Students like A Beginning Look at Canada because it has content that interests them and is written at a level that most can easily access. They also enjoy the variety of exercises that reinforces material presented.

This book includes sections on Canada’s geography, history, people and government. Within each section are a number of short readings about basic facts and concepts concerning the topic. Each reading is followed by comprehension questions and exercises designed to develop reading skills.

A number of key features make the text appealing. Perhaps, most importantly, students feel that this information about Canada is important to their lives. As one student said, “This is the kind of thing I need to know more about.” Another said, “We really need this!” Another aspect that students like is that the individual readings are brief. The information presented becomes easier to digest for many of our learners when it is presented in small doses. One student commented, “I like the little points. It’s not long and boring.”

Another positive point is that the text presents opportunities to help students develop a variety of reading skills such as reading charts. There are also exercises in which students make charts to show information. Map-reading skills can also be an important focus when using this book because there are a generous number of maps. There is also a wide variety of comprehension exercises.

A Beginning Look at Canada has a large number of photographs, charts and maps to break up the text and uses white space adequately. A glossary for introduced vocabulary follows each section of the book. There is also a Teacher’s Manual and Resource Package, which includes pre-reading suggestions, photocopiable masters for making flashcards and an answer key, that I have not reviewed.

A couple of warnings: the book suffers from a lack of colour. It is black and white and grey from beginning to end. Also, although Nunavut is mentioned as becoming a new territory in the future, it is not included on the map of Canada. However, even with these two negative points, I find the book a useful addition to our resources.