The abiding impression one forms of W IS FOR WINNIPEG is that it’s a labor of love. The subtitle (“A Little Architect’s ABC”) reveals its rather offbeat purpose: it is a children’s ABC that uses as its subject matter the principal buildings of Winnipeg in Canada. Author Rae St. Clair Bridgeman evokes a city of contrasts, with nineteenth-century Victorian edifices rubbing shoulders with jaunty, postmodern designs. Illustrations, which are provided by the author, are in pastel shades; they’re tasteful, beautiful, and restrained, utilizing the device of a bird flying above the city and visiting each building in turn. Young readers are encouraged to keep an eye out for an owl hidden (sometimes, rather challengingly!) in every picture. The rhyming couplets are descriptive, though at the expense of meter.
The main barrier to appeal is, of course, the narrowness of the subject matter. Winnipeg plainly has its fair share of striking architecture, but most readers (particularly young ones) can hardly be expected to be aware of it. There is also a certain dissonance in terms of target audience: as an ABC, it is clearly meant for kindergarteners (and, perhaps, first- and second-graders), but the brief entries in the final thirty pages or so of the book on the histories and features of the buildings covered therein would require the reading skills of middle schoolers—who would doubtless be nonplussed by the content of the first half.
However, and in spite of the tonal incongruities, W IS FOR WINNIPEG deserves praise. Writing on such narrow subject matter for such a niche audience has all the hallmarks of literary conceit, but there’s a good case to be made for arguing that it shouldn’t—particularly now. Regression to the mean has a lot to answer for: with algorithms across the internet ceaselessly pushing viewers and readers towards bland, middle-of-the-road content that will garner engagement (but rarely excitement or absorption), the dash, color, and uniqueness of the local and esoteric is all too often lost in the mix. Even for those who never visit the buildings celebrated in W IS FOR WINNIPEG, this book makes the reader very glad they’re being celebrated.
Though its subject matter is very narrow, Rae St. Clair Bridgman’s W IS FOR WINNIPEG: A Little Architect’s ABC is a thoughtful and beautifully illustrated children’s book.
~ Craig Jones, for IndieReader