The Spiderwick Chronicles

Waters, Mark. The Spiderwick Chronicles. Hollywood: Paramount, 2008. 101 min. PG. ISBN 1415739218

Plot Summary: The movie is about the Grace family who moves into their Great Aunt's estate after the parents divorce. Jared and Simon become engrossed in a mysterious world of goblins, ogres, fairies and griffins after finding the secret library of their Great-great Uncle Spiderwick. Soon Mallory is forced into the world thanks to her fencing skills and the whole estate is turned upside down by the magical forces.

Critical Evaluation: The movie was a decent adaptation of the first book and kept all the main points. The animated creatures and super imposed twins were very believable.

Reader's Annotation: The Grace siblings are in for a battle when they get involved in the world of magical creatures.

Author Bio: Mark Waters, director of Freaky Friday, Mean Girls, Just Like Heaven and most recently The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, created believable twins Jared and and Simon Grace with child star Freddie Highmore. Included in the cast are Nick Nolte as the voice of the evil Mulgarath, Joan Ploughwright as Aunt Lucinda Spiderwick, Seth Rogen as the voice of Hogsqueal, Martin Short as the voice of Thimbletack, Mary-Louise Parker as mom Helen Grace and Sarah Bolger as sister Mallory Grace. Freddie Highmore recently lent his voice for the role of Astro Boy. Another hit in animated movies in the past few years is Seth Rogen, the voice of B.O.B in Monsters vs. Aliens and Mantis in Kung Fu Panda.

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure

Curriculum Ties:

Booktalking Ideas: A good movie to pair with the book series, either to promote the movie or the books. It would make a good jumping off point for the books, since it only covers the first book.

Reading Level/Interest Age: PG - ages 8 and up

Challenges:

Reason for including: I read the first book, love Holly Black, so I wanted to give the movie a try. I am usually disappointed by movie adaptations, but thought the representation of all the creatures was creative.

Ballet Shoes

Goldbacher, Sandra (dir.). Ballet Shoes. New York: Koch Entertainment, 2007.

Plot Summary: After the death of her parents, Sylvia and her governess Nana move in with her only surviving relative, uncle Gum. Gum is a paleontologist and travels most of her life in his London home. He does send postcards, as well as baby girls. The result of his philanthropy is the Fossil girls, Pauline, Petrova and Posy. Each girl has a dream, Pauline hopes to be an actress, Petrova an aviator and Posy a ballerina. The family of women fall into financial trouble, and Sylvia decides to take on boarders. The boarders open up a world of possibilities for all the Fossils, including Sylvia, and lead them on the road to fulfilling their dreams.

Critical Evaluation: The movie is a well done presentation of the 1920s through set design and costumes, as well as representations of theatre and movie productions of the age. The girls are easy to relate to as each girl has a unique personality and ambition. However, some kids may think the movie is boring. There isn't much action, as it is more of a drama.

Reader's Annotation: Follow the Fossil sisters as they vow to make names for themselves in post-WWI London on the stage, in film and in the sky.

Author Bio: Sandra Goldbacher was also director of Seventeen, Me Without You and The Governess, starring Minnie Driver and Tom Wilkinson. The Governess was also Goldbacher's screenwriting debut. The all-star cast features Potter veterans Emma Watson (Pauline Fossil), Richard Griffiths (Great Uncle Matthew, or GUM), and Gemma Jones (Dr. Jakes). Marc Warren recently starred in Wanted alongside Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, and Morgan Freeman as The Repairman. Emilia Fox featured in the popular short film turned full length movie Cashback, and will soon be appearing in the film adaptation of The Portrait of Dorian Gray.

Genre: Historical Fiction, coming of age

Curriculum Ties: A good film to watch while studying WWI life outside of and post-war.

Booktalking Ideas: Pair this with the book by Noel Streatfeild by showing the preview, or a select scene or two. A scene in which the sisters make one of their vows to get into the history books would be a good way to intrigue tweens, get them to want to find out if they keep their vow.

Reading Level/Interest Age: 10 and up, Grades 5-8

Challenges: None

Reason for including: I purchased this movie when it came out, being a fan of Emma Watson. I hadn't heard of Ballet Shoes (the novel) before seeing the movie. I thought the movie was a good tween movie, since the characters are in their tweens and deal with age-appropriate issues.

Kenny & the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi

DiTerlizzi, Tony. Kenny & the Dragon. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers,2008. 151 pages. $15.99 ISBN 9781416939771

Plot Summary: Kenny is a rabbit who lives with his parents on a farm just outside of Roundbrook. Kenny is a voracious reader and has a deal with the owner of the town bookstore that lets Kenny borrow books as long as he returns them in perfect condition. Grahame is a good-natured dragon who also loves to read. He doesn't like the non-sense written about dragons, but instead of getting angry he likes to prove how kind and smart he is. When the town learns that a dragon is living on Kenny's farm they call on the town's retired knight to slay the dragon.

Critical Evaluation: This is such a cute book. The combination of Kenny's kindness, Grahame's intellectual personality and the illustrations make this book a joy to read. The reader will be hooked, anxiously wondering if the town kills Grahame in the end.

Reader's Annotation: Kenny and his friend Grahame, a dragon, must show the town of Roundbrook that dragons aren't as scary as they think.

Author Bio: Tony DiTerlizzi is the co-author of The Spiderwick Chronicles with Holly Black. His artistic childhood, Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal, and his forays in Dungeons and Dragons have inspired much of his work, especially on The Spiderwick Chronicles and Kenny and the Dragon. He graduated from art school in graphic design and went on to work for the company that is responsible for Dungeons and Dragons. After moving to New York City, he decided to write and illustrate books, his first book published in 2000. Now Tony lives with his wife an daughter in Amherst, MA.

Genre: Fantasy

Curriculum Ties: A good choice when talking about fairy tales, to give an example of a modern fairy tale.

Booktalking Ideas: Talk about the usual characteristics of dragons: fire spitting, terrorizing villages, eating people. Then talk about how that is all wrong and Kenny and Grahame are determined to prove it.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Grades 3-6, Ages 8-12

Challenges: None.

Reason for including: I'm a fan of The Spiderwick Chronicles, of which he is the partial-author. Also, the illustrations caught me.

The Witch's Guide to Cooking with Children by Keith McGowan

McGowan, Keith. The Witch's Guide to Cooking with Children. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2009. 177 pages. $15.99 ISBN 9780805086683

Plot Summary: Fay Holaderry is hiding a terrible secret: she's a witch who loves to eat children. Sol and Connie come quite close to being the witch's next big meal. Will they escape in time?

Critical Evaluation: This is a really silly book, and a clever retelling of Hansel and Gretel. Classic fairy tales can fit any time period with just a few tweaks to the elements of the story like setting and modes of behavior. The story is accented here and there by illustrations that add to the dark theme of the story. There are also snippets of the witch's diary which make the turn of events even more interesting.

Reader's Annotation: All Fay Holaderry wants is a good meal, but the children keep getting away.

Author Bio: Keith has worked as a teacher for most of his adult life and has helped create tools for educators. He loves to travel and began his first book, The Witch's Guide to Cooking with Children, while on a train ride in Amritsar and Himachal Pradesh, India. He continued to write in Boston, New Orleans, Chicago and in his current home in Vienna, Austria. Keith lives in Vienna with his wife.

Genre: Modern Fairy Tale

Curriculum Ties: Could be used in conjunction with a study of classic fairy tales.

Booktalking Ideas: Talk about the classic fairy tales from Perrault, the Grimm brothers and Andersen and then show books, including this one, that are modern retellings of the classics.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Grades 4-6, ages 9-13

Challenges: None.

Reason for including: The title and cover caught my eye as I was perusing the new juvenile fiction section at the library.

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

Cooper, Susan. The Dark is Rising. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1973. 232 pages. $19.99 ISBN 0689303173

Plot Summary: Will Stanton is a normal almost eleven year old boy in England. He is the youngest of ten children, however the first Stanton boy, Tom, died at only three days old. Will is the seventh son of a seventh son, his father Roger also being a seventh son. As the night turns into his eleventh birthday Will begins to experience strange feelings and events. He starts to feel terrified. It is on his birthday that Will begins to realize he is becoming part of something big, and magical. Along comes Merryman Lyon, the original of the "Old Ones," who informs Will that he is the last of the "Old Ones." The Old Ones move through time, back and forth, communicate through telepathy, and even have their own language. Turning eleven transforms Will into an Old One, even though he is still very much a kid. His conflicting selves seem to battle for his attention when the Dark starts wrieking havoc on the town of Hunterscombe bringing dark storm clouds and heavy snow. It is up to Will and the Old Ones to find the six rings of power: iron, stone, wood, water, fire, and gold.

Critical Evaluation: The Dark is Rising was a fascinating read, although it did drag in a few parts. I found the vocabulary more advanced than the average modern tween book, but think the interest in the story will push the readers through any difficulties.

Reader's Annotation:

Author Bio:

Genre: Fantasy

Curriculum Ties: Would be a good reading list addition, for English or Language Arts.

Booktalking Ideas: Bring in an example of each of the signs (gold, fire, water, wood, stone, and iron) and engage the listeners in a discussion about what it would be like to control these elements and use them to defeat an evil power. Then lead into Will's age and all the responsibility he is given at 11, and adventures.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Suggested reading level is grades 5-9, however 9+ would enjoy as well. The vocabulary would be suited for grades 6 or 7 and up, or advanced readers in 4 and 5.

Challenges: There were a few swear words in the dialogue, British colloquialisms.

Reason for including: I saw the movie that was released in 2007, which I enjoyed. They definitely updated the storyline for the modern audience (since the book was published in the 70s). I had no idea it was part of a series, and is the second in the series. (I don't like starting series out of order!) I also heard Michael Scott mention her as one of his favorites in a presentation he gave last month.