Tikki Tikki Tembo (Paperback w/ CD)

by Arlene (RTL) Mosel (Author), Blair Lent (Illustrator), Marcia Gay Harden (Narrator)

Tikki Tikki Tembo is a great repetetive book for all kids but especially those preschoolers that love to repeat.  Peyton walks around saying “Tiki tiki tembo, no saw rembo, cherry berry ruchy, …” all day.  He also loved having me turn the pages when the gong sounded.

Erin

Lillian, age three and a half years, enjoyed the Handy Manny Green Team
video.  She says she learned “about the tools” and liked the “tea cup moving
up and down, up and down.”  Her favorite episode was ‘Saving the Turtles’.

I, Lil’s mom, liked that the episodes are themed and educational but not
boring or saccharine.  Manny and his tools teach Spanish by using it and
repeating the English word after, but not asking viewers to repeat after
them as if they can actually converse.  (The ‘talk to me’ farce is my least
favorite kid’s show technique.)

The Green Team video includes five fifteen minute episodes.  Each one
considers a different environmental topic in an age appropriate way.  While
more entertaining than educational, I appreciate the eco-friendly values in
Handy Manny’s Green Team.

-Rachel

P.S. If Handy Manny: Manny’s Green Team is available everywhere March 31st. If Handy Manny and his tools inspire you to be more friendly to the environment, visit Rachel and her husband’s eco-friendly store, Baying Hound, where you’ll find “unique gear, superior services, and sustainable practices.” They have great deals in their Clearance Corner! Read more about Rachel and Lil’s environmentally friendly tips and tricks at Rachel’s blogs, Baying Hound Howls and Hounds in the Kitchen. -Abby

With all of the new gadgets and whatnot out there, Maya and Madison remind us that there is something to be said for just turning up some really good music and moving all around the living room.

Carole King has been a favorite around here since forevah!

Ready, set, bake! The youngsters around here really love this fast-paced game. Each child chooses a recipe card and then they race to collect the necessary ingredients for their cookies. If they get the rotten egg, they have to put all of their ingredients back and start over. Lots of fun for the younger set.

We promise we will announce the winners of The Blue Elephant DVD giveaway later today. Right now, the kids are all too sleepy and grumpy from the horrors of waking up that they can’t even pick a number out of a bucket. Tune in later.

We finally have power! I’m not a kid reviewer, but I am the kid reviewers’ mom, and we’ve decided we don’t have time to edit the reviews that we had waiting for us in Windows Movie Maker limbo because if we spend time doing that, then we won’t have time to watch the new DVDs that came when we didn’t have power, and we’re reading books that need to be reviewed, too. And some of us have to vacuum and do laundry instead of editing videos. So this post is going to be a mish-mash of the reviews that were in limbo, without the videos. There is a DVD for every age in this review, so scroll around until you see something that catches your eye. And don’t miss Son of Rambow toward the end. Good movie. Most of these DVDs have been released already. If they aren’t out yet, I noted the release date in the review. Thanks for your patience!

Oh, and we’re extending our contest to September 23rd.

Dalmations, dalmations, dalmations: Maya reviewed all of these:

Maya thought Glenn Close’s Cruella DeVil was a bit scary and there was some fast-forwarding involved. She says, “I liked that one (pointing to 102 Dalmations) the best, and that lady was scary. And that one (pointing to the animated 101 Dalmations II) was…um…ok.”

Maya interviewed Lena and Liberty about Transformers Animated Season One and that would have been cute if I could have edited that in time. The gist of it: Maya asked, “Do you like Transformers?” Lena and Liberty both said, “NO!” Maya said, “Well, I do!” And Lena and Liberty decided that kids who like Transformers would indeed like season one of the DVD, but Liberty said, “The scary parts aren’t scary, and the funny parts aren’t funny.” Maya disagreed.

Maya also disagreed with Lena and Liberty’s assessment of Wayside School Season One, which is based on Louis Sachar funny novels. Lena and Liberty just weren’t into the shows, but Maya found them funny.

Caillou’s Winter Wonders comes out on DVD on September 23, and if you are a Caillou fan, I guess this DVD would be good. Maya thought it was “kind of boring,” and when I showed the case to Lena and Liberty they screamed in unison, “WE DON’T HAVE TO REVIEW THAT, DO WE?”

Also coming to DVD on September 23rd is High School Musical 2: Deluxe Dance Edition with all-new bonus features. This was a hit with all of the kids, although Lena and Liberty would not let me videotape them practicing the step-by-step dance moves that are part of the new bonus features. This DVD is definitely a lot of fun for all ages.

Maya and Madison watched this a while ago and Madison was all over it. It’s a prequel to The Little Mermaid, which Madison apparently loves, but Maya was indifferent toward it. We think most preschoolers will dig it.

Son of Rambow is the best movie we’ve reviewed so far. It might not get a lot of buzz, but it is definitely worth checking out. It was hilarious and sad over and over. Lena and Liberty loved it, and so did we. One thing, though, it is rated PG-13 so check out this page to see why and then you can decide if you want to let your kids see it. Either way, it’s a great film.

I thought this would be a good one for Lena and Liberty to watch in this election year. Here is the product description from Amazon.com.

From Brett Morgen director of The Kid Stays in the Picture comes a highly-stylized and wildly original documentary film chronicling the real-life events surrounding the anti-war of the 1968 Democratic National Convention held in Chicago and the charismatic protest organizers brought to trial by the city. Told through a visually-arresting animation style and a bold use of archival footage and music Chicago 10 channels yesterday s voices for peace in a manner that speaks peace for today.

Sounds good, right? Well, Lena and Liberty were not interested in it at all, but Bryan and I loved it. It is rated R, but I felt Lena and Liberty were mature enough to understand the political context of the things that made it an R-rated film. It was a moot point anyway, as they were just so uninterested.