M Is for Maple

Alison Mews is co-ordinator of the Centre for Instructional Services at
Memorial University of Newfoundland.

This gorgeously illustrated alphabet book for older readers chronicles
Canada’s social life. Each letter represents a specific cultural
aspect and describes its significance in four lines of varying rhyme
schemes. The large format pictures of either one or two pages leave a
generous margin in which the letter is depicted in upper and lower case
and an explanatory paragraph given about the featured person, place, or
thing. In some cases an additional item is noted for that letter; for
example, the letter B, which features the Best and Banting discovery of
insulin, also notes that Roberta Bondar was Canada’s first woman in
space. Most choices are obvious (Terry Fox for F and Quebec for Q), a
few are creative (Underground Railroad for U), and others abstract
(Justice for J, but showing a mounted Mountie).

Melanie Rose has used a rich palette of colors in her illustrations to
create a visual feast. Her Canadian landscapes sweep across the page and
exemplify the breath of this land, from Prince Edward Island’s
rusty-colored beaches to the prairies’ golden wheat fields rippling in
the heat and the Northern Lights shimmering above the tundra. In all,
this book is an affectionate celebration of Canada. Recommended.