Shrinking Violet

Woe is Violet. Although outgoing in private or with a good friend (Violet does excellent impersonations of sportscasters, pirates, and Elvis), she maintains a very low profile in public situations (she never makes waves in the swimming pool, or swallowing sounds at snack time, or accepts an invitation to dance). Violet is, in her own words, "allergic to attention," which makes her itch, scratch, and twirl her hair. To make matters worse, a bully classmate named Irwin likes to tell all and sundry in a loud voice about Violet's "fat knees" and "hairy arms" (neither of which she actually possesses). Based on Cari Best's 2001 picture book, illustrated by Giselle Potter, Shrinking Violet is a droll, mischievous, and ultimately very satisfying tale of metamorphosis, as Violet manages to not only finagle a safe offstage role (as "Space") in the school's play on the solar system, but also simultaneously saves her nemesis Irwin's social bacon when the latter--decked out as the planet Mars--ricochets off his fellow planets and flails around speechless in front of a large audience of parents (ultimately leading Irwin to rethink his campaign of verbal sniping). Narrated by Calista Flockhart, and backed by a characteristically excellent soundtrack from Ernest V. Troost, Shrinking Violet's eye-catching cutout style animation and insightful observations of all too common interpersonal relationships at the grade school level are sure to resonate with the target audience, ages 4-to-8. Highly recommended. Aud: K, E, P. (R. Pitman)