Rainbow Magic: Sunny the Yellow Fairy

Rainbow Magic: Sunny the Yellow Fairy
by
Daisy Meadows and Georgie Ripper
children's fiction, ages 7-10
(Previously published as Saffron the Yellow Fairy)
This is # 3 in a series.
1 Ruby the Red Fairy
2 Amber the Orange Fairy
3 Sunny the Yellow Fairy
4 Fern the Green Fairy
5 Sky the Blue Fairy
6 Inky the Indigo Fairy
7 Heather the Violet Fairy

After this Rainbow series are some more series of fairy books (Pet Keeper fairies, etc.), so readers can keep busy for quite some time with the fairies.

The seven rainbow fairies have been scattered by the wicked Jack Frost. Two mortal girls must help the fairies defeat Jack and his goblins and return home to Fairyland. This series is pleasant and easy to read. The goblins are not particularly scary. Many girls will be clamoring for the next book in this series. In this book, the Rachel and Kirsty work together with a queen bee. I thought that was a good use of the nature plot.
Personally, I think the illustrations are lousy. They are little more than ink sketches. I would have preferred a deluxe hardback version of this book with color pictures that were more completely done. The cover is fancy with gold stars. I have seen the fairies illustrated in color in the girl's magazine "Sparkle", so I was disappointed in how they are used in the Scholastic paperback.
http://www.rainbowmagiconline.com/

Boy Who Drew Cats

Boy Who Drew Cats
by David Johnson
narrated by William Hurt
music by Mark Isham
Rabbit Ears Radio Children's Classics from around the World
Cassette plus poster with all the words from the story on the back so patrons can read along.
Children's folk tale.

There is a frail boy who loves to draw cats. His family is poor and he is sent out to be an apprentice. He does try to pay attention to one master after another, but keeps failing due to his obsession with cats. What will become of the little boy? The poster and illustrations are lovely in the Japanese tradition and the story is based on a legend about a famous artist. When the cassette breaks and the library has to discard it, I wouldn't mind inheriting this poster of a boy drawing cats. Since my library has owned it since 1991 there is probably not much more life left in this audiobook.

I listened to this with a 5 and a 6 year old. It was too long for them to stay interested through the whole story (29:20 minutes long), but I enjoyed it. The music and the narration were well timed and side two of the tape had pleasant music without the narration. Some of the story was rather gruesome for a 5 year old. I am guessing that this would be a good story for ages 8 or 9 and up. One reason is that it 4 nice pictures on the poster, but it isn't really a book + cassette like some of the other kits that our library owns. If I had it to do over again I would check out the book with the cassette and the poster, since, presumably, the book would have more pictures.

Outside over There

Outside over There
by
Maurice Sendak

Caldecott Honor Book
Children's Fiction, ages 2-6.

This is a fine children's book that is lyrical and fantastic. The heroine saves her sister from goblins through the use of music in a plot that seems so familiar, yet has Sendak's unique take. It was hard to read aloud, however. The sentences are not formed in the usual way, so some practice was needed to get the rhythm and sound right. Where is the subject and verb? Certainly the author takes prose liberties with language.
I can imagine that plenty of children have acted out the plot of this book after having it read to them or reading it themselves - especially if there is a toddler in the household. Children certainly could make up more stories set in the world of "Outside Over There".
The artwork is splendid. I think I would enjoy having prints of this book hanging on my office or home walls.
I could imagine someone basing a ballet on this book.
Although the publisher does not market this book this way, Sendak has said that he considers this to be number 3 in his finest trilogy. I would assume that eventually they would be published together in some kind of collected works.
1. Where the Wild Things Are
2. In the Night Kitchen
3. Outside over There