Senisi, E. B. (2000). Hurray for pre-K!. New York, NY: HarperCollinsPublishers. [34 pages]. ISBN: 0-06-028896-5
Interest Level: Ages 3 to 5
Genre: Picture Book
Subjects/Themes: Preschool, Teachers, Classmates
Content: Senisi is a photography enthusiast, children’s writer and former teacher. Hurray for Pre-K! offers a glimpse of the daily activities children experience in a preschool classroom through the use of simple text and photos from a New York classroom. Children get to view other culturally diverse children engaged in crafts, naps, singing, and at snack time. A different action word is introduced and repeated three times on each two page spread
Personal Thoughts: This book’s main strength is in the multiple photos of the preschool classroom. The pictures do a good job of capturing the different children’s emotions and enthusiasm during school. A very simple book which would be good for a young child whose sibling is just starting school and wants to know more about it. For those older children closer to actually going to school, they might want some more details and explanations.
Author Website: Ellen B. Senisi Website
Some Other Books by the Author:
Brothers & Sisters (1993); Kindergarten Kids (1994); Secrets (1995); Just Kids (1998); For My Family, Love Allie (1998); Shapes Where We Play (2007); All Kinds of Friends, Even Green! (2002);
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Fruits Basket (Anime Cartoon)
Takaya, N. (1999). Fruits basket. Los Angeles, CA: Tokyopop. Vol. 1 ISBN: 9781591826033
Interest Level: 10 to 18
Subjects/Themes: Shojo Manga, Anime, Friendship, Orphans, Fantasy, Romance
Running Time: 26 episodes; 21 minutes each
Rating: Unrated
Plot: After her mother's death, Tohru Honda begins living in a tent in the woods in order to stay in school while her grandfather's house is being remodeled. She also works part-time cleaning office buildings in order to pay for her tuition. She had promised her mother that she would finish school no matter what. Yuki Sohma, the most popular guy in her high school, discovers Yuki's living conditions and invites her to live with him and his cousins. In return for room and board, Tohru cooks and cleans the house. Unfortunately, the Sohma family is cursed. As a result of the curse they turn into the animals of the Chinese Zodiac when under extreme stress or when hugged by the opposite sex as Tohru quickly finds out. Tohru promises to keep their secret. If Tohru fails in some way, then the head of the Sohma family will demand that her memory and therefore her firendship with the Sohma family be permently erased.
Personal Thoughts: This anime is extremely uplifting as well as being sweetly sad. The characters are dealing with inner turmoil and trying to make the best of life. Tohru is an extremely uplifting personality, without being stupidly naive or fake. She's mourning her mother's death, struggling to find her identity, and despite everything trying to do what's right. Throughout the series different themes about self-identity, bullying, standing up for yourself, speaking your mind, and friendship are explored. The boys in the series are strong academic as well as martial art students. The Sohma family is full of dark secrets, most of which are only hinted at during the story.
Notes: This review is based mostly on the anime series and not the manga series. The anime is closely based on the first eight volumes of the manga series. The manga series has 23 volumes total.
Awards (for Manga version):
Kodansha Manga Award in the shōjo manga category (2001)
American Anime Awards "Best Manga" (2007)
Animage Anime Grand Prix Award (2001)
Similar Materials: Sailor Moon cartoon series; Tokyo Mew Mew manga series;
Graceling (Book)
Interest Level: Ages 13 and Up
Genre: Fantasy Fiction
Subjects/Themes: Magic, Medieval Worlds, Princesses, Romance, Violence/War, Politics
Plot: Katsa is the niece of King Randa of the Middluns, but that's not why people fear her. They fear her because she is Graced with the art of killing. A Grace is something people are born knowing how to do perfectly like magic. Katsa's uncle uses her Grace in order to enforce his rules, scare those who question him, and to kill his enemies. But Katsa also works to keep peace between the kingdoms, she has formed a secret Council spread throughout all the kingdoms that works to help innocent people. Then Prince Po, seemingly Graced with the art of hand-to-hand combat, comes to court looking for his grandfather only to find out Katsa's secret. This starts Katsa on the path of taking back control of her life, publicly standing up to her uncle, and eventually joining Po on his quest to find out more about what happened to his grandfather.
Personal Thoughts: A great fantasy book! It has recieved "Starred Reviews" from Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal. The book is divided into three sections that discuss Katsa's life growing up under her uncle's rule, her travels and romance with Po, and her quest to save Princess Bitterblue. The book is filled with with all sorts of action scenes as should be expected from Katsa's Grace. A few older concepts for readers to be aware of is that it is stated that Katsa and Po do become lovers, though no details are given. There is also a lot of violence and killling in the action scenes, though the lack of gory details balances it out. Katsa is a protector of the weak and strives to teach them to protect themselves. A lot of good themes about friendship, loyalty, justice, and survival. A Must Read!
Awards:
Other Books by the Author: Fire (2009)
Author's Website: Kristin Cashore Website
Cicada (Magazine)
Cicada, 13(2). (2010, November/December). Chicago, IL: Carus Publishing Company.
Interest Level: Ages 14 and Up
Genre: Serial (Periodical, Newspaper, Magazine, etc.)
Subjects/Themes: Magazine, Youth's Writings, Adult Writings,
Content: Cicada magazine is targeted towards teens 14 years old and above and is published bi-monthly. The magazine offers stories and poems written by adults and young adults that illustrate the issues, topics, and feelings that accompany growing up. Cicada is 48 pages long and filled from cover to cover with writings. No outside advertisements are included. The magazine is created by the same company who creates the Cricket magazine for children and is suggested as the next step for children who have outgrown Cricket magazine. A yearly subscription costs just under $34 or you can find it at your local library.
Personal Thoughts: A straightforward magazine that reads like the collection of short stories and poems its meant to be. The illustrations are simple. The lack of advertisements refreshing. The writing of high quality with a mix of humor. The stories while sometimes full of deeper issues still have an uplifting inspiring tone to them. One of the stories told about a recovering alcoholic grandmother, her angry daughter, and the granddaughter stuck between them and how they all find a way to laugh over Pluto’s demotion from plant to a plutoid. Another hinted at a world or witches, wizards and elves, and an infant who mistakenly drank some magic potion and is now as aware as an adult and yet unfortunately hampered by his age. If you have a young inspiring writer, then they may enjoy reading the works of others and this would definitely be a good suggestion of where to start reading.
Awards: Parents' Choice Recommended Magazine (2010)
Company Website: Cicada Website
Similar Materials: Teen Ink Magazine (check out my review), New Moon Girls Magazine (check out my review), Cricket Magazine,
Interest Level: Ages 14 and Up
Genre: Serial (Periodical, Newspaper, Magazine, etc.)
Subjects/Themes: Magazine, Youth's Writings, Adult Writings,
Content: Cicada magazine is targeted towards teens 14 years old and above and is published bi-monthly. The magazine offers stories and poems written by adults and young adults that illustrate the issues, topics, and feelings that accompany growing up. Cicada is 48 pages long and filled from cover to cover with writings. No outside advertisements are included. The magazine is created by the same company who creates the Cricket magazine for children and is suggested as the next step for children who have outgrown Cricket magazine. A yearly subscription costs just under $34 or you can find it at your local library.
Personal Thoughts: A straightforward magazine that reads like the collection of short stories and poems its meant to be. The illustrations are simple. The lack of advertisements refreshing. The writing of high quality with a mix of humor. The stories while sometimes full of deeper issues still have an uplifting inspiring tone to them. One of the stories told about a recovering alcoholic grandmother, her angry daughter, and the granddaughter stuck between them and how they all find a way to laugh over Pluto’s demotion from plant to a plutoid. Another hinted at a world or witches, wizards and elves, and an infant who mistakenly drank some magic potion and is now as aware as an adult and yet unfortunately hampered by his age. If you have a young inspiring writer, then they may enjoy reading the works of others and this would definitely be a good suggestion of where to start reading.
Awards: Parents' Choice Recommended Magazine (2010)
Company Website: Cicada Website
Similar Materials: Teen Ink Magazine (check out my review), New Moon Girls Magazine (check out my review), Cricket Magazine,
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Marketing to Tween Boys
Reflection of the article: Masculinity in a Spray Can by J. Hoffman (January 29, 2010). New York Times.
Subjects: Tween Advertising, Boys and Brand Indentity,
Subjects: Tween Advertising, Boys and Brand Indentity,
In the article, Masculinity in a Spray Can, Hoffman discusses the increasing numbers of male tweens using grooming products that had previously been marketed towards older teenagers. To support this, Hoffman quotes different psychologists, parents, market researchers and middle-school principals. When I first started reading this article, I was asking myself how the use of grooming products can be a bad thing. Shouldn’t we support good hygiene skills in tweens? But Hoffman argues that it is not about hygiene but about how tween boys are using grooming products to define themselves and their masculinity by associating themselves to a brand’s image.
The American Academy
One of the reasons for this surge Hoffman states is due to new marketing strategies that use social networking and Web gaming sites. I find this is particularly troubling because those strategies are targeting tweens in ways that their parents may not understand. Hoffman states that parents are generally clueless about the advertising aspects of grooming supplies. Parents understand direct advertising such as TV commercials. But what about the subtle advertising through game avatars and Facebook groups? Today’s teens and tweens are extremely tech savvy. They regularly use computers and phones to access YouTube videos, Facebook posts, and newsfeeds in order to stay on top of constantly changing trends (Miller, 2009) The marketers have figured this out and are tapping into these tween saturated activities.
Overall this article made me re-examine what effects marketing has on tweens. It also made me more aware of the different strategies marketers use to reach tweens. Marketing is not always straight forward. Sometimes it can be hidden within other items that are marketed to tweens. Parents need to talk with their sons about the images promoted by the media and marketers. They can find advice about how to do this, as well as other tools to help their sons have more choice about how to live their lives in Packaging Boyhood by Brown, Lamb and Tappan.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
What to expect at preschool (Book)
Murkoff, H. E. (2001). What to expect at preschool. New York, NY: HarperFestival. [26 pages]. ISBN: 0-694-01326-9
Interest Level: Ages 5 & under
Genre: Picture Book
Subjects/Themes: Preschool, Teachers, Classmates
Content: The book describes what children experience during a typical day at preschool. Teachers, classmates, and classroom activities are explained using text and colored illustrations. Special “paw print” ideas are found on the bottom of each page that ask questions or encourage thinking in order to help children to relate to preschool in a more personal manner.
Personal Thoughts: This book’s strength is in the rich descriptive text written in a conversational style which is meant to answer any questions and soothe any worries a child might have. A nice book to help prepare children and create an interest in preschool.
About the Author: Murkoff is a co-author of the popular What to Expect When You’re Expecting pregnancy answer book as well as a senior contributing editor and columnist for Baby Talk and Parenting magazines.
Author Website: What to Expect When Your Expecting Website
Other Books by the Author:
What to Expect Kids Series on: Potty, Doctor, Dentist, Bedtime, Play Date, Baby-sitter, and New Baby;
What to Expect When Your Expecting Adult's Series on: Pregnancy, Nutrition, Baby-sitters, First Year, and Toddlers.
Interest Level: Ages 5 & under
Genre: Picture Book
Subjects/Themes: Preschool, Teachers, Classmates
Content: The book describes what children experience during a typical day at preschool. Teachers, classmates, and classroom activities are explained using text and colored illustrations. Special “paw print” ideas are found on the bottom of each page that ask questions or encourage thinking in order to help children to relate to preschool in a more personal manner.
Personal Thoughts: This book’s strength is in the rich descriptive text written in a conversational style which is meant to answer any questions and soothe any worries a child might have. A nice book to help prepare children and create an interest in preschool.
About the Author: Murkoff is a co-author of the popular What to Expect When You’re Expecting pregnancy answer book as well as a senior contributing editor and columnist for Baby Talk and Parenting magazines.
Author Website: What to Expect When Your Expecting Website
Other Books by the Author:
What to Expect Kids Series on: Potty, Doctor, Dentist, Bedtime, Play Date, Baby-sitter, and New Baby;
What to Expect When Your Expecting Adult's Series on: Pregnancy, Nutrition, Baby-sitters, First Year, and Toddlers.
Tumblebooks (Database)
Website: www.tumblebooks.com
Content:
The Tumblebooks Library is an online collection of animated picture books. Schools and libraries pay a yearly subscription fee of approximately $400 dollars to provide their patrons access. Books, both fiction and non-fiction, come from a variety of publishers. There are currently 190 digital titles in the Tumblebook collection. There are no outside vendor’s advertisements found in the website. Since accessibility is only available through an organization's subscription, not everyone has access to this website.
Personal Thoughts:
The database is pretty easy to use and may be navigated by a 3 or 4 year old who is comfortable on the computer. Parent supervision may still be needed to help children browse the titles and to switch from one title to another. The audio features make this a slightly helpful tool in helping to teach a child to read. It would work better though if the individual word was highlighted when being read as oppose to the whole sentence. Not the greatest of tools available for an emergent reader. Still Tumblebooks does offer a large number of popular picture books available for instantaneous viewing on your computer.
Content:
The Tumblebooks Library is an online collection of animated picture books. Schools and libraries pay a yearly subscription fee of approximately $400 dollars to provide their patrons access. Books, both fiction and non-fiction, come from a variety of publishers. There are currently 190 digital titles in the Tumblebook collection. There are no outside vendor’s advertisements found in the website. Since accessibility is only available through an organization's subscription, not everyone has access to this website.
Personal Thoughts:
The database is pretty easy to use and may be navigated by a 3 or 4 year old who is comfortable on the computer. Parent supervision may still be needed to help children browse the titles and to switch from one title to another. The audio features make this a slightly helpful tool in helping to teach a child to read. It would work better though if the individual word was highlighted when being read as oppose to the whole sentence. Not the greatest of tools available for an emergent reader. Still Tumblebooks does offer a large number of popular picture books available for instantaneous viewing on your computer.
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