FOR THE KIDS

Gates, T. & Jowett, M. (Producers).(2006). For the kids. Vancouver, BC: Nettwerk

Summary
This album is a collection of 16 kids songs; the songs range from classic children's songs, such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Sing to fabulous new originals that are sung by some of today's finest rock artists.

Review
Listening to this album made me smile. It is warm, welcoming and fun to listen to. Sarah McLachlan imitates Kermit the Frog when singing the classic muppet show song, Rainbow Connection, Tom Waits sings a crooning blues tune, and Billy Bragg and Wilco get creative with  My Flying Saucer. 


The quality of the musicians and the sound recording make this an especially special children's musical album. I would highly recommend this album for anyone wanting to introduce their children to great modern musicians, new songs, and of course, adaptations of old favorites.

Age Range - 0-adult

Rating

****

QUID PRO QUO

·      Grant, V. (2005). Quid pro quo. Victoria, BC: Orca Book Publishers.

    Plot Synopsis
      Cyril MacIntyre is the teenage son of quirky, passionate, and hilarious single mother, Andy, who has dragged her son to her law school classes from the very beginning of her studies. Cyril’s understanding of law is better than any other average teenage boy, which comes in handy when his mother disappears and he is left to solve her missing case.

    

    Review
    This book is cleverly written and very engaging. Cyril is a smart and inquisitive kid who has normal kid concerns, however,  he is left to deal with more mature maters when his mother disappears. The story is set in Halifax, NS, and would therefore appeal to a local readership. I enjoyed reading about familiar locations in the city, and found it fun to image the story taking place in some of our landmark locations.
I would recommend this book to any young reader who is interested in reality with a twist of mystery.

    Age Range - 9-12

   Rating

   ****

DEAR DUMB DIARY: THE PROBLEM WITH HERE IS THAT IT'S WHERE I'M FROM

Benton, J. (2007). Dear dumb diary: the problem with here is where i'm from. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.

Plot Synopsis
When a sewage line breaks at the Wodehouse Middle Shool, all of the kids are bused to the neighbouring school, Mackerel Middle School, to attend classes. That is when Colette shows up..........and makes Jamie Kelly's life miserable.


Review
Written in diary format, Jamie Kelly tells her readership of the latest happenings in her life, specifically at school. The book is written in familliar language that pre-teen girls will especially like. The narrative is witty, and the humour is comparable to that  Louise Rennison, however, it is geared toward a younger audience.
There are creative illustrations on every page as added entertainment for the reader. I would recommend this book to reluctant readers, as the language is simple, and the humour compels the reader to continue turning the pages.


Age Range: 9-12


Rating




***

UGLY DUCKLING

Isadora, R. (2009). Ugly duckling. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Plot Synopsis
The ugly duckling does not look anything like his brothers and sisters. In fact, he is ostracized and  considered so ugly, that he  leaves his family in search of  a place where he will fit in.

He spends many months alone, and during the winter is unable to survive in the cold. One cold day, a farmer finds him and brings the duckling home to his children, where they love and care for him over the winter months.

When spring arrives, the duckling, no longer little, finds a pond to swim in. To his surprise, his is not longer ugly, he is in fact a beautiful swan who is admired by others.


Review
This is an adaptation from Anderson's classic story.  The story has been altered to more accurately suit a younger audience, as Anderson's original story tells of the ducklings harsh reality with the old lady and her children.
This version is set in the African savanna, as depicted by the vibrant mosaic-like cut out images that Isadora has created. The lesson that this story tells is important to learn, and it is never to early to introduce acceptance to children.


Age Range - 2-5

Rating




****

THE LITTLE RED HEN

Pinkney, J. (2006). The little red hen. New York, NY: Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Plot Summary
Mother hen finds some seeds one morning while hunting for worms and berries. They happen to be wheat seeds, so she decides to plant them in the garden. She offers her neighbouring animals; a dog, a pig, a rat, and a goat the opportunity to help cultivate the earth, sow the seeds, tend the crop, harvest the wheat, and bake some bread with the flour from the harvest. At every chance to help mother hen, all four animals decline.
When it is time to eat the bread, however, the animals are eager to share, but because they did not help, mother hen will not share with them, only with her little chicks.


Review
This is a lovely recounting of the classic tale of helping others out. The illustrations are beautifully depicted, with the use of bright, double-spread images that will surely thrill and engage children. The story teaches a valuable lesson that children will understand and enjoy.


Age Range - 2-6


Rating




****

THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA

Stevens, J. (1982). The princess and the pea. New York, NY: Holiday House.

Plot Summary
There once was a lion prince who wanted to find a princess to marry. His mother, the queen lion, insisted that he find a "real princess". The prince searched all over the world for this princess, but to no avail, his mother did not approve of any princess that they met.

One dark and stormy night, a sodden and messy looking princess lioness knocked on their door. The lioness needed a place to stay for the night, so the queen, skeptical as she was, placed a pea underneath a pile of mattresses. She decided that if the princess was unable to sleep comfortably, that she must be fit for the prince.


Review


The illustrations in this book are cute, they are hand drawn using coloured pencil crayons, however, they are slightly muddy.  The lion characters are quite fantastical and I do think that kids would like them, however, the story-line lacks excitement.


This adaptation of Anderson's "The Real Princess" lacks in narrative and a positive moral conclusion. The queen insists on approving of a princess for the prince. I do not like the message that this instills, I would not recommend this version of Anderson's story.


Age Range: 2-5


Rating



***

KIDSCLICK!

KidsClick! web search for kids by librarians. (2010). KidsClick! Retrieved from http://www.kidsclick.org/

About the Site:
KidsClick is a directory of kid related websites that was created by librarians.


Site Review:
I think that the librarians involved in this site's development have a clear idea of what they want the site to do, however, the site falls short of accomplishing its task. The site is very confusing. There is a lot of clutter, with many different search options, all assuming that the kids are familiar with proper search strategies. The "Search" box does not support natural language searching at all. The site offers the ability to choose different subjects of interest, as a way to limit searches, however, once in these categories, I found that the options were limited.

Age Range:


Rating:


**

YAHOO! KIDS

Yahoo! kids. (2010). Yahoo! kids. Retrieved from http://kids.yahoo.com/

About the Site
 This site is a browsable and searchable directory of Internet sites for kids. It contains games, music, movies, jokes, sports related information, homework help and more.


Site Review
 Yahooligans! is a very busy site, with many options for kids to choose from. Many of the links lead the viewer to gaming websites. Games can be fun to play, however, can also prove to be very distracting if wanting to find actual information. The site does not support natural language searches, therefore, it has not taken considered its audience.
The "Parent" link is very helpful, as it provides adults with valuable information regarding protecting the privacy of children and what sites your kids should avoid.
Overall, I would not recommend this site to children, as I believe that other sites, such as the International Chiuldren's Digital Library.

Age Range-7-11


Rating

*

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

Anderson, W.(Director).(2009). Fantastic mr. fox [Motion picture]. Los Angeles, CA: Regency Enterprises.

Plot Summary:
This movie follows Mr. Fox as he attempts to put his wild days of chicken stealing, cider drinking and midnight adventuring behind him to become a responsible father. He does this by becoming a newspaper columnist, however, his instinctual, nocturnal nature is a stong force, and he decides to go on one more chicken stealing spree.
The story follows Mr. Fox as he gets himself, his family and his neighbouring community into more trouble than he had bargained for.

Review:
This movie is filmed with stop-motion animation. The characters and the sets are beautifully constructed and will appeal to any audience, young or old. Children will enjoy this story for the talking animals and their funny antics, and adults will  enjoy it for the subversive humour.
I would highly recommend this film to anybody, child or adult. It is fun, fantastical, and hilariously funny.


Age Range: 3- adult


Rating 


*****

101 DALMATIONS

Geronimi, C., Luske, H. & Reitherman, W (Directors). (1961). 101 Dalmatians [Motion Picture]. Walt Disney Home Entertainment.

Plot Summary
Pongo and Perdita, a dalmatian couple, are thrilled to be expecting their first litter of puppies. Once day, Cruella de Vil comes to their home to visit their owners, and offers to buy the unborn puppies. Upon learning that they are not for sale, Cruella hires thugs to steal the pups, as she wants to make herself a dalmatian skin coat.

The story continues with the puppies being stolen, and a mad search for the dogs ensues, by both the human population, and the neighboring dog population.

Review
This animated story features many stereotypes;  a lonely and disheveled bachelor living with his dog; man meets a beautiful woman and they instantly fall in love and wed; the dogs take on human emotions,  and fall in love and get pregnant; the evil Cruella de Vil looks entirely different than the rest of the "kind", normal folk, and because of her mischievous personality, it is acceptable that she swears and mistreats others; oh, and it all ends happily ever after......

I think that this movie, if watched on a regular basis by children, will foster an acceptance of these stereotypes, and dissuade critical thinking about different ways of living and different types of people. However, I must say that Cruella de Vil is a very engaging character, but, her use of the words "you idot(s)" made me cringe after having heard her say it about 30 times.


Age Range: 2-8


Rating




**

HEIDI

Spyri, J. (1880). Heidi. London, UK: Berryland Books Ltd.

Plot Synopsis
Heidi is the story of an orphan who is left in the care of her grumpy grandfather in the Swiss Alps.  She lives with him for three years, brining joy to him and her best friend, the goat-herd, Peter. At the age of seven, she is brought to Frankfurt where she becomes the companion of a girl in a wheelchair. At this time, Heidi's health begins to fail, and she is terribly homesick. Her only diversion to her homesickness is the fact that she is lerning to read--- she sees the potential to read stories aloud to her loved ones in the Alps.

Review
Upon reading this story, it is immediately clear that it was written in a different time. The story opens the reader to another world, where the use of the English language was used very differently. The story is antiquated, and includes religious overtones and gender stereotyping, which would not bade well in today's society, however, it does offer the reader perspective into how our society has changed over the years.
I read this book as a child and I really enjoyed it. I really related to Heidi's spunk and her spirited personality. I must say that she lived up to my memories of her.  I would recommend this book to a   child, but would certainly suggest that he/she think about the differences of that culture and compare it with today's.

Age Range - 6-12

Rating


***

THE INCREDIBLE BOOK EATING BOY

Jeffer, O. (2006). The incredible book eating boy. London, UK: Harper Collins Children's Books.

Plot Synopsis


Henry is a little boy who loves to eat books, the more books that he eats, the smarter he becomes............until one day, he begins to feel ill. Henry becomes sick from eating too many books, and all of the information that he consumes begins being jumbled in his head. Henry has got to stop eating books, one day, he opens a book and realizes that he loves reading books, and that he can become the smartest boy in the world by reading instead of eating.


Review
I love, love, love this book. It has great appeal on many levels. Esthetically, it is beautifully illustrated. Jeffers uses mixed -media, collage, and paint to illustrate the pages, which speaks to the interests of a wide audience. Children can appreciate this approach, as they could have fun identifying the different objects that are used out of context in the images, and adults can appreciate Jeffers cleverness with his approach.

The story is delightful and teaches an important lesson.......books instill knowledge, and they are fun to read. My favorite part of the book is the bite mark on the back cover. Kids will surely love this added detail, in fact, there is evidence of several attempts to bite the book on my library copy.

Age Range - 2-6

Rating




*****

WHEN YOU REACH ME

Stead, R. (2009). When you reach me. New York, NY: Wendy Lamb Books.

Plot Synopsis


Myranda is a 12 year old, latchkey girl who lives in New York City. Her life is pretty ordinary.........until her best friend, Sal gets punched for no apparent reason,  and then he retreats from her life. At this time, strange things start happening, she receives several cryptic notes and things begin vanishing.


Review


This book is fantastical, it has elements of science fiction, and mystery, and that is what makes it so brilliant.
The book grabs the reader on the first page, and every page after that invites the reader to try and solve the mystery, understand time travel, and spend time with an average girl and her friends.

This book will appeal to wide audience, it is fun, it presents a challenge, but is written in a way that does not cause confusion. I would hightly recommend this book to any pre-teen or young teen. It offers the market something new, without talking down to the readership.

Age Range - 9-14

Rating


*****

DINAH'S DREAM

Hennessy, B.G. (2000). Dinah's dream. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

Plot Summary


Dinah the dinosaur goes to sleep and dreams that she is different things.

Review 


This  book was labelled a levelled reader 1 book at the library. It is meant for children who are learning to read. It has 8 pages, with 5 words on each page. The font size is very large, and the illustrations clearly depict what the text says - for example - Dinah is sleeping in one image, the text reads, " Dinah Dinosaur goes to sleep". The language in the book is simple and familliar and suitable for a new reader.

Age Range - 0-2

Rating


***

A PICTURE BOOK OF ANNE FRANK

Adler. D. A. (1993). A picture book of Anne Frank. New York, NY: Holiday House

Plot Summary


This book retells the true story of Anne Frank, as first told by her through her diaries. The book follows Anne as she hides with her family in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation of World War II. It summarizes the political events of the time with words and images.


Review
This book provides a detailed visual account of Anne Frank's brave journey through very violent, and scary times. The illustrations exemplify the tremendous struggles that she went through during her two years in hiding. The muted colour pallet that Ritz uses for the illustrations help to evoke the intense emotions of Anne and her family. This book is comparable to the Mauz graphic novels, as the story is well written, and touches on family relationships and the historical climate through the eyes of one person (or a mouse in the case of the Mauz books).

I would highly recommend this book as an introduction to the Haulocaust for any child.

Age Range - 4-7

Rating


****

FAMOUS CANADIANS: HELEN CREIGHTON

Sircom, Hilary. (1993). Helen Creighton.Tantallon, NS: Four East Pulibcations Ltd.

Plot Summary


Helen Creighton is seen to be a pioneer of the folklore movement in the Maritime provinces. She was instrumental in collecting and recording songs and stories from all over the Maritime provinces.

Sircom introduces Helen Creighton as a young woman, tells the story of Helen's years during the war, talks about her passions and the singers and songs that inspired her.


Review
Although this book is dated, it does a great job at painting a vivid picture of tHelen Creighton. The sentences and paragraphs have been abbreviated, and the language is succinct - making it suitable for a young adult audience. This would be a great book for any child who is interested in history, and would prove to be a valuable resource for a written school assignment.

Because the book is a biography, and written in the traditional biography style - chronological - the story is not always gripping. It is rather serious and chalk full of facts and details. I do not think that many children would read this for pleasure, however, it is informative and strongly suited for school work.

Age Range -8-12

Rating


**