scientific manner." She simply decided to write a book about UFOs, so she placed ads in newspapers asking readers to send her their accounts.

Given these limitations, the author actually does fulfil her purpose. However, many readers may find her approach inappropriate, given the sensational nature of the subject matter. Instead of asking questions and seeking answers, the book merely presents a parade of letters from people who have had UFO experiences.

Some of these experiences are rather dull; lights in the sky that could have been anything. Many, however (and this is certainly an artifact of the author's solicitation process), describe wondrous encounters with aliens and spaceships. One parallel previous work on this subject is John Robert Colombo's UFOs over Canada (Hounslow, 1991), a folkloric recanting of first-person accounts collected by the author. Cameron, however, admits her method was to simply choose a UFO story and ``wrote it as the person might have."

Since Cameron has no background in the subject (although she has written previously on unrelated topics), the resulting book is a crosshatch of curious stories, disturbing cases, and outright silliness. The lack of fact-checking and research has caused some problems and lessens the book's value. For example, in one remarkable account, Cameron relates ``Old Hank's Tale," told to her by a respondent who heard the story from Hank in the 1960s. Supposedly, Hank and his wife had been picnicking near Atikokan and saw a flying saucer siphon water from a lake through long hoses. Unfortunately, another comprehensive work by Colombo, Mysterious Canada (Doubleday, 1988), relates how this story was discovered, after some effort, to be a complete fabrication.

Cameron's attempt to write a book without any bias (presumably to be ``objective") has resulted in an uneven work. A chapter reprinting a sceptical article by Canadian astronomer Peter Millman is placed alongside a much longer, annotated list of the different types of aliens visiting Earth and their respective idiosyncracies. And errors have crept into the book, such as its noting that the famous Hill abduction case ``hit the news" in 1961 (actually it was discovered by reporters in 1965). However, these all are ignorable, given the possible value of the book as an accidental sociological study on the human condition.

Throughout Don't tell anyone, people reporting UFO experiences and alien encounters are self-portrayed as near-paranoid and (assuming Cameron did not deviate too far from their testimonies) perhaps delusional. Although her intent was clearly to not paint UFO witnesses Negatively, but rather present them in a compassionate way, the result is somewhat different.

One abductee related: ``I feel like [the aliens] are watching me now. I often get the feeling at night that something's in here, in my closet." Another admitted that because of her encounter with aliens, ``I have a phobia about cleanliness. I bathe constantly, up to three times a day. I gave myself eczema, and did the same to my kids . . . I've been away from my kids twice in fourteen years. I am afraid to let my children go, afraid to let them out of my sight."

Even those who were not abducted add disturbing images. After he related how he saw ``a spaceship land in my backyard," a witness felt compelled to note: ``My mother tried to stab me because she hated me from the day I was born." Following his own sighting of a saucer, another noted: ``I feel this . . . [has] done something to my perspective on society. It has put a distance between myself and my community, and society in general . . . Organizations don't make sense to me any more."

Other works on this subject have not found such an abundance of dysfunctional individuals. It is possible that the author's solicitation process created a skewing of reports towards the bizarre and unusual. Certainly those ``on a mission" (as one witness described her life after her UFO encounter) might have seen the author's invitation as a way of telling others about their experiences. Since the author states that most people do not share their experiences because of a fear of ridicule, the sample of experiences in this book may not be truly representative, as she warns.

But this would raise another issue: is this book helping or hindering those people who are so seriously affected by their UFO encounters? Alas, since this book does not purport to answer any questions, we may never know.

This book may be of limited value to those wanting an indiscriminate look at how some people perceive the UFO phenomenon, but for those who do not, the book's title should be obeyed.

Not recommended.

Chris Rutkowski is one of Canada's leading investigators of UFO phenonomena, and the author of Unnatural History.

Book Review

Two Shores / Deux rives.

Thuong Vuong-Riddick.
Vancouver: RonsdalePress, 1995. 166pp, paperback, $14.95.
ISBN: 0-921870-35-3.


Grades 11 - 13 / Ages 15 - Adult.
Review by Kathleen L. Kellett-Betsos.

excerpt:

``The Astrologer"

In Saïgon there was a famous astrologer,
whom everybody went to see.
The one day, in the sixties,
he started to prophesy
foreign countries for us.

He forecast to students, rich men, ordinary people,
even to the poor and the outcasts.
To all he predicted, ``You will travel overseas."

We laughed, seeing expensive clothes,
leather luggage,
and on gloomy days said:
``Let us go to the astrologer's
so that he can predict our future,
our fabulous destinies!"

_____

``Le Devin"

A Saïgon il y avait un devin célèrebre
que tout le monde consultait.
Puis un jour, dans les années soixante,
il commença à nous prédire
des pays étrangers.

Il disait aux étudiants,
aux hommes riches ou ordinaires,
et même aux pauvres et aux déshérités,
à tous il prédit: ``Vous voyagerez outremer."

Nous avons ri, voyant
des vêtements chers, des bagages de cuir,
et disions les jours tristes:
``Allons chez le devin,
qu'il prophétise notre avenir
nos destinées fabuleuses!"

The subtle atmosphere of historical irony evident in this poem pervades Two Shores / Deux rives, Thuong Vuong-Riddick's first collection of poetry. Personal and political history intertwine as the poet considers her life first in Vietnam, then as a student in France, and finally, as immigrant, teacher, wife, and mother in Canada.

Poems such as ``History," which enumerates the series of invaders and conflicts in Vietnam, and ``My Beloved is dead in Vietnam," which laments the lover's death in a litany of battles, sensitize the Western reader to the long history of a conflict which North American culture, particularly in its films, has seen primarily from the American point of view. In ``My Sister's piano," the complexity of allegiances in a land disputed by so many different forces is evoked through music: as the sister plays old songs such as ``The Dream Passes," honouring generals of the French Revolution, the crazy uncle sings the national anthem of Red China, French soldiers sing ``La Marseillaise," the Vietminh sing a song of the French resistance -- all background music to the Battle of Diên Biên Phû. In contrast, the turbulent events of May 1968 in France and the October Crisis of 1970 in Quebec, which the author also experienced, seem relatively innocent, as suggested in ``The Whirlwind of History":

In Montréal I found two jobs,
But History followed me,
When La Crise d'Octobre 1970 exploded,
students told me: ``The most tragic episode of our history!"
I thought: ``Only one killed!"

Life appears more tranquil in Victoria, nonetheless nicknamed ``Agatha Christie town" for its hidden mysteries, but it involves the difficulties of balancing academic life and family responsibilities, as suggested in the poem ``Stress". Some of the most moving poems speak of the author's three children, particularly "After the operation":

``The small marble," my daughter asks,
``could it come back?"
I feel the scar on my chest.
``It could," I say." [...]
In the evening the children
Gather round me, lifeguards.

Vuong-Riddick's poetic autobiography is a dual language edition, written first in English then ``recreated" in French. A comparison between the English and French texts reveal subtle differences. In the English poems, there inevitably surface French words evocative of the French milieu where the poet lived and worked; for example, in describing relationships in Quebec, the poet says, ``I felt notre amitié / as a warm current / under the icy cold." In the French version, the effect of contrast is lost: ``je sentais notre amitié / comme un courant chaud / sous le froid glacial."

Occasionally the images in English are more concise and more striking; for example, the simile in ``For Anne"/``Pour Anne": ``The months of pregnancy / were like a wrestling bout/ with the Pacific" is less effective in the French version: ``Les mois où je t'attendais / étaient ceux où j'ai dû lutter /comme contre le Pacifique." This slight weakness no doubt reflects the difficulty of poetic re-creation. After comparing Vuong-Riddick's poems in French and English, language students may want to try this bilingual writing as an exercise.

I recommend this volume of poetry very highly and have every intention of teaching some of these poems in my own French classes. I would consider them suitable for English and French classes from Grade Eleven onward. The aesthetic appeal of the book cover and the typography are an invitation to the reader to enter this world of history, autobiography, and poetic imagery.

Highly recommended.

Kathleen L. Kellett-Betsos is a French Professor at Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto.

Book Review

Spells for Clear Vision.

Neile Graham.
London, ON: Brick Books, 1994. 85pp, paper, $11.95.
ISBN 0-919626-74-2

Grades 11 - 13 / Ages 15 - Adult.
Review by Liam C. Rodrigues.

excerpt:

``Crow Girl"

Some one must remember her name,
this girl who fills the land surrounding her.
It is certain she does. Though they're hidden
under the blanket wrapped around her,
she has sure hands. She knows the plain,
has made it into herself. It shapes her
like the grass she stands in:
blades drying, it readies itself for
snow. Rising like the white man's house
behind her, but steady and lasting
as the earth beneath her hidden feet.

Spells for Clear Vision is Neile Graham's second volume of poetry. Divided into four sections, this collection seems like a hodge-podge at first glance. Although this initial impression is essentially accurate, the book shouldn't be dismissed outright. Spells is formally un-centred, and sometimes guilty of sacrificing stylistic unity to exploration, but this is quickly forgotten in the overall effect.

Where other collections aspire to a cohesion that is somehow visible among the poems themselves, Spells is not so much project of unified poems as of unified action. The title suggests something magical within, and the poems do cast spells -- not of incantation, but of consequence; not of recipe and formula, but of affect and transformation.

Diverse in its influences and subjects, Spells often leaves the reader seeking connections. But don't try too hard; the collection, as the first poem points out, is ``a maze," designed to mislead its audience. To experience the charm of Graham's poetry you must submit to its creative deceptions. As she herself suggests, her poems are an ether; the dragon's breath that veils the mythological forces that drive human action from the empirical world in which we think we live.

Consequently, although Spells is couched in mysticism, it is also the poetry of everyday life, and a celebration of the magical forces therein. ``I believe in the common magic of forests and household gods," the narrator of the final poem explains, and this is the key to appreciating what Graham has been trying to do all along. Spells is a mystery that is indecipherable until the end, but like all good mysteries, its outcome, though withheld, is inevitable.

So form and tradition, homage and allusion, are scarce; it is the words themselves that matter. ``Transcribe my stories to settle around you," she instructs, directing us to our own lives for the images and inspiration that give meaning to these poems. In ``The Grass She Stands In," for example, from the first section of Spells, sea glass, photographs, and postcards represent the age; these are the artifacts that mark our existence, the spells we have cast. Graham is most effective in the ``Five Crow Poems" of this first section. If few of the poems in the following sections have this haunting, holographic quality, Spells for Clear Vision remains a worthwhile, if challenging, work for senior students.

Recommended.

Liam C. Rodrigues is a Toronto-area writer interested in art, architecture, poetry, and all that liberal arts stuff.

Video Review

Through Wolf Eyes: The Story of a Gray Wolf

Falmouth, NS: Needham Gate Productions Limited, 1995. VHS, 33 minutes.
Video (plus 1 activity booklet) $29.95.
Classroom pack of 30 activity booklets $30.00.
Family pack of 5 activity booklets $5.00.
Available from: Rising Tide Communications
Box 105, Falmouth, NS, B0P 1L0.
Ph (902) 798-8777, fax (902) 798-5766.


Grades 4 - 6 / Ages 8 - 11.
Review group led by Brian Rountree.

`Hank' Halliday, of Wolf Awareness Inc., is our guide at the start and end of this `autobiography' of the gray wolf, Lucas, from his birth until he is fourteen years old. There are two places during the video to stop and do the activities in the accompanying booklet.

Through Wolf Eyes addresses the negative image of the gray wolf portrayed in myth, legend and folk-tales. It is loaded with facts and could form a good jump-off point for further research into wolves. Surely the whole story of the pack society is not told here! Through Wolf Eyes could lead to a study of the wolf's place in the ecosystem and help to eliminate the negative connotation of the word `predator.'

The photography is excellent and gives the viewer a real sense of the wolf's habitat from the intimate space of the birthing chamber to the larger forest. The narration is clear. The audio and video are well matched throughout. One wonders though, why paintings were used for some episodes: one viewer commented that some parts of the story looked staged -- perhaps the paintings could have been replaced with such work. Someone looking closely would also have noticed that some scenes, such as scent marking, were duplicated.

Although the narrator warns against applying human morals to wolves, we find the story does give human qualities and characteristics to Lucas, who is ``quoted" as saying that his arthritis is slowing him down. Another concern for one viewer was the use of words such as ``solicitous" and ``domain" which young children will not understand.

One viewer recommended the film in these terms -- ``It is a good learning tool for children studying science/biology as it comments on the life cycle from birth to old age, with all the conditions to face throughout. It can also suggest comparisons to what they will do throughout their lives -- birth (dependency), youth (vigour; fun; learning), maturity (responsibility; provision; survival; sex), aging (become weaker; earn respect; play with grandchildren)."

Through Wolf Eyes could be used in many areas of the curriculum. It would also interest non-school viewers such as the Boy Scouts or those interested in nature studies.

Recommended.

Brian Rountree is a Teacher-Librarian in Thompson, Manitoba. He was assisted in this review by the students in his evening class on ``Educational Media and Technology."

Feature

The Great Canadian Trivia Contest

Steve Caldwell, the coordinator of the Trivia Contest, has been kind enough to give CM permission to run his weekly Great Canadian Trivia Contest, a great way to motivate students to spend some time in the Library.

Technical problems prevented the contest from appearing last week, so we're posting two week's worth of questions and answers.

DECEMBER 1st's QUESTION:

Name the four plants found on Canada's coat of arms.

ANSWER

This is a bit of a tricky one. The four plants are the lily (France), thistle (Scotland), shamrock (Ireland) and the rose (England). There are in addition maple leaves on the Coat of Arms. Technically the Maple Tree is a plant and therefore we'll accept four of the five possible answers.

WINNERS

Not a lot of winners this week hopefully due to problems in sending the message.
  1. Mrs. Cantalini's Gr.7/8 class, Gregory A. Hogan School: Sarnia, Ontario
  2. Mr. M. Kalin, teacher, Colonel By Secondary School: Gloucester Ontario

DECEMBER 8th's QUESTION

Since this is the Christmas season for many of our participants here's a Christmas question. The ``Huron Carol" is credited by many to be the first Christmas carol written in North America as well as being the first Christmas carol written in an Amerindian language.

Name the French missionary who is credited with writing the ``Huron Carol."

ANSWER

Father Jean de Brebeuf is the Jesuit missionary who is credited with writing the ``Huron Carol."

WINNERS

  1. Mrs. Cantalini's Gr. 7/8 class, Gregory A. Hogan School: Sarnia, Ontario
  2. Isabelle Dupraz, Jeanne Sauve French Immersion School: London, Ontario
  3. Mr. Van Lieshout's Gr. 7/8 class, St. Peter Canisius School: Watford, Ontario
  4. Mr. Reid's Gr. 8 Social Studies class, Cunard Junior High School: Halifax, Nova Scotia
  5. Mr. Renaud's Gr. 5 class, St. Peter School: Sarnia, Ontario
  6. Rebecca Hiscock, Gregory Rowsell, Sarah Parsons, Jennifer Clarke, ToddTremblett, & Tara Dove, Mr. Martin's Gr. 6 class, Bethel Academy: Victoria, Newfoundland
  7. Ori Friedman, Yorkhill Elementary School: Thirnhill, Ontario
  8. John, Paul & Cora, Jane Scaplen's Gr. 6 French Immersion class, Sacred Heart Elementary School: Marystown, Newfoundland
  9. Jared Stone & Jorge Degas, Mr. Ens Gr. 4/5 class, General Byng School: Winnipeg, Manitoba

LATE ANSWERS:

There were two late answers for the question that asked for the Premiers of Quebec since 1967.
  1. Ian Cole, Jeanne Sauve French Immersion School: London, Ontario
  2. Baie-Comeau High School: Baie-Comeau, Quebec

There was one late answer for the question that asked for the plants portrayed in the Canadian Coat of Arms.

  1. Mr. Renaud's Gr. 5 class, St. Peter School: Sarnia, Ontario

LAST MINUTE QUESTION!

Name the only river that flows through Canada whose waters are part of a drainage system that flows into the Guld of Mexico.

DUE DATE FOR THIS ANSWER: December 23!, 1995

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION

Name the island, located off the coast of Nova Scotia, famous for its shipwrecks, that is specifically mentioned in the Canadian Constitution.

DUE DATE FOR THIS ANSWER: January 13, 1996

SEND IN YOUR ANSWERS:

Remember, don't post your answers to CM. Instead, send your answers to Steve Caldwell at the following e-mail address:

Steve_Caldwell@colby.on. infoshare.ca

In addition to your e-mail address, please send your school's name and the grade and/or class that you are in, as well as your postal address.

Feature

The Little Math Puzzle Contest

Tom Murray, the coordinator of the the math puzzle, has been kind enough to give CM permission to run the weekly Little Math Puzzle Contest (inspired by The Great Canadian Trivia Challenge.)

Royal West Academy (a high school) in Montreal, Quebec is sponsoring a little math puzzle contest.

This contest is open to all participants but is designed for students in grades five through ten. English will be the language used for all problems and if their solutions relate to a language, the language will be English.

Although there will be no more questions until school begins again in January, we are posting the answer from two weeks ago. Have an enjoyable holiday.

You can find archives of old questions and winners lists on our web page. We have lost the winners list for the second puzzle and would be pleased to have it forwarded to us from anyone who still has it.

We can also be found on the Web at: http://www.odyssee.net/~academy/mathpuzzle/mathpuzzlecontest.html

Contest Format:

Each week a new puzzle will be presented and the answers and winners from two weeks earlier will be posted. Answers are to be received by 8:00 a.m. eastern time the following Friday.

The answers will then be judged, and a correct answer, along with the winners' names, will be posted with the puzzle two weeks later.

Both individual students and entire classes are welcome to participate.

Do not to send your answers to CM.
Instead, please send all answers to Andrea Pollock and Alex Nazarov at the following address:

math_puzzle@rwa.psbgm.qc.ca

With your solution please include your names, school, grade, and e-mail address, and your city.

Question #14 from two weeks ago was the following:

What are the 2 missing numbers in this sequence.

2, 5, 10, 20, ___, ____ , 500, 1000 , .....

Answer #14:

...50 and 100... are the missing numbers. The numbers are the denonimations of Canadian paper money.

The Winners - Solvers of Puzzle #14

  1. Lina Waverchuck's Group 3 Math Class Venture High School - Montreal, Quebec
  2. Tracy Dohey - Level 1 Fatima Academy - St.Bride's, Newfoundland
  3. Dustin, Clint, Morgan, Nick & Kamron - grade 4/5 General Byng School - Winnipeg, Manitoba
  4. Chad Moore - grade 8 Camilla School - Riviere Qui Barre, Alberta
  5. Shannon Leung, Natalie Dacho, Brianne Kennedy, Kara Ciccarelli, Evan Powell, Ryan Cook, Vincent Spano, Kiran Helferty, Andrew Bain, Joseph Parizeau, Brijesh Patel, Heather Prior, Courtney Aitken, Laura Marshall Ms. L. Laudonio's grade 5 Gregory A. Hogan School - Sarnia, Ontario
  7. Kris Ramos - Grade 8 General Vanier School - Winnipeg, MB
  8. Caterina Mancusi - Grade 6 St.Margaret's - Sarnia Ont
  9. Kim Smith - Grade 6 St. Margaret's - Sarnia, Ontario
  10. Math 9 Class Oyen Public School
  11. James Pinto - Grade 9 Cunard Junior High School - Halifax, Nova Scotia
  12. Tyler Straatman - Grade 6 St Philip's School - Petrolia
  13. Kornit Young Yorkhill Elementary School - Thornhill, Ontario.
  14. Grade Six Class & Mrs. G. SunValley School - Winnipeg, Manitoba

Andrea Pollock and Alex Nazarov
math_puzzle@rwa.psbgm.qc.ca
Royal West Academy, Montreal West, Quebec.

Copyright © 1995 the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

Welcome
Book Reviews by Author
Book Reviews by Title
Audio/Video/CD-ROM Reviews by Title
Volume 2 Index