The Franklin Annual: Volume 2. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 2003. 88 pp., cloth, $16.95. ISBN 1-55337-531-9. Preschool-grade 2 / Ages 4-7. Review by Dave Jenkinson. *** /4

excerpt:

Franklin could climb trees and swing from branches. He liked to play with his friends at the tree house and go for walks with his family in the woods. So Franklin was excited when he learned that Mr. Heron was giving away trees for Earth day. He could hardly wait to have his own tree in his own back yard. (From Franklin Plants a Tree.)

Like the inaugural volume (CM, Vol. IX, No. 5, Nov. 1, 2002), this second edition of The Franklin Annual reproduces four previously published titles, all originally appearing in 2001 and all TV tie-in adaptions based on TV episodes: Franklin Plants a Tree (CM, Vol. VII, No. 20, June 8, 2001); Franklin and the Babysitter; Franklin Runs Away (CM, Vol. VIII, No. 6, Nov. 16, 2001); and Franklin and the Babysitter. Again, as in the first volume, the original 32 page books have been reformatted so that the first three now only occupy 13 pages each while the last takes up 15 pages. Following each of the first three full colour storybooks are four activities which relate to the story that has just been completed. Franklin and the Babysitter, the final reproduced book, also has following activities, but they have been reduced to three. The various activities include word scrambles, mazes, word searches, spot the differences, connect the dots, and search and find. The volume’s final page provides the “Answers” should they be needed to confirm responses to the various activities. Although there is an “official” coloring page, since all of the activity pages are rendered in just black and white, all of these sections can be used for colouring.

     As noted in the review of the first annual, these hardcover volumes are terrific bargains which each cost less than the four books in softcover and about a third of their cost in hardcover. While the volumes’ consumable nature restricts their library usage, The Franklin Annuals are definitely titles to be considered as gift books for individual children.

Recommended.

Dave Jenkinson teaches courses in children’s and adolescent literature in the Faculty of Education, the University of Manitoba.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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