RED: A Haida Manga

Now this is an interesting concept (and well done!).  "RED: a Haida Manga" is exactly that - a traditional Haida story told in the Japanese Manga style as graphic novel. It is the story of a brother and sister who are separated by war and the brother's quest to find the sister and exact revenge on her captors.  It is a tragic story of heroism, a search for justice and blind fury.

The really interesting aspect that makes this story telling so unique is the creator's choice to tell it in the Manga style, marrying the two cultures seamlessly.

Another fascinating thing about this book is that if you disassemble it, and reassemble it in a certain order, it becomes a 4m long continuous poster telling the story (pictured below).  I recommend this book for graphic novel studies, for learning about the Haida culture and traditions and for introducing the Manga style.

Project Superhero

Last week I read Project Superhero, an engaging book with themes of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education and girl empowerment. This book makes my head buzz with lesson ideas from these themes alone. Within the book, you get to read about some fabulous project-based learning ideas playing out in a grade 8 classroom.

I was lucky enough to meet the author, E. Paul Zehr, at a book launch at the UVic Bookstore. (He even signed my copy!) You can tell the students who read this that they're reading a book by a neuroscientist. Dr. Zehr did a TEDTalk called The Superhero In You.

-Britney (@MlleBallen)

P.S. This book has its own hashtag, too: #ProjectSuperhero. (This isn't just my love of Twitter talking, it's printed on the back of the book!)