Pineapple Pete’s Remarkable Feat

Posted on December 9, 2012 at 9:23 pm

Miniver Press is proud to announce a new children’s book written by my mother! Pineapple Pete wants to make friends with the other fruits in his class but they think his scaly face is scary — until they need help and he saves the day. I have a free copy to give away to the first person who writes to me at moviemom@moviemom.com with “Pete” in the subject line. Tell me your favorite fruit — and don’t forget your address! (US addresses only.)

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Books Early Readers

Shalom Sesame DVD Club

Posted on December 5, 2012 at 8:00 am

The popular Shalom Sesame DVD series has announced a Shalom Sesame DVD Club. Grover the Muppet and Anneliese van der Pol (That’s So Raven, Broadway’s Beauty and the Beast) travel to Israel to meet new people and learn new things in this 12-part DVD series co-produced by Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, and Israel ’s Channel HOP! Each 30-minute, live-action and animated DVD focuses on storylines drawn from Jewish cultural traditions, highlighting lessons on Hebrew letters and words, unique sites in Israel , and Jewish values. Through Sesame Street characters, celebrities and stories, viewers learn about Jewish traditions, culture and holidays. Guest appearances by celebrity talent include Debra Messing, Achinoam Nini, Mira Awad, Jake Gyllenhaal, Christina Applegate and Greg Kinnear.

The club is free and members can opt for purchasing the entire DVD series or single titles for a 15% discount , in a single shipment or on a monthly basis.

Shalom Sesame’s “Chanukah the Missing Menorah” episode on PBS this December. The 12 DVDs in the series are: “Welcome to Israel,” “Chanukah: The Missing Menorah,” Shabbat Shalom, Grover!,” “Grover Plants a Tree,” “Mitzvah on the Street,” “Be Happy, It’s Purim!,” “It’s Passover, Grover!,” “Grover Learns Hebrew,” “Countdown to Shavuot,” “The Sticky Shofar,” “Monsters in the Sukkah,” and “Adventures in Israel.” Each Shalom Sesame DVD includes over 20 minutes of bonus extras including trailers, sneak peeks of all titles, Grover’s Video Player (music videos), sing-alongs and Karaoke of favorite tunes like “Aleph Bet Song,” “Rosh Hashanah Hannah” (a spoof of Hannah Montana) and the famous “Rubber Duckie” song (in Hebrew) among others. A highlight of Grover’s Video Player on Adventures in Israel is “There Must Be Another Way” by Achinoam Nini, Mira Awad and Shalom Sesame friends – the song that represented Israel in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Hebrew, Arabic and English.

Follow Shalom Sesame on YouTube and Facebook and watch “Chanukah: The Missing Menorah” on your local PBS station.

Contest: Thomas, Bob, and Sam!

Posted on November 29, 2012 at 3:59 pm

I am giving away two DVDs, featuring family favorites Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder, and Fireman Sam. “Heroic Rescue Adventures” has Fireman Sam and his fearless crew saving Norman from a fiery tower and a deep wishing well. When Mike or Penny are dangling dangerously or Sarah is stranded on a cliff, Sam will save the day. And “Awesome Adventures: Thrills and Chills Vol. 3” features Sam, Bob the Builder, and Thomas and Friends in six exciting stories.

To enter, send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with “Sam” in the subject line and tell me your favorite of Sam’s rescues. Don’t forget your address! (US address only.) I’ll pick a winner at random on December 3.

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New From Veggie Tales: The League of Incredible Vegetables

Posted on October 27, 2012 at 8:00 am

The Veggie Tales folks at Big Idea Entertainment have a new DVD just in time for Halloween, to help kids who might have a hard time telling the difference between fun scary and scary scary. It’s called The League of Incredible Vegetables and it’s the first superhero-themed Veggie Tales story. Bad guy Dr. Flurry wants to freeze the town — with fear! That’s too much for just one superhero to handle, so LarryBoy, Thingamabob (Bob the Tomato), S-Cape (Mr. Lunt), Vogue (Petunia Rhubarb) and Ricochet (Junior Asparagus) have to work together and learn to understand and overcome their own fears in order to save the day. No one does silly stories with real lessons better than the Veggies. This one is a lot of fun and a good way to start some conversations about fear, faith, and cooperation. For a free craft and coloring sheet to go with the DVD, send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with Veggies in the subject line.

Sesame Street’s New Season: An Elmo Musical and More

Posted on September 21, 2012 at 8:00 am

Sesame Workshop has announced the plans for Sesame Street‘s upcoming 43rd season, debuting on September 24th. It will include a new segment called “Elmo the Musical” as a part of its continued focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. Elmo will make math musical in entertaining 11-minute skits as he imagines himself in “Sea Captain the Musical,” “Mountain Climber the Musical,” “Prince Elmo the Musical” and even “President the Musical.”

And visitors to Sesame Street this year will include actors Charlize Theron, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Amy Ryan, Casey Affleck, Melissa McCarthy, Steve Carell, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, David Hyde Pierce, Timothy Olyphant, Maya Rudolph, Eric Stonestreet, John Hamm, Zac Efron, Ed Helms, Kristen Bell, Paula Patton, and Dax Shepard, athletes NBA Slam Dunk Champion Blake Griffin, NFL Superstar Troy Polamalu, Los Angeles Dodger’s Matt Kemp, Extra’s Mario Lopez; talk show host Wendy Williams, singer Colbie Caillat, rock band Train, and rapper/musician/actor Common.

The Sesame Street Muppets™ will also have a lot of fun spoofing some of pop-culture’s favorite shows, including Birdwalk Empire, The Voice, and Upside Downton Abbey.

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Early Readers Preschoolers Television