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PreS—This charming production features preschool children against a variety of beautiful and colorful animated backdrops while Mr. Teapot teaches Teeny Teacup that singing is fun for everyone. Toddlers sport fancy dress as they sip tea at gorgeous party tables and cruise through an animated forest stream in "I'm a Little Teapot." They bounce up and down and perform other motions in an animated bus in "The Wheels on the Bus." On Old MacDonald's farm, they interact with live animals and work toy hoes and rakes in an animated field. The toddlers rock with pint-sized guitars, drums, maracas, and harmonicas and show their moves on "Apples and Bananas." The action winds down with the last song, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," which shows children sweetly sleeping as they float through a starry sky. Several preschoolers perform solos for each song, from the sweet, shy sounds of a two-year-old girl to the unabashed showmanship of a four-year-old boy. The songs are children's classics and are sure to promote phonological awareness while teaching simple concepts including the alphabet and counting. Preschoolers will enjoy watching their peers perform and will likely want to sing and perform along with them.—Constance Dickerson, Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library, OH
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 , Sep 01, 2011

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