Drawing for Older Children and Teens has been very useful as I am beginning to teach drawing. Did not know where to begin. Lots of useful information. Book was in wonderful condition and will be a permanent part of my library. Very happy with it.
very pleased / / 2010-07-27
I was very pleased with this book, We homeschool our children and this book is set out to cover a half year or whole year, depending on your childs pace. Also, I have a niece that enjoys drawing, I plan to pass it on to her when we are finshed because it is easy enough to follow that a teen could do it on there on. I really like this book.
it's what i expected / / 2009-10-06
The book is in good shape and i hope will be the same after I use it with kids!
Drawing with Teens / / 2009-09-07
I like this book. I plan to use it with my students. I have her other book...Drawing With Children...and I like it even better. It is very helpful to know how to direct students to draw. I recommend it for others.
A Proven Drawing System / / 2009-06-27
The single lmost important idea this author imparts is that drawing can be learned by anyone willing to commit to a system of exercises that support observation and practice. Many examples show documented development and there is an openness to all forms of individual creative expression.
I found these monologues to be too simplistic and too short in length to be used as material for our Forensics competitions. They could be fine for those wanting short material for practice or classroom experience.
THE BEST BOOK MONOLOGUES FOR TEENS / / 2009-08-16
This is a great book that I bought my son who is considering following a acting career.
written by a teen looking for good audition monologues / / 2008-07-25
When I looked this book up, I understood from the reviews that it was full of wonderful monologues perfect for teens. I found almost all of them fairly stereotypical and pointless. I would call them "wish monologues". They wish they were monologues. Although it's a great idea, this book was a huge disappointment to me and I would not recommend it to any teen looking for audition material.
Not for high schoolers / / 2008-01-28
The monologues are very good, but they are shorter than two minutes, so that didn't help us find an appropriate monologue for the high school musical. It would probably be a good book for junior high school.
An indispensable resource / / 2006-08-18
Want to make a lasting impression at an audition? Then buy this book! It is written in a format that is accessible to all ages and the material is easy to memorize, which will help your performance be more relaxed and natural. The monologues in this book are also structured in a way that allow young actors to put their unique stamp into their performance. Now go and break a leg at your next audition ... that is if you have the book!
This book is an excellent reference material for children's facial expressions. They organize the children by age and there's plenty of ethnic variation. All angles of the head are photographed. As an artist, I use this book all the time.
Mixed feelings / / 2009-03-20
I am an illustrator and thought this book would help me with the drawing of facial exprssion, especially with children.
Unfortunately, I am disapointed that too many of the expressions photographed in the book are not realistic: the children make faces, they obviously had much fun during the shoot but very few of the photos are usueful at all. I was hoping for more photos of faces expressing actual human emotions, not open mouth and grimacing faces. The book seem better for people drawing caricatures or possibly cartoons, but not very useful for realistic picture books.
A positive however: the age progression gallery at the end of the book is of interest.
Finally, the book is VERY POORLY MADE and the binding came appart with two days of actually using the book.
Photo examples / / 2009-01-12
An interesting array of photos to use as a reference. Very few example drawings. A reference book, not instructional, but a welcome addition to my bookshelf.
Great teaching tool / / 2008-12-01
I bought this book as a reference for my Toddler class to see different expressions. They loved it! So many different children with a variety of expressions.
Good book with a word of caution / / 2008-11-24
These books by Mark Simon are great for cartooning or caricature study. The only problem I see is if you are looking for reference to use in more realistic images or trying to learn the proportions of the face. The images all have a slight 'fish-eye' distortion which makes them unsuitable for realistic work. The fish-eye effect pulls the center of the image forward and makes it larger and flattens the edges and makes them recede. This distortion also adds age to the subject so be aware that the kids pictures might not seem to agree with the listed age. This is really noticeable in the front view. Kids have small faces and features inside big heads, that's what makes them so cute, but when you distort the face like this it makes the face bigger relative to the head and ages them.
I'd caution artists who are learning how to draw the face to not try to copy these images exactly as you'll end up with a slight distortion in your realistic work that my be difficult to change later on (if you ever even notice what the problem is). To learn expressions and how the forms of the face connect these books are real good but I think the choice to get in close with the camera to really emphasize the expression was a bad idea from an artist's standpoint, especially for these young faces. From a sales standpoint maybe it works better to get customers attention with the exaggerated pictures. I'm writing this review because when I saw the 1st book I thought it would be really useful but it turns out I need more realistic reference. So I'm hoping the author reads this and considers my opinion, maybe for future products because I'd really like to use these books and recommend them to students.
After only a few of these one hundred monologues for teens,
it is very obvious this former drama teacher is in touch
with her audience. And it seems to me adolescents need to
start by expressing their real feelings (in and out of
plays) instead of grasping for the larger issues of Love,
Death and God they seem to think gain them more attention (I
only found one of these here, a child talking to his or her
dead mother at her gravestone). Each of these monologues has
a built in drama playing up the opposites possibilities of
its subject matter in a way to make and audience wonder what
will happen. And each builds to a climax that would allow
the actor to show off his or her strengths.
Some of the monologues struck me as more poignant that
others--"A Favor" in which a young person asks a friend if
the speaker can sleep over at the friend's house because his
or her father is acting strange; "Thanks, I Think" where a
guy gets a ring from his aunt but worries that it might be
designed for a girl; and "Jerk" in which the speaker finds
his or her birthmother but that person doesn't want to speak
to her child. These made me think there are real situations
that happen outside of the classroom and the author is
giving teenagers words they perhaps would have difficulty
finding on their own to express how they feel. That seems
very healthy and worthwhile in itself. Isn't it the same
reason we, as adults, go to plays, read books and attend
thoughtful movies? They help us express what we cannot.
When the monologues dip into the vernacular they seem less
genuine to me: "I came home from work and she was out of
there man. No, man. Yeah, it kind of sucks, but that's cool.
No note, no nothing. Yeah, dude I'm sure. Dude, I looked all
over the place. You think I don't look all over the place?
She's my mother, man." But there are cut-ups I knew in my
high school teaching days that I can hear doing "Money" with
its quirky logic and ironic conclusion. And were I the
teacher of students doing these, I would certainly ask why
they chose the particular ones they did. I can see many an
active class discussion following their answers.
I didn't really spot any clinkers. These monologues seem
thoughtful, field-tested and great tools for teachers of
drama, English, creative writing, and some classes in
sociology that involve self-discovery. And what would happen
if after reading and performing these you asked kids to
write some of their own? I just bet they would include
teacher/student interaction, sex, drugs and rock
music--conspicuously absent in this collection (probably
because administrators and parents would object). But there
is plenty here and it is terrific. Plus, what a great title
for the book, whatever the "Echo Boomer" term may mean about
the audience's generation. This is a very worthwhile tool
for students and teachers. As "Use It" says: "I know I'm
only fifteen, but I'm smart enough to know that a lot of the
crap you're going through right now, it's gonna change. It
just seems like it never will. But, hey, you know what, look
at the bright side. You're an actress. You're an artist. You
have the opportunity to take all this...stuff...I mean this
pain, and use it. Use it baby. If you look at it like that,
all the bad stuff that happens, it's the best thing that any
actor could hope for." Bravo!
Powerful Messages / / 2007-08-03
Sensitive, powerful messages, reflecting teen Echo Boomer daily life, values, tribulations and triumphs and will to succeed.
Bull's-Eye / / 2007-07-29
Echo Booming is a soul searching look into the lives of today's youth. Humorous, insightful, and for delivery straight to the heart, these monologues hit a Bull's-Eye!
The scenes in this book enabled me to explore a variety of situations and characters. The dialogue is concise, but emotive--the words are easy to pronounce, yet they emit a lot of meaning. In practicing the scenes with friends, I found it easy to empathise with the characters and generate a latitude of interpretations. I recommend this book for any student of theater. Though the title seems to recommend the scenes for mainly teenagers, I found them just as powerful for adults in their twenties (I qualify as the latter).
from an actor in training / / 2006-08-10
I personally had the great experience of working with Chambers, and this book truely helped me broaden my range. Having seen myself only as a comedy actor I was in awe when he asked me to do a dramatic scene, but with the help of this book i can now do a dramatic scene and hold a straight face. I would recommend that anyone trying to make it in the entertainment industry read this and try to work with this great coach and teacher, Chambers Stevens
My kid loves working with Chambers! / / 2006-02-21
The scenes are both fun and easy to learn. Besides discovering my kid, he has been an invaluable resource with both his books and his coaching! All his books are highly recommended.
Great book / / 2006-02-20
Lots of variety and plenty of scenes. I started with Sensational Scenes for Kids and now I am enjoying the Teen Book. Chambers is a great acting coach and his books are wonderful.
Sensational Scenes for Teens / / 2006-02-20
Chambers has a way with making even the most serious situations into funny ones. It is a MUST tool for teen actors who are serious about their career. This in one of the many helpful books that Chambers as written for kid/teen actors.
SETH MORRIS-age 12-actor
I've worked in commercial and theatrical casting for over 18 years now and have taught auditioning workshops for almost as long. Bo Kane's book is an incredibly useful tool when working with teenagers. I'm hoping to make it a regular part of our classes. Clearly Mr. Kane has put some time and thought into this and it has paid off. Highly recommended!
Valuable educational tool ... / / 2010-02-26
One of the key aspects to learning the skills of acting ... is repetition, especially for a young actor. Finding one's voice and acting style comes from the interaction that only endless script reading and recitation with a fellow actor can bring. That is precisely what this book offers. Mr. Kane's long tenure as an actor and producer in Hollywood and his subsequent time spent as a TV news anchor are brought to print in a very simple, but valuable educational tool.
What a Great Scene book! / / 2010-02-11
This is a Great book for teens. Ive been a working Actor for 22 years and this scene book is very beneficial for both working actors and people who want to get into the business. This is such a Great learning tool that I had to write a review about it. My kids and I say "3 thumbs up".
These scenes are hilarious! Students will love performing these scenes! Some of my favorites are: Public Display of Affection, Mighty Senior, Sole Student, Parking Permit and Poetry is Stupid. Awesome!
Duets for middle-schoolers / / 2008-06-15
The book is organized by male-male, female-female, and male-female scenes. A few might be long enough for forensic competitions, but most would be more useful in the classroom as practice pieces for a beginning drama class.
Though the topics would be familiar to teens, the feel of each scene is repetitious. The characterization is not very strong; most of the characters sound exactly alike, and there are very few opportunities for strong emotional choices. The characters drawn are stereotypical teens without depth, and the cultural focus is extremely narrow centering around middle-class, Caucasian students. Because of the previously mentioned failings, the book would be better suited for middle school students in beginning drama or communication classes. English classes could use the book as a springboard to journals or other topics middle-schoolers would want to discuss.
This book was a FANTASTIC tool to use when I first got to Hollywood. It is not only full of great material to practice in my acting class, but also full of great advice! I learned things from this book that I would have otherwise struggled to figure out. How do I get an agent? Where do I look in an audition? Lots of helpful info in here and, of course, a ton of great practice commercials. This book really helped me get my career off the ground. IT HAS BEEN YEARS SINCE HE'S WRITTEN ONE THOUGH!! Seriously, I burned through this one in like a month and even though I still go back to the other books occasionally, it would be nice to see some new ones. Anyway don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself. I highly recommend it!
Fantastic Audition Prep Book! / / 2006-08-10
The Ultimate Commercial Book for Kids And Teens is an amazing resource for all ages who want to break in to the commercial business. The commercials in this book really allow me to get into so many different characters.Chambers is a genius for writing this book. By reading the information in this book anyone can tell that he knows what he's doing.
Great Book!! / / 2006-02-18
Chambers book is fun, funny and full of surprises. It really helps you prepare for all of your auditions!
Totally awesome! / / 2006-02-16
Its a valuable source in preparing for commerical auditions. The book is easy to read and fun to work with. The commercials that Chambers had created were real life ones, and very clever situations. Its easy to pick up on them.
Fabulous tool for professionals and non-professionals- / / 2006-02-15
My daughter enjoyed memorizing a commercial a day from 24-Carat Commercials for Kids which got her "in shape" for auditions. The Ultimate Commercial Book for Kids and Teens provides more great material for learning and training-
/ 2010-02-27
/ 2009-01-12
