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The Magic of BooksJosiane Polidori, Canadian Children's Literature Service For children, their parents and educators, the month of September signals the end of the summer holidays and the return to school. Each new school year marks the start of a new chapter in children’s lives: the youngest will learn to read, older children will discover books that will become favourites and they may also begin to read books written at a more advanced level. For the National Library of Canada and its Canadian Children's Literature Service, the return to school coincides with the release of Read Up On It, its bilingual, thematic reading kit for teachers, librarians and parents, which has been published annually for the past 14 years. The theme chosen for this year is "magic," hence the title The Magic of Books. With this publication, the National Library wishes to both highlight Canadian children's books devoted to magic and fantasy, and show that books give their young readers magical powers: by opening their imaginations, reading also gives children the opportunity to escape into imaginary worlds. As Roch Carrier, National Librarian, points out, "by opening a book, a child allow himself to be transported by the magic of words and pictures." Over the years, Read Up On It has addressed many themes: nature, music, humour, adventure and Aboriginal legends. Issues of Read Up On It from previous years are available electronically on the National Library's Web site, www.nlc-bnc.ca. Many partners such as the National Literacy Secretariat, Human Resources Development Canada, contribute to developing and distributing Read Up On It, and again this year, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and the Institut Nazareth et Louis-Braille have collaborated in selecting works available in alternate formats. Illustrator Kady MacDonald Denton, whose watercolour from her illustrated book I Wished for a Unicorn was chosen for the cover of The Magic of Books, says that, "our imagination is a learning tool and an escape and a gift to enrich life." In I Wished for a Unicorn, a young child is bored playing in the yard; the dragon and the fabulous unicorn that adorn the cover page are the fruit of that child’s imagination. The story's character and the reader hold the keys to the magical universe of books. The theme of magic was defined according to the following criteria:
Some general criteria were used in making the selection. Included in the kit are books published in Canada or abroad by a Canadian author or illustrator; books available from distributors and publishers; books written in both official languages; books reflecting geographical, regional and cultural diversity; a choice of novels, short stories or tales, non-fiction and picture books; books appropriate for age categories covering ages 2 to 16 years; books in which the quality of text and illustration is evident, as well as the quality of the text in relation to the illustrations. The Magic of Books was launched on September 26 at the Stanley A. Milner branch of the Edmonton Public Library during magic festivities that brought together students from the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Library and Information Sciences and teachers, accompanied by many children, from several Edmonton school boards. At the launch, authors Laurent Chabin and Katherine Holubitsky and illustrator Kady MacDonald Denton were invited to read from their stories. Librarians from the Edmonton Public Library hosted a quiz game based on the theme of magic as presented in the 2002 Read Up On It kit. Parents, young readers and teachers are always on the lookout for good children's literature suggestions. The National Library of Canada's Canadian Children's Literature Service answers many information and reference requests concerning Canadian children's authors and illustrators. Each year since 1988, the National Library of Canada has produced the children's literature reading kit Read Up On It. The print version is distributed free of charge to all interested persons. This year there is something new: the list of the children's literature prize-winning books and their associated annotations will be available in the electronic version only, which can be found on the National Library's Web site at the following address: www.nlc-bnc.ca/read-up-on-it. For copies of Read Up On It, please contact: Read Up On It |
