Yes to Running

Posted on August 18, 2008 at 8:00 am

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
MPAA Rating:	NR
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	None
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to DVD:	August 12, 2008
Amazon.com ASIN:	B001BRZ5C4

Grammy-award winning singer-storyteller Bill Harley has a great new concert performance DVD for families called Yes to Running: Bill Harley Live. Harley is best known for his funny and clever songs and stories for kids (with some parent-friendly lessons about courage, loyalty, and good manners) like “Zanzibar”, “Monsters In The Bathroom”, “50 Ways To Fool Your Mother”, “You’re In Trouble”, “Dad Threw The TV Out The Window”, “Down in the Backpack” and “The Ballad of Dirty Joe.” You can also hear him on NPR. My favorite of his collections is Dinosaurs Never Say Please, with 50 Ways to Fool Your Mother a close second, and my husband will admit we sometimes play his music even when the kids are not in the car.

Adventures in Faith, Honesty, and Courage

Posted on August 12, 2008 at 8:00 am

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	4th - 6th Grades
MPAA Rating:	NR
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Some peril
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to DVD:	August 12, 2008

The great “Adventures from the Book of Virtues” animated series has three new releases today: Adventures in Faith, Adventures in Honesty and Adventures in Courage.

These are classic stories that have thrilled audiences through the ages because they are about fascinating characters and exciting adventures from history, fables, myths, literature, and the Bible. Harriet Tubman helps people escape from the cruelty of slavery. Daniel enters the lion’s den, knowing that his faith will protect him. Androcles removes a thorn from a lion’s paw and finds his kindness repaid. The good Samaritan helps a stranger who has been injured. George Washington answers truthfully when asked who cut down the cherry tree. A child is the only one who will answer honestly that the Emperor has no clothes.

Corduroy…and More Stories About Caring

Posted on July 28, 2008 at 5:19 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Preschool
MPAA Rating:	NR
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Mild tension
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to DVD:	July 29, 2008
Amazon.com ASIN:	B0018O3P2C

My very favorite DVD series for kids is saluting the 40th anniversary of the classic book Corduroy with a beautiful new DVD version. It is the story of a toy bear who goes off in search of his missing button and finds a caring friend. Has there ever been a better last line in a book?

This DVD also includes some of the series very best, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel and the one that really made my children laugh, Smile for Auntie. This is a gem.

Batman

Posted on July 21, 2008 at 8:00 am

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	PG-13
Profanity:	Some rude language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Social drinking
Violence/ Scariness:	Comic book violence and mayhem, some disturbing
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	1989

The critical and box office success of The Dark Knight is a reminder to take another look at the last re-booted Batman and Joker, Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton’s broody re-imagining of a character then best remembered for the campy 1960’s television series. Ledger is sensational in “The Dark Knight,” but so is Nicholson in a performance included in the American Film Institute’s list of the 50 all-time best movie villains. The visuals, the music, and most of all the performances make this movie a very worthy precursor to the current re-imagining of the enduring story.

Mandela

Posted on July 14, 2008 at 8:00 am

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	NR
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Disturbing material about apartheid
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movies
Date Released to Theaters:	March 21, 1997

Celebrate the 90th birthday this week of one of history’s greatest leaders, Nelson Mandela, with one of the fine films about his extraordinary perseverance, vision, courage, and leadership. The story of the massive social change he achieved without violence is profoundly moving and inspiring and one that all families should understand and discuss. Perhaps his greatest contribution is the notion of reconciliation and forgiveness rather than retribution and punishment, a lesson the world will need to recover from its current conflicts.

The documentary, Mandela: Son of Africa, Father of a Nation follows Mandela from his early years as one of nine children of a polygamist father assigned the name “Nelson” by a teacher instead of his tribal name to his 27 years in prison, his election to the Presidency of South Africa and the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize. The made-for-television Mandela & De Klerk (PG-13 for disturbing images of political violence) has Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine as Mandela and his co-Nobel awardee F.W. de Klerk. Both are outstanding.