The Kids Book of Canadian History

Description

72 pages
Contains Maps, Index
$19.95
ISBN 1-55074-868-8
DDC j971

Publisher

Year

2002

Contributor

Illustrations by John Mantha
Reviewed by Sandy Campbell

Sandy Campbell is a reference librarian in the Science and Technology Library at the University of Alberta.

Review

Compressing the history of Canada into 72 pages is a daunting task—one
that demands that the author be selective. Carlotta Hacker, a consulting
and contributing editor of the Junior Encyclopedia of Canada, has
considerable experience. Overall, her selections and emphasis are good.
As is always the case, the east gets greater treatment than the west.
More than half the book is dedicated to pre-Confederation history. What
gets left out is sometimes as telling as what gets included. For
example, the Underground Railroad, which saved the lives of American
slaves, is mentioned; the slaughter of the Beothuk by Europeans is not.

Hacker includes some living people and recent events. It is true that
political events from 1990 and earlier are before the lifetimes of
current upper-elementary school children and therefore “history”;
however, since this is not explicitly a political history of Canada, one
wonders if the inclusion of some of the current political figures is the
result of political correctness rather than historical significance.

The artwork in the book is detailed and interesting and contributes
significantly to the understanding of the text. The book will be useful
for students researching Canadian history projects, but they will find
the limited index frustrating.

This engaging book was nominated for the 2002 Sheila Egoff Children’s
Prize. Recommended.

Citation

Hacker, Carlotta., “The Kids Book of Canadian History,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed March 28, 2024, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/23622.