I was wrong.

From start to finish I was engaged in the story. The plot goes something like this:

Andy has graduated from high school and is heading off to college. What does it mean for the toys? Well, a trip to the attic or going with Andy to college or being donated to the local daycare. Andy doesn’t play with the toys anymore and isn’t sure what to do. A series of mishaps later and toys end up at the daycare. They are greeted warmly by the other toys and welcomed to the family. Woody however, wants nothing to do with the daycare and resolves to get back to Andy. That’s where it takes a bit of a dark turn. Andy’s toys discover an unpleasant situation at the Daycare, plan to escape and return to Andy’s care. Meanwhile Buzz has been captured and ‘brainwashed’ into betraying the toys. This portion of the movie is a little like the classic movie ‘The Great Escape’. I won’t tell anymore as that would spoil the rest of the adventure.

The story in this movie is it’s best asset. It’s at times laugh out loud funny, razor edge suspenseful, and heartwarmingly tender. The ending surprised me only a little but I found it a very fitting end to the 3 movies. It just feels right. This is altogether one of the best movies I have seen in a long, long time. Great story, well put together, and wonderful to look at.

Is it Right for Kids: A emphatic YES! There are some tense scenes that some very young kids may get a little scared at, but they are brief. This movie would be suitable for kids 5 and 95. Younger kids would probably enjoy it as well but may want to hide there eyes at a couple of places.

Eclipse is the third installment in the Twilight saga and I think it’s safe to say that the acting is getting better and better each movie. This movie centers on the love triangle between human Bella, her vampire boyfriend Edward, and her werewolf best friend Jake. You see Edward wants Bella to marry him and she wants to be turned into a vampire. While Jake just wants Bella to be with him instead of that “bloodsucker” and is fighting his-shirtless-way throughout the movie. In the end Bella does decide to pick one boy over the other and the way this movie is ended leaves room for its sequel, Breaking Dawn.

Is it right for kids: This movie has the most adult content out of the three in the saga so far. It centers on a lot of things that are people’s personal beliefs (like teen marriage). So I’d say 13 years and up.

So with that in mind, I apologize for the lack of new content. I’m going to get back to reviewing and posting new info. I will be going to Comic-Con again next week and plan to attend panels that have kid friendly content and try to get some new info from various writers and publishers on what’s coming from them.

I appreciate your support an look forward to providing more for you. Please let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions for this site.

Tore

First up is a game called Touch Pets. The player gets to adopt a dog which can be from many different breeds. You then have to play with the dog, feed it, groom it and teach it tricks. Along the way you get rewards and ‘puppy-bucks’ to spend on different perks and abilities. After a while, you can take your dog down different career paths like Detective, Scientist, and athlete. Different tasks need to be completed to move the career along. In most cases, this can be done just by doing what is needed in the game to earn the buck. those more interested in completing the tasks a little faster can spend real money to get the bucks.

Its a fun game that kids will easily be able to navigate and play. It took my daughter all of three minutes to get the hang it. In some small way, kids will learn a little responsibility as the dog(s) will need to be feed and played with. You even get to pickup the poops in the back yard.

There are many puzzle type games as well, and far to many to list or describe. A few that I have for a quick distraction are: Polyhedra, Rolando, iPharoah, Theseus and Eyestorm. All have a free version or might cost a buck or two. they are all kid friendly and promote logical thinking and problem solving.

If you’re willing to pay a couple of bucks, you can get games that are fun for kids and adults. Peggle and Bejewelled are both made by PopCap games and are lots of fun. They provide a welcome distraction while Mom and Dad need a few minutes to complete a call, or deal with the bank teller. Adults will find enjoyment in them as well. Particularly in the challenge modes.

Here are a few simple apps that can be fun for kids that are worth checking out: iGlowStick, this app turns your device into a glow stick. You can ‘break’ the stick and it starts to glow. You can choose different colors, and themes as well. iBurn is a simple flame that can have it’s color and size changed. that’s about it. But it’s provided a lot of fun times for us. iDaydream is a little app, that pretty much just has clouds moving across the screen above a changeable landscape. you can draw in more clouds, make the go faster and add in lightening. Simple but entertaining.

There are so many good kid friends games and apps available. These are but a handful of them. The best thing I’ve found is to download a bunch and see if they hold your child’s interest for more then a few minutes.  If it does, it’s worth keeping.

Turns out then went with the documentary approach. And while there were some cute animals, the message was all about conservation and protecting the oceans.

The photography is absolutely amazing. I have to wonder how they managed to get some of the shots they did. I can pretty much say with confidence that there will be images and sequences you would never have imagined. The narration/voice-over by Pierce Brosnan is pretty good. It’s not melancholy or argumentative. He manages to tell a good story despite no story being part of the movie.

The sequences go from place to place, the Great Barrier Reef, Antarctica, North Atlantic, Mediterranean, and many other spots are highlighted by great camera work.

It it Right for Kids? Yes it is. Some younger kids might be a little afraid of some sequences but on the whole, it a beautifully shot, and told film. The message on conservation is not lost on the kids. My girl wanted to go to the beach and do some clean up right after the movie. And we did.

This volume spans 6 eras of Scrooges early life. It was originally written in the mid-nineties by Dan Rosa and it won him the Eisner Award, which is comic worlds equivalent to the Oscars.

The story starts off in Scotland with your Scrooge and his father wandering the moors near the ancestral McDuck family castle. The first story tells of the recovery of the castle and Scrooge’s decision to travel to America to earn his fortune.

Scrooge goes from Scotland to the Mississippi, to South Dakota to Montana, back to Scotland and then off to the South Africa. He meets some interesting characters along the way, has some very Scroogian adventures and slowly learns all he needs to know to make his fortune. He doesn’t actually make his fortune in this volume but that is a story for Volume 2.

The art in this volume is very typical of the Disney style for the Donald Duck/Scrooge McDuck stories that have been published for dozens of years. The pacing is quick and doesn’t lag anywhere, the dialogue is easy to ready.

Is it Right for Kids? Yes, of all ages. Young kids that can’t read yet will enjoy the art and having the story read to them. Older kid will enjoy reading the stories and adults will enjoy the nostalgia of reading something that could easily have come from their childhood.

Geronimo is the editor of the Editor of the Mouse Gazette, the most famous newspaper on Mouse Island. He is also the lead character in an ongoing series of books aimed at younger readers. This is the first graphic novel of a new series that Papercutz is going to be putting out.

This story has Geronimo along with his sister, cousin, nephew and a young friend traveling back in time to Spain in 1492. It seems the Pirate Cats are trying to change history and it’s up to our time-traveling group to make sure they don’t succeed.

The group is recruited into Columbus’ crew and they have to figure out who the Pirate Cats are disguised as while making sure they arrive safely in the New World.

The story is well, paced and an easy read for younger readers. Those that are still learning to read will still enjoy this book. The art is smooth, and colorful and the characters are cute and kid-friendly.

Is it Right for Kids? Sure is. The kids that will enjoy it are going to be around 7-9 years old with a like of comics and adventure. Younger kids would enjoy reading the story with an adult to help out and even younger kids would love to look at the book for it’s art alone.

Han is sent to recover something taken by the empire that the gangster needs back. Chewbacca is to be left behind to ensure that Solo goes through with the job. He’s given a partner to take along, and old partner of his from his younger days. Seems he two owes money and this is a way to pay off the debt.

Han and his new partner head off to the Imperial base to try to recover a droid. Chewbacca meanwhile is forced to fight in a gladiatorial style series of fights.

Chewbacca is soon the leading fighter, having won all his fights. He leads the gladiators in a rebellion (!) against the gangster that are forcing them to fight. Meanwhile Han has been captured and made a deal with the Imperials to lead them to the gangster in exchange for his freedom. That’s when things get interesting…

It’s a pretty quick story to read through, about 75 pages in a paperback size book. The story moves along quickly and is well told. The art is quite good, colorful and conveys the feel of the Star Wars universe.

Is it Right for Kids? Yes it is. Pretty much any younger child that enjoys the animated series Star Wars: the Clone Wars will like this. It is suitable for age 7 and up. There isn’t a lot of violence and what there is isn’t shown in any kind of graphic detail. Like I said, if they are watching the TV series or have seen the movies or read the books, this will fight right in.

This book is the first of dozens of books in the same fantasy world with many of the same characters crossing over from book to book.  In this story we are introduced first to the world, then to it’s greatest city, Ankh-Morpork. As the story open the city is burning, which it does from time to time as well as gets flooded, overrun, conquered, etc. Escaping from city are the two primary characters in this book; Rincewind, a failed wizard that can’t cast a single simple spell; and Twoflower, a naive traveler from a far away land.

The unlikely duo come together after Twoflower arrives at the docks with phrase book in hand and a chest full of money. A series of misadventures, misunderstandings and plain mistakes, have the city ablaze and the pair making a run for it. What follows is the adventures of the pair as they travel the Discworld. Twoflower gets them into trouble because he is an eager tourist and wants to see all the sights and experience everything he has only ever read about, including haunted tombs, and riding dragons. Meanwhile, Rincewind is only trying to stay alive and do his best to keep his companion that way as well.

Pratchett’s writing style is easy to get into, the flow and pace are quick and the plot easy to follow. Pratchett pokes fun at the typical fantasy ideals. Big, bold heroes, scheming city leaders, dramatic rescues and that sort of thing. There is a great deal of humor in the story as well. It’s not terribly graphic or violent but there is some fighting and swordplay and things typical of the sword and sorcery genre. This is the first of dozens of books set in the Discworld universe and I would recommend then all.

Is it Right for Kids?  Only for older kids, probably 8 or older. If your kids are reading Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and similar books, these will be a great addition to their library.

The story is set on a rocky island in a viking village populated by your typical big burly vikings. What makes this village unique is the pests. Not as the main character Hiccup says, ordinary mice or mosquitoes but instead the pests are dragons. And not just one but whole flocks of them. There are many kinds of dragons and each one with a different kind of ability.

The main character is Hiccup; yes, that’s his name. Apparently vikings think that silly names can scare off evil. He’s a bit of a disaster when fighting dragons as we find out in the opening scenes. He’s better suited to a less violent career. But he does managed to take down a dragon with a new invention of his. No-one believe him of course but the next day he find that the dragon he shot at, is injured and trapped in a area it can’t fly out of. Over time, he and the dragon develop a close relationship.

That relationship is put to the test when Hiccups life is threatened while training to fight dragons. You see, Hiccup hasn’t told anyone about the dragon. Especially his father, the leader of the village. He father believes that all dragons should be killed. This sets the stage for a confrontation between Hiccup and his father, and the battle against the biggest dragon of them all.

The story is well paced and has a great case of characters. The graphics are excellent and were crisp and colorful. There were some intense moments near the end of the movie and my daughter was scared at parts. However, she didn’t want to leave the theatre just hide her eyes.

Is it Right for Kids? I would say it is right for kids over 7 if they don’t get scared at some more intense stuff. 5 and 6 year olds should be OK as well, but be aware that they may get scared as some parts of the movie.