Talking about children's books and films. Useful information for parents.
28 Feb 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 4+ Tags: British history, castle, history, romance
Rated: G
Length: 83 min.
Age: 4+ commonsense media sez: 5+
Scary Factor: Much brawling, though very slapsticky. Battle at climax involves fire and threat. At the end it appears for a moment that Robin has been killed, but the suspense doesn’t last long.
Interests: Robin Hood, history, British history, kings, knights, castle, romance
Next: MOVIE: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
28 Feb 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 4+ Tags: country life, family, illness, Magic, nature, siblings, spirits, strong girls
My Neighbor Totoro
Rated: G
Length: 86 min.
Age: 4 and up. commonsense media sez: 5+
Scary Factor: soot sprites are creepy, and provide one big Startle Moment (see below); Totoro seems scary at first glance, but is soon revealed to be friendly
Also: issue of Mother sick in hospital may bother some, but whole situation is treated gently, and without worry until late in film when girls grow concerned (see more below)
Interests: monster/spirits, magic, nature, country life, Japan
Next: Director Miyazaki has two other films for this age group: Ponyo, Kiki’s Delivery Service; for older kids try: Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle
26 Feb 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 4+, Old Movies Tags: American history, Christmas, family, Hallowe'en, history, siblings, song and dance, strong girls
Rated: Canada – PG (parental guidance?! probably because of Hallowe’en sequence) ; USA – Approved
Length: 113 min.
Age: 4 and up. (more for comprehension and attention span)
Scary Factor: Hallowe’en scene (see below)
Intense stuff: the Christmas Eve scene with the snowmen makes me cry, but I don’t think children will be such marshmallows over it!
Interests: history, family, musicals, song and dance, old movies
Next: Judy Garland: The Wizard of Oz
25 Feb 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 2+ Tags: babysitters, cities, family, history, London, Magic, song and dance
Rated: G
Length: 139 min.
Age: 2 and up.
[ Commonsense Media sez: 6 and up! However they also say: “Parents need to know that this is a fine movie for children of any age.” I suspect the age 6 is recommended primarily for full plot comprehension, ie. the business at the bank, the suffrage movement, etc. ]
Scary factor: Nonexistant. A movie with no jeopardy! No violence! No villain! The only potential trouble spot, and one which bothered my daughter, was when dotty old Admiral Boom shoots fireworks at the chimney sweeps (none are hit, it’s all colour and noise). My daughter’s alarm, however, was due to a previous experience with noisy fireworks. We simply muted the sound during that scene until she decided she wasn’t scared anymore.
Interests: song and dance, magic
Next: for song and dance, how about the That’s Entertainment compilations, full of great sequences from MGM musicals. For more Julie Andrews and Dick van Dyke, Sound of Music or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, though they’re more suitable for older audiences.
25 Feb 2011 Leave a comment
So I’m slowly rolling this website out… learning as I go. I’ve got a backlog of items to post so they’ll come fast and furious for a while. Apologies for any little glitches, I’ll try to iron them out as quick as I can. At the top of my list is figuring out how to make the lists print out better/cleaner… maybe providing them as downloadable pdf’s?
A lot of Disney stuff coming up today – filmography, reviews.
Onward and upward!
24 Feb 2011 Leave a comment
I’ve just posted lists for the Greenaway, Caldecott, Carnegie and Newbery Medal winners.
Greenaway Medal – British award for illustrators
Caldecott Medal – American award for illustrators
Carnegie Medal -British award for writers
Newbery Medal – American award for writers
I found the information from Wikipedia and reordered it to be alphabetical by author rather than chronological. (Helps when you’re hunting through library shelves.)
24 Feb 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 4+ Tags: animals, Fairy Tale, Magic, Princess
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Rated: G
Length: 83 min.
Age: 4 and up. commonsense.org sez: 5+
Scary Factor: huntsman drawing dagger to kill Snow White is a momentary threat, Snow White afraid in the dark forest, the Queen concocting spells and transforming into an old crone, the dwarves chasing the Queen is rather exciting/suspenseful, image of face in mirror is creepy to some
Intense scenes: Snow White eats poison apple and falls down, dwarves grieving over Snow White’s dead body might be a little intense for some.
Interests: fairy tales, princesses, magic, animals
What’s Next: read the original Grimm’s version, MOVIES: Cinderella
Rarest Kind of Best 