Do You Know Porcupines?
by Alain M. Bergeron, Michel Quintin & Sampar
illustrated by Sampar
Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2013
ISBN 978-I-55455-321-1
$9.95, 60 pp, ages 9 – 11
fitzhenry.ca
Alain M. Bergeron, Michel Quintin and Sampar have come together in collaboration and brought the question “Do you know porcupines?” to the magical world of reading. This short, graphic type text delivers a moral story of a porcupine that can’t seem to find or keep friends due the uniqueness in the way he and all porcupines were created. The book is filled with colourful illustrations and comic book style writing in addition to facts regarding porcupines and the lifestyle they live. Bold words are in a glossary, and there is an index for quick referencing.
Classroom Connections: Students aged nine to eleven would find this text most appealing as it offers a storyline that many children can relate to while engaging their artistic senses with colourful illustrations. Students could expand their vocabulary by locating the bold words, finding their meanings in the glossary and using them in sentences to model their understanding of the new words. Students could choose an animal, research facts and create a similar book to share with classmates.
Review by Joseph Forte.
This review is from Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Sept/Oct 2014 issue.
