"B is for Basketball" /// Children's Picture book

"B is for Basketball: An Alphabet Book" is simply a great read for any child. Written collectively by the students and teachers of School District #50 in the small community of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, this alphabet book wonderfully portrays their town's love and enjoyment of basketball. The fun and detailed illustrations are done by Judy Hilgemann, a highly respected and award winning artist. The reason this book was created was because the community of Haida Gwaii, which is populated with many First Nations individuals, wanted a special way to represent their lives and culture. They realized that the best way to do this was by showcasing the annual "All Native Basketball Tournament".  According to the foreword of the book, this school competition has become an integral part of the community and is a unique and dearly cherished tradition for the Aboriginal peoples who live near Haida Gwaii.

As this book was created with direct input from the children and educators residing in the area, it does a perfect job of representing the culture of this particular First Nations community. Accordingly, the First Nations Community Reads Awards listed this title as an honouree in their 2014-2015 selections.

In my opinion, this book does a great job of representing a community in an honest and contemporary way. I love looking at the illustrations of the people cheering the players on - they are average, realistic, lovely people - a great portrayal of an Aboriginal community. Another great part of this book are the little sidebars that ask the reader to hunt for objects within the illustrations, along with a small picture of a traditional Aboriginal object beginning with the letter on each page. For example, the letter "T" includes an illustration of a "Talking Stick". These small images are wonderful educational tools as they more deeply engage the reader and allow for further learning opportunities.

References:

School District 50., & Hilgemann, Judy. (Illustrator). (2010). B is for basketball: An alphabet book.