The Kid’s Book of Canadian Firsts

Reviewed: December 3, 2002
By: Text by Valerie Wyatt Illustrations by John Mantha
Publisher: Kids Can Press
56 pages, $18.95

If we’re ever going to have a nation of adults who don’t simply complain about the country all the time, we’ll have to start with the kids. This book, for the 4 to 8 year old crowd, seems like a good beginning.

The general theme, “Canada Did it First”, is pretty clearly demonstrated in the first of the two page spreads that make up the design of the book. Each chapter is focussed on a particular theme: the land, explorers, transportation, scientific discoveries, medicine, and ten others, a few of which do stretch to four pages.

There are simple descriptions, profiles of individuals, and numerous photographs as well as Mantha’s realistic illustrations.

This is a good first fact book about Canada for kids. At the lower end of the reading scale the adults will have to read it to them, and that will probably be a good thing, too.

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