Max's Words
Veronica Schwartz, Des Plaines Public Library, IL -- School Library Journal, 8/21/2008
Max’s Words. video or DVD. 10 min. (closed captioned). with tchr’s. guide. Weston Woods (scholastic.com/westonwoods). 2007. video, ISBN 978-0-545-04287-1: $60; DVD, ISBN 978-0-545-0285-7: $59.95; cassette with hardcover book, ISBN 978-0-545-04374-8: $24.95; CD with hardcover book, ISBN 978-0-545-04373-1: $29.95.
K-Gr 2–Max becomes upset when his older brothers Benjamin and Carl won’t share their stamp and coin collections with him. After a bit of thinking, Max decides that he is going to collect words. The boy gathers piles of words that he cut out of magazines. Max quickly learns that with a little imagination these words can be the most valuable collection of all. T.R. Knight’s youthful voice brings spirit and energy to this tale by Kate Banks (Farrar, 2006), perfectly complementing Boris Kulikov’s illustrations, which have been animated. Music by Jerry Hunt is a perfect accompaniment to the story. In a read-along version of the tale, the text appears in white puffy letters on the screen with the word being spoken turning yellow. The pacing is just right whether listening to the story or reading along. A wonderful addition to all collections.
