Thomas' Snowsuit

Written and performed by Robert Munsch
Originally published in 1989.
MP3 file, 4:33 minutes
<www.robertmunsch.com>

Thomas hates the new snowsuit his mother has bought him. In fact, he hates it so much that he puts up a fight every time he has to wear it. First Thomas' mother manages to wrangle him into the snowsuit, but when recess comes at school, it's another story. Both the teacher and the principal end up involved in the kind of silly hijinks young children enjoy the most.

This is a treasured story from my own childhood. We had a Robert Munsch cassette tape that was played over and over again, never failing to draw major giggles from my brothers and me. When I discovered that MP3 files of Munsch telling his stories are available for free on his website, I was pretty excited. The small files are easy to download, and there are two versions for each story: one of Munsch reading directly from the book and one of Munsch telling the story to an audience of children.

When listening to Robert Munsch, it is impossible not to be carried away by his enthusiasm. His voice communicates both the humour of his stories and his love of entertaining children. He makes great sound effects and pokes fun at the seriousness of adult authority. One of the things I love the most about his recording of Thomas' Snowsuit in front of an audience is how he uses a real child's name in place of Thomas throughout the story. I saw Munsch perform at a Canada Day concert a few years ago, and I was impressed with his genuine interest in his audience then too.

Finally, according to Munsch's website, Thomas' Snowsuit was created at the Mount Saint Vincent University daycare when a kid asked for a story about snowsuits. It was fun to discover after all these years that my favourite Munsch story has a Maritime connection!

Kids' CBC

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 2007
<www.cbc.ca/kids>
Regular site: Ages 8-11
Preschool site: Ages 5-7
3.5/5

The CBC Kids website is divided into two sections, one for children ages 8 to 11 and one for preschoolers. Visually, both of these pages are very appropriate for the age groups for which they are designed.

The preschool page uses bright colours and cartoon-style graphics and sound effects in an interactive layout. Children can play simple games, learn about their favourite characters from CBC TV, and watch video clips from CBC TV shows. An animated, speaking cartoon of Canada offers an introduction to each section of the preschool website and explains how to navigate the website. Unfortunately, unless children click on cartoon Canada, it is unclear that she is supposed to be there to offer help.

The website for elementary-school aged children uses a mix of different styles of graphics, including anime and more traditional cartoons. Like the preschool site, there are all kinds of sound effects and animations, although the general feel is more mature. Kids can play games; read and write reviews of books, music, movies, and more; download screensavers; or learn more about their favourite CBC TV shows.

I was surprised that CBC, which I have always considered pretty educational in comparison to many other TV channels, did not include more distinctly Canadian material on these websites. This is particularly true of the website aimed at older children. Although the games are interesting and age-appropriate, they are also pretty much the same as what I'd expect to find on any other children's television channel's website.

That being said, one crucial difference I did notice is the complete lack of advertising. CBC for Kids does not even have a sponsor. I think it's wonderful to see websites for children that are not encouraging the formation of commercial habits at a young age.

Overall, the Kid's CBC webpages are among the better children's television channel websites I have seen.

Club Penguin

Walt Disney Company, 2007
<www.clubpenguin.com>
Ages 6-12
3.5/5

There was a big news story last year about how Club Penguin, a site for children started in Canada, was a huge financial success and was being purchased by the Disney Corporation. I was curious: what exactly is Club Penguin and why is it so popular among kids and parents alike?

The basic premise of the site is that a child chooses a penguin character and then explores "Club Penguin" as that character. Penguins can play games to earn coins, which can then be used to buy clothes for the penguin or decorations for the penguin's igloo. Penguins can talk to each other and become friends. Although children can join for free, their penguins can only buy things if they have paid their $6/month membership fee.

Taking a look at the site, it's easy to see why parents like it so much: not only has Club Penguin won awards for protecting children's privacy and keeping children safe, in its Parents' Guide the site stresses that it is 100% ad-free and all discussions between penguins are moderated. Parents can choose what level of freedom their children have in chat sessions: there are settings that allow children to type whatever they want into the chat box (with a warning that inappropriate talk in not allowed) or only allow children to select from a list of pre-typed phrases, such as "Hello" or "Will you be my friend?"

To be honest, I'm not sure what makes this site so popular with children. Although I did create my own penguin just to see what the inside of Club Penguin looks like, I didn't chat to anyone or make any friends (I didn't feel it was ethical since I'm an adult), which may mean I'm missing the whole point of the game. Plus since I didn't pay a membership fee, my poor penguin is naked. However, I do like that there are no winner or losers on this site. Friendship, fair play, and co-operation among penguins are encouraged. There is plenty of information for parents and children about how to play and how to be safe online.

Considering some of the available options, Club Penguin seems pretty great to me, even though as an adult I found it pretty boring.