CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 1947
Margaret Wise Brown, author
Leonard Weisgard, illustrator
New York: Doubleday, 1946
40 pp.
Age: 3 +
Interests: nature, animals, birds, boats, islands
By the same author: Goodnight Moon, The Runaway Bunny
The Little Island
10 May 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 3+ Tags: birds, boats, insects, island, nature, ocean, seasons, weather
Come away from the water, Shirley
06 May 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 3+ Tags: adventure, beach, boats, ocean, pirates, strong girls, treasure
John Burningham, author and illustrator
London: Jonathan Cape, 1977
22 pp
Age: 3 and up
Interests: pirates, seashore, boats, treasure
Also by this author: Mr. Gumpy’s Outing, Where’s Julius?, Avocado Baby, Borka
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
Old Winkle and the Seagulls
18 Apr 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 4+ Tags: birds, boats, ocean
GREENAWAY MEDAL WINNER – 1960
Gerald Rose, author (with Elizabeth Rose) and illustrator
London: Faber and Faber, 1960
31 pp
4+
Interests: boats, ocean, birds
Tim All Alone
17 Apr 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 3+ Tags: adventure, boats, ocean, storms, travel, weather
GREENAWAY MEDAL WINNER – 1956
Edward Ardizzone, author and illustrator
London: Oxford University Press, 1956
46 pp
3 +
Interests: adventure, ships, ocean, storms, travel
Time of Wonder
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
My Father’s Dragon
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
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)
Pinocchio (1940)
04 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 5+ Tags: adventure, fairies, Fairy Tale, insects, Magic, ocean, puppets, single parent, theatre, toys, whales
Rated: G
Length: 88 min.
Age: 5 and up Commonsense Media sez: 6 +
Scary Factor: Stromboli character waving an axe and threatening; young Lampwick’s terror as he turns into a donkey; Coachman herding the donkey-boys with a whip; enormous whale Monstro chasing them at the end
Also: scenes with alcohol and smoking are too numerous to mention; some leering and mild sexual innuendo from lady’s man Jiminy; character playing with fire; wanton destruction
Intense: some children may have trouble with Pinocchio’s ‘death’ near the end, but keep them watching because he isn’t dead for long!
Language: “Give a bad boy enough rope and he’ll soon make a jackass of himself!”
Interests: fairy tales, fairies, magic, puppets, insects, ocean, whales
Next: Dumbo (also astonishingly not-politically-correct)
Rarest Kind of Best 