A BC Island Animal Dream

A dreaming child sails into a magical realm where capricious animals are munching on crunchy snacks and tasty treats. This charming alphabet book uses haiku to paint funny, quirky and beautiful pictures of what each letter of the alphabet is up to on its corresponding BC island.

Other than the obvious letter-sound correlation, the book can be a springboard for older children to falling down delightful rabbit holes of research using the internet:

• relating foods to their natural climate zones: pineapples growing on Pender would be wonderful, but...

• learning some of the obscure facts of BC Island history: one of the islands was a leper colony for afflicted Chinese Immigrants; what was their story?

• using Google Earth to find and fly over the BC islands, and "Hey! Isn't that one a lake?"

• writing haiku poetry: seventeen syllables in three lines, no exceptions!

• discerning reality from imagination: do dragons really eat dates?

Written with visions of snuggling together while perusing the images, debating facts, and searching the BC map, each letter story balances on the fantasy/reality divide, leaving questions and answers to the readers to discuss and resolve. The author offers this reading advice:

Search for the islands, think of foods and animals, decide true or false.