Laurie Craig

Beatrice "Beezus" Quimby, a close friend of Henry Huggins, is perpetually infuriated by the imaginative antics of her younger sister Ramona, who frequently insists upon exhibiting imaginative habits and eccentricities such as wearing her beloved homemade paper rabbit ears while pretending to be the Easter Bunny, dragging a string along behind her pretending to lead an imaginary lizard named Ralph, and being read an irritating children's book about an anthropomorphic, disgruntled steam shovel called Scoopy. Beezus is also commonly exasperated by actions on her sister's part such as vandalizing a library book, inviting her classmates to a house party without the consent of her parents, and wreaking havoc during Beezus's painting class. Beezus, however, is haunted frequently by the guilt of her animosity towards Ramona and the uneasy sisterhood that they share as opposed to that displayed by her mother and Aunt Beatrice, and is finally prompted to revealing this during her birthday celebration after Ramona has ruined a pair of birthday cakes intended for the party. However, after learning about memories from the childhoods of Aunt Beatrice and her mother, Beatrice accepts that she may not always love Ramona.… (more)

When I'm working on the reference desk, I'm asked just as often for film recommendations as for book recommendations. If kids are with their parents, it's easy to send them to the shelves and the pounce on Bob the Builder, etc. But if it's just a mother coming in, or a father, bringing something home for their kids, it's a little harder. I don't really watch a lot of youth films, so I thought that Ella Enchanted would be a good one to add--it's aimed for a tween audience; girls from 9-12 years of age will really enjoy it. The plot is this: when she was a baby, Ella received the gift of obedience from Fairy Lucinda. It turns out to be more of a curse than a blessing, when Ella's stepsisters discover how to use Ella's gift to their advantage. Ella sets off in search of Lucinda, so that she can take back the gift, and runs into the Prince of the Kingdom, who falls in love with Ella. This was an enjoyable story, and easy to watch, until the end, when the entire cast burst into song. At that point, it became painful--I couldn't understand why they'd spoil everything by ending with a musical number. Anyway, this should be an addition to any youth DVD collection at a public library, if it isn't already. And once patrons have watched the DVD, you can steer them towards the book. Or vice versa!… (more)