Can I Read to You?

PreS-Gr 2—This collection of 14 appealing children's picture books is read aloud by a group of diverse youngsters ages five to eight. The backgrounds are colorful and well-chosen: a homey front porch, a decorative bedroom, a flowery back yard. Of the books featured, three readings are quite good: Bad Frogs by Thatcher Hurd, Quiet Bunny by Lisa McCue, and Miss Mary Mack by Mary Ann Hoberman. The sing-along duet of giggling girls on the well-known jump-rope rhyme, Miss Mary Mack, far surpasses in quality anything else on the DVD. Among the other books are Bear in the Air by Susan Meyers, Monica Wellington's Mr. Cookie Baker, and All in a Day by Cynthia Rylant. The children are filmed reading the stories, and the illustrations are shown. Most of the readers get bogged down in repetitive speech patterns, which can have a soporific effect. Minimal eye-contact is made with viewers. The placement of strategic sound effects helps jazz up the performances. While some attempt at vocal expression is evident, without the prosody and variety of trained voices, these readings are not the best model. However, children might enjoy seeing and hearing peers read to them, as evidenced by the success of "Reading Buddies" programs which pair kindergartners with second grade readers. Words may be superimposed on the film, but this can interfere with images and the book's original text. Good follow-up questions and background information for parents are offered at the end of the film as well as on the canireadtoyou.com website. This film might be used in school literacy centers or with group reading circles.—Lonna Pierce, MacArthur Elementary School, Binghamton, NY