CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 1994
Allen Say, author and illustrator
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993
29 pp
ages 5 +
Interests: history, travel, immigration, Japan, family history, grandparents
Grandfather’s Journey
12 Apr 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 5+ Tags: family, grandparents, history, immigration, Japan, travel, war
The Little House
19 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 2+ Tags: cars, cities, construction, country life, environment, history, machinery, nature, seasons
CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 1943
Virginia Lee Burton
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1942
40 pp
ages 2 +
Interests: machinery, cars, construction, country living, the seasons, and what life was like long ago…
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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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)
Sherlock Jr. (1924)
01 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 4+, Old Movies, Silent Movies Tags: action, chase, detective, history, mystery, romance
Black and White, Silent Movie
Rated: unrated
Length: 45 min.
Age: 4 and up.
Scary Factor: nothing to speak of. A little uneasiness perhaps regarding an explosive billiard ball that never quite gets hit… more suspenseful than scary.
Interests: detectives, mysteries, history, silent movies
Next: other silent movies: The Gold Rush, Safety Last! ; more Buster Keaton: Steamboat Bill Jr. (6+), The General (7+), shorts
Robin Hood (1973)
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)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1945)
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
Mary Poppins (1964)
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.
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