Ben Has Something to Say: A Book About Stuttering
by Laurie Lears, Karen Ritz (Illustrator)

From Horn Book
Ben, who stutters, is reluctant to talk, but he courageously speaks up--stutter and all--to save a friendly but ineffective guard dog from the pound.

Hooway for Wodney Wat
by Helen Lester, Lynn Munsinger (Illustrator)

From Amazon Booklist
The team responsible for the Tacky the Penguin books and Princess Penelope's Parrot (1996), among others, is in rare form in this picture book, in which a swell little guy proves himself a hero to his tormentors. Wodney Wat has a problem: he can't pronounce the letter r, which makes him the butt of constant jokes and teasing. He's so distressed, in fact, that he routinely buries his head in his jacket--the closest he can come to actually disappearing. He thinks he's really in for it when "big, mean, smart" Camilla Capybara appears in Miss Fuzzleworth's classroom. But the tables are deftly turned when Wodney is tapped to lead a game of Simon Says: when he says "Go West" after a tough round of play, guess who does. Munsinger's well-detailed illustrations are superbly funny, a perfect complement to a comical story that will not only make kids laugh but also hearten those who feel they'll be outsiders forever. Stephanie Zvirin

Mary Marony Hides Out
by Suzy Kline, Blanche Sims (Illustrator)

From Horn Book
Published spring 1993. Ashamed of her stuttering, second-grader Mary Marony hesitates to dine with her favorite children's author until her compassionate speech therapist and the sympathetic author bolster Mary's confidence. Unaffected drama and humor in a contemporary classroom setting, a plucky female protagonist, and spirited black-and-white line drawings make the brief chapter book a sterling choice for easy readers. -- Copyright © 1994 The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.

Paulie DVD

When a little bird wih a big personality sets out to find the living girl who raised him he discovers his way with words has a way of landing him in big trouble. But as fast as he can talk himself into a fix he finds his gift of gab a heart full of hope and an odd menagerie of human friends can help him realize his most important dream: to be home at last.

The Boy Who Ate Words
by Thierry Dedieu, Julie Harris (Translator), Lory Frankel (Translator)

From Kirkus Reviews
An idiosyncratic tale that creates a gastronomical playground from mere words. Gabby (as his name reveals) is a boy who speaks too much. Exasperated by his endless questions and run-on sentences (``TheballoonisdeflatedbecausetomorrowisWednesday''), Gabby's parents tell him they won't speak to him if he continues to ``swallow his words.'' The analogy turns on a light for Gabby, and the poetry begins. He sees words as edibles: gargoyle is a meaty main dish, while cabinet is a sweet dessert. A doctor puts Gabby on a diet to cure him of a case of indigestion; Gabby rebels and goes on the equivalent of a hunger strike -- silence. Without speech, his senses take over, and he learns to communicate to plants and animals, and to use languages like ``furniture'' to speak to tables and chairs...

The Silent Spillbills
by Tor Seidler

Tor Seidler's THE SILENT SPILLBILLS provides the opportunity for a master storyteller to display her talents. Amid a clash between generations and ecosystems, Christina Moore crafts a myriad of characters subtly and convincingly. The fawning headmistress, the arrogant grandfather, the mother of German decent, the taunting schoolmates and the stuttering heroine, Katerina Farnsworth, come to life with Moore's narration. Seidler's story tells of a new breed of waterfowl that inspires an aircraft design and a family that comes to a deeper understanding of itself. Moore's storytelling keeps the listener involved. The predictability and laboriousness of the tale are lessened by the power of the narration. A.R. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --

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