own sense of place in a world where climate change neces- sitates a change of thinking and doing. Rising temperatures plus less water lead to desper- ate people whose


sole priority is simply to exist. How do the (almost real) characters in Thresh- old deal with this situation? Teachers especially help foster student attitudes that shape communities, creating a personal and collective sense of place. Spoiler alert: this story does have an uplifting message, despite the ordeals of its characters! This book is based on sound science, uses the most cur- rent data available, and can readily be adapted for a PBL study. – (KS)


Cortero Publishing, 2016, ISBN 978-1- 6117-9369-7, 300pp., $19.93 from www. amazon.com


The Boy with a Bamboo Heart The Boy with the Bamboo Heart is a startlingly honest look at the cruel realities children in other parts of the world experience, and the resiliency that can be realized in the face of such hardships. This memoir of doctor and humanitarian Dr. Amporn Wathana- vongs is a poignant real-life story with attention to social justice which deserves a place in any middle or high school humanities class. The story of Lek, as the doctor is nicknamed, will take readers from surviving on the unforgiving streets of a small town, to the life


of a child soldier in the jungle. It also offers the inspirational story of how Lek survived all of this and turned around to help save other children


Children’s Books


The Cloudspotter Franklin, aka The Cloudspotter, loves watching clouds. Even though he is always alone, he is happy spot- ting clouds. He creates adventures for himself in the clouds, swimming with jellyfish or driving race cars, and is the king of his own castle. One day, everything changes; a


scruffy dog comes along. The bothersome dog follows him everywhere. What does he want? Is he trying to steal the clouds? The Cloudspotter devises an ingenious plan to be rid of the scruffy dog. He should be relieved to be alone with his clouds again, but he isn’t. Is it possible that he didn’t truly want to be alone? Tom McLaughlin has written a beautiful story about discovering the power of friendship. Along with illustrations that inspire the imagi- nation and evoke empathy, children ages 3 and up will fall in love with this story. – (BT)


Bloomsbury, 2015, ISBN 978-1-4088-5497-6 (pb), 32pp., CDN $14.99 from www.bloomsbury.com


The Toad Part of the Disgusting Critters series, The Toad is a light- hearted look at toads in which Elise Gravel continues to capture the interest of children in the “disgusting.” She manages to weave information about the habitat, charac- teristics, food preferences, life cycle and relationship of toads to humans into her light hearted and humourous text. Six- to nine-year old’s are likely to appreciate the simplistic


Page 46


illustrations and some of the toad’s strange and interesting habits. For instance, that toads sometimes shed their skin to keep it healthy and then in order to get rid of the old skin, eat it. Gravel also includes information about the impact of humans on toads and how our actions are affecting them. – (VU) Tundra Books, 2016, ISBN 978-1-77049-


667-5, 32pp., US $10.99 / CDN $12.99 from www.penguinran- domhouse.ca


Counting with Barefoot Critters Teaching children literacy and numeracy can be a long and frustrating feat – luckily for you, Teagan White has made this task cuter than ever with her new book Counting with Barefoot Critters. You’ll follow adorable woodland creatures through a day-long ad- venture – from cooking pancakes with foxes to having bonfires with crocodiles – all the while teaching children how to count to twelve. The


text is a simple, easy-to-read poem, and an excellent choice for pre-school and kindergarten students. The real treat, however, is the adorable illustrations created by White herself. – (MH)


Tundra Books, 2016. ISBN 978-1-101-91771-8 (hb), 32 pp. CDN $19.99 from www.penguinrandomhouse.ca


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from a similar fate. While the life of Dr. Amporn takes place on the other side of the world, this book is appro- priate for anyone wanting to become a more compassionate member of the global community. – (JH)


Maverick House, 2015, ISBN 978-1- 908518-22-4, 280pp., $11.99 from www. maverickhouse.com


Saving


Eyesight Saving Eyesight: Adventures of Seva Around the World in- troduces the


reader to an organization whose mis- sion is to help people around the world who experience vision problems. The book begins with an in-depth look at how the eye works. The books author, Linda Pruessen, then goes on to describe some common eye problems and to establish a link


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