Dr. Donna's Review

“Strawberry Shortcake:  Glimmerberry Ball”

Themes and Other Things
Strawberry Shortcake and friends must exercise good judgment and make good decisions as they prepare to celebrate the arrival of winter and the festive Glimmerberry Ball.  They are challenged to understand how their decisions and behavior affects other people. The community must work together and help each other to solve a mystery and save the beloved celebration. There are important lessons in this story that will help children in the viewing audience who are taking their first steps out of the home environment and into the role of citizens in their communities. The story will appeal to 3 to 8 year olds. There are learning themes about moral issues, appropriate behavior, charity and donation that will appeal to and challenge older children. Younger children may miss some of the subtle messages but they too will enjoy the film and take away some important understandings. While the special appeal of the story is to girls, boys too will benefit from viewing and discussing the story’s themes.

 “Strawberry Shortcake: The Glimmerberry Ball Movie” introduces children to three important concepts:
Citizenship:  The story promotes understanding of the skills, behaviors and attitudes that underlie membership in a community.
Civility: The story models the behaviors that contribute to a civil society.
Character:  The story presents examples of those character traits that define the responsible, caring community leader and community member.

Talking points

• When the story begins, we learn that the Strawberry Shortcake and her friends are excited to participate in a “First Frost” secret gift exchange to help celebrate the start of winter. When Blueberry chooses a gift for Lemon, she is being self-centered. What makes her choice self-centered? (Blueberry gives Lemon a gift that she would enjoy rather than choosing something based on Lemon’s interests).
• Blueberry would have made a better decision about gift giving if she thought of her friend’s interests instead of her own. Discuss with the children the definition of “thoughtful” and “considerate.”
• Use a real life example and ask the children some questions about one of their friends.  Ask them to think about their own interests or hobbies. Then ask them to list interests or hobbies of their friend. Based on their answers, ask them what kind of gift they would like to receive. Ask them what kind of gift they think their friend might like to receive. Point out the differences of thinking about themselves and thinking of others.
• Discuss why the girls give away the gift. Ask them how they would feel if they gave a gift to someone and then it was given away. Was this right or wrong of the girls to pass along the gift? Was this being honest? If so, why or why not? Ask the children what they would do if they received a gift that they did not want or really like.
• Strawberry Shortcake and her friends are faced with a moral dilemma. They are challenged to make good decisions and use good judgment. Ultimately, each of the girls decides to give away the (a book on organizing) gift to another friend but each decides to keep it a secret. Their actions and decisions encompass the ideals of manners and honesty.  Discuss how being secretive and dishonest impacts Strawberry Shortcake and her friends.
• Would the children ever “re-gift” or pass along a gift they received? Have they ever received a gift that was intended for someone else? How could they tell or recognize this? Did the girls behave appropriately or properly? Why or why not?
• Strawberry Shortcake goes to great lengths to find the perfect gift (a special flower) for Mr. Longface. What does Strawberry’s efforts reveal about how she feels about Mr. Longface? Ask the children about a special gift they have given. What is a special gift they have received? What made it so special? What makes a gift special?
• Introduce the idea of “it is better to give than receive.” Talk to the children about what this means to them. Do they think this is a true statement?
• What does Blueberry do to get Lemon to reveal what she did with her “First Frost” gift? (She tells a lie.) What is the lie that she tells Lemon? (That she is not her “First Frost” gift buddy). 
• Ask the children what they think about Blueberry’s behavior. Ask what she should have done instead of lying to Lemon. Why did Blueberry lie? (She wanted to find out why Lemon gave away the book and what she did with it).
• How does Blueberry feel when she discovers that her friends do not like the book on organizing? (She feels sad and disappointed).
• Discuss how the process of “re-gifting” ended. (Blueberry thinks about a gift/book that Lemon would like and gives it to her. She also apologies.)
• Discuss what the friends learn and how the whole scenario might have been avoided. (It is best to think about their friend’s interests when gift buying / giving. Open and honest communication is best.)
• What does Strawberry say is the best “First Frost” gift she could have gotten from Mr. Longface? (A smile) What does Strawberry mean by this statement? (Her true reward is making Mr. Longface happy).
• Strawberry asks her friends to come to a book reading about the Great Glimmerberry Gathering.  The girls soon disregard the significance and importance of the event and become overly competitive in designing their own Glimmerberry lantern. Who are the girls the most serious about the competition? (Raspberry, Blueberry, Orange and Plum). 
• How does the competition and their quest to make the “perfect” lantern turn out? (They all come up with the same design. They are angry, frustrated and jealous of each other.)
• Who says, “I worked very hard on that design, I wanted to make something special for the Glimmerberry Gathering. I put my whole heart in it.” (Raspberry)
• Why is Raspberry upset with Orange? (She thinks that she copied her design). Did Orange copy the design? Did any of the girls copy each other? Why or why not? (Strawberry realizes they have all made the same design because they saw it briefly on the cover of a box). 
• Is copying someone else’s work acceptable?  Why or why not? Are there any circumstances that it is okay to copy someone else’s work?
• The friends accuse each other of copying, then overreact and decide they will not work or cooperate with each other. Princess Berrykin says the celebration will have to be canceled.  How does Strawberry save the day (and celebration)? (She figures out how the copying fiasco occurred.  She realizes all the girls saw the special box with the same design.)
• The girls learn an important lesson. Discuss the important point that Strawberry says, "The community will come together and help each other in the hard winter days to come - friends helping friends.”
• What do the girls do when they realize that café is too small to hold the Glimmerberry Ball? (They must work together to problem-solve and find a new location for the Glimmerberry Ball.)
• When they discover the decorations are destroyed what do they do? (They decide to investigate the mystery.)
• Who is causing all the trouble? (Chipmunks)
• Ask the children what the girls do to support their friends. (They are challenged to work together again (cooperation and perseverance) and to guard their belongings to make sure no one damages the decorations again (courage).)   What would they do to help a friend?
• At one point in the story the girls “battle” the chipmunks. Is this a good decision to fight with the chipmunks? What do the girls and the chipmunks do to fight with (antagonize) each other? (Some examples are: the girls send the chipmunks sliding away on the sled, the chipmunks throw snowballs, the girls wake up the chipmunks / scare the chipmunks in their sleep, the chipmunks steal their ball gowns, etc.) Is this appropriate or acceptable behavior? Why or why not?
• Who says, “There must be a reason why they are acting this way because they are usually timid. Who are the intruders?” (Strawberry) What is the reason? (The girls have chosen a hallow tree as the location for the Glimmerberry Ball but this is the chipmunk’s home. The chipmunks are trying to protect their home and food.)
• Strawberry gives her friends important advice, “Stop to see his point of view.” Why does she ask them to do this?  What does it help them learn? How does this make Plum feel? (She feels terrible.)
• Discuss with the children alternative ways to settle disagreements. What should the girls have done? (Try to see the chipmunk’s perspective and talk with them rather than “fight.”)
• Strawberry introduces the idea of collecting and giving food to the chipmunks. What is this called? (Donation and charity). Strawberry suggests that everyone bring donations to the Glimmerberry Ball so that the chipmunks will have plenty of food for the cold winter. How is she encouraging her friends and the community to act? (Generous, kind, considerate and thoughtful.)
• Help children sum up the major themes of the story by reviewing the ideas of good judgment, good decision-making, honesty, competition, cooperation, perseverance, courage, generosity, consideration, empathy, kindness, charity and donation.

Activity ideas
Have children draw pictures of their favorite scene from the story. Help them write a caption under the picture. Post the picture for all to see.

Ask the children to think about winter. What signals the time of year, what kinds of traditions such as “First Frost “ gifts (secret presents) do they enjoy? Get a head start on the holidays and make list with them of things to do to prepare for winter and the upcoming holiday season.

Make a list of family members and friends.  Beside each persons name write down a few of their interests, hobbies or favorite things.  Identify what items from the list would make a good or special gift.

Make a variety of presents with the children to use to give as gifts for birthdays, special occasions and holidays. Gather paint, ribbon, yard, boxes, plastic and glass containers, buttons, pictures, tape and glue to make something useful, creative and imaginative gifts. Suggest ideas such as pencil cases, business card holders, flower or decorative vases, jewelry boxes, etc.

Set aside a day to go through the children’s “gently used” toys, books, clothes and other belongings.  Ask them to organize and separate items that they no longer use or need. Fill these in a box and mark on it “donate or charity.” Take the box to the local Goodwill, Salvation Army or similar donation center.  Call in advance to check if there are items that they will or will not accept before making the trip to the site.

Ideas to develop understanding of “good citizenship”

1. Children are members of different groups.  Make up a chart of the groups to which they belong: family, school, church, and teams. This is what comprises a community. Add a section on what it means to be a good community member or citizen. Include such thing as use good manners, obey the rules, accept responsibilities that help the group, respect the property of others, and so on. 
2. Have a good “citizenship award” for someone in the family who practices good citizenship.

Take the children to visit a local food bank or work them to organize a food drive. Prior to do this, talk to the children about food banks in an age-appropriate way using terms that they will understand. (Food bank: a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes mostly donated food to a wide variety of agencies that in turn feed the hungry. The largest sources of food are for-profit growers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers who in the normal course of business have excess food that they cannot sell. After sorting and inventory, a food bank distributes the food to 100 to 1,000 non-profit community or government agencies, including but not limited to food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, orphanages, and schools.)