Books with accompanying VCDs

All the books in this section are from the Taiwanese publisher Aichi (愛智圖書, www.aichibooks.com.tw), and I bought them as sets.  Each set came with five books, a VCD containing animated versions of the five stories as well as audio-only versions of the stories.  This gave me flexibility to play the stories on TV at home, or play them on the CD player in the car.

The wonderful thing about these videos is that the "animation" is really minimal, and uses only illustrations in the books.  This means that the TV-watching process is as close to the book-reading process as possible.  In other words, these are not animations with fast motions that negatively affect children's overall attention span - if you believe in that stuff.  For us, the advantage was that these video and audio versions increased our kids' familiarity, and hence interest, in the stories.  They therefore encouraged our kids to pull these books out themselves and read them.  Sometimes our kids are so familiar with the occasional background music that, as they go through a certain section of a book, they will start humming the accompanying music.

In a previous section, I already reviewed Shen Mi Xiao Huo Che (神秘小火车).  In this section, I will list the sets that I own, give some comments on each set, and pick out a couple of favorite books to go into detail.

1. Xiao Xiao Gu Shi Pai Dui (小小故事 派队), ISBN: 9576083176 - This was the first set we owned, back when only Calvin was old enough to appreciate these stories.  My mom picked this in a hurry, not knowing anything about the stories.  After we opened the box and read the books to Calvin, we knew we would be getting more of these sets.
- Re Hu Hu De San Feng Xin (热呼呼的三封信): about a mail-delivering bird Jiu-Jiu, who realizes that a skunk Ke-Ke in the hospital is not getting better because he doesn't have friends (perfectly chosen animal).  Jiu-Jiu sends anonymous mail to Ke-Ke to cheer him up.  As expected (by the adult readers), Ke-Ke recovers, finds out Jiu-Jiu had sent the letters, and becomes good friends with the cheerful bird.
- Shen Mi Xiao Huo Che (神秘小火车): reviewed in a previous section with other books about trains.
- Bian Se Long Bu Bian Se (变色龙不变色): a humbling example showing that books I think are odd may be perfectly enjoyed by my kids.  An iguana tries not to change colors, because he thought changing colors made his friends ignore him.  I don't think the iguana is cute.  I think the plot is confusing, and the moral of the story is too buried for little kids.  How wrong I am!  Jason has completely memorized the book word-for-word, and roams around oftentimes mumbling to himself: "The giraffe thought Iguana was part of the leaf and accidentally ate him.  'Iguana, I don't eat meat!', said the giraffe while coughing."
- A Fu Zhong Tian (阿福种田): an opposite example from the last book, showing that books I think are absolutely fabulous may not make it to the top of the kids' list.  Adults who have grown up in Taiwan will enjoy the accurately (and adorably) illustrated Taiwanese country side: the scenery, house decor, nick names, clothing accessories, etc.  Just remember that your kids likely don't carry those same memories and sentiments.  To them, it's just another story about a farmer whose neighbors end up helping him with the farm work.
- Hai Dai Ke Le Bing (海带可乐饼): with a theme of environmental awareness, this story features a greedy shark and his attempts to become the largest producer of a special seaweed dessert.  You can imagine the consequences of a large factory in the midst of the ocean, seaweeds dug out in large quantities, and oil dumped into the ocean...  The end is very anti-Hollywood.  After the factory closes down because of the lack of seaweed and accidents in the kitchen, the streets once filled with fish are now empty.  The last page simply says that little green seaweeds start to grow in this silent ocean, and they slowly sway with the movements of the waves (imagine this written poetically in Chinese... believe me, it is beautiful).

2. Xiao Xiao Gu Shi Xing Qiu (小小故事星球), ISBN: 9789576083532 - My life would be different right now without this set.  We read these stories every night, and we quote from them throughout our time together.  We listen to these stories on the way to and back from school, and we hum the background songs together.  Here is a list of them.
- Qiao Ke Li Mao Shu Dian (巧克力猫书店): our favorite.  A chocolate-colored, book-loving cat opens a bookstore after his books take up every empty space in his house.  In this bookstore, a little fox would sit in a corner reading books all day long, but ended up running away when choco-cat approached him.  In the end, the little fox revealed that he loved the books so much but did not have enough money to buy them.  Choco-cat smiled and told him that if he was willing to help out once in a while in the store, he would get some books as presents.  The final page has Choco-cat and the little fox sitting in front of the store with drinks next to them, and the words simply say, "If you happen to be in Seagull Town and walk by a little red house as you smell the coffee and listen to the wind chime, why don't you come in for a visit."  It is just enough to not feel too "cheesy", but still sends a smile to my face every time.  The other books in this set are:
- Dang Hei Mao Yu Jian Bai Mao (当黑猫遇见白猫): another cat-based story about love and courage
- Wo De Yie Zi Xiao Shu (我的叶子小书): the kids' least favorite in this set; not a surprise, since each page describes a type of leaves
- Wo Men Dou Shi Yi Shu Jia (我们都是艺术家): a lizard describing how all his family members are artists; the illustrations are abstract, but the kids seem to understand them (more than I do)
- Shu Cai De Hua Zhuang Wu Hui (蔬 菜的化妆舞会): a cinderella story played by different vegetables; my kids have not been as interested in any vegetable-based stories as this one

3. Xiao Xiao Gu Shi Sen Lin (小小故事森林), ISBN: 9576082560 - A wonderful set that contains five high-quality stories, with a variety of themes and illustration styles.  Jason likes all five stories; Calvin likes them too, but he has heard them so many times (upon Jason's request) that he no longer wants to hear them.  These are the stories:
- Jin Niu Kou De Sheng Yin (金纽扣的声音): an imaginative story that teaches kids to treat others well, featuring a cat family and their friendship with a blind mole.  This can be enjoyed both by older kids because of the complexity of the plot, and by younger kids because of the distinctive and cute characters.
- Dong Dong De Luo Yie (冬冬的落叶): a simple story about a tree name Dong-Dong whose leaves have all fallen for the first time.  I did not guess that Jason would end up loving a story centered around a tree (without facial features) this much!  It is winter now, and whenever we walk by fallen leaves, Jason and I would start talking about Dong-Dong.
- Wan Dou Xiong Di (宛豆兄弟): peas in a pod are brothers living in the same room, all with different hobbies.  They teach each other, so that all end up enjoying these hobbies (reading, drawing, singing and dancing).  Suitable for younger kids.
- Xiao Ci Wei Xue Hua Hua (小刺猬学画画): a hedgehog wants to draw, and learns from his friend that drawing is for each person's enjoyment, not to compete with others.  Fitting with the theme is this artist's very childish style of drawing.  In fact, we have read several other books of his, and the kids truly enjoy them without caring about the drawing style.
- Liu Lang Xiao Lao Shu De Jia (流浪小老鼠的家): homeless mice find form friendship with each other, and build a house together with things they find in the street.

4. Xiao Xiao Gu Shi Zhong Zi (小小故事种子), ISBN: 9576082795 - Calvin and Jason only like two of the stories in this set, and neither of those two can be called one of their favorites.  This is perhaps the most "advanced" set, although they are all labeled for ages 3-8.  Here I will only list the titles, with minimal descriptions.
- Guo Wang Yu Muo Dou (国王与魔豆): here's a story I find a bit odd, and so do my kids.  Calvin is scared by the witches, and by the king's face turning green when he saw an angry face appear in the cappucino calling him a liar.  Yes, now you probably agree with me that the story's a bit odd.
- Xiao Bu Ding Ai Tou Ting (小布丁爱偷听): one of the two stories we like.  I especially like the cutely drawn frog, Xiao Bu Ding, who finds a conch and starts using that to eavesdrop.  Everything ends well - Xiao Bu Ding learns what he shouldn't do, and his friends forgive him.
- Pu Pu De Xin Fang Zi (普普的新房子): a hermit crab's search for a new "house" makes him realize real estate is expensive (something only adults can appreciate), beaches are polluted (ok, a concept children can learn), and creativity saves the day (he makes his own house by decorating an empty can).  Our kids also like this one, but don't get too excited about it.  Thus, it's actually a book I often choose when I really want them to fall asleep.
- Xiang Nian (想念): a realistic book featuring little mouse Sha-Sha, whose grandfather had just passed away.  The story centers around her father's conversations with Sha-Sha to comfort her but still remain realistic.  There is no heaven, and no reincarnated mouse.  But the concept of reincarnation is touched upon, when daddy points out how the fallen leaves came from the tree, and will now become part of the nourishment for the tree.  Perhaps the concepts are too deep - but the real reason my kids don't want to read this book is, they don't want to feel sad.

5. Xiao Xiao Gu Shi Hua Yuan (小小故事花园), ISBN: 9576082404 - Our least favorite set.  The stories are overall shorter, and the illustrations are not eye-catching to the kids.  We almost never read any of these stories, even though they still listen to them in the car.  Instead of describing each story, I'll just list what they are.
- Li Wu (礼物)
- Xiao Hou Zi Lu Ba Ba (小猴子鲁巴巴)
- Xiang Jiao A Qi (香蕉阿奇)
- Chao Ren Xiao Ma Yi (超人小蚂蚁)
- Nian Shou Lu La Hui Jia Le (年狩鲁拉回家了)

P.S. As I wrote about these books, I realized that this is the first posting I've written in which I own all the books.  The other postings have been a mixture of books I own and books I've borrowed from the library.  There is a different feeling, I have to admit.  The characters in the books we own have become part of our family.  Perhaps some of them are like the shy cats whom you see once in a while.  However, we know they're available whenever we're home, and we've internalized the favorite characters so that they're always with us.  If we start building this type of relationship with characters in a library book, it's time we look really hard about how to buy that book.