The James Marshall Library

Featuring four wonderful adaptations of picture books by the late James Marshall, as well as a brief segment from a 1987 documentary on the author/illustrator, The James Marshall Library opens with the AFVA Red Ribbon award-winning Wings: a Tale of Two Chickens. a delightful story about sister chickens (Harriet, a reader; Winnie, who "would rather swat flies"), Wings offers a fun chase in which a not-so-smart Winnie is taken in by a local fox, and poor Harriet must use all her wits (finely honed by a lifetime of good books) to save her addled sister. The other three titles showcase Marshall's highly original re-tellings of the classic fairy tales Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, and Red Riding Hood. Astute readers may recognize Goldilocks and the Three Bears--we reviewed it in VL-1/94, when it was priced at $125. a similar situation arose last issue concerning the previously reviewed Monty, and we were told that there was generally a 2-year gap between a title's regular release and its home video release. Monty, we were told, was an exception. I guess Goldilocks and the Three Bears would have to be an exception too--and, for the library that forked over $125 earlier this year, an unpleasant exception at that. On future institutionally priced videos from Weston Woods, we recommend that libraries who aren't interested in public performance rights consider waiting for the home video packages which include many more shorts at a fraction of the cost. Like The James Marshall Library, which is highly recommended. Ages 3 and up. (R. Pitman)