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Rockin' the School House, Vol. 1 & 2

NOT- -AVAIL-ABL-E.
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PreS-Gr 1—Billy Gorilly and the Candy Appletree Family, including Pablo Parrot, Betty Bat, Owlton W. Hootley, Timmy, and Betty, perform a wide variety of educational and entertaining songs in these two volumes that are packed full of excitement. Volume 1 contains songs that teach the ABCs, opposites, shapes, and counting. Days of the week, months of the year, and the seasons are introduced as well. Volume 2 has songs about the five senses, the concept of size, other languages, colors, letter sounds, and cleaning up. The songs in both volumes were written, arranged, and produced by John Maellaro and Charles Hardman. Filled with energy, up-tempo beats, and easy-to-understand lyrics, these CDs will be a hit in the classroom as well as at home. No matter the topic, Billy Gorilly and friends make learning fun.—Veronica Schwartz De Fazio, Plainfield Public Library District, IL
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 , Apr 01, 2011

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