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(Editor's note: See also our Q&A with Village Theatre artistic director Steve Tomkins about the production and tips for parents.)

Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of our country’s great novels. It’s also one of the most challenged books in the U.S., due to its anachronistic attitudes and language about race.

Adapted by William Hauptman from Twain’s book, the musical Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, currently playing at Issaquah’s Village Theatre, reflects the book's context and language.

But if parents take the time to prepare kids with information about the book’s history and context, the show’s fine performances, soaring bluegrass-infused score and truly beautiful musical and dance numbers make the production worth seeking out. It also makes a good starting point for conversations with kids about the origins of our country’s relation to race. (See resources listed below.)

As Huck and Jim, Randy Scholz and Rodney Hicks provide some of the show’s best moments. Their duets – “Muddy Water,” “River in the Rain” and “Worlds Apart” – are gorgeous, Scholz’s light tenor blending beautifully with Hicks’ powerful voice.

By Kris Collingridge

Oklahoma!, playing at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle through Sunday, March 4, is the 1943 musical that marked the first collaboration between superteam Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein III. It occupies a singular place in the canon of musical theater. It was the first musical to use the score seriously, advancing character and plot development in a way that hadn’t been seen before.

As such, it’s a worthwhile addition to a young person’s introduction to a classic American genre –- with the caveat that it’s a story with more than a hint of darkness to it, especially given a casting choice that adds a superfluous layer of edginess and controversy.

We've been descending deeper and deeper into the darkest part of the year, waking to a sky without a hint of dawn and watching the day end by mid-afternoon. Late fall in the Northwest feels like an endurance test to those of us who need sunlight, and November seems to crawl along like the driver in front of you when you're late to work.

Somehow I got distracted by work and the holidays this year and didn't keep my annual vigil at the calendar, counting down the days until today. Today and tomorrow we'll have 8 hours, 25 minutes and 23 seconds of daylight -- the shortest days of the year -- and this afternoon's lemony sunshine casting knobbly tree branch shadows against the house next door reflects the relief I feel at our climb out of the hole, no matter how long it's going to take. By Dec. 25, we'll have gained 34 seconds. By Dec. 27, a minute and 25 seconds.

Slow going, but a satisfaction.

Short and sweet, The 5th Avenue Theatre's sparkling production of Cinderella is a worthwhile expenditure for families of time and hard-earned entertainment dollars. The show highlights a fine cast and Rodgers & Hammerstein's lush, romantic music.

As Cinderella, Jennifer Paz is wistful, her inherent spunk squashed over and over again by her deliciously nasty stepmother (Suzanne Bouchard) and pair of truly awful stepsisters (Sarah Rudinoff and Nick Garrison in hilarious, effective drag).

The Prince, Brandon O'Neill, chafes at his role in exchanges with his parents (King Allen Fitzpatrick and Queen Cynthia Jones), who are very sure they know what's best for him -- and strikes a shrewd deal with them that culminates in the grand ball where Cinderella drops her glass slipper and prompts a kingdom-wide search. His friend and minder, Lionel the Royal Herald, is deftly played by the delightful Greg McCormick, who brings sly humor -- and tap-dancing skills -- to the role.

To enter:

• Email us (giveaway@parentmap.com) and put "crown" in the subject line.
• You may enter all four giveaways, but send a separate email for each.
• Don't enter by commenting on this blog post, because the Giveaway Queen only does email.
• Contest ends Monday, Dec. 19, 9 a.m., when winners will be chosen at random and notified via email the same day.
• You must be an e-news subscriber to win.

The giveaway:

Your child can be king or queen for their birthday as they want with Silly Creatures' organic cotton birthday crown. The crowns are soft, adjustable and chemical-free, and come with an attached felt shape and the numbers 0-9. Kids can cut their own shapes out of felt for playtime all year round.

To enter:

• Email us (giveaway@parentmap.com) and put "zoo," "wing," "everett" or "tacoma" in the subject line.
• You may enter all four giveaways, but send a separate email for each.
• Don't enter by commenting on this blog post, because the Giveaway Queen only does email.
• Contest ends Friday, Dec. 9, 9 a.m., when winners will be chosen at random and notified via email the same day.
• You must be an e-news subscriber to win.

The giveaway:

It's December, and we're feeling all gifty.

1. We've got two pairs of passes to the Imagine Children's Museum in Everett!
2. We've got six pairs of passes to The Wing in Seattle! (Passes expire on 12/31/2011.)
3. We're giving away three family 4-packs to the Children's Museum of Tacoma!
4. We're giving away two family passes (good for two adults and two kids) to the Woodland Park Zoo! (The passes expire on 12/31/2011.)