A Kid's Video Guide to 'A Wrinkle in Time'

Gr 4–6—The real strength of this series is its potential to spark important conversations among students. More than discussions of these well-known titles, these videos address issues in the books that are pertinent to the lives of the viewers—popularity, bullying, loneliness, carrying on after a bad event, and more. Each segment follows the same pattern. After the producer, Tim Podell, introduces the series, a magician summarizes the featured book while the action cuts away to his performance of several magic tricks—a feature that is unnecessary and distracting in an otherwise enjoyable package. A diverse panel of middle school students discusses topics inspired by the books—the ant in E. B. White's Charlotte's Web who says he doesn't like what he doesn't understand. Is that true of people, too? From Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, Meg feels lonely at the beginning of the book: What makes you feel lonely? The format lends itself to pausing for a group discussion of these topics. Variety is added by asking related questions to younger students, such as if you were a tesser, where would you go, and what is a word that describes you best? (A librarian provides facts about arachnids and explains what a tesseract is.) In other segments, Cynthia Voigt talks about White, and L'Engle discusses her interest in physics.—Constance Dickerson, Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library, OH