Kids Konnect / Jan Belzer [Website]

Kids Konnect is a website for children that was created in 1999 by Jan Belzer, who has maintained and updated the site since that time. The content of the site is encyclopedic in nature in that it has entries on a large range (hundreds) of topics. Each entry is not a comprehensive treatment of the subject, and sometimes it is basically a set of links to other websites, but the content and links are appropriate for children in elementary school.

I find that the site is arranged in an easy to use fashion, which is probably due to the fact that Jan Belzer is a teacher and she understands how to make websites relevant for children of a certain age. The pages are colourful, often animated and fairly short in length. Sometimes the colour of the page makes it difficult to read, but generally they are simple well done and not adorned with advertisements.

James and the Giant Peach / Roald Dahl, read by Jeremy Irons [CD-ROM]

James and the Giant Peach is the fantastic story of James Henry Trotter who discovers a gigantic peach growing in an old tree. He begins to explore the confines of this incredable fruit and encounters some equally large and fantastic bugs. The entire crew of this giant peach decide to go on a voyage of and this is the story of James' adventures. All of the characters seem to have their "issues," just as James does living a miserable existence with his two oppressive aunts.

The story of James and the Giant Peach comes from the fertile mind of Roald Dahl who comes up with some of the most incredable stories I have read. Needless to say that Dahl is one of my favourite authors and the talented voice of Jeremy Irons gives this CD-ROM great appeal form those who wish to take a marvelous journey without even leaving their easy chair.

Puss in Boots / Retold by Lincoln Kistein, ill. Alain Vaes

Puss in Boots is a classic fairy tale of a young man and the very clever cat he inherits from his father. The young man seems to get the short end of the stick in this inheritance except for the fact that the cat has a knack of being able solving problems like destroying an ogre who is terrorizing some peasants and getting the young man some new respectable clothing. In the end the young man finds himself married to the daughter of a king all without exerting much effort.

The illustrations in this book are grand, colourful and reminiscent of a much older time with castles and kings. The artwork is beautiful and fills the pages with images that are realistic yet caricatures at the same time. This book is well worth reading this story one more time.

The ugly duckling / Hans Christian Andersen, retold and ill, by Troy Howell

The ugly duckling is the classic folk tale of Hans Christan Andersen as told by Troy Howell. If I recall the original story does not have as much dialog as Troy Howell's version, and some elements may be different than the original, but the basic story is still the same. A young bird is hatched in a duck's nest who looks nothing like his brothers and sisters. The "duckling" goes through a series of trials and tribulations and spends all this time worrying about how ugly he is until he discovers that he is not a big ugly duck, but a handsome, majestic swan.

This classic story of self discovery and transformation will speak to most people young and old and this version is supplemented with beautiful, full page, detailed illustrations. The illustrations appear to be oil paintings with lots of green, yellow and brown tones which evoke the moods of the seasons, the animals and the storyline.

Titanic Crossing / Babara Williams

Titanic Crossing is a fictional story about Albert Trask a thirteen year old boy who takes a trip across the Atlantic ocean on a marvelous new ocean liner called the Titanic. This story takes place in April and May of 1912 and most people today know what happened on that fatal voyage. The tragedy of this event is told through the eyes of Albert who has recently lost his father and his family is moving to Washington, D.C. to a future that not many of them are optimistic about.

Looking at the Titanic story through the eyes of a child is an interesting exercise, but it is not filled with as much drama as one might expect of such a story. The boat does not hit the iceberg until two-thirds of the story has gone past. The action is confined to about two chapters and most of the previous chapters deal with relationship issues between, Albert his mother, uncle, sisters and friends. The book is well written and interesting, but I think it is oriented toward girls more than boys, yet a boy is the main character. I was left a bit confused by this contradiction.

The Salem Witch Trials / Michael Martin, ill. Brian Bascle

The Salem Witch Trials is a graphic novel about a historical event in the late 1600's in the early days of the colonization of New England. The novel tells of how some young ladies began having fits in which they verbally accused people in their communities of being witches. For some reason the authorities in this Puritan community took these young ladies seriously and tended not to believe the accused citizen's pleas of innocence. The sad result was than many of the accused people were jailed and/or hung for being witches, until public opinion put a stop to the practice.

The illustrations in this book are not like a regular picture book for young children. They are stern, passionate and grim. The dialog is fairly basic English, but not likely the same dialect as would have been used in the 1600's. The dialog is in call-outs, while there is a narrative in other boxes on each page. This book deals with prejudice, executions and lots of unreasonable behaviour on the part of this community. The story is an interesting way to introduce a historical event, and it may be more interesting to children that are interested in illustrations as much as they are interested in the printed story.

Minnie and Moo: The attack of the Easter Bunnies / Denys Cazet

Minnie and Moo: The attack of the Easter Bunnies is an amusing book about two cows who are concerned that Mr. Farmer will not be playing the role of Easter Rabbit at Easter. The two cows go around the barnyard trying to enlist various animals to play the role of Easter Bunny with little success. Finally, Minnie and Moo decide to be bunnies themselves and book ends up in a Easter Parade of bunnies.

This level 3 reader is a bit more complex than the level two reader I read recently. The story is longer and more detailed, yet the sentences are still short and fairly simple. In this book there is not too much difficult language and I felt that the level may have been comparable to the earlier level 2 book that I read earlier. The story is funny and engaging and it is certainly appropriate for children that are just learning to read.

The Berenstain Bears: That Stump Must Go! / Stan & Jan Berenstain

That Stump Must Go is a cute story about Papa Bears struggle with a little stump he trips over in his yard. With his son looking on, Papa Bear attempts to dislodge the stump and discovers that it has a very large root system. Papa Bear’s struggle with the root reaches epic proportions as it eventually affects the entire neighbourhood.

That Stump Must Go is a nice book. The narrative is easy and lyrical and the images are colourful and comical. This book is written as a simple poem so it rhymes and has a simple sentence structure. That Stump Must Go, is a level 2 reader, being longer level one books, but I would say the sentence structure was not more complicated than the previous level one book I read. Longer stories can introduce more vocabulary and variety into a beginning readers understanding and I think this book is interesting and challenging enough to stimulate improvements.

Big pig and little pig / David McPhail

Big pig and little pig is a simple story of two pigs who decide they are so hat that they need to build their own pools. The big pig builds a tiny pool and the little pig builds a big pool. They each then enjoy their own creations. This is a very simple, funny story with a simple narrative which is intended for beginning readers.

I would say that the message and text of this book is simple enough for beginning readers. The story is intentionally short which is also meant to accommodate beginning readers. I think the strategy of this beginning reader is probably correct and proper for very early readers and those readers having difficulty learning to read. The problem I have with this reader is that is maybe a little too simple for beginning readers. If beginning readers only read these level 1 readers then I think they would get board fairly quickly, because they are not challenging enough. Then they should probably be encouraged to go onto level 2 readers.

Fred's Favourites / Fred Penner [CD-ROM]

Fred's Favourites is a collection of 15 songs on CD-ROM. The songs are appropriate for children and include such titles as; What a Day, Imagination, Proud and Favourite Things. The songs are not ones that you will find on Billboard's top 40 list, but they do seem very appropriate for younger children. The music is mainly Fred's voice with minimal instrumentation. The songs are fairly short, being only 2 or 3 minutes long and they are all catchy, repetitive and easy to sing along with. Most songs have children's voices accompanying Fred.

I like this CD for three main reasons. First, the songs are very positive, encouraging and optimistic, which is I think important for children (and adults) to hear on a regular basis. The music has a nice child-like quality. The music is and inviting to dance to, which I am sure many children love to do when listening to Fred. Lastly, I don't think the music speaks down to children. I think the positive messages children hear are that they are worthwhile and useful members of society.

The secret garden / Frances Hodgson Burnet (Video)

The secret garden is one of those timeless stories that everyone has seemed to have read, and loved. I am one of the few who had not read this story, so I was expecting big things from the story. In this story Mary Lennox loses her parents to a fatal disease in India and she is shipped to a massive castle in England to live with friends of her parents. Mary is a spoiled, demanding child who gives staff nothing but grief until one night she follows a ghostly sound in the castle and finds Colin, who at first she believes to be a ghost. Colin in fact is the invalid son a the spooky owner of the manor and Colin is even more spoiled and demanding than Mary. Mary's interactions with Colin and Dickon the calm, wise, mystical young brother of one of the house staff has a maturing effect on Mary and eventually Colin. Mary discovers a forgotten "secret garden" on the castle grounds and the three children and the gardener rejuvenate the plants and bring the garden to a state of splendor.

This video starts off in what I think is quite a gruesome and disturbing way as is shows death and grief in India and then the demanding nature of Mary. Eventually, as the relationship between the children develops I found the story slowly grabbed my interest until I had to see the ending with the adult Mary and Colin meeting in the garden after the war. The video is not as fantastic and exciting as some other classic children's books that have been made into film, but then the book is not in the fantasy genre as many of the current films like the golden compass or some of C. S. Lewis' works. The secret garden stands up well on its own as a marvelous story that all children should know.

The dot / Peter H. Reynolds (Video)

The dot is a video base on the book of the same name. The story is of Vashti a young girl who is sad, because she feels she cannot make good drawings like other kids in her class. When her teacher encourages her she angrily makes a dot on her piece of paper with her pencil. Her teacher then does something that surprises Vashti and the girl starts making all kinds of dots until she hold an entire art show of dots.

This simple story is a surprisingly effective encouragement for those who feel they couldn't possibly do art. While I watched this video I found myself wondering about what encouraged me in an artistic sense and if I considered my "art" "real art." It also made me think some about those teachers who had encouraged me as I went through public school. Teachers can truly be influential people in the lives of our children and they deserve all the praise and support that we can give them.