Page 6, September 28, 1977 - North Shore News

Roy Peterson—-West ‘Vancouver's s. internation:
ally acclaimed. ‘cartoonist—is: at it again in. ‘the .
cause of strengthening our national identity. ‘This

time he’s starting in the nursery, or at any rate in
the. pre- -school for: three-— :

toddlers.

‘Patriotism © (like French) —
apparently, the easiest of subjects. to: master: for

and. four-year-old

not,

many Canadians, and Roy. has. evidently decided
you can’t begin teaching it too s soon.

Just under a year ago, you
may recail, Roy teamed up
with another talented and
irreverent British Columbian
—award-winning. journalist
and adventurer = Stanicy
Burke—to produce an hilar-
ious satire..on Canada’s
national obsession with
hockey. “Blood, Sweat &
Bears’ probably summed us|
up as a people as well as any

scholarly work of. Canadiana

ever written. .

In his -
however, Roy plays patriot-
ism straight. It’s a slim
hardback . entitled ‘The
Canadian ABC Beok’’ and its-
basic purpose is simply to
teach Anglo-Canadian in-

fants the alphabet. But the.

alphabet differs from that in

any other ABC book I’ve ever |

seen because the words and
pictures are virtually 100 per
cent Canadian content.

for example, is
caribou, colonist, cowboy.
““G’’ stands for goose,
gopher: and grain elevator.
Under ‘‘N’’ we have nar-
whai,. nickel and Northern
Lights. ‘‘W’’ spells walrus,
wheat and wolf..-you get the
idea.

“*c”’
s

-. In any case the words
themselves are secondary to

Roy’s bold, full-color illus-.
trations of those words facing.

each letter-page. .
SURPRISE PICTURES

_They are pictures that

come. as something of a.

surprise to those of us who
chuckle week by week ‘over
Peterson's _ biting—-some-
times positively savage—

depictions of our political
masters in the pages of our

newspapers and magazines.

AS, a commentator on adult
affairs, his ink, as often as
not, is pure vitriol. A highly

appropriate medium, indeed,

when you consider many of

his political subjects.

Ce
caribou
colonist
cowboy

TYPICAL SPREAD from “The Canadian ABC Book"’...wide, happy smiles from cover

to cover. -

latest | offering, |

The illustrator of ‘‘The
Canadian ABC Book’’ is a
very different kind of Peter-
son. All the strength, superb —

draftsmanship- and ‘meticul- ©

ous attention to. detail‘ that

characterize his political car-

toons are still there. But the
pictures have, at the same
time, “gentleness—an
atmosphere Of. “ Cheeriness
and fun—that ‘one doesn’t
readily associate -with the.

‘tormentor of Trudeau, Lev-

esque and Clark.

Almost ‘all the characters
—from ‘‘A for artist?’ (a
stylized Emily Carr) to the
oldtimer carrying two buck-
ets on a “‘Y for yoke’’

happy smile. Maybe it’s
Roy’s way of teaching the
youngsters that Canada,
after all, really has every-
thing it takes to make a wide,

happy. country.

‘A bright rainbow color’
line, running from page to
page, gives the book an
attractive graphic unity.
There’s also a delightful little...
mouse’ character named
Stubblejumper Zed who
guides Roy’s young readers
through the alphabetical
picture spreads from cover to
cover. Naturally, ‘Stubble-

rv

include .. ‘‘zebra’’ in an _
| all-Canadian ABC!) ,
‘UNUSUAL DEFINITIONS.

| stands for bush pilot and

—have |
one thing in.common:.a wide, ©

also provides the
Final ‘answer to what ‘'Z’”
stands for. (you could hardly

mper Zed

Visually: the ‘book is a
sheer delight, which parents —
will enjoy .as much as. their
. kiddies: In his emphasis: on
Canadian content, however,
Roy .comes up. with some: .
rather unusual - definitions

under certain letters.

Thus we learn that ‘“‘B’-_

sip Ane

aos sled...
‘“*P”? comes Prairie schooner |
and ‘*R’’ Red River cart, _
while ‘‘Y’’. gives.us Yukon |
‘river boat. Under ‘‘X’’ the’
author—tongue in cheek, no |
doubt—offers us eXplorer,

EXpos and eXtra.

“Inder

th dd

‘The government recommends that. all new y homes should have ¢ an indulation rating .
in the ceiling of R20. To bring old homes up to this standard requires an additional =
_ 4" to 6”’ of insulation in the attic. Additional insuiation in the walls is helpful, too.

But full cmarks to Roy for
including “U"’ for umiak (an.
_ Eskimo boat) and a ‘smiling
Elizabeth Il (‘‘Q’’ for queen).
Meanwhile the illustration of
““L”’ for leaf is, inevitably, a
brilliant red mapleleaf.

Blown Celufibre, §’’ thick, has an insulation rating: of R20. This product is CHMC
and CSA approved.: At is non-irritating, vermin and fire resistant. -

As I mentioned, this is an
ABC for anglophone infants,
so it’s perhaps hardly sur-:
_ prising that there are only .
three French: © Canadian.
words in the whole book—~— —
““H’’ for habitant, ‘‘M’’ for
- Metis and ‘‘V”’ for voyageur
—which leads one. to another

the Ree
Canadian identity 1977 style -
a. bilingual ABC primer)
might bea really original and —
exciting contribution to nat- -
-fonal_ unity: three French —
“.words - as: well. as three

English under each letter of

the alphabet, with additional °
illustrations to match. .

ae)
i

i:

Sa

4

Men

rs

How about that, Roy, for
- ‘the next edition?"

Right as it stands, however
“The Canadian ABC Book’
is a ‘must’ for all Anglo-
parents with young children
just coming up.to the reading
stage. It is published by |
Hurtig Publihers of Edmon- {
ton (zcmember Mel Hurtig of -
the Committee for an Inde-
pendent Canada?) and costs
$4.95.

tix

suet ceUt te etUg LUE

‘It will teach Mom, Dad and
their offspring alike a lot
about the kind of . Canada
they want to live in.

a

=
=
=
=
=
=

rE LEER GVA

cs
E

- ciomiemmniane

cranium

. |OCATEY. YOUR BUSINESS ON THE NORTH SHOR!

Lions Gate Business Park offers office warehouse ‘units. from.

2,400 to 40,000 sq.ft. conveniently located at the north end of:

the Lions Gate bridge minutes from. downtown Vancouver, . :

You won't find a more efficient or accessible working |

ent on the North Shore than Lions Gato Busines *. woh

ar Ste thes

1701 WELCH ST. NORTH VANCOUVER 7

wey
4
~ 3

f-

2

TREEATTLITESEENUUTTEEUEEL

HAROLD EDWARDS -
VAL DONOVAN |

SHH Mmm MMMM MM Ite:

mt
oa
=
a4
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
mma’
a =
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
 onnneel
=
fey
=
=
eS
sonar
=
Se
=