28 - Wednesday, September 12, 1990 - North Shore News books | WoW | Canadian publisher goes with a gamble ualification or exaggeration, the biggest gamble ever Te new Junior Encyclopedia of Canada is, without q taken by any Canadian publisher. Three years in the making, costing a staggering 12.5 million dollars, Edmonton-based publisher Mel Hurtig’s most ambitious pro- ject is finally a reality: the first and only encyclopedia written express- ly for young Canadians. Detractors said it couldn't be done — but then they said the same thing about Hurtig’s previous undertaking, too. The adult-oriented The Cana- dian Encyclopedia was dismissed by some as an impossible effort. It wasn’t. Its release in 1985 inspired smirking doomsayers to predict flat sales and the imminent demise of Hurtig Publishers Lid. lastead, The Canadian En- cyclopedia’s print-run of 155,400 sets sold out in just three months and blazed the trail for yet another unique, made-in-Canada-for- Canadians book-set: The junior Encyclopedia of Canada. Hurtig fully expects the 100,000 copies of this latest endeavor to be snapped up by Christmas. My money’s on Hurtig. Designed specifically for Cana- dian students, The junior En- cyclopedia is without a doubt the most comprehensive, informative and authoritative reference MIKE STEELE book review resource ever provided for our na- tion’s youngsters. Here’s an outline of what this five-volume boxed set’s 1,960 pages contain: — 4,000 articles detailing Canada and Canadians — over 3,000 illustrations in- cluding 2,000 color photographs, 300 maps and 500 “‘specially commissioned paintings and drawings” — 1,500 biographies of Canadians — over 1,100,000 words Tested extensively in classrooms (over 1,500 students and their teachers participated in the com- position of the encyclopedia), The Junior... provides users with an ex- tremely thorough reference tool. In addition to the index, readers are furnished with such things as extensive CrOss-felere1ices, 1act lists, time lines and additional recommended readings. lf all of this makes your reviewer sound like a booster for this en- cyclopedia, | offer no apologies. This isa very impressive product. In part, however, this en- thusiasm also stems from the beliet that such an encyclopedia, a Ca- nadian encyclopedia, is not only to be applauded for its undoubted usefulness as resource material, but because it is, in my opinion, a long-overdue counterbalance to foreign influences on Canadian youngsters. Our nation’s children are, as most of us were, indoctrinated with a concept of the world and our own country that is chiefly American in viewpoint, Textbooks are frequently the product of our southern neighbor’s publishing houses. Television, radio, maga- zines and films are dominated by American content. Is it any surprise, then, that Ca- nadian adults and children are so woefully ignorant of their own country? fs it too farfetched to suggest that the fracturing of Ca- nadian society so paintully evident during recent months can be at- tributed, at least in part, to an am- biguous Canadian identity fostered See Book Page 29 LUNCH SPECIAL $4.95 DINNER SPECIAL $7.95 6 OZ. NEW YORK STEAK (5 to 6:30 p.m.) the BRIDGE HOUSE Restaurant 3650 capilano road, north vancouver $8. 3388 CHEMICAL AND CO-DEPENDENCY THE DISEASE EVENING PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES AUTUMN 4990 New frontiers are being discovered that are changing our understanding of chemical and co-dependency. Startiing new evidence points to the key rcie that our brain plays in these diseases. This series will introduce to you the leading research based information on chemical and co- dependency. Thursday. September 13: CO-DEPENDEMCY Tne RISK . Born Witn or Learned After Thursday. Septernber 20 MARIJUANA i You USE! Your World Will Lose It Tuesday, October 16 FAMILY ROLES Tne SCRIPT ls It Yours oF Your Family's? Tuesday. October 23: COCAINE SNAP-CRACKLE-POP! It's Your Brain Fee $10.00 per lecture Time: 7:03-9:00 p.m location BC Club. #10-750 Pacific Blvd.. South Tne Boardroom RSVP: 925-9559 uimiteD SEATING) PRESENTERS: MARELYN RUGG, anc ast mn PAULETTE TOMASSON, 2 ascn ma Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System UPDATE SEMINARS 1990 HOSPITALITY, JANITORIAL & CLEANING INDUSTRIES A one day seminar on WHMIS will be given by Occupational Hygiene Officers of the Workers’ Compensation Board. Topics include: An overview of WHMIS, problem-solving workshops and a presentation of the WHMIS Video Learning Package which will help ensure your WHMIS program is practical and effective. SEMINAR TIMES: 8:30 a.m. — 4:30 p.m. ®* RICHMOND, OCTOBER 3, 1990 WCB Auditorium, 6951 Westminster Hwy., Richmond, B.C. TO REGISTER, PLEASE PHONE: WCB Education & Training Section, OS&H Division, i 276-3099 (toll free in B.C, 1-800-972-9972) REGISTRATION PEE: $40.00 per person CANCELLATION POLICY: Cancellation of registration must be made atleast three working days prior te the course for refunds. WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BOARD &iiinsu