School Library Journal» Nutmeg Media

Pick of the Day: Out on the Prairie & Deep in the Swamp (DVD)

SLJ — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:07:39 +0000

Out on the Prairie & Deep in the Swamp. DVD. 15 min. with tchr’s. guide. Nutmeg Media. 2012. ISBN 1-933938-92-7. $69.95.
PreS-Gr 3–Donna Bateman’s clever juxtaposition of two very different but fragile ecosystems is just right for young children. Using the construct of counting and a repetitive refrain in the style of “Over in the Meadow,” students will learn about animals and plants native to each habitat in an engaging, user-friendly way. “Wallow,” said the mother. “I wallow!” said the one, as the bison calf rolls in the prairie grass; and “Scurry,” said the mother. “We scurry!” said the ten, as the little crayfish scatter through the swamp. Each group of ten animals resides in the BadlandsNational Parkin South Dakota (Out on the Prairie, 2012) or the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgiaand Florida (Deep in the Swamp, 2007, both Charlesbridge). The vibrant illustrations by Susan Swan (Prairie) and Brian Lies (Swamp) perfectly delineate the flora and fauna native to these areas, and the narration by Tony Fragale and Melissa Kate Miller make the books come alive. The artwork and minimal music let the rhyming text sing. Fascinating flora and fauna facts are presented at the end of each section, and one gets a feel for the delicate balance between them. Re-counting the animal babies serves as a review of their names, while comparing and contrasting the two ecosystems is a natural classroom follow-up activity. Children and teachers will be inspired to visit and see the prairie’s yucca and primrose and the swamp’s cattails and cypress trees for themselves. It’s that good.–Lonna Pierce, MacArthur andThomasJeffersonElementary School,Binghamton,NY

News Bites: YALSA and Best Buy Partner to Close Digital Divide for Teens

Phyllis Levy Mandell — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 15:25:50 +0000

Resources for Teens

Close the digital divide: The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and Best Buy have become partners in attempting to close the digital divide for teens. Every time Best Buy Mobile opens a new location in the United States, YALSA will designate a public or school library in the vicinity to receive $2,000 from Best Buy to purchase digital library resources for teens. According to YALSA, that library will take part in a community celebration to promote the partnership. To help the designated libraries get training on how to best use the money they receive, YALSA is creating an online community for the recipients to share information and best practices.

“This partnership is so important to YALSA because it helps us make strides towards fulfilling our mission of expanding and strengthening library services for and with teens,” said Jack Martin, YALSA president. Best Buy Mobile specialty stores are usually located in shopping centers and malls and offer smartphones, tablets, accessories, services, and plans.

Video game challenge: The National STEM Video Game Challenge, presented by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and E-Line Media, is the perfect way to tap into your middle and high school students’ passion for playing video games. Now in its third year, the Challenge promotes science, technology, engineering, and math education. U.S. students in grades five to twelve, either individually or in teams of up to four students, can submit an original game concept and design through April 24, 2012. The games can be created using any game-making platform such as Gamestar Mechanic, Mirosoft’s Kodu, GameMaker, Scratch, or a written game design concept document. Be sure to check out all the rules and entry information.

Winners will receive an AMD-powered laptop computer loaded with game design and education software. Additionally, the school or non-profit organization designated by the winner will receive a donation of $2,000.

This year, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is joining returning sponsors: the AMD Foundation, Microsoft’s Xbox 360, the Entertainment Software Association, the Hive Digital Media Learning Fund in the New York Community Trust, BrainPOP, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting PBS KIIDS Ready to Learn Initiative, Learning Game Network, and Edmondo. As a new sponsor, IMLS is supporting the development of tools and online museum- and library-specific content to help these institutions help students create games. There will be 14 workshops held throughout the country, so make sure to check out the Game Design Workshop page.

Freebies

Interactive ebooks: Listen up, libraries with tight budgets. Capstone, a publisher of children’s books and digital products and services, is offering library customers free interactive ebooks for their library. All you have to do is order any of Capstone’s library products, including hardcover books from any of its imprints, PebbleGO, or Capstone Interactive Library interactive eBooks, and you can receive these free ebooks for your library. Customers who purchase $1,000 of any Capstone library product, can select 20 free interactive eBooks; those purchasing $2,000 of library products can select 50 free interactive eBooks. Use the promotion code “13CILANY” and place your order by May 1, 2013. “With over 2,000 interactive ebooks available, there’s plenty of choice,” said Matt Keller Capstone Chief Marketing Officer.

Publishing News

Acquisition: Dreamscape Media has acquired the iconographic book to video firm, Nutmeg Media. Its new owners will be responsible for the sales, marketing. and distribution of the entire Nutmeg Media catalog of 107 award-winning, book-based children’s video titles. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring such a highly regarded line of video titles into our growing portfolio, and we’re hoping to introduce even more libraries to these wonderful programs,” said Brad Rose, Vice President of Dreamscape. “As we move forward and produce new video titles, we intend to continue the Nutmeg tradition of high-quality, award winning, iconographic video programming based on new children’s books.”

Pick of the Day: Chowder (DVD)

SLJ — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 14:05:24 +0000

Chowder. DVD. 12 min. with tchr’s. guide. Nutmeg Media. 2012. ISBN 1-933938-91-9. $49.95.
Gr 1-3–Viewers learn from the get-go that “Chowder had always been different.” Still, youngsters will be tickled to see the pudgy brown pooch perched on the toilet in the opening scene. His owners, the Wubbingtons, are devoted to their beloved bulldog and treat him like a member of the family, but the pampered pup can’t seem to make it in the dog world. He tries to fit in, but word on the canine street is that he’s just plain weird. Normal dogs eat bones rather than use them to reconstruct dinosaur skeletons. Normal dogs don’t wear hats or sunglasses or ride in back carriers or on coin-operated horsey rides. And normal dogs play with squeak toys, not computers. Determined to make friends, Chowder sees an ad for a new petting zoo at his family’s supermarket and engineers a visit by eating everything in the fridge. Though he gets off to a rough start, he redeems himself and finally befriends a motley crew of farm animals. Peter Brown’s endearing bulldog, rendered lovingly in acrylic-and pencil in the picture book (Little, Brown, 2006), is even more appealing in this iconographic production. The bouncy, rhythmic background music and sympathetic narrator make this slightly sophisticated tale more accessible. A conversation with Brown explains how he got the idea for the story as well as how he decided to write and illustrate children’s books. Use with units on dogs, making friends, and being yourself.–Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools