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CM . . .
. Volume X Number 19 . . . . May 21, 2004
One aspect of a toddler’s vocabulary development is learning the names of the various parts of the body, and that goal is the initial focus of My First Canadian Bodies, which uses full color photos and begins with an overview of “My body.” Unfortunately, this opening double page spread has the potential for being somewhat confusing as the labeled photographs of three children (a boy to the waist - a body part word that is never used - plus front and back views of a clothed little girl) are overlapping in their purpose. For instance, the boy’s head is utilized for labeling the “ear” and “face” while the girl’s front view has captions for the “head” and “forehead” while her back view is used only for “hair.” However, these difficulties are ameliorated by the next three pairs of facing pages which focus on particular sections of the body. “My head and face” concentrates on the head and helps children to differentiate among parts of the head and face via small individual photos of the “ear,” “eyebrow,” “eyelashes,” “cheek,” “nose,” “lips,” “teeth,” “chin,” and “tongue.” Two additional photos also reveal blue and brown eyes. The next two-page spread, “My arms and hands,” follows the same pattern with the “arm” being broken down into “shoulder,” “elbow” and “wrist” and the “hand” into “palm,” “thumb” and “fingernail” (but not “knuckle”). “My legs and feet” divide these two body parts into “thigh,” “knee,” “shin” and “ankle” with “feet” being subdivided into “heels,” “toes” and “toenail.” Unlike The Bare Naked Book, written by Kathy Stinson and illustrated by Heather Collins, My First Canadian Bodies does not deal with the “naughty bits.” The closest this board book comes to actually dealing with these body parts occurs in the opening spread where the back view of the little girl has a line captioned “bottom.” The remainder of the book consists of a melange of things that the body can do. Six pages illustrate the five senses: seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and touching. A pair of facing pages reveals the various forms and colour hair can have, such as short or long, curly or straight, black, blonde, brown or red. Another pair shows faces expressing various emotions (though the photos for “sad” and “excited” are questionable). Four more facing pages reveal children “Making noises,” “Time to...” (which follows children from “wake up” to “go to bed”), “Getting dressed” and “My busy day” (which portrays children of both genders involved in domestic chores). Finally, “I can...” and “Can you...” portray children in active pursuits, such as jumping, kicking and stretching. The closing two pages invite young “readers” to find matching photos of body parts. Like the other “My World” board books, the photos in My First Canadian Bodies contain both young boys and girls from a variety of races. Certainly, the book merits a place in home and public libraries. Schools with child care programs should have this book as well. Recommended. Dave Jenkinson teaches courses in children’s and adolescent literature in the Faculty of Education, the University of Manitoba.
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