This is Not My Hat
by Jon Klassen
Age: 3 +
Interests: fish, mystery, crime and punishment, ocean
This is Not My Hat
22 Apr 2013 Leave a comment
in Books, books 3+ Tags: bad behavior, crime, fish, mystery, ocean
Fantasia (1940)
27 Dec 2012 Leave a comment
in Ballet, Classical Music, Introduction to..., Movies, movies 3+, movies 5+, Parenting Tags: animals, birds, devil, dinosaurs, fairies, fish, flowers, Magic, music, myths, space, wizard
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Released: 1940
Rated: G
Length: 120 – 124 min. (varies depending on what version you have)
Age: some parts 3+, others 5+ (see below) Commonsense Media sez: 6 +
Scary Factor: Mickey attacks renegade broom with an axe and savagely chops it to bits; battle to the death between two dinosaurs; a gigantic devil rises over a mountain commanding a host of demons, the dead rise from their graves
Also: some modest (dare I say artful) nudity among fairies and mythological creatures; much wine drunk by very tipsy god Bacchus
Interests: classical music, fairies, mythology, dinosaurs, ballet
Next: the movie Fantasia 2000; live symphony concerts for children; Nutcracker ballet live or movie version
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Swimmy
08 Aug 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 4+ Tags: fish, ocean, sea creatures
by Leo Lionni
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1963
30 pp.
Age: 4+
Interests: fish, ocean, sea creatures
Also by this author: Inch by Inch, Frederick, Alexander and the Wind-up Mouse
Finding Nemo (2003)
26 Apr 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 4+ Tags: adventure, boats, family, fish, nature, ocean, sea creatures, single parent, Sydney
Rated: G
Length: 100 min.
Age: 4+ (but not an overly timid 4!) Commonsense Media sez: 5 +
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Scary factor: Marlin’s wife disappears in opening scene, the (offscreen) victim of a barracuda; throughout: much peril, many close escapes, but the pace is good, nothing lasts for very long so you should be able to sail right through. In the fish tank Nemo has the threat of a ‘fish-killer’ little girl hanging over him, and takes part in escape plans in which he risks being sucked into the filtration system rotating blades. No real violence or gore. (Dory is accidentally smacked in the nose once and a little blood drips out, that’s it.)
Most scary: a huge shark chases Marlin and Dory, chase ends with underwater mines exploding (The shark scene occurs right after Marlin meets Dory, if you want to skip it.)
Next most scary: a creepy anglerfish chases them: see picture at the end of this review. Anglerfish scene occurs after they chase the sinking swim mask into the darkest deep, if you want to skip it. Be sure, though, to watch to the very end of the credits, when the anglerfish gets his comeuppance.
Intense scenes: my daughter was bugged by the jellyfish scene. The jellyfish are rather passive, they don’t even seem sentient, but it is really creepy how they float in and surround the fish. Big suspense. Another one which bothered her was the scene inside the whale, when Marlin loses all hope. There isn’t anything overtly scary, but the intense emotions troubled her a little.
Interests: sea creatures, fish, boats, the ocean, fish tanks, dentistry (just kidding)
Next: a museum of natural history visit, or a visit to the zoo or aquarium; documentary movies about amazing sea creatures, movie: Ponyo
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)
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