Enjoyed this book, which my son and I read together (I read it aloud). It’s a story about a young boy who wants more than anything to be a cave painter, but according to the traditions and taboos of his clan, someone of his “station of birth” could never do this highly-honoured activity. He decides to pursue his dream, if only in private, until he makes a couple of friends who will help him go farther than he ever thought was possible. I enjoyed the story and the setting – it’s kinda fun to read a book which features woolly mammoths. 8/10

On the whole, this was a very good book about the disaster. It was sort of the “sound bite” approach to the Titanic, covering a wide range of subjects, although none of them in great detail. (Not surprising, though, as this series is meant to be a more general introduction to the topic in question). There were several little tidbits I’d not read before, including a few that may come in handy in the writing of my NaNovel this year. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is just starting out learning about the Titanic, and even if you’ve done a lot of prior reading on the subject, you’ll probably learn at least a few new things. My only gripe is that in some cases, they presented a few of the more common myths as fact, or worded things in a more sensational way that didn’t necessarily convey the whole story of what happened. I can’t think of any examples right now, but since I didn’t come across anything I know to be blatantly untrue, it wasn’t too big of a deal for me. 8/10

About a week ago, I stumbled on a book at Borders which put forth the theory that it wasn’t really the Titanic that sank that night back in April, 1912, but instead her sister ship, Olympic, as the result of a switcheroo done to perpetrate a massive insurance fraud. Well, I enjoy a good conspiracy theory, so I wanted to read the book. Wasn’t quite willing to fork out $20 for it, though, so back at home, I tried to find it in the library’s catalogue. Turns out that my local library system doesn’t have a copy, but they did have this book, by at least one of the same authors, so I decided to read it.

This was an interesting book, although the Titanic/Olympic theory seemed a bit weak. Well, weak on evidence, and I’m not sure it satisfies all the logistical questions that arise when contemplating the disaster. I will say it does a decent job of explaining most of the questions of (otherwise) inexplicable human behaviour. Unfortunately, though, this book gave an overview of the theory, but I think I’ll still need to read that original book to get all the details.

I did learn a lot of history, though, not only about Titanic,, but also about Olympic and the White Star Line in general. Since the book wasn’t solely about the Ti/Oly switch, there was a lot of other good stuff there, most notably a good bit of detail about both the American and British inquiries – lots of information I’d not read before. So, while the book was, IMO, weak on actually convincing me that any conspiracies were taking place (beforehand, anyway; it is pretty clear that there was a variety of different white-wash jobs that went on afterward, but that’s to be expected I think, as people try to cover their asses in a case like this, not what I’d call a real “conspiracy theory.” It was an interesting read, even if it wasn’t entirely what I was expecting.

The good news for my local library is that I’ve ordered a used copy of that original book from Amazon (I’m interested in ALL the details of that insurance fraud theory), and after I’ve finished it, I’ll probably donate it, so the library will, at last, have it’s own copy. 8/10

This is a lovely book for children, about Jean-Francois Champollion, the man who is credited with deciphering the Rosetta Stone, and unlocking the secrets of heiroglyphic writing. It begins during Jean-Francois’ childhood, focusing on his life-long desire to learn all he could about ancient Egypt. I thought this was a nice way to present the information to children – along with the biographical material, there is an underlying message of “follow your dreams.” The illustrations are beautiful, too. A great book, which is very much in keeping with our current history study. 9/10

I really enjoyed this film. Oh, it’s not perfect – some glaring (and not so glaring) historical innacuracies, and parts of the human drama are at least as sappy as Cameron’s, but by the end, I was pulled into the drama of the thing, and found myself really moved by what they did with some of the fictional characters. Plus, it’s always fun to see how a filmmaker will interpret certain events (and the Straus’ are, and will surely always be, pictured in EVERY dramatic presentation of this story). :D All things considered, I thought this was well done, although not nearly as good as “A Night to Remember” which came out only a few years later. 7/10

This was an exciting video for me, since it had some recent news about Titanic exploration that I hadn’t come across before – that a 2005 team found two sections of her double-bottomed hull – OMG THAT IS SO COOL! It was a well done video in other respects, as well, offering the obligatory history of the ship, plus a lot of footage of the 2005 dives, which were sponsored at least in part by the History Channel. I really enjoyed watching this one. 9/10

First, I want to note that I did not watch the playstation version of this – it was a regular DVD I got from Netflix. For some reason, though, I can’t find this listed here or at Amazon, so I’m putting my review here instead.

I have mixed feelings about this film. On the one hand, it was very funny in places – my son was practically screaming with laughter again and again, and I laughed a lot, too. Trouble is, most of this humor came out of situations that were HIGHLY dangerous and inappropriate. These kids weren’t just pranksters – they were mean and did some things that were simply HEINOUS. Yeah, I can still find those things funny, but a part of me did cringe at letting my child watch this show. I can only hope that he’ll never decide to do some of these stuff these kids do. Causing deliberate physical harm to people, for example, or showing a hand-written “HELP US!” sign to a truck driver on the highway. Just so wrong! But, yeah, it’s a film and it’s fiction and we’re not supposed to take it literally. So, I’m calling this one worth watching, although it might not be appropriate for all viewers.

Not much here in the way of actual writing advice (unless you decide just to do the complete opposite of everything he suggests), but it’s a funny book – there were a few moments that made me laugh out loud! 7/10

I enjoyed this book, although it really is a bit too babyish for my 8-year-old. The illustrations are lovely, though, and it’s a sweet way to tell the story about a woman who survived the sinking of the “Titanic.” Before boarding a lifeboat, she returned to her cabin – nor for her jewelry, but for her music box pig, which she considered “lucky;” on board the lifeboat, she played music to amuse the children. (All things considered, I’d say it was a lucky little pig). 7/10

A Magic Schoolbus book in a different format from the usual books. Instead of taking her class on an adventure, this book follows Ms. Frizzle’s summer vacation to Egypt. Of course, since it’s Ms. Frizzle, she doesn’t just go to Egypt – she uses her magic watch to go back in time to Ancient Egypt. My son enjoyed this book, but I didn’t find it very exciting, and I didn’t enjoy reading it aloud. There is a small bit of narrative on each page, but there was also a lot of balloon dialogue and other random text to read. Probably a better book for a child to read to him/herself. 6/10