Talking about children's books and films. Useful information for parents.
12 Apr 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 4+ Tags: adventure, animals, jungle, Magic, mystery, nature
CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 1982
Chris Van Allsburg, author and illustrator
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981
28 pp.
ages 4 +
Interests: board games, jungle creatures, magic and mayhem
By the same author: The Polar Express, Zathura (another magical board game story)
11 Apr 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 4+ Tags: boats, nature, ocean, seasons, storms, weather
CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 1958
Robert McCloskey, author and illustrator
New York: Viking Press, 1957
63 pp
ages 4+
Interests: nature, ocean, storms, cottage life, boats
22 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 4+ Tags: adventure, fairies, Magic, nature, strong girls, travel, treasure
Rated: G
Length: 81 min
Age: 4 + (because of rats; might be okay for 3) Commonsense Media sez: 4+
Scary factor: escaping from red-eyed rats is quite scary, but action-packed and moves along quickly. Encounter with trolls is quickly defused as trolls are more goofy than scary, and easily dodged.
Intense scenes: More troublesome for the very young might be moments of high despair for Tinker Bell, and scenes in which she loses her temper with her friends, however she apologies and learns from all trials.
Warning: Excessive Merchandise Alert!
Interests: fairies, magic, nature, adventure, travel, treasure
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22 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 3+ Tags: fairies, Magic, nature, seasons, strong girls
Rated: G
Length: 78 min
Age: 3+ Commonsense Media sez: 4+
Scary factor: Biggest scare is a brief scene with a hawk; the fairies flee in terror and hide. The hawk has Vidia cornered briefly but she escapes. Two stampedes of Sprinting Thistles are momentarily alarming, but the plants are more of a nuisance than a directed threat.
Intense scenes: the aftermath of the second thistle stampede, in which Tinker Bell has inadvertently destroyed all the work of the entire fairy community, could be emotionally intense for some – along the lines of “she’s in so much trouble!!!”, but things are soon set right again.
Another brief gag: a squirrel is hit in the head with a nut, and bursts into tears. Done for humour, and happens very quickly.
Warning: Excessive Merchandise Alert!
Interests: fairies, magic, nature, seasons, spring
Go to review for 2nd Tinker Bell film – Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure.
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19 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 2+ Tags: animals, bears, camping, cooking, nature
Rated: G
Length: 75 min.
Age: 2 and up.
Scary Factor: a mountain lion slinks around but is quickly chased off; flashback to Cub getting separated from his parents during a storm, which isn’t altogether scary simply because it is a flashback; mountain lion returns at end, menaces Goose and Little Bear, then is scared off
Interests: animals, nature
Next: Little Bear TV series
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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…
19 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 2+ Tags: animals, birds, Boston, cities, ducks, nature
CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 1942
Robert McCloskey
New York: Viking Press, 1941
62 pp
ages 2 and up
Interests: birds, ducks, public parks, Boston
14 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 4+ Tags: animals, nature, penguins, pets, theatre
A NEWBERY HONOR BOOK
Richard & Florence Atwater, authors
Robert Lawson, illustrator
Boston : Little, Brown and Co., 1938
138 pp
ages 4 and up (chapter book to read aloud)
Interests: penguins, antarctic
14 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 4+ Tags: adventure, animals, boats, dragons, jungle, maps, nature, ocean, travel
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
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)
Rarest Kind of Best 