Kids Tour Chinatown

Review of Lon Po Po

I read Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story From China, translated and illustrated by Ed Young, for homework.  It is about a mom leaving three kids at home to see her po po, also known as grandma, and the three kids having to outsmart a wolf.  It is the Chinese version of Red Riding Hood.

This is a good book for learning about Panel Drawings because the illustrations are all panel drawings.

I made a panel drawing by drawing a picture, cutting it into three pieces, one wide and two narrow, and outlining the pieces with a red crayon.  Then, I taped the pieces onto a big piece of red construction paper.

Here are some links:

Lon Po Po Cyberlessons

Lon Po Po on Vicky Blackwell's website.

Coraline: Book and Movie Comparison

The Coraline book by Neil Gaiman is better than the movie.

From my Librarything Review:

Coraline is an awesome book about a girl who goes through a door to another world.  She meets a monster that pretends to be her other mother, but who wants to keep Coraline there forever and replace her eyes with buttons.

I think the author's intent is to encourage bravery because Coraline talks to herself about bravery.  Coraline shows bravery by throwing a cat at a monster and sticking her hand into a spider web.

Another author's intent may be to tell readers to be happy with the family that they have because at least it's better than having monsters as a family.

I highly recommend this book to Goth people and people who like scary books.  I usually don't like scary books but I liked this one because it was suspenseful.

About the Coraline Movie:

In the movie, Coraline gets a doll from Whybe, a friend, that really belongs to her other mother.  The other mother is using the doll to watch Coraline.  This is different from the book, because there is no Whybe and no doll in the book.

Even though the movie was different from the book, I liked it because it was in 3D.  The 3D made it look like everything was popping out at you.  I also liked the soundtrack because it was creepy.

Final Notes:

I recommend reading the book before watching the movie, but I don't think it really matter.  Neither one spoils the story for the other.

Here are some Coraline Links:

Cornered In a Parallel World - New York Times Review of the movie.  Click on the link for Creating an Other World to see how they made this 3D movie.

Not a Traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony

Lightening Rod Projector 2000

My newest invention is the Lightening Rod Projector 2000. When lighting hits the metal bag, it travels up a wire to a tin foil part on a spoon and blasts lighting away.

Q: Have you tested this?

A: No, I need a lightning storm.

Q: Why do you need a Lighting Rod Projector 2000, and where and how would you use it?

A: I would leave it in my front yard, in a high place such as the top of a tree.  When the lighting strikes the tree; instead of it striking the tree and setting it on fire, it would strike the Lightning Rod Projector and blast the lightning away.

Consumerism and the Poster Boy

This is a video about Poster Boy, a vigilante artist and about the consumerism that he tries to stop. If we do not stop consumerism, it will destroy the planet.

We should complain to the companies, but how can we do that? Here are some ideas:

• You can send them letters or emails asking them to use less packaging, and to protect the environment.
• If they don't listen, you can stop buying their stuff and put them out of business.

What else can we do?

• Buy less stuff.
• Buy stuff in larger packages instead of single serving sizes.
• Use things longer than just six months.
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Leave a comment with your ideas and suggestions for ways we can help stop consumerism.

Please enjoy this visual aid.

Here are two more visual aids:

Consumerism! The Musical - This is a funny video about a world-class jerk who is a slave to consumerism - he loves to buy stuff.

The Story of Stuff - This video talks about how consumerism is good for big companies, but not for the environment or even people. It's all about the "curse of consumerism."

And one more about a photographer who is working to save an island:

Technorati Tags: consumerism

Tracks, Games, And Snowshoes

It was a horrid morning - windy, icy, and snowy.  Gray clouds lingered across the sky as the boys of Cub Scout Pack 529 prepared for a long, frigid walk at Dyken Pond.

We were going for a snowshoe trek through Dyken Pond in Upstate New York on a chilly January morning.  To prepare, we dressed warmly in boots, snow pants, coat, hat, and some other layers.  When we got to the park, the dads helped us put on snowshoes so that we could stand on the deep snow.

The plan was to find and identify animal tracks.  A female leader led  us through the woods and over the lake to help us locate the animal tracks.  She told how to identify whether a track is a dog track or a cat track.  Cat tracks have long toe nails, and dogs don't.

While on this trek, we went over the lake to play an Eskimo Game by running around in a big circle and trying to not get caught by the person who was it.

It was treacherous journey where we feared frostbite and homicidal chipmunks and deer with laser eyes.  Good thing we didn't find any.

Instead, we found the tracks of squirrels and the greatly feared phantom dog Yoohoo.  The real highlight of the trip was when we found fox tracks.  We knew that they were a kind of dog track, and the leader said that they were most likely fox tracks.

After a long walk we finally made it back to the car alive.  This was a fun, exhausting, and educational trip.

Submitted to the Bear Den News - A Pack 529 Publication.

Celebrating Groundhog Day

I think Groundhog Day should be celebrated by watching TV, eating chocolate ice cream, and playing any Groundhog Day game on the computer.

If you want, leave a comment on how you think we should celebrate Groundhog's Day. I'll judge them, and then I'll write a blog post on the best suggestions.

Many will enter, few will win.

Click here for an online Groundhog's Day Game: http://spedr.com/5uqqz