Northwest Passage written and illustrated by Matthew James includes the lyrics to Stan Rogers’ well-known Canadian folk song Northwest Passage. The book tells a story about European exploration of the Northwest Passage, more specifically the voyage lead by John Franklin. The text serves its purpose very well to bring attention to an interesting part of Canadian history that now has a new significance in today’s world due to global warming.
Not only does this text serve its purpose exceptionally well, it also includes other mentionable assets. It is very essential for students to see how what they are being taught in school is relevant to their own lives. The author does a great job of bridging Canada’s history with present times by making reference to global warming and how it has brought interest to …show more content…
It is difficult to distinguish who the intended audience of this book is as the large print and colourful illustrations are elements of a children’s book, however the timeline, mini-biographies and historical content in tiny text are more appropriate for an older audience. The story interrupts the lyrics of Stan Roger’s Canadian folk song “Northwest Passage” with very tiny informative text making it difficult for readers to follow the text as it flips back and forth. This picture book also has a very Eurocentric approach when depicting Canadian history. The book tells the story of European exploration of the Northwest Passage, yet fails to include an accurate representation of First Nations people or their perspectives. Not too mention, by closely looking at the illustrations throughout the story, the First Nation’s people can be seen wearing stereotypical “Indian” attire, which is very surprising for being published in 2013. Lastly, the text does make a reference to cannibalism, which would be a very difficult concept to discuss with students at an elementary
Not only does this text serve its purpose exceptionally well, it also includes other mentionable assets. It is very essential for students to see how what they are being taught in school is relevant to their own lives. The author does a great job of bridging Canada’s history with present times by making reference to global warming and how it has brought interest to …show more content…
It is difficult to distinguish who the intended audience of this book is as the large print and colourful illustrations are elements of a children’s book, however the timeline, mini-biographies and historical content in tiny text are more appropriate for an older audience. The story interrupts the lyrics of Stan Roger’s Canadian folk song “Northwest Passage” with very tiny informative text making it difficult for readers to follow the text as it flips back and forth. This picture book also has a very Eurocentric approach when depicting Canadian history. The book tells the story of European exploration of the Northwest Passage, yet fails to include an accurate representation of First Nations people or their perspectives. Not too mention, by closely looking at the illustrations throughout the story, the First Nation’s people can be seen wearing stereotypical “Indian” attire, which is very surprising for being published in 2013. Lastly, the text does make a reference to cannibalism, which would be a very difficult concept to discuss with students at an elementary