It’s the mash-up that had to happen. In Scooby-Doo! & KISS:Rock & Roll Mystery, Daphne has an enormous crush on KISS member Starchild, so she tells her Mystery Inc. pals they’ve been summoned to solve a mystery at KISS World, a spectacular amusement park themed after the popular musical group.
The concert, which is taking place on Halloween night at KISS World, gets dangerously close to being cancelled for security reasons after park visitors are frightened away from the premises by the Crimson Witch.
The legendary rock band agrees to let Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne and Velma help them solve the mystery of the Crimson Witch. Together they embark on a rock and roll adventure that takes them to the alternate dimension of Kissteria.
Jam-packed with special guest stars, Scooby-Doo! And KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery features guest voice performances from Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Darius Rucker, Garry Marshall, Penny Marshall, Jennifer Carpenter and Pauley Perrette. In addition, six KISS songs will be featured alongside an original new song performed by the band just for the film. Available on Digital July 10. On DVD and Blu-ray™ July 21
Summer Reading: Two Great Books for Kids, Rude Cakes and Lil’ Pauline
Posted on June 17, 2015 at 3:23 pm
Summer vacation is a great time to get kids into the habit of reading. Rude Cakes is deliciously imaginative and witty. Writer/illustrator Rowboat Watkins introduces us to the title pastries who are indeed very rude. They do not say please or thank you and they do not share. But a surprising and very funny encounter with some very large creatures turns out to be instructive. It is brilliantly designed, with wonderfully tactile old-school typefaces and subtle details to reward close attention.
Lil’ Pauline Creates a Curious Concoction is the first in a new series about the early lives of creative, dynamic, accomplished women. With text by “five dynamic women at Harvard Business School” and charming illustrations by Charlotte Fassler, this one is about Pauline Brown, the Chair of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey. When Pauline was “lil'” she loved to visit her grandmothers. One inspired her to want to invent and the other taught her to think about recipes with just the right mix of ingredients. She puts it all together to create a new fragrance.
For more ideas, check out this great list from my friends at Common Sense Media. And older kids can make money reading and writing book reports this summer! Visit the summer reading challenge.
Contest: Reading Rainbow DVD — If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Posted on May 29, 2015 at 3:49 pm
Levar Burton and Reading Rainbow present four classic episodes on this new DVD from PBS Kids. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie read by Beth Howland, Owen read by Matthew Broderick, Two OId Potatoes and Me read by Jordan Puryear, and Mr. George Baker read by Wayne Brady. I’m especially fond of the last one, the story of a 100-year-old man and a first grader who are both learning to read for the first time.
Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with Rainbow in the subject line and tell me your favorite book for beginning readers. Don’t forget your address! (U.S. addresses only). I’ll pick a winner at random on June 7, 2015. Good luck!
Minnie Mouse has a new business — a pet salon! And I have a copy to give away.
All the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse friends are bringing their pets in for beauty treatments so they can participate in Pluto’s All-Star Pet Show. That’s a lot of pets to bathe, groom, and train! The friends help out, and when three little kittens go missing, everyone — even the kids in the audience — will be needed to find them. This song-filled treat also includes four more episodes.
To win a copy of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Minnie’s Pet Salon, send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with Minnie in the subject line and tell me your favorite Disney character. Don’t forget your address! (U.S. addresses only). I’ll pick a winner at random on June 10, 2015. Good luck!
Contest: Win a PBS Kids Prize Pack! Peg and Cat, Caillou, and WordWorld!
Posted on March 2, 2015 at 11:04 pm
PBS Kids has three magnificent new DVDs, and I have two prize packs to give away!
Peg + Cat: Peg Rocks features seven stories from PBS KIDS’ popular PEG + CAT series. Solving problems is even more AWESOME when music is involved! This new toe-tapping DVD features fun-filled musical escapades, including “The Girl Group Problem,” in which Peg’s girl group, the Pentagirls, has its biggest show ever, and “The Mega Mall Problem,” which features Peg and Cat searching the mall for the teens, so they can all enter the Zebra Guy dance contest! Each PEG + CAT adventure features a story in which Peg and Cat encounter an unexpected challenge that requires them to use math and problem-solving skills in order to save the day. While it teaches specific math lessons, the series also emphasizes resilience and perseverance.
Caillou’s Can Do Collection is a 3-DVD collection featuring 30 classic stories which will have any preschooler taking on life’s small challenges and feeling they Can Do with Caillou. The three fun-filled DVDs featured within this set are “Big Kid Caillou,” “Caillou, The Everyday Hero,” and “Caillou’s World of Wonder.” Lovable four-year-old Caillou has a boundless imagination that makes every experience an opportunity for fun and play. By sharing in his incredible adventures, children can “make believe” along with Caillou and find new ways to understand and enjoy the world around them. CAILLOU is designed for preschoolers and focuses on role-playing and “make-believe.”
Wordworld: Birthday Party This fun-filled DVD includes five birthday-themed adventures, the first of which, “Happy Birthday, Dog,” features a surprise party for WordWorld’s friendly canine. Can Frog get the C-A-K-E safely to Dog’s party without ruining the surprise? Also included on this DVD is “Bugs to the Rescue!” In this story Ant builds Bear a hot-air balloon for her birthday. When Dog accidentally floats away in the B-A-L-L-O-O-N, Ant gets help from other insect WordFriends to save the day. Join the lovable WordFriends for these and three other educational birthday adventures as they playfully demonstrate the connections between letters, sounds, words, and meaning in order to empower children to advance from learning letters to learning how to read. “WordWorld,” which won the 2009 Daytime Emmy Award for outstanding children’s animated program, is designed to introduce, support, and foster literacy skills in children ages three to five. Young children explore the colorful, vibrant world of words with the lovable, legible WordFriends – animals whose bodies are made up of the letters that spell the word they represent. In each story, the WordFriends go on adventures and face challenges that can only be resolved with the right word. That word is built letter by letter, sound by sound. Once the word is built it “morphs” to become the spelled item – C-A-K-E, becomes a cake!
To enter the contest, send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with PBS in the subject line and tell me your favorite PBS show. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only). I’ll pick a winner at random on March 10, 2015. Good luck!