My First Canadian Atlas

Brenda Reed is the curriculum and reference services librarian at the
Queen’s University Education Library.

This colorful and fact-filled introduction to maps and the countries of
the world is large enough to accommodate vertical maps of the
continents, but not too unwieldy for young readers. The centring of the
maps on facing pages leads to the “disappearing land” problem, but
the illustrator has taken care not to let words also disappear into the
crease. The world map that appears in the upper-right corner of every
map page is useful for identifying where the land featured on a page
fits into the global context.

The atlas begins with explanations of a map, a legend, and the notion
of drawing to scale. Every page that features a map has a scale bar
along the bottom, but the legend used throughout the atlas is given only
once. Young map readers will need to be reminded to check the legend, as
the colors on the first two maps actually correspond to political
boundaries, and it isn’t until the third map that the legend is
relevant. The print is large and easy to read, and presented in
cartoon-style speech boxes linked to the simply-drawn people and animals
that populate the pages. The text will be easily understood by beginning
readers, as the snippets of information do not have to be read in any
order, and care has been taken to explain uncommon terms at the point of
encounter. The atlas includes a map of Canada showing the provinces and
their capitals, “The Story of Canada,” “Things to See,” “What
People Do,” and a feature on “Wildlife.” Maps of the continents
and selected areas of the world follow, accompanied by a “Fact File”
that notes a country’s highest mountain, longest river, weather,
biggest city, and populations.

The attractive format of this book will appeal to primary students.
Highly recommended for school and public libraries.