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The Lost Bicycle

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PreS-Gr 4—Musician/composer Cory Hills narrates and provides musical accompaniment on a multitude of percussive instruments to make for an interesting journey through several children's stories. The CD is divided into acts, divided by musical interludes. Each act features a classic children's tale such as "Tikki Tikki Tembo" and "The Turnip," as well as original tales by Hills such as "The Lost Bicycle" and "Ponderosa Pine." "Phonetic Punctuation," inspired by pianist Victor Borge, offers a unique look at using sound for punctuation. However, the timing of the verse and the McDonald's restaurant story line fall short. The percussive sound effects offer some benefit to the story by giving inanimate objects personality, by musically describing an adjective or verb with a long tone or a charming melody respectively, or by providing thunder and rain during the storm as in "The Lost Bicycle." For the most part, the free jazz background effects are somewhat distracting for young listeners. The most entertaining portions are the musical breaks between the acts and within the stories. The timbre of Hills voice is grating, and his narration is somewhat flat.—Caitlyn Walsh, Fayetteville Public Library, AR
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 , Jan 01, 2011

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