The
Great
Canadian
Picture Book
Prediction Challenge
Activity Booklet
Can you predict what happens next in each of these
stories? (For adults: Are you smarter than a 5th grader?)
Warming Up: “Our Alberta Accent,” Lethbridge Living Magazine,
Jan-Feb 2012, p. 23-25
According to the above magazine, you may be surprised to know that there are a
number of words that are distinctly Canadian.
These are my predictions for the distinctly Canadian words in the magazine article.
The first one is done for you:
“Eh: An invitation to reply, but you
know what I mean, eh?”
Warming Up: Eh? to Zed: A Canadian ABeCedarium
by Kevin Major, Illustrated by Alan Daniel
Can you predict the 4 “Z words” on the Z page of the above book, and why they are
important to Canadians?
Warming Up: A Porcupine In A Pine Tree: A Canadian 12 Days of Christmas
by Helaine Becker, Illustrated by Werner Zimmermann
Can you predict the missing words:
Five _______________ ________________ ,
“On the ninth day of Christmas,
Four calling ________________ .
My true love gave to me:
Three ________________ tails,
Nine _______________ canoeing,
Two ________________ ,
Eight _______________ munching,
Seven ________________ dogs sledding,
Six squirrels _________________ ,
And a _______________ in a
_________________ ________________.”
Tall Tales: The True Story of Trapper Jack’s Left Big Toe
by Ian Wallace
Can you predict:
What caused Trapper Jack to lose his toe?
What was Dawson City famous for?
Tall Tales: Northern Lights: The Soccer Trails
by Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak, Illustrated by Vladyana Krykorka
Can you predict:
What comforts Kataujaq about the northern lights?
What the northern lights mean in the Inuit language?
In the story, what was the soccer ball made
out of?
Tall Tales: The Cremation of Sam McGee
by Robert Service. Paintings by Ted Harrison.
Can you predict:
What the narrator saw when he opened up Sam’s crematorium?
Hidden Pictures: A Mountain Alphabet
by Margriet Ruurs, Illustrated by Andrew Kiss
Can you predict:
There are 14 things in the “G” picture in the above book, starting with the letter G. How
many can you name?
Can you find the hidden letter G in the painting? Where is it?
Can you predict:
What the”strange shadow shapes” are, under the ice?
Hidden
Pictures:
Very Last
First Time
by Jan
Andrews,
Illustrated by
Ian Wallace
What happens to Eva?
Natural Resources and the Environment: Boy Of The Deeps
by Ian Wallace
Can you predict what happens next?
Natural Resources and the Environment: Lord Of The Sky
by Linda Zeman-Spaleny, Illustrated by Ludmila Zeman
Can you predict:
What happens next in the story?
What the moral of the story might be,
for the kind boy and his village, and all the rest of us?
Human Rights: “Flags” or “Mr. Hiroshi’s Garden”
by Maxine Trottier, Illustrated by Paul Morin
Can you predict:
What the young neighbour will do once Mr. Hiroshi is gone, before his house taken over
by others?
Human Rights: Shi-shi-etko
by Nicola I. Campbell, Illustrated by Kim LaFave
Can you predict:
What sorts of memories she will take with her of her rural home?
Canada’s Biggest Disasters
According to Canadian Disasters: A Historical Survey, can you predict any of the “top
7” Canadian disasters? These pictures will provide some hints:
Natural Disasters: The Dust Bowl
by David Booth, Illustrated by Karen Reczuch
From 1929 to 1937, the prairies were hit by the Big Dry.
Can you predict what things characterized the Big Dry?
Play and Snow: Perfect Snow
by Barbara Reid
Can you predict:
What the snow in the above picture book image is actually made of?
Play and Snow: Baseball Bats For Christmas
by Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak, Illustrated by Vladyana Krykorka
Can you predict:
What “standing ups” are?
What the kids do with the 6 “standing ups” that arrive at Christmas?
Play and Snow: M Is For Maple: A Canadian Alphabet
by Mike Ulmer, Illustrated by Melanie Rose
Can you predict:
What “H” stands for, in the above alphabet book?
HINT: Something to do with “Play and Snow.”
Play and Snow: The Hockey Sweater
by Roch Carrier, Illustrated by Sheldon Cohen
Can you predict:
What Roch prayed for that day?
Our Canadian
Identity
Can you predict what things we have talked about that make Canadians, well,
Canadian?