Review: Crayola

http://www.crayola.com/

Children's Website; Marketing Tie-ins and Activities

Grades: 1-4

First Accessed: November 28, 2008

The art supply company's tie in website, including activities and marketing.

My Thoughts:

I didn't really care all that much for this site. It was not organized in a kid friendly fashion, being hard to navigate and relying heavily on text. It seemed to be a thinly disguised attempt to sell products to children. The opening page is mostly ads, with a sidebar that directs users to various sites...parents, educators, children. The coloring pages are nice, when they load, but the tools to color them online aren't even as good as the ones on the PBS site. They were difficult to use and limited. It was very frustrating!

I had had high hopes for this site, since the company's products all foster creativity, it would seem like the site should have had great visual impact and been innovative. Its not. It looks like a website template that I can get through Microsoft Office. Also, there were a lot of issues, at least on my end, with getting various features to load. Several coloring pages crashed. Worst of all...there were pop-ups. I HATE POP-UPS! On top of which, they should be ILLEGAL on kid's sites.

The Thoughts of Others:
No Critical Reviews Available

Review: PBS Kids

http://pbskids.org/

Children's Website; Games/Entertainment

Ages: 3-8

First Accessed: November 26, 2008

The companion website to the Public Broadcasting System's children's television programming, including games and other entertainment options.

My Thoughts:

I thought that this website is ideal for younger children. There is absolutely NOTHING objectionable on it, or anyway to access possibly objectionable material from it. Also, a lot of the site uses imagery and audio, rather than text, to direct users. This is great for children who are either beginning or non-readers. I loved the formatting, with the wheel of fortune style menu that directs kids to the various pages for various shows...especially since it is character faces rather than titles that differentiate the tabs.

The PBS kids island section is a game section, that children can either use as a trial or register for. It is chock full of educational games that work on math, literacy, and concepts like opposites. Kids can earn points/tickets, and thus budgeting and money skills. There are activities, like coloring pages, on the various show sites, and videos and interviews with various characters. Overall it is a good supplement to the television shows, a nice educational tool (without kids knowing it is an educational tool), and executed with the high standard of quality that one can expect from PBS.

Thoughts of Others:
No Critical Reviews Available

Review: Storyline Online

http://www.storylineonline.net/index2.html

Children's Website; Streaming Storytimes

Grades: Preschool-2nd

First Accessed: November 24, 2008

A collection of online streaming videos featuring Screen Actor's Guild members reading picture books.

My Thoughts:

This is an absolutely amazing website. It has some VERY famous people reading picture books in video format. (Jason Alexander, Elijah Wood, Melissa Gilbert, Sean Astin, etc.) As professional actors, the quality of the reading is amazing. Also, the movement between the book illustrations (some of which have been animated, andthe actors themselves, is very smooth and well done. Also, the books that have been chosen are titles that will appeal to children, and are a wide mix of award winners, new classics, and just plain fun! (A Bad Case of Stripes, Stellaluna, Polar Express.)

One of the neatest features of this site is the ability to either merely hear the story, or to see the text along with the reading. This is great for encouraging literacy in children. Early readers can gain experience reading along with the actors. There are even activities to go along with many of the stories. However, my favorite feature was quite simple: each story clearly tells you how long the video runs. This is very important if you want to use one for a storytime or in a classroom setting. (Or as a bedtime story...you wouldn't want the kids staying up later than they ought to!)

Thoughts of Others:
No Critical Reviews Available

Review: Yahooligans

http://kids.yahoo.com/

Children's Website; Search Engine

Grades: 2-5

First Accessed: November 22. 2008

This is a child friendly version of the yahoo search engine. It including areas for browsing, games, and research.

My Thoughts:

I thought that this was a great website. It was very user friendly, and the format and colors would appeal to a younger crowd. However, unlike other children's sites, it does rely a lot on text, rather than icons and pictures to direct users to different access points. I appreciated that it had homework help, as well as the "Ask Earl" section. I also really liked that there was a tab for parents to use to help them monitor their children's web behavior, as well as help their children navigate this particular browser.

The games were fun, and diverse, much like their counterparts on the regular yahoo site. Also, the featured movies and entertainment information was definitely geared to the elementary-tween crowd. That, though, might be the downfall of the site. A lot of the information and features seemed to be hoping to latch into the tween population, but tweens are just fickle enough that they won't use this site based solely on the "kids" label. Overall, I think this site would make a great homepage for a family or child-use home computer. It also would be a good resource for elementary school teachers to use to introduce kids to research. However, aside from the games, I don't think that a lot of kids will go to it independently.

Thoughts of Others:
No Critical Reviews Available.

Review: Dealing with Dragons

By Patricia Wrede

Harcourt; 2002; 240 pages

Tween Fiction;

Grades: 5-9

ISBN: 978-0-152-04566-1

Cimorene is not your normal princess. She is not typically pretty, she likes to swordfight, and the only thing she can cook is Cherries Jubilee. So, she runs away from home to live with a dragon, and does NOT want to be rescued! While living with Kazul, her dragon, the wizards try to steal dragon magic, and it is up to Cimorene to save the day!

My Thoughts:
This is an absolutely enchanting and amazing book! It is a wittily written novel that takes a new spin on the fantasy genre. For example, the witch character Morwen cannot be melted with water, but wizards can...provided the water is soapy. Also, the wizards are not magical, but rather their staff leaches magic from the magical beings around them. The characters are all fully developed, the action moves along at a quick pace, and the plot takes unexpected by pleasant twists and turns. I was glad to learn that it was the first in a series because I was definitely not tired of Cimorene, Kazul, and Morwen at the end.

I felt that this was also a great book for tweens, since it is too advanced for younger kids, but doesn't have ANY objectionable material, such as what is often found in the cutting edge teen literature. Most importantly, Cimorene is a great role model for tween girls who are having to adjust physically, emotionally, and socially to the world around them. She is a strong woman, who embraces being herself, and positively influences the environment and people that surround her.

The Thoughts of Others:
Sally Estes wrote a review for Booklist in 1990. She also had a positive reaction to the book. She noted Wrede's "witty playfulness" and summed the book up as "a decidedly diverting novel with plenty of action and many slightly skewed fairy-tale conventions that add to the laugh-out-loud reading pleasure and give the story a wide appeal."

Kirkus Review's 1990 opinion of the novel praised the feminist viewpoint, which it noted was not carried out with a heavy hand. It appreciated that "both Cimorene and her dragon are firmly drawn, tough-minded females who refuse to conform to stereotypes (being female doesn't prevent a dragon from becoming king)."

Review: Knight

By Christopher Gravett; Photographed by Geoff Dann

DK Publishing; 2004; 72 Pages

Juvenile Non-Fiction; Single Topic

Grades 2-5

ISBN: 0-7566-0696-9

An in-depth look at all aspects of typical life for a medieval knight, this book discusses everything from how to knights donned their armor to a time line of chivalric history. The text is accompanied by photographs of artifacts and re-enactments.

My Thoughts:
I thought that this book was outstanding. The text is simple, yet rich in details. (For example, armour weighed 45 to 55 pounds, women often married at fourteen, and castles had holes in their stone ceilings so that fires could be put out from above!) More importantly, at least to the modern child's short attention span, the formal text itself is incredibly brief. The majority of the information is delivered via blurbs or captions to the remarkable photographs. This also would aid reluctant readers. The text is chunked in such a way that it is neither overwhelming nor daunting. Both the author and the photographer did a good job in picking subjects (specific suits of armor, ancient weaponry, artwork) that would appeal to children. This book makes history fun!

The best aspect of this book though was the photography. I feel that having the pictures be photos rather than illustrations aids in children's grasp of history as reality. Had the book merely had drawings of knights and ladies, many children could have equated it to the overabundance of illustrated fairy tales and fantasy works. The photos really bring home the fact that knights were real, that they really fought, and that they really wore armour. (I particularly enjoyed the double-page spread that depicted how a knight went about putting the armor on. It was truly an involved process.) I am interested now in looking at some of the other historical eyewitness books in the series, and am confident that I can recommend them to kids doing research, or who are merely interested in learning more about the world around them!

The Thoughts of Others:
I was actually unable to find any critical reviews of this particular edition/eyewitness title. However, overall the series is highly respected. I know that, if you count circulation statistics as a review source, we can't seem to keep any of the eyewitness books on the shelf. This one is particularly popular, with an astronomical circulation rate.

Also, for a very non-critical review, I would like to point out that this book was actually recommended to me by a 3rd grade boy when he found out I wanted an eyewitness book for homework. Peyton said, and I quote: "You should get the knight one. Its my favoritest! There are swords and stuff."

Review: An American Plague

The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

By Jim Murphy

Clarion Books; 2003; 165 pages

Non-Fiction; Award Winner: Newbery Honor Book, National Book Award Finalist, Robert F. Sibert Medal Winner

Grades: 6-12

ISBN: 978-0-395-77608-2

This book relates the tale of how the Yellow Fever crippled our nation's capital of Philadelphia. Political bigwigs, such as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, along with pioneering doctors and a fearful populace were all caught up in the horrific epidemic that changed history.

My Thoughts:
It is obvious why this book has won so many awards. I thought that this was a very well executed, and very interesting book on a topic that I generally do not enjoy reading about. I am not a fan of sickness, or reading about sickness, or reading about the often barbaric practices of early doctors, or reading about political intrigues and ramifications. Yet, for some reason, I really enjoyed this book. For one thing, Jim Murphy is an outstanding writer. The mere mechanics and style of the text pulls the reader in. At the same time, he handles the subject matter in a mature and yet kid-friendly manner. Also, it is beneficial for students to read works like this early in their school careers since it introduces them to several standard non-fiction practices: citation, primary documentation, and quotation. (And does all of this without being dry or boring.)

The book is full of facts that kids will enjoy, especially the section on bleeding people. I think they will be intrigued by the fact that this is still an incurable disease as well. All though the time period and setting won't be familiar to the kids, some of the people described in it will be: George Washington, Dolly Madison, Benjamin Franklin. I think having them in the book helps make it more accessible to children. In addition, the artwork throughout the book does a good job of supporting the text. (Keep in mind though that this is meant for older children, so the artwork is secondary to the text.) I also really liked the facsimiles of newspapers and publications from the time. They added visual interest, but also made for fun reading...especially the bits that had nothing to do with the story at hand!

The Thoughts of Others:
Publisher's Weekly reviewed An American Plague in 2003 and liked how "Murphy injects the events with immediacy." It doesn't seem like it is a history book. Their reviewer also praised the comprehensive nature of the text, liked the photos and appreciated the recommended resources and cautionary note.

Kirkus's Review in 2003 called this book "a mesmerizing, macabre account that will make readers happy they live in the 21st century." They highly praised the prevalence of primary sources, as well as how the "powerful, evocative prose carries along the compelling subject matter."