Hi!  This is Rachel Malay, director at the Port Library in Beloit. The library purchased some new DVDs and they’ve recently become available for check out.

How many of my readers remember the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show?  In addition to the regular cartoon featuring that famous moose and squirrel, each episode had a featured section, such as Dudley Do-Right or Peabody’s Improbable History.  The show continues to be quite popular, over 50 years later, and the Mr. Peabody section is becoming a short film, to be released later this year.  However, my favorite featured cartoon was always the Fractured Fairy Tales spot.  Well known fairy tales are given a fun twist, such as Snow White meets Rapunzel, and Little Fred Riding Hood.  There are also original stories, such as The Boy Who Couldn't Shudder and The Mysterious Castle.  

A DVD collection was recently released containing just the the fairy tales.  Each episode is about five to six minutes long and this set comes with two discs containing 91 episodes.  There are enough fairy tales for a full day of viewing!  The original cartoon ran from 1959 – 1964 and the animations are definitely from the period.  Still, if you’re a grandparent who wants to share part of the past with your grandkids try this out next time you get together.  These short entertainments can provide welcome relief to any modern cartoon that’s become annoying. Fractured Fairy Tales may be considered “vintage,” but the jokes and gags are still fresh and funny. 

 Our DVDs circulate a week at a time, and don’t forget we now have a media slot next to our after-hours book drop.  So, if the library is closed you can avoid any late fees by returning DVDs, CDs and videocassettes in the media slot.

You can get the DVD reviewed here and more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit, on the North Campus. 

The Complete Fractured Fairy Tales (DVD)
2 discs, 500 minutes
DVD collection.

This week’s review comes from our Youth Services Librarian, Andrea Weidenhaft.  

David Shannon is a well-known children’s author.  He has written and illustrated many award books including Duck on a Bike, How I learned to be a Pirate, and No David!  He is also known for working with other well-known authors such as Jon Scieszka and Melinda Long.  His David series is favorite of kids in the grade school age. 

David doesn’t mean to cause trouble.  Most of the time it’s just an accident or he forgot something.  Follow David in his newest book David Gets in Trouble, and hear all the excuses that I’m sure many parents have heard before.  David has problems remembering to put on his pants, doing his homework, and you can forget about eating eggs for breakfast!  Obviously, the cat likes her tail being pulled, that sound is her laughing!  David can cause all kinds of trouble but is he sorry at the end of the book?  This book is a fun read and the pictures are a complete laugh.  

David Shannon states at the front of this book that he got the idea from a book he wrote when he was a little boy.  His mom mailed it to him and it showed him doing various things he shouldn’t have been doing with just the words “No!” and “David.”  He decided to make a new version and we’re glad he did!

You can get the book reviewed here and more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit, on the North Campus.  


David Gets in Trouble by David Shannon
ISBN: 9780439050227 
32 pages, color illustrations. Children's picture books.

Hi!  This week’s review comes from our Youth Services Librarian, Andrea Weidenhaft. 

A New York Time’s Best Seller, Plant a Kiss by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, is a fun children’s storybook that plays up rhyming words, vocabulary, and simple fun pictures.  It even has a good example of punctuation!  Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, who also does the Judy Moody series, the pictures are simple with small splashes of color.

Little Miss plants a kiss.  She waits and watches it grow, inviting her friends to watch too. At last, she sees a sprout!  She decides to share her growing kiss.  She fills up her bowl and begins walking around giving some to everyone till her bowl is empty.  She thinks the kiss is completely gone until she goes back to where she planted it.  The kiss is bigger than ever and an endless supply!  She fills up her bowl again and goes on her way!

Amy Krouse Rosenthal has written many children’s and adult books.  Her books are wonderful because most of them contain an important life lesson that children go through and how to handle them in a positive way.  A fun series written by her include Little Pea, Little Hoot, and Little Oink.  These three are a fun twist on eating healthy, going to bed, and picking up after yourself.  Teach your children how to behave with these fun picture books!

You can get the book reviewed here and more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit, on the North Campus.  


Plant a Kiss by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
ISBN: 9780061986758
Children's Picture Book, 40 pages, illustrated

This week’s review comes from our Youth Services Librarian, Andrea Weidenhaft.  

Kiki Hamilton is a young adult author whose series, The Faerie Ring, has received wonderful reviews.  There are four books in the series, two of which are out now and available at the Port Library.  She also wrote The Last Dance which is receiving good reviews as well.

The Faerie Ring is about a family of orphans living in central London.  The young family relies on stealing and pit pocketing to survive, but times are getting harder due to better policed streets.  When the leader of the family, Tiki, falls asleep on a carriage and ends up at a grand house she is enticed to check it out by the smell of fresh bread coming from the open kitchen door.  What happens next sets off a chain of events that changes her life forever.  

Tiki unknowingly stole a very important ring from Queen Victoria.  The ring keeps peace between our world and the Faerie world, with the ring missing the Fey could siege an all-out war on England.  Tiki hides the ring until she can figure out how to handle the situation.

Rieker, another thief, believes that Tiki is involved in with the ring and begins to follow and help her.  Both teens have secrets and are weary of each other but in the end must work together with Prince Leopold to secure the treaty.  This is the first book in an exciting series of four about learning to trust yourself and others.

You can get the book reviewed here and more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit, on the North Campus.  

The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton
ISBN: 978-0765327239
Young Adult Fiction, 352 pages.