i ! { | Books for oe young readers & H.J. Hutchins earlier books, The Three and Many Wishes of Jason Reid (Annick Press) and Anastasia Morningstar and the Crystal Butterfly (Annick Press) were written for pre-teen children. Her latest story, Leanna builds a Genie Trap (Annick Press: $495) is for younger children. by Andrea Deakin Terrace Book Reviewer When Leanna finds her favorite piece of building block has vanished she is sure that a genie is respons- ible, the same genie who has taken the baby’s soother or her mother’s favorite pen. She sets out to make a trap for the genie, but as she does so her foot finds the little pocket that lies at the back of the sofa and with it all the missing things that the sofa has been collecting. All families have collecting sofas and so Leanna’s conversation with her sofa rings a bell with every household. H.J. Hutchins has taken an everyday truth and embued it with a little magic and a great deal of fun. The result is a delightful story for ‘younger readers, illustrated by Catherine O'Neill with wit and energy. 50 Beiow Zero The new Robert Munsch, 50 Below Zero (Annick Press: $4.95), will read aloud beautifully. Jason, who lives up in the Yukon, has a father who sleepwalks, When a sound wakes Jason he finds his father asleep on the fridge, or on top of the car. Jason wakes him each time. However on the third occasion the front door is open, his father’s footsteps lead out into the snow — and it is 50 below zero. Jason bundles up against the cold and goes out to save his father. The use of repetition, cumulative detail and vigorous direct prose makes this a very effective tale. Robert Martchenko adds to the fun with witty illustrations. Where's My Easter Egg Puffin has an attractive little Lift the Flap book in time for Easter. Where’s My Easter Egg (Puffin: $4.95) is about a little kitten searching for the Easter egg his mother has made him. As the child lifts the flap in each illustration they find a bird’s egg, a duck egg, a snake’s egg, and so on, but not the kitten’s Easter egg. Only on the last page, and after a careful hunt, does the egg appear. This is a very simple book with attractive clear illustrations designed to in- troduce the youngest child to various animals that lay eggs. Donald Crews illustrates the familiar yellow school bus as it takes its daily journey picking up: and delivering children to school. The simple text details - the trip and the illustrations depict familiar signs and symbols like the school bus stop, ‘‘walk’”’ and ‘‘don’t -walk’’ signs and traffic lights. The author has skilful- ly balanced what could have been the overwhelming “yellowness” of the buses with the bright colors the children wear and the variety in the sizes of the buses. (School Bus: Donald Crews: Puffin: $4.95) Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories are perennial favorites. In 1982 Macmillan published a series of the individual stories complete with new illustrations by some of the best contemporary illustrators of children’s books. This delightful series has just been issued in paperback, making them available to a wider market. The Crab that Played with the Sea (Mac- millan/Gage: $4.50) has limpid blue-toned paintings by Michael Foreman. The Butterfly that Stamped has richly patterned, exotic paintings by Alan Baker (Macmillan/Gage: $4.50). Other illustrators represented in the series include William Stobbs, Charles Keeping, Pauline Baynes and Quentin Blake. These are well worth looking for. When it’s “do or die”, “do” run a classified ad or your hopes will “die” ‘cause no one knew what you were selling. Terrace Review — 4339 The three trailers of the Canada West Museumoblle, their distinctive U-configuration at Skeena Mall thism to the land, the people and the history of the western sane Ses ne produced by the National Museums of Canada, were situated In onth. A tour of the Canada Weat Museumobile Introduced visitors part of Canada. Se National Museuma of Canada photo Mobile Museum stays in Terrace Three tractor-trailor units of special design recently set up in a courtyard arrangement on the parking lot of the Skeena Mall and opened up as a walk-through museum. This ‘‘Mobile Exhibit Programme’”’ is one of several which travels the length and breadth of Canada on a continuing basis, sponsored by Na- tional Museums of Canada. Each mobile museum is devoted to the history of a different region of Canada, and the display which recent- ly set up in Terrace, ti- tled Canada West, con- cerned the prairie pro- vinces. Mike Hooper, coor- dinating manager for the museumobile program, said that the trailers have evolved in design over several years and are built to withstand the worst sorts of roads in Canada while protecting the delicate displays set up inside them. He add- ed that the trailers are engineered to be transported by rail flat- car or marine barge when necessary. Inside, the experience is very little like a truck and a great deal like a museum. It is quiet, the carpet is soft and the lighting is subtle and well-placed. The linear set of displays begins with the geological history of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, including samples of rock and minerals and dinosaur bones, The human era commences with ar- tifacts of early and modem native cultures from the area, all set behind plexiglass. The period of non-native migration into the area is represented by samples of ethnic garments and a variety of old agricultural tools, in- cluding an extraordinar- ily detailed scale model of a steam traction engine and a full-sized reproduction of an old hand-guided plow. All the exhibits are. sup- ported by selections of old photographs and are interspersed with stuffed examples of orairie wildlife in natural set- tings. The final exhibits are directed, of course, at the geology and technology of petro- leum. Hooper, who has been doing the display design work on the museum- mobiles for seven years, said that the exhibits are updated annually. In speaking of his staff, he reflected,‘‘Aside from training and qualifica- tions, it takes a special kind of person to travel around doing work like this.”’ Each museum- mobile requires an operating staff of ap- proximately eight people as drivers, interpreters, designers and techni- cians. Hooper indicated that remarkable experiences are commonplace when traveling through the north. He recalled a re- cent trip to Ft, Franklin, NWT, during which a film was shown depicting the workings of a modern factory-trawler fishing vessel. ‘‘We Premiums A combination of reduced claims costs and increased investment revenue contributed to a net income of $74 million, eight percent of total revenue for the year, The trends evident in these results made it possible for ICBC to reduce Autoplan premiums by an average of 6.5 percent for 1986 and to take steps to pro- tect policyholders from the full impact of ex- cessive claims costs which may occur in years ahead, — A $60 million alloca- tion to a Rate Stabiliza- tion Revenue will act as a buffer against unex- pected claims costs such as occurred in 1980 when the Corporation record- ed a $68 million loss. In addition, a $20 million Catastrophe Reserve will increase the financial stability of the Autoplan Fund, The report credits the work of CounterAttack — co-funded equally by the Ministry of Attorney General and ICBC. started showing the film during the afternoon, and finsihed around four in the morning. The peo- ple up there were all fishermen, and they simply couldn't believe this ship. We had to keep repeating the film until everyone was exhaust- museums are school children, and the inter- preters are prepared to take large groups of them on detailed excur- sions through the cor- ridored displays. Hooper commented, ‘‘One thing I find amazing is how much kids who have never been out of their Much of the audience targeted for the mobile Books for Adults The Music of Canada (Timothy J. McGee: Nor- ton/Penguin: $17.9) begins with the music of New France, a continuation of the unaccompanied song which dates back to the minstrels of Medieval Europe. It is a tradition which allows for many varia- tions. villages know about the world. by Andrea Deakin Terrace Book Reviewer The first music school in Canada: began in 1632 when Father Paul le Jeune taught both French and Indian boys to sing sacred music. The British brought their own tradition of folk music and dance, the dances accompanied by fiddlers. Where music had belonged to the military, the church and the aristocrats in French Canada, in English it was also a part of the life of the middle class. The coffee houses allowed both amateurs and professionals the oppor- tunity to perform not only folk ballads, but songs from the opera and instrumental music. Timothy J. McGee explores these early beginnings and traces the development of our musical culture to the present day — discussing art music, folk, popular music, church music and jazz. He gives us vignettes of artists — Emma Albani, von Kunits and Jehin- Prume — and composers, including Lavallee, the composer of ‘O Canada’, Couture, Harriss, Adaskin, Faith and Pelletier. These are brief ac- counts, but indicated clearly the artist’s place in Canadian music history. The book is non-technical, therefore it may be easily read and enjoyed by those interested in music, but without specific training in the subject; while the author, by including separate analytical sections makes it also valuable to the musician. The text is well supplied with examples of music which reflect each era, and includes an anthology of 13 complete works by prominent Canadian com- posers. A brief summary of the social and political history of the period being evaluated helps to indicate the significance of the music described so that the double heritage of French and English in Canadian music is traced from early times to the present day. A final chapter focuses on the music of the Indian and Inuit peoples. Dr. McGee has included an appendix including the sources of all the music discussed, plus a bibliography, discography and filmography. The King’s Singers have an international following for their performances of both traditional and popular songs. Faber (Penguin in Canada) have published a selection of 11 of their most popular ar- rangements, folk songs in contrasting styles, in four and six part settings. The collection is being publish- ed in association with a new record by the group, “Watching the White Wheat’, The songs should prove an attractive addition to vocal repertoires. The King’s Singers Folk Songs (British folk songs arrang- ed for mixed voices) Faber/Penguin: $8.95.