Join the J-W teen board

The Journal-World Teen Advisory Board meets again at 7 p.m. Nov. 17 at the News Center, 645 N.H. Meetings run approximately one hour.

Students in fifth through 12th grades may join the board and suggest story ideas for 18 & Under. Many board members write stories for the page, too.

Send e-mail to teens@ljworld.com or call Steve Rottinghaus at 832-7254 or Christy Little at 832-6361 for more information.

Review: You’ll enjoy ‘The Wolves in the Walls’

What if your house were haunted … not by ghosts and goblins, but by wolves? Not just any wolves, but wolves who eat jam, play the saxophone, pop popcorn and watch TV?

That’s what happens to a girl named Lucy and her family in this interesting, funny and, at times, scary book by Neil Gaiman.

You could call “The Wolves in the Walls” a picture book, but it’s really part picture book, part comic book.

The illustrations are amazing. Some photographs, some paintings, some drawings, they have a three-dimensional feel that adds to the perfect-for-Halloween creepiness of this book.

‘Mommy doll’ aims to make absence fonder

Parents who have to be away from their kids can now leave them with a Barbie-sized reminder that features Mom or Dad’s own voice.

My Mommy and My Daddy dolls come in several hair, eye and skin color combinations designed to resemble real mommies and daddies. They also allow the parent to record a 20-second voice message that a child can play back later. The message can be updated as often as you like.

The dolls cost about $60 and can be ordered by calling (866) 781-4044 or at www.mymommydoll.com.

Broken arms become more common for kids

If you have a cast on your arm, you’re not alone. Broken forearms have become more common among children and adolescents, especially girls, over the past three decades, according to a Mayo Clinic study.

From 1969 to 2001, the rate of forearm fractures rose 52 percent for girls and 32 percent for boys, the study said.

Researchers suspect inadequate nutrition as the most likely culprit. Some experts say American children consume too little calcium and that only 20 percent consume the recommended daily allowance.