O God Ganesha! and O God Ganesha, Volume 2

 The first review I ever did for this blog was on a book about the Indian god Ganesha, The Broken Tusk.  I never mentioned that the Library has two cartoon DVDs, which tell stories and sing songs about him, O God Ganesha! and O God Ganesha, Volume 2.  These two one-hour episodes, which tell many stories, were created because stories about Ganesha are not very well known even though he is the most worshiped Hindu god.  Some of these stories surprised me because they are different than the tales I knew.  For example, Ganesha doesn’t lose his human head in a fight with his father, Shiva, as I reported in my first post.  Here he loses it when the god Shani looks at “Baby Ganesha” with his evil eye and the baby's head vanishes!  You’ll have to watch the video to see the next step in how he gets an elephant head.  There are loads of other stories. I thought it was most interesting how Ganesha came to have a mouse as his "Number One Devotee."  The second DVD even includes an animated Ganesha pooja, a religious ritual.  It has a song so catchy that you might be humming it to yourself all day no matter what you believe in.  Oh, one word, the voices are very cute – in English, no less - but somewhat hard to understand until you get used to the accent.

Review submitted by Steve B., Youth Technology Librarian

Going to School in India

Going to School in India is an award-winning educational video that will surprise you.  It's a collection of 9 short films about children in vastly different places throughout India.  Some of the spots are beautifully exotic.  There's a boy who lives in a mud desert so flat and empty of plants and large buildings that the teacher announces the start of the day by shining a mirror towards all the houses.  When the children see the flashing, they know it's time to get to school.  Can you imagine living somewhere completely flat, with no trees, bushes, or grass?  Then there's a girl who lives in the Himalayan foothills on a lake.  Her school is in a houseboat.  There's another girl who has her school on an island and her gym class includes kayak racing.  The stories show the strength and difficulties some children face.  One girl has to go to school at night and learn by candlelight because she has to work all day long.  One boy doesn't have a house to live in.  Instead, he lives on the sidewalk with his family in a large city.  His school comes to him on a bus.  This film will teach you, delight you, and get you to think about all the different kinds of lives people live.

Film reviewed by Steve B., Youth Technology Librarian