Literary Treasure Hunt
Posted by: Naomi on October 4th, 2008
Scholastic’s Storybook Treasures is a collection of DVDs that will make you feel slightly less guilty about using the TV for a babysitter. All kidding aside, these DVDs are the closest thing you’ll find to reading aloud. The narration is slow and steady and purposeful, which is very useful to try and coax kids into reading along if you happen to have the book that it is based upon. Luckily, the titles available in Scholastic’s Storybook Treasures series are all tried and true classics. In fact, the laid-back pacing of these adaptations reminds me of the old classroom filmstrips from my youth, the ones that required you to hang on every word until the beep told you to advance the frame. Such a difference from the frenetic style of today’s action-packed cartoons!
We recently received Make Way for Ducklings…and more delightful duck stories. Robert McCloskey’s sweet story of nesting ducks always makes me smile. And Jasper especially likes this DVD since “duck” is one of the words he can say understandably. Lucky for my little duck lover, this extra-long (76 minutes!) disc also features The Story of Ping, The Ugly Duckling, and Angus and the Ducks, as well as two stories that have non-duck birds in central roles.
If you have a dog lover, Harry the Dirty Dog…and more playful puppy stories may be more your style. There are six canine-centric tales on this 73 minute DVD. Roo loves the one about Harry trying to lose his new sweater from grandma.
The Storybook Treasures DVD I enjoyed most was Where the Wild Things Are…and 5 more stories. I have long been a Maurice Sendak fan and the title story is one of my all-time favorite childrens books. There is also an adaptation of In the Night Kitchen, and I am pleased to report that Mickey’s nethers are unretouched here. (I can’t believe that some libraries censor or remove this book for full frontal nudity… geez, it’s called a penis and half the world has ‘em, right?) The other fantastic thing about this collection is the inclusion of the Nutshell Library. I love reading these to Roo and Jasper, but I must admit that the Carole King versions pretty much blow me away. Duh. I vaguely remember these songs from my youth; they were part of the Really Rosie LP. I wish I still had that!
WIN IT!
Where the Wild Things Are…and 5 more stories (four winners!)
Click HERE to enter and tell us which childhood literary classic you would like to see turned into a Scholastic Storybook Treasures DVD. Contest ends Saturday, October 18th at 10 PM CST. Winner will be chosen randomly and notified via email. Good Luck!!
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Comments (2)
October 5th, 2008 at 10:22 am
wow there are so minny that i love and well how abt gus the gohst that was always a realy fun story or the little house and then theres the million a billion and trillon of cats story and the 5 fisher man and well my list go’s on and on
October 5th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Ferdinand the Bull was always my favorite!