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National Library News |
Céline Gendron,
Canadian Literature Research Service
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Read Up On It is now in its eleventh edition. For over a decade, the National Library of Canada has used this publication to promote books and reading. The Library also relies on this tool to promote Canadian authors and illustrators of children’s books. Over the years, the publication has evolved by responding to the comments of its users and, once again this year, we have broken new ground by including lists of books in alternative formats for readers who are visually impaired. Thanks to collaboration with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and the Institut Nazareth et Louis-Braille, Read Up On It will reach a greater number of young Canadians.
Choosing Dayal Kaur Khalsa’s illustration, from her book I Want a Dog, for the 1999 cover of Read Up On It occurred to us for two main reasons: on the one hand, we are commemorating the tenth anniversary of Dayal Kaur Khalsa’s death this year; on the other, the National Library of Canada, holder of the Khalsa fonds, would like to pay a very special tribute to her. Also, we would especially like to emphasize this year’s theme, humour, in all of its splendour: in this instance, a classroom full of children sporting dog's heads, in our view, seemed to illustrate the theme perfectly.
Keeping this year’s theme of humour in mind, our choice revolved around books that had a magical twist to them, such as Au lit, princesse Émilie!, Gratelle au bois dormant, Pirate Pearl, and Princesse Pistache. As you can see, princesses are still a favourite, but these princesses are determined, inventive and flout convention. In fact, the illustrations in these books present them as little people full of character, as opposed to the traditional: "One day, my Prince will come…"
Children are often very affectionate towards animals and it is not surprising to find a wealth of books with an animal as the main character with whom children can identify. Many works were chosen because they offered a note of fantasy; in fact, as in any self-respecting good story, the animals talk, act and think like human beings. Among those selected are La Chèvre de monsieur Potvin, The Chicken Doesn’t Skate, Downtown Lost and Found, Edmund for Short: A Tale from China Plate Farm, Erik the Viking Sheep, Pas de bébé pour Babette and Queen Nadine. Family life is full of surprises and Un Animal à la maison, Choupette et son petit papa, Trois punaises contre deux géants and What’s Tuesday will plunge readers into incredible situations.
Several books include magical stories showing the lives of "ordinary" children turned upside down by the appearance of extraordinary beings or by talismans as in À l’éco...l...e de Monsieur Bardin, Célestine Motamo, DiamondBack Dog, La Gratouillette, The Ice Cream King, The Invisible Day, Zoé et les petits diables. As for the realistic stories, they are riddled with the humorous situations of daily life, such as those in Andrew’s Loose Tooth, or Comment j’ai arrêté la sucette, or even a situation comedy, such as in À pas de souris, Hope Springs A Leak, Premier boulot pour Momo de Sinro, or Sophie prend les grands moyens.
Rhymes (Biscuits in the Cupboard), mysteries (Le Grand Voyage du Père Noël, Matthew and the Midnight Flood) and funny stories (Laughs: Funny Stories) complete this year’s vintage of works on the theme of humour. And Read Up On It would not be complete without its listings of the most recent award-winning Canadian children's books.
Copies can be obtained by contacting
Read Up On It
National Library of Canada
395 Wellington Street
Ottawa ON K1A 0N4
Telephone: (613) 995-7969
Fax: (613) 991-9871
TDD: (613) 992-6969
E-mail: publications@nlc-bnc.ca