A BC Island Animal Dream
by Elizabeth Eakin

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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.

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Elizabeth Eakin spent much of her childhood halfway up the cedar tree outside the back door, reading books while wedged against the trunk. A passion for playing any and all sports led to teaching PE in secondary school, but the joyful enthusiasm, openness and imagination of kindergarten children proved an irresistible lure. She spent twenty years in Primary French Immersion, playing games, doing messy art work, singing, dancing and story telling. In the company of five and six year olds, the love of play for learning and the habits of curiosity, questioning and imagination became firmly entrenched. During that time her four children taught her the realities of parenting and compromise. Since retirement, she has delved into the wonders of water colour painting, poetry and old time fiddling. The advent of grandchildren brought requests for personalized paintings and poems as well as recognition of the need to keep learning, especially about new technology. Guarded by a murder of crows, she lives in Prince George BC, waiting for the right cat to arrive.

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Contributors

Author

Elizabeth Eakin

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Other eBook Editions

This book is also available in eBook format from these sites.

• Apple Books
• Google Play