Marvel The Amazing 1000 Dot-To-Dot is laser focused fun for teens and up

“I used to love dot-to-dot puzzles”, the lady at the bagel place said as she sat next to me. I felt just a bit juvenile as she said that and opened up Marvel, The Amazing 1000 Dot-To-Dot Book so that she could see one of the incomplete puzzles. “Wow, does everyone need a magnifying glass to do them or are we just old”?

It eased my ego and aging eyes to let her know that even our 7 year old needed a magnifying glass when he tried to do one. He tried to do it with his toy magnifying glass. I tried to complete one of the puzzles with that, but then realized that I needed to go full Monty and buy a proper magnifying glass.

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Best all age comics for December 7, #NCBD

With the holidays and Christmas just around the corner this is a great week to think about some presents that kids will really want. OK, sometimes what they really want isn’t what they receive. Specifically we’re talking the best all age comics for this week and call it good timing or effective marketing but there is a great variety of graphic novels that will appeal to kids 5 and up.

For girls aged 5 and Barbie is back! I know, she really never went anywhere, but her presence in print has certainly been lacking until now. Papercutz has released Barbie: Puppy Party, it’s an original graphic novel that ages 5 and up will enjoy. The younger ages will need some helping reading along, however the content will run parallel to their play time activities and toys. Self-guided readers 7 and up will be able to read by themselves to Barbie: Puppy Party. Here is the shocker, Barbie: Puppy Party is not just about being pretty and playing with puppies. There are lots of great messages in the book and it approaches them in a non-preachy way that would otherwise be a turn off for kids.

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Also in humor comic books this week Adventure Time #59, Duck Avenger #2 and Looney Tunes #234 are out. Another very enjoyable and quirky graphic novel for ages 9 and up this week is Boom Box 2016 from Boom! Studios. These are all new stories about being in a band, playing music and being a teen. If you’re a fan of Lumberjanes, Goldie Vance, Archie, The Backstagers or more this is your jam. It’s priced at $9.99 and has 44 original pages.

Mickey Mouse also has a new graphic novel out this week, Mickey Craziest Adventures. It has Mickey meeting aliens, dinosaurs and other strange creatures, The art is this book is other-worldly and looks, psychadelic,  strange and not at all Disney, all the while having the charm of a classic Disney cartoon. This won’t be good for a 5 year old, but your 8 year old who needs to be reminded that Mickey Mouse is cool will dig this.

One of the best all age comics this week is Jim Henson Storyteller Giants. Archaia, an imprint of Boom! Studios has put out a couple of these series, Dragons and Witches both had stunning art, magical stories and reminds older readers that art is a part of the comic book world. Part 1 of this 4 part mini-series is about a giant is treated by a village that has no reason to fear him and his quest to improve his reputation. There is a fair amount of reading in this comic and its dreamy, middle Earth appearance won’t immediately attract ‘superhero’ kids. However, this is fabulous on many levels and ages 12 and up who want something fresh, original, beautiful should check this one out.

Western fans are left out in the cold when it comes to comics. This week come inside and read Varmints. It’s an original graphic novel about a pair of siblings traveling the old west looking for the man who shot their mother. This is drawn in a way that comic strip fans will gravitate towards and is very thick, with a longer story than you might imagine. It’s also refreshing to read something set in the past, without a hint of technology. Ages 12 and up will like this simply due to the fact that there is some very mild violence.

The great and funky music in the podcast is from Polyrhythmics. Where is my closest comic book store? Have you heard the podcast-if so, a review on iTunes, Google Play, Podomatic or Soundcloud would be appreciated.

 

Humor

Barbie, barbie puppies, papercutz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Superhero

Action/Science-fiction

awake by Action Lab Entertainment

A familiy guide to hiking Amicolola Falls

Amicolola Falls is the tallest cascading waterfall in the southeast and has some spectacular hiking all around it. The area is also exceptionally family friendly. A family guide to hiking the Amicolola Falls is quite simple as there are trails for any level hiker. There is a staircase that takes you all the way up, a wooded trail or a combination of them to switch up the view.

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The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home, a book 100% unique to you

The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home is the sequel of sorts to The Little Boy Who Lost His Name. In that book the child woke up and couldn’t find their name. They go to all manner of places finding letters that spell their name until at the very end they’ve spelled out-thus eventually finding their name. This book is similar, but is much more enjoyable that its predecessor for a number of reasons.

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The Epik Learning Tab fails to measure up to its name

As the parent to two kids who love (and need) technology we do love tablets. We were provided with an Epik Learning tab to review and have the kids try it out. In the house we have a couple iPads, a Kindle, Amazon Fire and a kid’s Samsung tablet that stopped working about a year after we reviewed it. In short, we have a couple tablets and know how kids (and adults) will utilize them. So how did the Epik Tablet stack up?

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The Big Book of Superpowers and Girl Power-big, fun, great

When it comes to superheroes books and young readers the options can be somewhat limited. Capstone does do a bang up job on their books, but for the most part they are geared to children that can already read. For ages 3 and up we found some great, one would almost say super books that will engage, educate and entertain them. From Downtown Bookworks, The Big Book of Superpowers and The Big Book of Girl Power are two oversized books whose bright, vivid colors will attract kids, while their content will keep kids glued in for a number of reasons. These are all DC heroes and this is a great chance for kids to get a primer on them, especially since these characters do not have consistent appearances in an all age monthly comic book.

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PJ Masks toys and crafts for the kids: review

Hey, we’re a PJ Masks Ambassador and received these for review. All thoughts are our own. Ode to be a pre-k through early elementary school student. It’s a magical time of the year for toys and games, general merriment and occasional not listening to parents. We were sent some cool PJ Masks toys and activities to play with. Here’s what our 5 and 7 year old thought of them.

First up we look at “To The Cat-Car” book. It’s a board book that has Catboy giving a guided tour of the Cat-Car. As the pages are thicker, it accommodates the wheels on the bottom of the book that provide the imagination some spark for kids to create their own Cat-Car.

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Celebrate the holidays & Christmas with these shows on Netflix #StreamTeam

We’re part of the Stream Team for Netflix and were compensated or provided goods for this. All thoughts are our own. A holiday episode can be an obligatory thing for a television series. It can also serve as cliffhanger episode to lead viewers to the second half of the season. The episode doesn’t even need to mention Christmas. Sometimes it merely alludes to Christmas while directly referencing the greater ‘holidays’.  We found a sampling of some of our favorite holiday or Christmas episodes from cool television series that are currently on Netflix.

How I Met Your Mother, Season 2, Episode 11-How Lily Stole Christmas

How I Met Your Mother was a great show. The show wasn’t good for elementary school kids or lower middle school students. However, for audiences older than that it’s a very funny, laugh out loud show about friendship, relationships and life. Everyone has the character that they identify with the most and for many it’s Lily. Actress  Alyson Hannigan certainly had a fan base that followed her from Buffy The Vampire Slayer and this particular episode really highlights her comedic skills.

New Girl, Season 2, Episode 11-Santa

This episode from New Girl is one that I still remember years after originally seeing it. “Santa” also represents a great entry from what, for us, was the best season of the show. It’s funny, slightly bitter sweet and has things that any teen and older will identify with.

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