Scholastic continues its enjoyable line of children’s tales with this entry into the Storybook Line. Similar to its predecessors, celebrities lend their most pitch-perfect, optimistic voices to each story. This particular collection features the current Hollywood quirky girl Zooey Deschanel and a sweet transvestite from transsexual Transylvania who defined an era of makeup and leather, the unsurpassed Tim Curry.
With this foray into educational videos, Scholastic tackles stories about “following your dreams.” Young audiences are bound to find inspiration in the five selected pieces, from William Steig’s inconsistent but still effective Brave Irene to Shana Corey’s delightful Players in Pigtails. The former follows the dramatic, even harrowing journey of a girl braving a snowstorm to make a special delivery to the duchess for her sick dressmaking mother. The latter centers on the punchy Katie Casey, who wants to play baseball in 1942. Unfortunately, it just isn’t allowed until the men of America embark for war and she finds herself taking the mound. Adults will recognize the film A League of Their Own in the story, but find the occasionally adult nature of the film has been softened and conveyed in a way that young children can appreciate.
Scholastic leads the way in children’s multimedia education, designing video games, audio, and video to embellish and enrich the superb books they are based upon. Teachers and parents alike have come to trust Scholastic as a resource of early childhood development. The North Star does not disappoint, magically realizing the beautiful watercolors and ink illustrations of Peter Reynold’s title work, that stands as the most powerful of the collection. Following a boy in a life not unlike some of our own, where society is applying pressure for him to abandon his dreams in lieu of what others deem meaningful, adults will undoubtedly draw some valuable lessons from the collection just as their children embark in actualizing their potential.
DVD Bonus Features
"The North Star...and Other Stories About Following Your Heart" is on sale May 24, 2011 and is not rated. Written by Peter Reynolds, Heather Henson, Shana Corey, Chris Raschka, Anne Isaacs. Starring Tim Curry, Zooey Deschanel.
