I’m reading Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans by Edward Eggleston from the Lost Classics Book Company. The collection of short, historical anecdotes was originally published in 1895. So far, it’s filled with snippets about productive, persistent and heroic early Americans who forged a new nation: William Penn, Benjamin Franklin, and various pioneers and entrepreneurs. Good stuff.
Speaking of books, I forgot to include a summer movie version in my earlier roundup. The recent adaptation of the literary character made into a doll, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, featuring Abigail Breslin (from the hilariously dry Little Miss Sunshine) and Chris O’Donnell (a turnaround from his kinky role in the outstanding Kinsey) is a pleasant little picture—a Depression-era slice of life offering family-safe entertainment.
The American Girl doll and book stores were introduced to me by a Hollywood screenwriter whose college-bound daughter had been a patron of the series, which apparently was created by a schoolteacher. What an amazing experience. Each top quality doll is created as an individual with her own historically themed storybook with unique characteristics and accessories, of course. The kids that play with the dolls are subsequently inspired to read the books and, often, the children become interested in the American Girl dolls after reading the books.
At the press screening I attended with a friend and her young daughter—who brought along her Kit Kittredge doll—several girls were accompanied by their dolls, too, and the American Girl-friendly audience was thoroughly engaged by the father-daughter themed picture, which depicts a relatively realistic and benevolent view of childhood. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl also stars Joan Cusack as a cackling boarder and Julia Ormond as the girl’s mother.
The year’s most exciting pop album is Donna Summer’s Crayons, which includes the former disco diva’s varietal takes on reggae, electronic pop and a hypnotically romantic melody, “Sand on My Feet.” The CD is dedicated to Summer’s husband and it features the single, “Stamp Your Feet,” which she performed earlier this year on American Idol. Crayons is an excellent piece of work and you’ll never think of Donna Summer—whose concert I’m attending this weekend—as only a disco diva again. Top tracks: the smooth, sensual “Drivin Down Brazil,” which makes you want to light some candles, the raunchy Tina Turner-esque “Slide Over Backwards,” and the rock-n-roll number “Fame (the Game)” which mocks going Hollywood. Also worth a listen: “Science of Love” and “Be Myself Again”. These songs ought to get a hearing in the nightclubs.
