Meryl Streep and the Mouse

<p> Many Hollywood stars love working off camera, whether as voices in animated films or as narrtors for the children\'s stories in the Scholastic Storybook Treasures DVD series. On the title movie from the newly released animated set \"Chrysanthemum... and More Whimsical Stories,\" Meryl Streep sounds pleased to be reading her tale for young children. Chrysanthemum is a delightful little mouse, her name chosen at birth by adoring, caring parents. Chrysanthemum counts the days until her first day in school--and you can see what\'s coming. The snotty kids with commonplace names tease her mercilessly and make her wish she could be like everyone else. The lesson: Don\'t conform to dull norms! Embrace positive difference! </p> <p>The story is also educational in a more purely pedagogical way. The vocabulary is rather extensive, as is often the case in Scholastic short movies, and Chrysanthemum is pointedly written out several times on envelopes and as the icing on her birthday cake. It\'s good preparation for future spelling bee contestants.</p>