Talking about children's books and films. Useful information for parents.
28 Dec 2011 4 Comments
in Books, books 5+ Tags: adventure, dragons, Fairy Tale, folktales, Magic, mermaids, Princess, Russia, witches
GREENAWAY MEDAL WINNER – 1971
written by Joan Aiken
illustrated by Jan Pienkowski
Jonathan Cape, 1971
104 pp. – 11 stories
Age: 5 +
Interests: fairy tales, folktales, Eastern European folklore, magic, princesses, princes, mermaids
Also by this illustrator: Haunted House, Meg and Mog series
Also by this author: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase series
21 Jul 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 4+ Tags: Celtic, folktales, Magic, mermaids, ocean, seals, selkies
retold by Susan Cooper
illustrated by Warwick Hutton
New York: Macmillan, 1986
30 pp.
Age: 4+
Interests: ocean, magic, Celtic, selkies, folklore, mermaids
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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)
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 