Throwback Thursday: Cry of the Wolf Starring Whisper the Winged Unicorn

First off, Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate!

There are lots of great Thanksgiving-themed books out there, but for today's Throwback Thursday, I'd like to post about things I am thankful for: unicorns (especially rainbow ones!) and the 80s!!!!

Growing up in the pre-Internet days, we had book fairs, not Amazon. One of my favorite series to buy at the book fair was Whisper the Winged Unicorn, for the lovely illustrations, and also the free stickers! I had a few books out of the series, but I recently stumbled upon this one in the attic: Cry of the Wolf Starring: Whisper the Winged Unicorn (yes, it says "starring!")

The Plot: Whisper the Unicorn wakes up one morning excited for the Rainbow Forest Spring Fair, which is only two days away. She meets up with her animal friends, only to discover something frightening: they are terrified by mysterious cries they hear in the night! Can Whisper figure out where the cries are coming from before the Spring Fair is ruined?!?!

The Review: I LOVED it! How could I not? There's mystery, suspense, gorgeous illustrations all in about 20 pages or so. If one reads carefully, there are gentle lessons about friendship, understanding, and tolerance sprinkled throughout. Not bad for a 28 year old book!

Book Information

• Cry of the Wolf Starring: Whisper the Winged Unicorn
• By Peter Mandel, Illustrated by Katherine Wilson-Heaney
• Published by Antioch Publishing Company, 1986
• ISBN 0-89954-673-0

Photo Credit

Picture of Cry of the Wolf Starring Whisper the Winged Unicorn was taken from here. Thank you!

Toys and Games Tuesday: Feminist Hacker Barbie

Ok, ok. So this isn't exactly a toy review. But since the mission of this blog is to flesh out the messages sometimes hidden in kids' media, I couldn't NOT write a post about this.

I won't rehash all the outrage, or how horrible this book is (and by "this book" I am referring to Barbie: I Can Be a Computer Engineer from the "Barbie: I Can Be..." Book Series). Rather, I'd just like to say, that as media makers (writers, filmmakers, web series makers, comic book artists, etc) we have a responsibility to use our powers for good and not evil. What we say really DOES matter.

Enter Feminist Hacker Barbie, an app that lets you rewrite the pages of the Barbie: I Can Be a Computer Engineer to something more intelligent? Interesting? Appropriate? You make the call. Kudos to app maker Kathleen for making this a teachable moment for everyone.

Too bad there isn't a real Feminist Hacker Barbie. I'd definitely buy that for my daughter!

Photo Credit

Picture of Barbie was taken from Feminist Hacker Barbie. Thanks!

Repost: International Friday: Sara Farizan's If You Could Be Mine

Hi friends and fans! I had wanted to do a book or movie review in honor of Transgender Awareness Week (November 14th-20th), but the crazy of everyday life swept me away. Although it's a day late, I'd like to repost my short review of Sara Farizan's wonderful YA novel, If You Could Be Mine. (Actually, it's only a review of the first five free chapters from Amazon. I later borrowed a copy from the library and read it on my own, but failed to review it here. BOOOOO!) In any case, please check out this novel. Farizan's story about an Iranian teenager who wants to undergo a sex change to be with her best friend will have you thinking, at the very least.

The link to the review is here.

For more information on Transgender Awareness Week, please click here.