CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 1990
Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China
Ed Young, author and illustrator
New York: Philomel, 1989
28 pp
Ages: 4 +
Interests: fairy tales, folktales
Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China
13 Apr 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 4+ Tags: animals, China, Fairy Tale, family, folktales, strong girls, wolves
Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure (2009)
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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Tinker Bell (2008)
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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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)
Mei Li
10 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 3+ Tags: China, family, New Year's Eve, siblings, spirits, strong girls
CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 1939
Thomas Handforth
New York: Doubleday, 1938
46 pp
for ages 3 +
Interests: China, family life, sibling issues
Return to Never Land (2002)
10 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 4+ Tags: adventure, boats, British history, fairies, London, Magic, octopus, pirates, strong girls, war
Rated: G
Length: 72 min.
Age: 4 and up. commonsense media sez: 5+
Scary Factor: opening scenes of WWII blitz in London may be alarming; as in the first film, pirate shenanigans are more slapsticky than scary
Also: separation from father, Captain Hook smokes
Interests: magic, fairies, pirates
Next: MOVIES: Peter Pan (1953) of course, The Sword in the Stone (1963), The Little Mermaid (1989); BOOKS: Peter Pan, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens
Peter Pan (2003)
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)
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
28 Feb 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 4+ Tags: country life, family, illness, Magic, nature, siblings, spirits, strong girls
My Neighbor Totoro
Rated: G
Length: 86 min.
Age: 4 and up. commonsense media sez: 5+
Scary Factor: soot sprites are creepy, and provide one big Startle Moment (see below); Totoro seems scary at first glance, but is soon revealed to be friendly
Also: issue of Mother sick in hospital may bother some, but whole situation is treated gently, and without worry until late in film when girls grow concerned (see more below)
Interests: monster/spirits, magic, nature, country life, Japan
Next: Director Miyazaki has two other films for this age group: Ponyo, Kiki’s Delivery Service; for older kids try: Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle
Meet Me in St. Louis (1945)
26 Feb 2011 Leave a comment
in Movies, movies 4+, Old Movies Tags: American history, Christmas, family, Hallowe'en, history, siblings, song and dance, strong girls
Rated: Canada – PG (parental guidance?! probably because of Hallowe’en sequence) ; USA – Approved
Length: 113 min.
Age: 4 and up. (more for comprehension and attention span)
Scary Factor: Hallowe’en scene (see below)
Intense stuff: the Christmas Eve scene with the snowmen makes me cry, but I don’t think children will be such marshmallows over it!
Interests: history, family, musicals, song and dance, old movies
Next: Judy Garland: The Wizard of Oz
Rarest Kind of Best 