36 more Images after the break...
Saturday, March 26, 2011
The life of Prince William
June 22, 1982 A selection of photos, which you can follow the life of Prince William. 26 more images after the break...
13 Amazing Facts About Sharks
01. A shark does not have one bone in its body. Its skeleton is made up of cartilage. Cartilage is a tough material, like the material that shapes your ear. 12 More facts after the break...
Creative Dresses
The dress of human hair
16 More Creative dress after the break...
Waking Beauty by Leah Wilcox
Waking Beauty
by Leah Wilcox and illustrated by Lydia Monks is a companion book, a follow-up to the success really, to Falling For Rapunzel.
It's cute although not as successful as the Rapunzel book. There aren't many humorous takes on Sleeping Beauty for kids besides Jane Yolen's Sleeping Ugly
which skews to a slightly older audience.Book description from the publisher:
Everyone knows Sleeping Beauty has to be woken with a kiss, except Prince Charming. Every time the fairies watching over her try to tell him, he interrupts with his ideas of how to wake her. Eventually he gets the message, and his reaction is priceless: “One hundred years of morning breath. Wow! That could be the kiss of death!”
With just as much interactive fun as Falling for Rapunzel
And some illustrations:
LTO: Goose Girl by Shannon Hale EBook for $1.99
The Goose Girl
by Shannon Hale is currently $1.99 in ebook format through the end of the month.Book description from the publisher:
Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, spends the first years of her life under her aunt's guidance learning to communicate with animals. As she grows up Ani develops the skills of animal speech, but is never comfortable speaking with people, so when her silver-tongued lady-in-waiting leads a mutiny during Ani's journey to be married in a foreign land, Ani is helpless and cannot persuade anyone to assist her. Becoming a goose girl for the king, Ani eventually uses her own special, nearly magical powers to find her way to her true destiny. Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original and magical tale of a girl who must find her own unusual talents before she can become queen of the people she has made her own.
As always, you don't have to have a Kindle to read a Kindle book, you can load the free software on your PC, Mac, smart phone and other devices. If you buy the book, it stays in your permanent library whether you download it to a device right away or not.
Friday, March 25, 2011
The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-to-be by Mini Grey
The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-to-be by Mini Grey (Amazon.co.uk)
is a book with a little schizophrenia since it was released under different titles and with different designs in the U.S. and U.K. I own the U.S. edition which I think I prefer this time around although I often prefer the other releases. It was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal the year it was released, a nice achievement.Book description from the publisher in the U.S.:
When it comes to sorting out a Real Princess from a Fake Princess, the famous pea-under-the-mattress test is tried-and-true. But for those who may have wondered how anyone could feel a tiny garden-variety pea under the weight of 20 mattresses, this book will put that question to rest once and for all. Mini Grey?s clever picture book reveals the inside story of the famous Princess and Pea fairy tale through the memoirs of the unlikely heroine, the Pea. The setting is contemporary (with a Queen who must surely be related to the current monarch of England), but the humor is timeless. This witty spoof introduces Mini Grey who, we predict, will grow on you!And UK book description, just to compare marketing strategies in text and book covers:
Once upon a time there was an enchanting fairytale about a prince who was looking for a real princess to be his bride. The only way to tell whether the many princesses who applied for the post were really royal, legend had it, was to see if they would be able to feel a tiny little pea through dozens of luxurious mattresses as they slept. Only the princess who emerged the next morning complaining of the extreme discomfort in which she had passed the night, could possibly be good enough to be the prince's bride . . . All well and enchanting, but has anyone stopped to think about how all this might have felt for the pea in question? No. So here, for the first time, straight from the pea, is the truth about this much-loved, oft-repeated fairytale.And now for some images, really the first two pages as well as the back and front endpapers which are slightly different. They don't convey the full charm of the book, but they hopefully will poke your interest into searching out the book at your library or bookstore. And mostly this book reminds me it is time to be starting my vegetable garden. (Don't worry, I'm not any more ambitious than tomatoes and cucumbers. I don't have a big enough green thumb.)
Thursday, March 24, 2011
New Book: The Selfish Giant
Today's picture book is also a new release of The Selfish Giant
by Oscar Wilde. Of course, the story isn't new, but this edition with illustrations by Chris Beatrice and music by Dan Goeller is. Music, you ask? Yes, this version has a musical supplement available on an accompanying CD. The composer, Dan Goeller, was kind enough to send me a review copy. First, the description from the publisher:
Oscar Wilde's Fairy Tale, The Selfish Giant, Springs to Life With Music & NarrationThe Selfish Giant is one of Oscar Wilde's most popular original fairy tales, not that he wrote many, but this one is particularly popular with parents and those who work with children. (You can read the text on SurLaLune.) There have been many picture book versions of it, but most are out of print. Even if there were several available to choose from right now, this would be one of my top picks. The book is beautiful. The illustrations are lush and vivid. The style reminds me a little of Scott Gustafson, who I featured earlier this week, but less twee than Gustafson's work.
The Selfish Giant lives in a castle surrounded by a beautiful garden. While the Giant is away, visiting his friend the Cornish Ogre, the children from the nearby village play in the Giant’s garden. When the Giant returns to his castle, he sees the children playing in his garden and chases them away. Because he is selfish and does not wish to share his garden with anyone, he builds a high wall around the garden. As a consequence of his selfishness, Spring abandons the Giant’s garden. All year long Winter resides there, and the Snow, the North Wind, the Frost and the Hail dance about through the trees.
One day, the Giant awakens to the song of a little linnet and discovers that the children have sneaked in through a little hole in the garden wall. As the children are playing in the garden, the beautiful blossoms and fragrances of Spring return with them. The Giant sees the error of his ways, knocks down the wall and resolves that his garden will be the children’s playground forever.
As for the music, judge for yourself by listening to samples provided in the video below. There are also more videos on the book's website. The music captures the emotions of the story which "pauses" for musical interludes on the CD. I think the book and music would be an excellent tool for teaching music interpretation and appreciation to young children. Teachers or parents may initiate discussions of how the music fits with the varying emotional moments of the story. There are many possibilities here.
And now for some of the lush illustrations followed by a book trailer:
Disclosure Note: This book was sent to me for review.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
UnStable Fables from The Jim Henson Company
Please tell me I'm not the very last person to hear about these! I swear no matter how hard I try--and how hard some of you try to help me--I miss out on fairy tale related releases. And this short-lived series is from The Jim Henson Company, so it's not that obscure. These three Unstable Fables were released direct to DVD in 2008 so I feel like I really have been under a rock. So who has seen these and are they worth the time of watching?
Here are some descriptions if you are as new to these as I am. The descriptions actually sound clever so I wonder if they deliver at least a little.
The Goldilocks and the 3 Bears Show
Get ready for a "beary" good time as Unstable Fables presents The Goldilocks & the 3 Bears Show. When Goldilocks, a sassy reality TV star decides to film her next show at the humble home of the Bears, she gives them a taste of the celebrity sweet life they've never had before. But the bears will teach her something even more important: what it's like to be part of a family. Tune in for all the fairytale action in this funny, heartwarming movie, featuring the voice talents of Tom Arnold, Brooke Shields, and Jamie Lynn Spears. It's just right!Unstable Fables - 3 Pigs and a Baby
In this family-friendly CGI animated feature from The Jim Henson Company, the well known tale of The Three Little Pigs takes a new twist. When the three pigs find a tiny wolf cub on their doorstep, they decide to raise him as their own, unaware that they've played right into the plan of a special-ops team of wolves. As the newest addition to their family, Lucky grows into his teens not knowing his history, his role in the wolves' plan, or the difficult choice he will have to make about the family that raised him.Unstable Fables: Tortoise vs. Hare
Fifteen years after their famous race, the tortoise and the hare are at it again, bringing their unwilling kids along for the ride on a wild and hilarious adventure race. This time around, they learn a whole new lesson - that some things are more important than competition.
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