You’re A Good Sport, Charlie Brown DVD (release date Jan 27, 2009)

Recommended audience:  All ages

Cautions: None!  It’s Charlie Brown

Kiwi Magazine Review:

Break out this DVD on a gloomy winter day with a big bowl of popcorn and sit back and enjoy.  The simplicity of Charlie Brown is a delight and may actually please the adults in the room more than the kids.  Although my preschooler found Charlie and his pals to be slightly slower than her usual fare of shows, she really got into the story line and even commented on the soothing background piano music.  

This remastered version of the 1975 still has themes appropriate for today’s kids such as teamwork, graceful winning and losing and friendship.  You can’t go wrong with Charlie Brown.

Producer Summary:

“You’re A Good Sport, Charlie Brown” is the seventh in the Peanuts series, to get the Remastered Special Edition treatment, since Warner Brothers began with “Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown” in 2008. In this release, both the picture and the audio have been remastered, and look and sound like never before! 

This lesser known Peanuts special, tells the story of Charlie Brown’s hopes to win the motorcross race, despite being “Unlucky Number 13″. It’s a great story for adults and children alike, which lends virtue to not only winning, but to playing as a good sport, in the process. It’s perfect for the adult who’s feeling nostalgic, or as an introduction to good sportsmanship, to your little ones! 

The DVD includes a bonus episode, “You’re the Greatest, Charlie Brown”, which centers about Charlie Brown’s hopes to win a decathlon, with the help of Snoopy & the gang. It also includes the all-new featurette, “Dust Yourself Off & Pick Yourself Up, Charlie Brown”, the story of Charles Schultze’s son Craig, who served as the inspiration behind “You’re A Good Sport, Charlie Brown”. 

It’s another great Peanuts release, and hopefully a sign that more Charlie Brown releases are headed our way!

NICKELODEON BRINGS CHILDREN’S PUBLISHING PHENOMENON OLIVIA TO LIFE WITH TV SERIES LAUNCH,

MONDAY, JAN. 26, AT 11:30 A.M. (ET/PT)

Ian Falconer’s Best-Selling, Award-Winning Books Transformed

Into CG Animation for First-Time Ever on TV

(*DVDs and art available upon request)

NEW YORK, Jan. 6, 2009 – Nickelodeon welcomes one of the world’s most beloved literary characters to its preschool line-up with the launch of OLIVIA on Monday, Jan. 26, at 11:30 a.m. (ET/PT), followed by a week of brand-new episodes. Presented in conjunction with media content company Chorion and animated by Brown Bag Films, the new half-hour series invites children into the life—both real and fantasy—of an adventurous, can-do 6¾-year-old girl named Olivia. Based on acclaimed author/illustrator Ian Falconer’s award-winning titles, OLIVIA captures the book series’ trademark humor and the irrepressible personality of its heroine with its gorgeous CG animation. OLIVIA will air regularly weekdays at 11:30 a.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon.

“Children already know and love Olivia from Ian Falconer’s beautifully illustrated books, and we’re honored to have her join the Nickelodeon family,” said Brown Johnson, President, Animation, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. “Olivia is a role model for all preschoolers who will be inspired by her imagination and keen sense of humor.”

Kiwi Magazine Review:

Fab-u-lous.  Although I was trepidatious about our beloved Olivia coming to television, the screener of the new show couldn’t have made me any happier.  The show is completely true to Ian Falconer’s genius and you’ll adore this animated Olivia as much as, well, the very animated Olivia character of the books.  It’s a must see and an instant favorite.

Celebrate Green by Corey Colwell- Lipson and Lynn Colwell

Kedzie Press, 2008

Recommended readers- Adults

Cautions:

Publisher’s description:

Not only is this book bursting with tips and ideas for celebrating green, but it boasts recipes, craft projects, and actual facts! Yes! If you’re interested in the “why’s” behind their alternatives, you’ll find them. If you only want to figure out what the heck to get your mother-in-law for Christmas that will make her sing your praises to her son without costing you or the planet, it’s there too.

Celebrate Green! is sprinkled with personal anecdotes because, as amazing as it may seem, Corey and Lynn are real, live human beings. You get to meet, know and (hopefully) enjoy them through the book. And once you know them, you’ll begin to fall for their ideas even if you’re a bit skeptical at first. They don’t hit you over the head and make you feel like a complete eco-idiot for not jumping on your bicycle, and heading to the food co-op to stock up on a year’s worth of beeswax birthday candles. They simply offer you so many sensible, interesting, and creative ideas that you’ll find it hard to resist trying some of them.

KIWI Bookworm review:

The mother and daughter team offer a myriad of suggestions to green holiday décor, gifts and meals throughout the year. Instead of falling into old habits of mall dash then trash, the authors offer unique, low-impact ideas for every special occasion wrapped up in recycled paper and a repurposed bow.

Buy this book on Amazon.com

Mars Needs Moms by Berkeley Breathed
Philomel, 2007
Recommended readers: Ages 4-8
Cautions: A little scary - one page looks like the mom may have expired.

Publisher’s description:
Milo doesn’t get it: What’s the big deal about moms? They’re just slavedriving broccoli bullies. Yet they are worshipped the world over! Perhaps even the galaxy over—because here come Martians and they’re after one thing only: moms. Milo’s mom in particular. Who better to drive them to soccer practice and to pizza parties? That’s quite a long way to come for a mom—could it be that Milo has been overlooking something special?

KIWI Bookworms review:
Nicknaming his mom a “broccoli bully,” this little boy feels like his mom’s purpose is to impose excessive restrictions.  Martians capture her (they need moms to drive them to soccer practice), so he travels to Mars to save her, finally realizing how much she means to him.  This story might be scary for some children; mom faints on Mars and must be revived.

Buy this book on Amazon.com

Moon Plane by Peter McCarty
Henry Holt, 2006
Recommended readers: Ages 1-4.
Cautions:
Publisher’s description:
A young boy sees a plane overhead and imagines himself in it, traveling all the way to the moon. What does he see on his way? With characteristically spare prose, Caldecott Honor winner Peter McCarty invites readers along for an imaginary trip from the earth to the moon and back again, visiting trains, planes, and boats along the way. McCarty’s luminous illustrations make the boy’s fantasy into a dreamlike journey that ends in his mother’s arms—a perfect way to end the day.
Kiwi Bookworms review:
Every child can relate to gazing skyward at airplanes and imagining what it would be like to fly a plane.  The story is simple, but the watercolor illustrations take your child to the sky, the moon, and finally to the safety of his own bed.

Buy this book on Amazon.com

Go and get your free download of this I Love Chanukah by Mama Doni (CD) available at http://www.mamadoni.com/ now through the end of December.

And WIN I Love Herring by visiting www.mamadoni.com and then commenting here on which song title is your favorite from her album.

Description

My Granny Went to Market by Stella Blackstone, illustrations: Christopher Corr
Barefoot Books, 2006
Recommended readers: Ages 0-4
Cautions:
Publisher’s description:
Fly away with Granny as she takes a magic carpet ride around the world, collecting a steadily increasing number of souvenirs from each exotic location! This rhyming story will take young readers on an adventure to different countries while teaching them to count along the way.

Kiwi Bookworms review:

It can be challenging to find books about world travel for Pre-K children, but this is a colorful celebration of cultures and counting.  Granny races around the world on her magic carpet.
Buy this book on Amazon.com

The Complete Compost by Barbara Pleasant & Deborah L. Martin
Storey, 2008
Recommended readers- Adults
Cautions:
Publisher’s description:
Turn the compost bin upside down with this natural Six-Way Compost Gardening System for keeping compost heaps right in the garden, rather than in some dark corner behind the garage. The compost and the plants live together from the beginning in a nourishing, organic environment. The authors’ bountiful, compost-rich gardens require less digging, weeding, mulching, and even planting. And here’s one of the best parts — no more backbreaking slogs from compost bin to garden. The authors even identify the plants that benefit most from compost and explain how the elements of a composted garden work together.
KIWI Bookworm review:
Turn your organic kitchen waste into gardening gold with this must-have guide to composting. This book is a complete how-to for all levels of composters and gardeners and emphasizes using the tools and materials you already have to enrich your garden. Let the worms do the work while you enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Buy this book on Amazon.com/a>

Hey Mr. Green by Bob Schildgen
Sierra Club Books, 2008
Recommended readers- Adults
Cautions:
Publisher’s description:
Now the editors of Sierra magazine have distilled the best of “Mr. Green” into this enormously useful and entertaining book, organized for easy access: “At Home” offers tips on staying cool, cleaning up, and other domestic details; “Food for Thought” focuses on how to eat and drink better while spending less; “Out and About” covers getting around, fueling up, and enjoying the great outdoors; “The Three Rs” shows you how (and why) to reduce, reuse, and recycle almost everything; and “The Big Picture” considers how the environment, politics, religion, and other issues intersect—often at the dinner table.
Kiwi Bookworm Review:
The Sierra Club’s Bob Schildgen fields down and dirty questions from readers including whether to buy beer in bottles or cans (best to make your own beer or buy it in a keg) to proper use of your garbage disposal (use minimally – compost the organic waste instead). This book has humorous, but fact-based answers to all of your burning (gas grill or campfire?) questions.
Buy this book on Amazon.com

Goodnight Moon and Other Sleepytime Tales
HBO, 2005
Recommended viewers: Ages 2–6
Cautions:
Publisher’s description:
Everybody’s favorite bedtime story, “Goodnight Moon” comes to life on DVD for the very first time. Along with other beloved animated tales and lullabies, children and stars come together in a delightful exploration of the nighttime world. Children offer wise and witty reflections on a host of sleepytime topics, from the comfort of “blankies” to Native American dreamcatchers, from monsters and nightmares to the mysteries of dreamland.
Kiwi Bookworms review:
Susan Sarandon narrates the classic bedtime book Goodnight Moon. The 30-minute DVD also features the voices of Billy Crystal, Lauryn Hill, Tony Bennett and others. HBO has really produced a wonderful DVD with interviews with children interspersed with animation of song and story.  Lovely.

Buy this DVD on Amazon.com