1988—The Year I Was Born: A Daily Record of Events

Ray Doiron is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education at the
University of Prince Edward Island and the Preschool to Grade 6
nonfiction reviews co-ordinator at Resource Links.

1988, the Year I Was Born is the latest addition to the series that
presents headline stories from Canada and around the world for each day
of the year named in the title. The title page contains a space for the
owner to enter his or her vital statistics at birth. This is followed by
the poem, “A Week of Birthdays,” the origin of the names of the days
of the week and the months of the year, as well as the birthstones and
flowers that represent each month.

The main body of the book consists of a three- or four-page spread for
each month. Each spread begins with tidbits of information related to
the particular month; lists a headline story for each day of that month;
and notes the birth dates of well-known Canadians. Each month is laid
out in a similar format, with a different colored border used to signal
the change to the next month. The news items are taken from the world of
politics, sports, entertainment, personal achievement, and general human
interest. They are often interesting bits of forgotten news and
little-known events from 1988, but they never move beyond “trivial
pursuit” quality. While the book may be of interest to someone born in
1988, the series does not offer much beyond a browsing interest. The
information can only be accessed if you know the date an event happened,
so it has little use as a reference tool. Not a first-choice purchase.