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Polkabats and Octopus Slacks

The Music!
NOT- -AVAIL-ABL-E.
COPY ISBN
PreS-Gr 3—The band Clementown (Kate Lynch, Chris Beaty) has set to music 28 poems written by Calef Brown and published in two books: Polkabats and Octopus Slats (1998) and Dutch Sneakers and Fleakeepers (2000, both Houghton Mifflin). Brown also illustrated both books in a style similar to Giselle Potter, and some of those illustrations appear on the CD case. Clementown performs in a variety of musical styles, such as classic Motown, polka, folk, hip hop, rock, country, bluegrass, and jazz. Several of the songs feature beautiful harmonies. Among the songs/poems are: "Kansas City Octopus," "Highwire 66," "Funky Snowman," "Polkabats," "The Bathtub Driver," "Skeleton Flowers," "Clementown," "Dutch Sneakers," "Gum Bubble Monday," "Tattlesnake," "The Runaway Waffle," and others. This album will be especially welcomed by fans of Brown's books.—Beverly Wrigglesworth, San Antonio Public Library, TX
In this beautiful, heartrending, yet horrifying film, North Koreans tell their stories of imprisonment, sexual slavery, torture, murder, and escape to China or South Korea during the nearly 50-year regime of Kim Il Sung (1912—94). The interviews are illustrated through the interspersion of dance sequences, archival news footage, and drawings. Particularly interesting are the North Korean propaganda films celebrating Kim Il Sung as God and showing in the face of mass starvation happy workers, elaborate military displays, and the creation of a new flower in 1988 in honor of the 46th birthday of Kim's son and successor, Kim Jong Il. A valuable time line traces 20th-century events in Korea. Bonus features include previously unreleased footage of camp refugees. This mesmerizing film displays excellent production values and is highly recommended for Asia collections.—Kitty Chen Dean, formerly with Nassau Community Coll., Garden City, NY
Reviewed by Kitty Chen Dean , Jun 01, 2011

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