Talking about children's books and films. Useful information for parents.
12 Apr 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 4+ Tags: adventure, animals, jungle, Magic, mystery, nature
CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 1982
Chris Van Allsburg, author and illustrator
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981
28 pp.
ages 4 +
Interests: board games, jungle creatures, magic and mayhem
By the same author: The Polar Express, Zathura (another magical board game story)
11 Apr 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 5+ Tags: action, adventure, British history, castle, dragons, Fairy Tale, knights, Magic, Princess, saints, travel
CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 1985
Trina Schart Hyman, illustrator
text retold by Margaret Hodges
New York: Little, Brown, 1984
32 pp
ages 5 +
Interests: fairy tales, knights, dragons, princesses, quests, castles, British history, saints
Next: King Arthur stories, more about St. George
Also by this illustrator: Rapunzel, The Serpent Slayer; and Other Stories of Strong Women
11 Apr 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 4+ Tags: art, Aztec, folktales, gods, Mexico, myths, single parent
CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 1975
Gerald McDermott, author and illustrator
New York: Viking Press, 1974
36 pp
ages 4+ (for the story, though artwork will interest even younger children)
Interests: Aztec folklore, art, indigenous art, Mexico/Central America, myths
11 Apr 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 4+ Tags: boats, nature, ocean, seasons, storms, weather
CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 1958
Robert McCloskey, author and illustrator
New York: Viking Press, 1957
63 pp
ages 4+
Interests: nature, ocean, storms, cottage life, boats
08 Apr 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 4+ Tags: animals, circus, clowns, elephants, family, single parent, theatre
Rated: G
Length: 64 min.
Age: 4 Commonsense Media sez: 6 +
Scary Factor: the sight of the elephants crashing down from their pyramid was more alarming than funny; also Dumbo has to jump from a great height in the clown act and is scared; hallucination scene is just weird enough to freak out some young viewers
Intense scenes: the scene in which Dumbo is separated from his mother is heart-wrenching; the other animals mock Dumbo, and he feels bad, though he does get the last laugh in the end
Also: the general tone of the whole film is rather depressing. Especially scene in which he visits mom in ‘jail’ – very sad! And some parents may not like the boozing and hallucinations so much… (see full review)
Interests: circus, elephants
08 Apr 2011 Leave a comment
Looking for Canadian books? I’ve just put up the list of Governor General’s Literary Award Winners – Children’s Lit only – under LISTS, of course. Will do a more concise alphabetical listing soon!
06 Apr 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books - infant+ Tags: animals, bedtime, cats, moon, night
CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 2005
Kevin Henkes, author and illustrator
New York: Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins, 2004
29 pp
infant +
interests: animals, cats, moon
06 Apr 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 3+ Tags: animals, donkeys, family, Magic
CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 1970
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
William Steig, author and illustrator
New York: Windmill Books/Simon and Schuster, 1969
30 pp.
ages 3+
Interests: magic, animal stories
06 Apr 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books - infant+ Tags: bedtime, god, night, poetry, prayer, religion
CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 1945
Rachel Field, author
Elizabeth Orton Jones, illustrator
New York: Macmillan, 1944
26 pp
Age: infant +
Interests: prayer, God, bedtime, night
06 Apr 2011 Leave a comment
At last I’ve just put the rest of my Peter Pan ephemera up, in two parts (under Overviews). Sorry it took so long – damn all those footnotes! My essay skills are a little rusty, and the wordpress formatting is a little buggy, or it has been for me at least. Plus I had to orchestrate an Epic Birthday Party last weekend… But enough excuses. It’s done now and that means I can get back to all my book and movie reviews. Cheers.
Rarest Kind of Best 