March 1, 2019 | Daddy Mojo

Rosie and Rasumus is an old soul, book that 4 and up will love

Normally I’m not a fan of any children’s illustrated book that has lots of white space on its pages. I feel that it’s a cop out and that they’re leaving me out of some of the show. For the record, I’m also not a fan of the sound of crinkling potato chip bags and drinking orange juice after I brush my teeth. Every once in a while a children’s book will come around and utterly demolish my silly pet peeve. Rosie and Rasmus is the latest Trojan Horse to charm me, and other kids, who discover this lovely illustrated book for ages 4-8.

Rosie and rasmus, serena geddes, childrens book, children’s illustrated book

From the first four pages it’s obvious what the Achilles Heel is and that is its artwork. We meet Rosie, who’s a shy young girl who lives in a picturesque, coastal town. She sees all of the kids playing, laughing or having fun and simply wants someone to see her. The next page starts out just like the first two pages, except this time we see Rasmus, a dinosaur who lives in a big tree that overlooks the town where Rosie lives.

One day Rosie goes for a walk, where she’s given a flower by Rasmus. The two become friends, despite their obvious differences, but what Rasmus really wants to do is fly. Rosie plants and schemes, like only a 6 year-old can, in order to help her much larger friend with thagomizers* down his back and tail.

Soul is a characteristic that few children’s illustrated books have. Most of them are entertaining and enjoyed by children, but very few of them have soul. I don’t mean the get-up-and-dance James Brown kind of soul. I mean, at some instance in reading the book, or looking at the art, the book pierces your soul, stays there for a moment and asks you to remember when you felt how the characters in the book feel. Rosie and Rasmus has that kind of soul.

Ironically, it’s the combination of the pages that are not fully colored, the economy of words and the illustrations that make the book remind parents of childhood. Rosie and Rasmus will resonate as much with children. Sometimes kids want to play by themselves. However, some kids are shy and want other kids to say hello first. This book is great for either camp of kids. It’s written and illustrated by Serena Geddes and it’s the illustrations that will make you feel like this book is written just for you. Moreover, Rosie and Rasmus deals with the difficult subject of good-byes, but it does it with a smile and the promise that even though things change, they can also get better.

Dumbo is a mostly joyless, PC driven pachyderm Free Willy

Please don’t mess this up. That was my thought when I first saw the trailer for Dumbo. It’s not that I have fond memories of the 1941 original. I’m sure I saw it as a child, but I have no memory of it. The only thing I know of Dumbo is that he’s a flying elephant. Having said that, it’s classic intellectual property, an icon and a symbol of all things Disney. If they could mess up this film then the next you know they’ll go about closing classic theme park attractions like The Great Movie Ride. *

To the film’s credit, Dumbo isn’t a total dumpster fire. It’s just that the film doesn’t know exactly what it’s trying to be. There are very few funny scenes so it’s not funny enough to be a comedy. There are enough dramatic elements for it to be considered a drama, but for what age? Audiences under 14 won’t find the laughs or entertainment that they require to fully hold their attention. Those older than 14 will be able to predict what’s going to happen the moment that we’re introduced to the characters-which aren’t given enough rope to run with.

We meet Milly, the daughter of Holt, a WWI veteran who returns home. Milly is a rebellious tween who wants nothing to do with the circus and has an interest in science. Note to Hollywood: we get it now; girls can be scientists too, thanks for the update and quit hammering audiences with this message. We also know that animals in the circus is a bad thing, now that we’re reminded of this can we get on with the guilt trip that audiences will pay $12 for?

When Holt returns from WWI we see that he lost an arm in battle. Wait, a one-armed rodeo rider in the circus, the same circus with a big-eared elephant, a strong-man and other human performers who are on the outcast of mainstream society? This is just one example where the not-so-subtle characteristics project their intentions from a big tent away.

There are a couple moments of joy. When Dumbo first flies it’s quite entertaining, but then the audience is labored with more story that’s as obvious as the obelisk to the chimpanzees in 2001. Here comes the wealthy investor who, wait for it, also has a theme park and circus. He’s looking for a main act and Dumbo could just be the ticket for the small town travelling circus and the big time entertainment mogul to make a match.

So now, Dumbo and (spoiler alert) his mother are in the same circus. You’ll never guess what happens next….unless you’ve seen the 1993 film Free Willy.

There are some nice inside baseball moments when the film goes to the investor’s theme park, Dreamland. It’s like a steam punk Disney World, complete with its own version of Carousel of Progress. Literally, this is a generic version of Carousel of Progress. Initially it’s quite complimentary, but as (spoiler alert) Dreamland burns down, we see the robots melting and malfunctioning. I’m guessing that Dumbo wasn’t given the theme park QA check before it went to print.

It’s obvious that the film, set designers and aspects of the cast are trying very hard to make it all work. That’s what’s all the more frustrating as a fan of everything involved with the film. I should have loved this film, yet it’s a hodgepodge of big ears, guilt and nostalgia wrapped up in a Disney bow.

Tim Burton directs Dumbo. In theory this is great because he’s a left of center guy that is capable of making the ordinary seem cool. Alas, Dumbo is more Planet of the Apes (2001) or (Mars Attacks!) than Alice in Wonderland. As a movie fan and Disney fan, I’m sensing that the live action movie parade is fading or at the minimum suffering from Star Wars fatigue or poor development. I’m getting the same vibe from Aladdin and The Lion King as I did when I first saw the Dumbo trailer.

The good news for Disney, to an extent; is that these bad review of their live action films will fall on deaf ears. The classic Disney fans will see them to be reminded of what they love and most likely take their children. The downside, if their kids are like ours then after they leave Dumbo they’ll be ambivalent at best or worst case for Disney, ask when the next Minions film comes out.

*I know that The Great Movie Ride closed. GMR4L yo.

Dragons Get Colds Too doesn’t catch fire

I love pizza. However, after having eaten pizza for more than a couple of decades I’ve realized that while bad pizza is almost impossible, there certainly are varying degrees of its caliber or preference. Dragons Get Colds Too is a book about being sick, acknowledging that you’re sick and hopefully, respecting the caregiver who is assisting you. If this book were a pizza place then it’d be a pleasant enough place with OK tasting pie that fills you up, but isn’t one that you’d visit unless it wan on the way to where you’re going.

Dragons, dragons get colds too, children’s illustrated book, children’s book

The premise of the Dragons Get Colds Too is certainly one that any parent can relate to. There’s a sick patient who isn’t being the best recipient of care that’s being offered to them. It’s a situation that is ripe for comedy and lessons that can hopefully be learned by younger readers.

The book is told in a step-by-step process where the girl is being instructed by a doctor and their book on what to do for the dragon. The issue for us, and our 7YO reader, is that the book felt stilted and lost its rhythm every time the narrator and their book popped up on the page. In some books the narrator moves the book along nicely, however, in this book it’s more confusing and distracting than an asset to the story.

There are some humorous physical elements that the book brings up about caring for something as large as a dragon. They breathe fire, their neck is impossibly long and their snot is especially gooey. The illustrations are clever enough, everybody loves a dragon right? However, the book moves so slowly that few audiences, except for the dragon die hards and those looking for a children’s illustrated book about being sick will want a repeat reading.

It also has lots of white space on the pages. Granted this is a pet peeve of ours, but I find that pages with more color tend to capture and hold the attention of young readers more effectively. If you’re a fan of dragon books, buying books for a doctor’s waiting room or for the kid’s renaissance fair this book is for you, otherwise, it’s one that you’ll want to get from the library.

All age comic books for March 27

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If you’re looking for a sign to dig into the cool all age comic cooks, this is it.

Dumbo, loony Tunes, moon girl, teen titans, teen titans go, marvel, comic books, all age comic books, all age comics

There are some weeks where a much higher than average number of go-to comic books hit the shelf it’s a virtual no brainer to visit your local comic book store. In the podcast we’ll chat about Dumbo, Scooby, Teen Titans, Moon Girl and much more. To see the entire list of comic books that are OK for ages 6 and up just look down in the post. For now let’s look at three great comic books that will be great for elementary ages and up.

Barbie: Fashion Superstar

The landscape for all age comic books has shifted dramatically over the past couple of years. It’s gone from very few girl-centric comics to very few all age super heroes to where now there is something for every 6 and up. Barbie even has her line up of graphic novels from Papercutz. Barbie: Fashion Superstar features her as a fashion entrepreneur when things go awry at a show. It’s business savvy, plus the fashion sense that people have come to expect from Barbie.

Looney Tunes #248

Go into any elementary school library and there’s bound to be at least one issue of Looney Tunes. This is one of our go-to all age comic books. If the kids or I are looking for a solid, entertaining comic book this is it. As there’s no ongoing story line each issue stands on its own. They’re new stories, every other month that have that classic Warner Bros vibe. Bonus: the Looney Tunes comic book is only $2.99.

Jim Henson Beneath the Dark Crystal #8 of #12

Jim Henson Beneath the Dark Crystal is a mini-series from Boom Studios! The content isn’t gratuitous, but it’s realistically drawn and has too much reading for elementary school kids to really enjoy. This is one for those middle-Earth kids who want a fable, but not the Jack and the Beanstalk variety. This story has its roots from The Dark Crystal and will be of interest to those who liked it or are in middle school and want some fresh goblins and monsters.

Humor

Superhero Action/science-fiction

Secrets of Topsea, The Extremely High Tide! Is lovably weird and pleasant

A couple of years ago my wife and I went out for date night. It’s that mythical time where moms and dads leave the kids at home then out with other parents, get a drink and eat food with too much cheese. When we got home, part of our conversation led me to say, “the journey is the destination”. Mind you, this was years before I heard it used as a luxury car tagline. But, when I said it, my wife commented that it made sense, we weren’t headed to a big finale, rather; life is the little things that we do and encounter on the way. Secrets of Topsea, The Extremely High Tide! By Kir Fox and M. Shelley Coats is a book that fits that description.

This is the second book in the Secrets of Topsea series and it solidifies the tone that the authors are going for. I’ll readily admit that I didn’t get the first book in the series, A Friendly Town That’s Almost Always by the Ocean. I thought it was slow, pointless, weird and rather aimless.

With The Extremely High Tide! I get it now-and so will any middle school readers who latch onto this series. As it wears its weirdness as a superhero cape you don’t really need to read the first book to understand what’s going on.

Talise is a fifth-grade student who knows a lot about the ocean. She also has a pet sea blob and has a fear of rubber ducks. As the book starts we see the class by the seaside. Not long after that Talise finds a bottle with a note in it. The note has a drawing of a boat and Talise takes that as an omen that she should build a boat.

This is where the ‘journey is the destination’ aspect factors in. The boat and the journey to build it seems like it’s a main plot point. However, the main thing that ties the characters together is friendship, albeit a friendship that’s painted across all manner of oddities. Parents will also enjoy this series because it manages to keep young reader’s attention without any potty humor. Granted, potty humor is more of a low elementary thing, I’m sure it’s just our upper elementary reader who can’t seem to squeeze it out of his system.

Another thing that the book does well is to balance the interest between boys and girls. The main character is a girl, but it’s not set against a Lilith Fair quilt. Girls will enjoy it more than boys, but not by much. It’s odd and creative to where the overwhelming vibe of the book is trippy, fun and silly-without being sophomoric.

The chapters are presented in a creative, unpredictable fashion with some pages pushing the story forward. Other chapters are short newspaper clippings or the cafeteria menu. In other words, it’s a format that middle school readers will be immediately attracted to, because the journey is the destination.

Wonder Park is a beautiful, well made film that misses the mark

Imagine you’re invited to a party. It’s supposed to be a lively, social affair that bills itself as a loose, chatty affair. When you get there the party seems like it’s going according to plan. The guests are interesting and the conversation is quite fun, but then the host settles down and turns the party into a time share sales pitch. You’ve had fun at the party up until now-and all of the guests are still there, so you gamely sit down. It’s a beautiful sales pitch with a bit of guilt, done with panache and tons of personality. When the sales pitch ends you’re left slightly gape jawed because you came in expecting a fun, happy-go-lucky party, but instead got a slightly down beat gathering that was hosted by a tween goth wanna be.

That is the feeling I had when I left Wonder Park.

It’s like going to see Minions, thinking it’s a film about lovable yellow creatures; but 10 minutes into the film you learn they have jaundice.

Wonder Park sells itself as a child’s escape to an amusement park run by anthropomorphic animals. And for a while it’s the amusement park film you’ve seen. The film looks gorgeous. Its animation is stunning, at times looking like a hybrid stop animation and computer animation. It has a grand scope and characters that look like you’ve seen them before, but also seem like original tour guides to a place that you want to go.

June is the young girl who creates Wonder Park. She and her mother have a vivid imagination and it’s their go-to place to play. Unfortunately, about 10 minutes into the film her mother get sick, presumably Cancer and has to go away to the hospital for treatment. And here comes the time share presentation.

It’s not that serious subject matters don’t have a place in children’s entertainment. They do, but what Wonder Park did was the exact opposite of Inside/Out did and I completely blame Bing Bong. The time when Bing Bong floats away into the abyss is a gut punch that people can relate to. Inside/Out was a great comedy with a dramatic gut punch. The kick is that Inside/Out billed itself as a comedy.

Wonder Park bills itself as an adventure/comedy and doesn’t accomplish either category. It has elements of adventure that do work, but when the film is being adventurous it flips back to sad panda June all too quickly. Steve, the porcupine, voiced by John Oliver does manage to get in a couple of laughs and physical comedy bits, but they’re not worth the price of admission.

In the end June’s mother (spoiler alert) does come back home and audience members over 10 will be glad to head to the exits. Our 9 year old did enjoy the film, but he stopped talking about it by bedtime and didn’t talk about it with his friends. That’s quite different than his other reactions, like for Mary Poppins Returns, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, Teen Titans GO! To The Movies or a couple others where we had to distract him with shiny object in order to get him to stop talking about it.

Wonder Park is a decent enough time waster for a rainy day on TV. It’s best if you save your movie theatre money for something else this spring.

Win passes to the Atlanta sneak preview of Missing Link

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I love it when our kids get pumped about the same film that we are. I heard our 9 year-old laughing as he was watching a trailer on the tablet the other week. “Daddy, when does Missing Link come out”?, he said from the other room. Missing Link, rated PG, comes out on April 12 and it’s from Laika, a studio that can do no wrong in our book. The technical precision that started in Coraline is continuing with Missing Link and we’re giving away family four-packs of tickets to the sneak preview in Atlanta on Saturday, April 6.

I’m a fan of stop-animation. I admire the precision and passion that go into each movement, as well as, the uniqueness that it displays on film. Granted some standard animated films get close to that feeling, but something is just not quite the same. I’ll also submit that a bad script can’t overcome the beauty of the how it’s created. To that end Missing Link look s like it’s set up Laika for a solid, entertaining film.

The trailer has some nice physical gags to entertain younger viewers and the dialogue appears to be sharply written with just enough dry humor to touch older audiences. Of course, all of this is mute until audiences can see the film and render a verdict for themselves. The sneak preview of Missing Link in Atlanta is Saturday, April 6. It’s in the morning and we’ll let winners know exactly when and where the showing will be. Hint: It’ll be around midtown…., so it’s centrally located to wherever you are around the ATL.

To enter, just leave a comment in this post or RT the tweet. We’ve got a handful of 4-packs to give away.

Win passes to the Atlanta sneak preview of Missing Link https://t.co/Uvs440s4LG, #MissingLink, #Atlanta, #sneakpeak pic.twitter.com/TLD6TfBI1C
— Daddy Mojo (@Daddymojo) March 22, 2019

Attend Google’s Digital Village at Atlanta Science Festival on March 23

Google, Atlanta, Atlanta science festival, piedmont park, mathapalooza, googles digital village,

For the past two weekends we’ve been attending events put on by Atlanta Science Festival. We learned about this event when the boys and I went to Dragon Con last year and each event that we’ve been to has been incrementally better-with each event being great fun. Atlanta Science Festival ends on March 23 with Exploration Expo. As part of Exploration Expo, Google’s Digital Village is happening to allow kids a hands-on coding workshop.

Exploration Expo is Saturday, March 23 from 11-4 at Piedmont Park. It features hundreds of STEM-focused activities, all which are family friendly. There will be interactive booths from local organizations, universities, clubs, companies and more. You’ll see a 3D printer, touch a python (the animal, not the computer….) and do most anything to help minds of all ages question, grow and appreciate science.

Our 9 year-old has loved all of the events that he’s been to this year. After the first event, appropriately called Mathapalooza, he asked, “Daddy, can I skip school tomorrow to do more with the science festival”? Alas the answer to that question was no, but I’m certain that he’ll have a blast at Exploration Expo and Google’s Digital Village.

You do need to RSVP to attend Google’s Digital Village, but like almost all of the events at Atlanta Science Festival, it’s free! So, RSVP quickly because admittance is limited to 30 people per session and there are only three sessions that day, at 11, 12:30 and 3:00 p.m. Parents and guardians do need to be present. Google’s Digital Village is recommended for middle school students. However, if you have a computer curious or even savvy, middle to upper elementary school student it’s worth checking out.

Also at the workshop is Google’s gravity-powered race car. A gravity powered race car, as Marty McFly would say, “That’s heavy”, closely followed by Doc Brown questioning the problem with Earth’s gravitational pull in the future.