All About Canadian Animals: Polar Bears

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

Designed for young children, remedial reading classes, and ESL students,
this boxed reference set conveys facts about wild animals that reflect
the requirements of the typical elementary-school science curriculum.
Each of 14 glossy books is devoted to a single animal. Most libraries
will quickly discard the box, which is quite flimsy and tears easily.

Each book is 28 pages and contains high-quality full-page images and
facts that are presented as a simple statements: “Timber wolves live
in a den.” “Porcupine babies are born with teeth.” “Grizzly
bears toss and turn while they sleep.” Each image is designed to
appear as the front of a postcard, with the text appearing on the back.
The type is large and bold, making it easy to read. Each book has a
simple glossary and an index. It is nice to see high-quality, nonfiction
reference material, with Canadian content, at the early reader level.
There are seven other sets in Reidmore Books’s All About Series,
including those devoted to such subjects as Canadian sports, capital
cities, and famous Canadians. The All About Canadian Animals set is
highly recommended for public libraries and elementary-school libraries
across Canada.