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
My Father’s Dragon
14 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 4+ Tags: adventure, animals, boats, dragons, jungle, maps, nature, ocean, travel
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)
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
Peter Pan (2003)
04 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies Tags: action, adventure, boats, crocodile, fairies, London, Magic, mermaids, pirates, romance, strong girls
Rated: PG – frightening scenes, violence
Length: 113 min.
Age: 8 and up. commonsense media sez: 9+
Scary Factor: violence and killing among the pirates, though no show of blood and gore; the mermaids are truly creepy, and Hook is genuinely threatening
Intense scenes: Wendy is shot down and believed briefly to be dead, Tinker Bell drinks poison and nearly dies, Peter is bashed around by Hook during final fight
Sexuality: only some sexual tension between Peter and Wendy, limited to a couple kisses; there is a glimpse of bare Lost Boy behinds at one point
Also: a brief sight of Hook’s amputated arm may bother the squeamish (though the wound is old: no blood); as always, the pirates smoke and drink, and liquor and cigars are offered to Wendy (she turns them down)
Interests: fairies, pirates, magic, mermaids
Next: read the original novel Peter Pan, see the grittier pirate movies (Pirates of the Caribbean are for the 12+ crowd)
Peter Pan (1953)
03 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 4+ Tags: adventure, boats, crocodile, fairies, London, Magic, mermaids, pirates
Rated: G
Length: 76 min.
Age: 4 and up. commonsense media sez: 5+
Scary Factor: Nothing too bad at all – everything handled with great humour, especially Hook and pursuing crocodile.
Cringe Factor: “What Makes the Red Man Red” song, and stereotypical depiction of ‘redskins’; also not very enlightened re. female role models
Violence: much ‘play’ violence, violent language on part of kids, bloodless swordfights, at some point in past Peter cut off Hook’s hand, but this is not seen
Interests: fairies, pirates, magic, mermaids
Next: see it on the stage! (an excellent first play), read the book, older children (8+) could watch the 2003 live action Peter Pan
Rarest Kind of Best 