Talking about children's books and films. Useful information for parents.
03 Jan 2012 Leave a comment
in Books, books 7+ Tags: art, city life, family, music, New York, siblings, single parent
by Elizabeth Enright
(first book in the Melendy Quartet series)
Henry Holt and Company, 1941
177 pp., 8 chapters
Age: 7+
Interests: family, siblings, art, music
Next: the other 3 Melendy books are The Four-Story Mistake, Then There Were Five, Spiderweb for Two: a Melendy Maze
Also by this author: Thimble Summer, Gone-Away Lake
15 Dec 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 3+ Tags: animals, folktales, insects, music, songs
CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 1956
retold by John Langstaff
illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky
New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1955
30 pp.
Ages: 3+
Interests: folktales, folk songs, insects, animals
09 Dec 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 4+ Tags: Christmas, helping others, history, music, religion, saints
Good King Wenceslas
traditional carol lyrics by John Mason Neale
illustrated by John Wallner
New York: Philomel Books, 1990
30 pp.
Age: 4+
Interests: Christmas, Christmas carols, music, history, saints, stories of charity
25 Nov 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 6+, Old Movies Tags: American history, con man, crime, marching band, music, romance, song and dance
Released: 1962
Rated: G
Length: 151 min.
Age: 6+ (for comprehension) Commonsense media sez: 6 +
Scary: nothing violent, only the talk of angry townsfolk about tarring and feathering Hill
Sexual Innuendo: in some dialogue and songs, but all G-rated and too oblique to be picked up by small children
Interests: musicals, song and dance, marching bands, history, small town life, con men
06 May 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 2+ Tags: music, poetry
Quentin Blake, author and illustrator
London: Jonathon Cape, 1990
27 pp.
Age: 2 and up
Interests: poetry, music, songs, noise
Also by this author/illustrator: Mister Magnolia, Clown
02 May 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 5+ Tags: adventure, art, music, war
Rated: G
Length: 90 min.
Age: 5 and up. Commonsense Media sez: 7 +
Scary Factor: Blue Meanies and Ruler are threatening and freaky; machine guns carried by the baddies, but no one is shot; flying Glove is scary (mostly the sound of its laugh); one brief moment with Frankenstein monster is a little scary but he soon transforms into John
Also: general freakiness of visuals!
Bad Behavior: one exploding cigar smoked by an undersea monster; no booze, no drugs
Interests: rock music, the Beatles, psychedelia, art, fantasy
Next: Beatles music, movies: A Hard Day’s Night, Help!
Rarest Kind of Best 