Imagine That!

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

The imaginary framework of this lively picture book for children, which
highlights the greatest events of the 20th century, is “Auntie
Violet’s” 100th birthday. Violet’s great grandniece, Elizabeth, is
eager to hear her stories and see some of her old photograph albums.

Illustrations are given three-quarters of the space, while sidebars in
varying colors down the outer edges of the pages hold information
organized chronologically. Sidebar entries concerned with the early
years of this century note, for example, that Roald Amundsen wins the
race to the South Pole, Colonel John McCrae writes his poem “In
Flanders Fields” during World War I, and the National Hockey League is
established. Recent ones (1990–99) note that Canadian Craig Kielburger
founds Free the Children after Child Rights Advocate Iqbal Masih is
murdered in Pakistan, and apartheid ends in South Africa.

There is a discrepancy between the age of the young girl, perhaps
eight, sharing her great grandmother’s memories and much of the
historical data, which would interest older children. Violet’s
memories as she chats with Elizabeth add interest and a personal touch
(for example, she had only one dress for school; but then, she points
out, it was only a one-room schoolhouse). The very small print used for
the data in the sidebars would discourage young readers. Imagine That!
is a book to be shared between generations, as Violet and Elizabeth are
doing. Recommended.