Archive for December, 2006

Kat Kong - Dav Pilkey (1993)

Published by Scott on December 26, 2006 in Books, Chatter and Fiction. 2 Comments

0152049509.jpgI could practically start a fan site about Dav Pilkey. The guy is a genius! I’ll save commenting on his greatest contribution to English letters (the Captain Underpants series) for another day, but will instead say a few things about this earlier work.

As you could probably guess from the title, Kat Kong is a retelling of the King Kong story. One thing that is particularly striking about the book is that Pilkey took real pictures of a cat and several mice, his pets I’m guessing, and worked them into the illustrations. Nowadays this is a ubiquitous Photoshop type effect. But for Kat Kong it looks like Dav cut out photos and glued them to his paintings, collage style. It’s very charming and, well, COOL!

Also noteworthy is the humor. Sure, having the native mice on the island offer Kat Kong a can of tuna fish and chanting “Heeeer, Ki-tee Ki-tee!” is amusing. But what really tickled our funny bones when I just read it to my boys were the cat related expressions gags, like when they capture Kong and place him on the ship tied up tightly in a burlap sack, taking special care “not to let the cat out of the bag.” There are a couple of other hilarious bordering on groan inducing incidents that I won’t spoil. Taken together they actually served as a nice prompt for a mini-discussion about idioms. (Yes, we’re nerds.)

If you like this one, be sure to check out Pilkey’s similarly styled book, Dogzilla.

It’s Kind Of Sick, Really

Published by Scott on December 25, 2006 in Video Games. 1 Comment

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Here’s what Dashiell and Ray hauled in for their birthdays (last week) and Christmas. These should keep us busy for some time!

Gamecube:
Bionicle Heroes
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
Star Fox Assault
Star Fox Adventures
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II
Lego Star Wars II
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Super Mario Strikers
Mario Superstar Baseball
SSX 3
Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life

Game Boy Advance:
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2
Pokemon: Leaf Green Version
Paperboy / Rampage

Plus:
Plug ‘n Play Star Wars Lightsaber Battle Game

NORAD Santa Tracker

Published by Scott on December 24, 2006 in Web Sites. 2 Comments

santa2.jpgThe NORAD Tracks Santa site is a nifty way to build excitement for Santa’s visit on Christmas Eve. Of course most kids are probably so keyed up that any more hype could prove to be dangerous. The Santa tracker is supposedly the work of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a real life joint air defense effort of the United States and Canada. At the site you can see where Santa is at any given time as his journey is tracked by radar, satellite, various cameras positioned around the world, and fighter pilot escorts. In addition to the radar screen, there are updated movies to watch throughout the evening. Basically it’s an elaborate way to further deceive your gullible kids, but all in good fun.

Thrashers 4, Penguins 3 (OT)

Published by Scott on December 22, 2006 in Chatter. 0 Comments

atlanta-thrashers.jpgMy boys, Dashiell and Ray, participated in the Check It Out Reading Challenge this past summer and earned pairs of free tickets to an Atlanta Thrashers hockey game and an Atlanta Hawks basketball game. Basically all they had to do was record some of the books that they read and fill out a form. After sending that stuff in we received a ticket voucher with three different games for each team to choose from. Additional tickets were only fifteen dollars each.

It was a pretty incredible deal, especially considering face value on the tickets was $55 for the Thrashers and $35 for the Hawks. In other words, if our family of five went to see the Thrashers at regular price, it would have cost $275 plus parking. That’s an insane amount of money!

They’ve got a first class organization at the Thrashers/Hawks too. I kind of sent the voucher in at the last minute and it turned out the games I signed up for had already sold out. Carrie Neville, the woman in charge of the promotion, actually called me with some alternative dates. And then when the tickets got to her at the last minute, she sent them to me UPS overnight.

Last night we went to the Thrashers game. The seats were excellent- eighth row in the upper deck, just off center. I had forgotten how much I love hockey. We’re kind of freaks and haven’t had TV for about two-and-a-half years so that’s how long it’s been since I’ve seen a game. (We actually have a TV for dvd’s and video games, just no cable or antenna.) I’d never been to a Thrashers game either and really enjoyed being there.

And my kids? Well, that’s another story. Dashiell and Ray both wigged out during the introductions. It was sensory overload with super loud music, a zillion colors flashing, fire, and the crowd going nuts. They settled down after the game started but then Hazel lost it. Every time the Thrashers scored, flames shot out of these bird heads on either side of the center scoreboard. From where we sat it was at about eye level. For some reason the fire scared the bejeezus out of her and she screamed her head off. My poor wife had to whisk her away a couple of times to calm her down.

We ended up leaving after the second period and missed overtime and a shootout. Oh well. Even with the terrifying flame spewing birds and the generally intense atmosphere, we all agreed it was fun time. Still, I may just take the boys to the Hawks next week without Hazel. I can’t imagine there being pyrotechnics for every basket scored, but who knows what horrors they may have in store for us.

Get Dressed, Santa! - Tomie dePaola (1996)

Published by Scott on December 21, 2006 in Chatter and Fiction. 0 Comments

santas-got-to-go.jpgTomie dePaola has written some great books for children, most notably the Strega Nona series. This board book begins with the narrator urging Santa to hurry up and get ready to deliver toys on Christmas Eve. The jolly fat elf finally dresses and heads out to his sleigh when wouldn’t you know it, he’s got to GO! Santa hightails it back to the bathroom in the St. Nick of time. Fortunately he’s able to take care of business and get back to work without too much delay. Get Dressed, Santa! is cute and funny with some mild pre-K potty humor.

Santa

Published by Scott on December 20, 2006 in Chatter. 0 Comments

santarick.gifWe took the kids to The Mall to see Santa this morning. Dashiell and Ray turn eight today and tomorrow but are still firm believers. Although they’ve begun to question the many inconsistencies of the myth (”If magic isn’t real how can Santa do all of that stuff?”), they still buy into it. They had been a little stressed out about not having seen him yet so now they will be able to rest easy. Hazel, who is two, was interested but there was no way she was getting out of my arms to climb onto some strange man’s lap. Smart girl.

Last year it was awesome because Santa came to visit our local Kroger. Talk about convenient! We missed him there this time so had to head over to Stonecrest. In the past they let you take a picture of your kids with Santa. That didn’t fly this time unless you also purchased one of their pictures. The cheapest package was thirteen bucks for one 5×7″ print so we passed. Our mission was to talk to Santa and that was good enough.

On a related note, my class participated in the annual Santa debate, which goes something like this: “He’s not real.” “Yes he is!” “It’s your parents.” “No it’s not!” Repeat ad infinitum. It’s the same thing every year. Most of my current second graders are pretty street smart so I was surprised to find there were only a couple of nonbelievers. As usual they asked me to weigh in and I gave them my standard non-answer: “If you don’t believe in him, he doesn’t come to your house.” That response satisfied both parties.

Unnatural Disasters

Published by Scott on December 20, 2006 in Books, Chatter and Fiction. 0 Comments

Here’s a trio of books with a similar unnatural disaster theme. In each one something unusual invades and threatens to destroy the small town in which it is set.

bk20060112104550471l0.jpgCloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
By Judi Barrett, Illustrated by Ron Barrett (1978)

Chewandswallow is like most other towns except for its strange weather: food falls from the sky! This turns from a source of sustenance to one of danger when the portions become ominously large.

Kids eat this book up and it ranks as one of my boys’ all-time favorites. They love to imagine what it would be like if food fell from the heavens. The illustrations are wonderfully detailed and filled with sight gags. The story-within-a-story narrative structure is neat too.

039567347x01lzzzzzzz.jpgBad Day at Riverbend
Written/Illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg (1995)

Sheriff Ned Hardy keeps law and order in the quiet little Old West town of Riverbend. “It was the kind of place where one day was just like all the rest.” That is until mysterious stripes of shiny, greasy slime begin to cover everything. The townspeople freak and Sheriff Hardy does his best to figure out the cause of the sinister markings.

This is a pretty dark story with a surprising twist at the end. It’s best the first time through if you don’t know how it plays out. I’ll only say that it neatly resolves itself for the reader, but not for the hapless folks of Riverbend. It’s this sense of ambiguity that makes it somewhat unsettling and extremely memorable.

turkey-creek-monster.jpgThe Great Green Turkey Creek Monster
Written/Illustrated by James Flora (1976)

When I first came across books by James Flora I was struck by his unique art style. His bizarre settings are intricately detailed and characterized by humans and creatures with often grotesque profiles. Turns out Mr. Flora created album covers for jazz artists in the 40’s and 50’s before turning to children’s books. You can check out a bunch of his early here.

The Great Green Turkey Creek Monster is a whimsical tale of a snakelike plant creature called the Hooligan Vine that takes over the town of Turkey Creek, creating mischief and causing the citizens to panic. The vines resemble Richard Scarry’s worms in a way. Turns out the only defense against it is to play the trombone. It’s not the greatest story but the illustrations are fun.

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

Published by Scott on December 12, 2006 in Video Games. 3 Comments

donkey_kong_jungle_beat.jpgMore on the shopping front- There’s an awesome deal for Gamecube owners at Gamestop/EB Games that’s good only with a printed copy of the online flier through Thursday, December 14. You can get Donkey Kong Jungle Beat plus an additional set of bongo controllers (the game comes with one already) for $15. Normally the game goes for $20 and additional bongos for $25, which is pretty screwy but whatever. I’ve never played it before but the unique controllers seem like they’d be fun. I guess you hit either drum to go left or right, both of them to jump, and clap to grab stuff. Jungle Beat has a Metacritic score of 80 so it seemed like too good of a deal to pass up, even considering my boys are already getting an absolutely sick amount of games for their birthdays and Christmas. I’ll check back in after we’ve had a chance to play it in a couple of weeks.

Scholastic Warehouse Sale

Published by Scott on December 9, 2006 in Books and Chatter. 2 Comments

cawse_logo_lg.gifIt’s that time again- the Scholastic Book Fair Warehouse 50% Off Sale! Basically the Scholastic company opens up the warehouses where they stock books and other items for school book fairs to the public and charges half off (or better) for everything. I’ve spent a whole lot of money at these sales in the past buying books for both my classroom library and my own kids’ collection. They’ve got stuff like the Harry Potter series, Captain Underpants, Magic Tree House, and tons of other contemporary and classic children’s literature titles. I’m just guessing, but I’d say the average cover price is $5-6. So with a 50% markdown it’s a pretty awesome deal and dangerously easy to blow a fistful of cash or plastic.

This sale is not exactly supposed to be open to the general public. The flier says, “Warehouse Sales are exclusive to Book Fair Chairpeople & Volunteers, Registered Homeschoolers, and School Personnel; Principals, Administrators, Faculty, Teachers, Librarians, and Media Specialists.” But how would they ever know if you didn’t meet one of those requirements? You could just say you homeschool your kids if they happen to ask. And you might not even have any kids! Maybe you’re Christmas shopping for a niece or nephew or something. You do have to sign in at the door but all that requires is your name, address, and email address. Trust me, they’re not going to turn away your money.

Scholastic has warehouses in all fifty states plus the District of Columbia. Check here for locations and sale dates. And if you can’t make it this time, they usually have a sale in late spring too.

BrainPOP Jr.

Published by Scott on December 4, 2006 in Chatter and Web Sites. 3 Comments

comingsoon.jpgAs cool as BrainPOP is, I think I like BrainPOP Jr. even better. That’s probably because it’s primarily aimed at the K-3 age group. I’m a second grader teacher and my home schooled boys are the same age as my students, so my experience with the site has been a more practical one as far as using it to reinforce some of the concepts I teach.

BrainPOP Jr. is actually very similar to BrainPOP. For each subject there is a short animated movie that provides an excellent overview of key ideas, although it’s a character named Annie that teams up with the robot Moby to host instead of Tim. There are also suggested activities, a comic, and a quiz. And just like at BrainPOP, the subjects are organized according to academic area, including science, health, writing, reading, social studies, and math.

There are plenty of differences though that make BrainPOP Jr. especially appealing to its target audience. First and foremost, there is a simple online game for each subject, which is absolutely irresistible to young children. No matter how simplistic or stupid they may be, and I’m talking beyond BrainPOP Jr. here, kids are absolutely mesmerized by these types of arcade games that are found on nearly every site aimed at kids. Fortunately the ones here at least reinforce the concepts being taught. There’s also a joke, discussion prompts, a “word wall” with key vocabulary terms, suggested books that can be found at the library, and simple online writing and drawing programs with subject related prompts. A really nice touch is that all of the text on the site is read aloud whenever the cursor points to it, so children with lesser reading skills aren’t hindered so long as they know how to manipulate a mouse.

Right now BrainPOP Jr. is free, free, FREE! They are still developing content so you can try it out until it’s full enough for them to justify charging a subscription price. You’ll actually notice “coming soon” banners over a lot of the topics but there’s still plenty of good stuff there for you and your young ones to investigate.