A NEWBERY HONOR BOOK
Richard & Florence Atwater, authors
Robert Lawson, illustrator
Boston : Little, Brown and Co., 1938
138 pp
ages 4 and up (chapter book to read aloud)
Interests: penguins, antarctic
Mr. Popper’s Penguins
14 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 4+ Tags: animals, nature, penguins, pets, theatre
My Father’s Dragon
14 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 4+ Tags: adventure, animals, boats, dragons, jungle, maps, nature, ocean, travel
Ruth Stiles Gannett, author
Ruth Chrisman Gannett, illustrator
New York: Random House, 1948
87 p
ages 4+ (chapter book)
Interests: jungle animals, maps, travel adventure, dragons
Ponyo (2009)
13 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 4+ Tags: adventure, boats, Fairy Tale, fish, Japan, Magic, nature, ocean, romance, sea creatures, spirits, storms, strong girls, weather, wizard
Rated: G
Length: 101 min.
Age: 4 and up.
Scary Factor: typhoon and tsunami, storm at sea mitigated by sight of little girl happily running on top of the waves!; entire island is submerged in huge flood, but no casualties
Intense scenes: twice Sosuke thinks his fish is dead (briefly); after floods Sosuke finds his mother’s car, eerily empty, and starts to cry, but finds her soon after
Language: mother calls the oddball wizard a “freakshow”; she also calls her husband a “Jerk!”; the wizard calls humans as a species “filthy” and “stupid” (which is justified)
Interests: ocean, sea creatures, magic, nature, spirits, boats, fish, wizards
Next: BOOK: The Little Mermaid (Hans Christian Andersen); MOVIES: My Neighbor Totoro, Finding Nemo (a little scarier), The Little Mermaid (a lot scarier)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935)
11 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Introduction to..., Movies, movies 3+, Old Movies, Shakespeare Tags: fairies, Magic, poetry, romance, spirits, theatre
Black & White
Rating: USA: Approved
Length: 133 min – other versions: 117 min (edited version), 142 min (with overture and exit music)
Age: suitable for 3, but for plot comprehension 4 or 5
Scary Factor: Oberon in black and his bat-people minions are a little unnerving, particularly when they seem to be rounding up the beautiful fairies at the end. Other than that there’s nothing violent or threatening. Viewers may wonder about the small orphan boy fought over by Oberon and Titania, but the toddler keeps smiling whether he’s with one or the other and seems to be treated well, so it shouldn’t be an issue. (He weeps only when Titania ignores him during her fascination with Bottom.)
Interests: magic, fairies, Shakespeare, old movies
Next: MOVIE: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999) is more for 12+ crowd (PG-13); BOOKS: traditional fairy tales, Peter Pan, Tales from Shakespeare by Charles & Mary Lamb, Shakespeare’s The Tempest (in a picture book version)
Preparation: picture books or other abridged versions of the Midsummer Night’s Dream story – helpful to know the plot first!
Abraham Lincoln
10 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 5+ Tags: American history, biography, country life, history, pioneer life, politics, war
CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 1940
Ingri & Edgar Parin d’Aulaire
New York: Doubleday, 1939
56pp
ages 5+
Interests: American history, politics, pioneer life
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Mei Li
10 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 3+ Tags: China, family, New Year's Eve, siblings, spirits, strong girls
CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 1939
Thomas Handforth
New York: Doubleday, 1938
46 pp
for ages 3 +
Interests: China, family life, sibling issues
Animals of the Bible, A Picture Book
10 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 3+ Tags: animals, Bible, god, nature, religion
CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 1938
Dorothy P. Lathrop, illustrator
Helen Dean Fish, editor
Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1937
66p
Age: 3+ (give or take… see notes below)
Interests: bible, animals, religion
Return to Never Land (2002)
10 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 4+ Tags: adventure, boats, British history, fairies, London, Magic, octopus, pirates, strong girls, war
Rated: G
Length: 72 min.
Age: 4 and up. commonsense media sez: 5+
Scary Factor: opening scenes of WWII blitz in London may be alarming; as in the first film, pirate shenanigans are more slapsticky than scary
Also: separation from father, Captain Hook smokes
Interests: magic, fairies, pirates
Next: MOVIES: Peter Pan (1953) of course, The Sword in the Stone (1963), The Little Mermaid (1989); BOOKS: Peter Pan, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
09 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 4+, Old Movies Tags: action, British history, castle, history, knights, Princess, romance
Rated: PG for adventure violence
Length: 102 min.
Age: 4+ commonsense media sez: 9+ *
* There’s a big gap between our age recommendations here, which I have given a lot of thought to. Commonsense usually rates a year older than I do, but five?! If your child likes action, and is okay with violence at a beginner level (arm’s length, non-gory), then I really think 4 or 5 is all right for this film. My daughter was a ‘slightly brave 4’ and had more trouble with the plot points than the violence. She quite enjoyed it, especially the jumping out of trees, which our stuffed animals still re-enact from time to time. … Plus, both Peter M. Nichols (The New York Times Essential Library : Children’s Movies: a critic’s guide to the best films available on video and DVD), and Ty Burr (The Best Old Movies for Families) agree with me – they both rate this film good for 4 years old and up.
Scary Factor: montage of dastardly doings to the peasants is upsetting but brief. Battles are not intense, see below. Robin is captured, which was hard to watch for my daughter, but just made his inevitable escape more exciting.
Interests: history, action, medieval life, England, knights, castles, old movies
Next: books on Robin Hood, MOVIES: other Errol Flynn: Captain Blood; Disney’s animated Robin Hood (1973)
One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
07 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 4+ Tags: animals, dogs, London, pets
Rated: G
Length: 79 min.
Age: 4 and up Commonsense Media sez: 5+
Scary factor: Cruella is really creepy.
Violence: buffoonish and not intense, nobody is seriously hurt
Intense scenes: anticipatory suspense, mostly; but some reckless driving and a car crash at the end
Language: Cruella frequently calls Horace and Jasper “Idiots!”
Sexual Innuendo: Just a comment from Roger re. the birth of fifteen puppies, he says to Pongo “You old rascal!” Sentiment is repeated at the end with the appearance of 84 extra puppies.
Also: there’s smoking (both Roger and Cruella) and the thugs take swigs from a wine bottle.
Interests: dogs, puppies, animals, pets
Next: read the book The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith; MOVIES: Lady and the Tramp, The Aristocats (similar story, but with cats, and no Cruella!)
Rarest Kind of Best 