The Crossover
by Kwame Alexander
Age: 9+
Interests: basketball, sports, brothers, twins, family, romance, sibling rivalry
Talking about children's books and films. Useful information for parents.
08 Oct 2018 Leave a comment
in Books, books 9+ Tags: basketball, death, family, poetry, romance, siblings, sports, twins
by Kwame Alexander
Age: 9+
Interests: basketball, sports, brothers, twins, family, romance, sibling rivalry
30 Sep 2017 Leave a comment
in Books, books 9+, Uncategorized Tags: history, orphans, politics, Russia, soccer, sports, U.S.S.R.
20 Sep 2016 Leave a comment
in Books, movies 9+ Tags: city life, homelessness, misfits, orphans, racial tension, running away from home, sports, violence
by Jerry Spinelli
Age: 9+
Interests: family, city life, orphans, misfits, homelessness, racial tension
Also by this author: Wringer, Milkweed, Stargirl, Loser, Eggs
Other books about racism in America: One Crazy Summer, The Watsons Go to Birmingham — 1963, Smoky Night, Amos Fortune, Free man More
07 Apr 2014 1 Comment
in Books, books 8+ Tags: animals, British history, history, horse racing, horses, sports
by Marguerite Henry
Age: 8+
Interests: horses, animals, horse racing, history, sport
17 Feb 2014 Leave a comment
in Books, books 9+ Tags: bullfighting, Spain, sports
by Maia Wojciechowska
Age: 9+
Interests: Spain, bullfighting, sport, choosing a career
29 Nov 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 4+, Canadian books Tags: Christmas, hockey, moving to a new home, siblings, sports, winter
BLUE SPRUCE nominee 2012
written by David Ward
illustrated by Brian Deines
Toronto: Scholastic Canada, 2010
30 pp.
Ages: 4 +
Interests: hockey, moving to a new home, siblings, Christmas, winter
31 May 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 5+ Tags: cars, sports
Rated: G
Length: 116 min.
Age: 5 + Commonsense Media sez: 5 +
Scary Factor: Mack is nudged by bad cars on the highway at top speeds, Lightning rolls out of his trailer onto the highway and is very nearly hit; soon after he races a train and again comes very very close to being hit; in tractor-tipping scene at night he is briefly chased by a very big and scary combine; same combine reappears in a nightmare and crunches up a car
Violence: nothing significant, save for ‘bad guy’ nudging competitors off the race track
Also: first big race quite stressful, with cars crashing and flying all over (though none are seen to be hurt too seriously)
Language: a fair amount… “hell”, “moron”, “idiot”, “holy shoot”, “Lord”, and I’m even positive I heard a reference to “the little bugger” from the old dame (though none of the other websites I’ve checked mention this); plus a lot of sly double entendres, ie. Lightning talks about the ‘Piston Cup’ to the inevitable response “He did WHAT in his cup!?”
Consumerism: film contains a bewildering array of product placement, and triggered an avalanche of merchandise
Interests: cars, car races, sports
Next: Cars 2
Famous, spoiled hotshot racecar Lightning McQueen is accidentally stranded in a small town in the middle of nowhere. He learns how to care for other people and be a true friend before returning to the big time for a championship race.