The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Overview:

Even today, Gertrude Chandler Warner's classic Depression-era story of Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden -- four hungry children who transform an abandoned boxcar into a home -- fascinates us because, regardless of age, we all long to be on our own. This 60th Anniversary Edition of Warner's classic sports a bright new cover and many new features but retains L. Kate Deal's original silhouettes.

My thoughts:

This was one of my favorite books when I was in elementary school.  My mom found this 60th anniversary copy at a sale somewhere and bought it for me to read with my own children.  Last night we finished reading it together, but I have a feeling they may read it to themselves at some point as well.  It really is a book that holds up well, I had no idea when I read it years ago long ago it was written.  I can't recall if I read any of the other books in the series or just the first one, but I may check them out with my children.

Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny work together to create a place to live, have enough food and complete chores without having an adult caretaker.  Their parents have died and they believe that their grandfather is a grumpy man that they don't want to live with.  They find an abandoned boxcar and transform it into a house, find dishes and other useful items at the dump, create a swimming hole by damming a portion of a creek, and Henry finds a doctor to do odd jobs for for money.  The children all pitch in and work together and there is an absence of fighting.  Would children who were working together to survive really not fight or is that just how the author wrote the book.

I remember how this book captured my imagination and made me want to be one of the Boxcar children.  It was a nice daydream.  I recall writing my own story about the children.  I have no idea what ever happened to that story, my guess would be that it was thrown away or lost, but who knows, it could still be packed away in a box somewhere!  Gertrude Chandler Warner worked as a first and third grade teacher for years and even worked with publishers to develop book series that were able to hook reluctant readers and were simple enough to present few problems.  If you've never read it before I definitely recommend it as a step back to a simpler time.

Product Details

Library Binding: 163 pages

Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company; 60 Anv edition (September 2002)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0807508489

ISBN-13: 978-0807508480

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Movie Review

One of our local movie theaters does a free movie program for kids in the summer.  For eight weeks on Tuesdays and Wednesdays they show an older kids movie.  Each summer we go to at least one, sometimes more depending on what our schedules are like.  This week the movie was The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  I saw this movie when it came out last year with my two older children.  It was the first 3D movie I paid to see with them, we saw Tangled with free passes prior to that.

Last year in the spring I listened to all seven of the Narnia books on audio with my children.  They were really excited to see the movie then since we had read the book.  It was fun to see it on the big screen again.  My biggest complaint about the movie is that Prince Caspian, now King Caspian, is still young and goes on the voyage with Lucy, Edmond and Eustice.  In the book Caspian is an old man.  My complaint is the break with the story not the actor, I enjoyed having Ben Barnes in the movie.

I think that the movie did a good job with the special effects and the characters.  Now that so much time has passed since I read the book any discrepancies have faded from my memory.  That actually allowed me to enjoy the story more.  It wasn't quite right for my younger two kids, but for elementary age children I think it is fine.  The voyage is done well as is the growth and change the characters undergo during the course of the movie.

I wonder if they plan on making any of the other books into movies.  It seemed like the end of this one was setting it up for the possibility as Eustice's mother calls upstairs that Jill Pole is there to visit since they are the two that go together on the next adventure.

The Smurfs Movie

‎1hr 26min‎‎ - Rated PG‎‎ - Animation/Family/Scifi/Fantasy‎

Director: Raja Gosnell 

Cast: Hank Azaria, Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Sofia Vergara 

 

Overview:

The Smurfs make their first trip to the big screen in Columbia Pictures'/Sony Pictures Animation's hybrid live-action and animated family comedy, The Smurfs. When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the Smurfs out of their village, they're forced through a portal, out of their world and more into ours, landing in the middle of New York's Central Park. Just three apples high and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way to get back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down.

 

My thoughts:

Last summer when I saw posters for this movie I was really skeptical about how it would be and then when the commercials for the movie and McDonald's started showing I was so sick of the theme song but I was actually pleasantly surprised by the movie.  They answer the questions of why Gargamel can't find the Smurfs even though they share the same forest and why Smurfette is the only female Smurf.  Smurfette being the only girl always bothered me a lot when I was younger and watched the cartoon on Saturday mornings.

 

The Smurfs learn about themselves and being self sufficient in NYC and they also manage to teach a couple a bit more about themselves.  Papa Smurf sees a vision before they are sucked by a vortex into NYC and he does his best to help the rest of the Smurfs navigate their way though an unfamiliar place.  There is plenty of action and plenty of laughs.  My children loved it and there were a lot of things that caused the whole theater to erupt in laughter.

 

While we watched the movie in 2D I can see how 3D with this one might have really added to it, especially in the scenes with the water and the vortex and the flying with birds in their hidden forest.  I went into this movie thinking it was going to be a slog for me and it really wasn't.  Now to try to collect all 16 Smurfs from McDonald's.  We have 6 so far!

The Hobbit or There and Back Again by J. R. R. Tolkien

Overview

hisked away from his comfortable, unambitious life in his hobbit-hole by Gandalf the wizard and a company of dwarves, Bilbo Baggins finds himself caught up in a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon.

My thoughts:

I've never read a Tolkien book before.  I've seen the Lord of the Rings movies and had thought more than once that I would pick up one of the books to read, but it never happened.  Since I thought part one of the movie for The Hobbit was coming out in December I thought it would be perfect timing to listen to this on audio.  I was inspired by Shelia over at Book Journey who posted a review of the audio a little while back.  It turns out part one isn't until December 2012 and part two is December 2013 so I guess there was no rush. 

I wanted to love this book, I really did, but it never reached that point for me.  It felt overly long at times with a lot of needless repetition of facts.  Also, the names threw me.  I should have pulled out our paperback copy to glance at the names in because for the whole story I thought the dragon's name was Smog and it is really Smaug.  I kept thinking the smoke from his nostrils and fire breath would look like smog, but I don't even know if that term was used in 1937 when the book was written.  (I could look it up I suppose, but I didn't realize the publication date until I looked that up just now either.)  The names of the dwarves were so similar with their rhyming pattern that I wasn't really sure who was who or if it really mattered.  My children seemed to be able to keep track of them and follow the story better than I could at times.  We'd get into traffic or I would be looking for a turn and realize I stopped listening and now I was at a bit of a loss as to what was going on.  Luckily they could usually fill me in.

The idea of Bilbo going on a journey had some excitement to it.  I know they showed bits and pieces of his journey in the other movies when he is explaining how he came to have the ring.  Although I then wondered why it took Golum so long to start tracking the ring to get it back since as I recall quite a few years pass before Frodo ends up with the ring.  I guess that will be added incentive to read the next book.

I can see how this magical land could really occupy one's imagination.  I loved the first Lord of the Rings movie so much I actually saw it twice in the theater which I never do.  One thing that bothers me about these stories is the lack of female characters.  Except for a wife here or there women were pretty much absent from the whole story.  Maybe it was the time it was written in or the audience that was intended, but I am afraid that not all stories have come as far as I would like to see in the years since this was written. 

Most likely I will either read or listen to the rest of the books, but I feel like I need a break from this world for a bit to visit somewhere more cheerful and fun for a while before jumping back in.  My daughter requested a chance to  listen to music in the car for a while because the story sometimes gave her a headache.  Perhaps it was the songs!

WONDER WOMAN #604 Written by J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI Art and cover by DON KRAMER & MICHAEL BABINSKI

Overview:

This is it! The mysterious leader of the paramilitary organization finally confronts Wonder Woman as she continues learning what happened to the Amazons and why reality is askew! J. Michael Straczynski’s epic tale keeps rolling on!

My thoughts:

So finally some answers although they lead to even more questions.  Diana and the Burning Man have their confrontation.  She finds out a bit of his back story and receives some aid from her mother and the lasso of truth.  I've never been really all the big on violence or fighting which makes it odd that I even like any comics since they all seem to involve a lot of violence or action.  I am going to have to explore some other characters at some point to see if they are all the same.  My love of Wonder Woman started with the TV show and Underoos.  In first grade I got two comics as part of my birthday present.  So buying the comics is a bit of a nostalgic trip for me, although the ones I read then seems a lot different than the ones now!

Diana has glimpses of an alternate reality where she looks like she did for all those years and I don't know if theses are supposed to be memories or are really a different reality, what would have happened had her homeland not been invaded and her mother killed.

The big question for me is who made the deal with the Burning Man that had him hunting down and killing all the Amazons.

WONDER WOMAN #603 Written by J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI Art and cover by DON KRAMER & MICHAEL BABINSKI

Overview:

Diana discovers that the men out to kill her and the other surviving Amazons are only the tip of the iceberg...but can even Wonder Woman survive her battle with the horrific creatures called the Keres?

My thoughts:

There were shades of Percy Jackson in this one as Diana visits Hades, meets Charon, meets Cerberus and battles Keres.  Diana battles Keres on her plane that the others cannot see and is sucked into Hades.  In each of these issues Diana is learning more about herself and her abilities, like her ability and affinity with animals. 

The Lasso of Truth makes its reappearance as well.  I wonder if Diana knows what it is and what it does as she might not remember it from childhood.  I am also trying to get a handle on how old she is supposed to be.  She was taken from her island 18 years ago as a child, but I couldn't tell from the pictures exactly how old she was supposed to be when she was taken away.  I must admit I am starting to wonder about the man who has been tracking her and searching for her.  he reminds me of one of the characters from the Watchmen (which I have but have not read or watched the movie yet either for that matter).  It is fun catching up on these issues!

Wonder Woman #602 Written by J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKIArt and cover by DON KRAMER & MICHAEL BABINSKI

Overview:

J. Michael Straczynski’s epic Wonder Woman tale continues! In this issue, Diana takes the battle for her heritage to the enemy and discovers that the war may be over before it’s even begun! And she’s on the losing side...

My thoughts:

In this issue Wonder Woman is being reborn to fight for her people and be a queen as her mother was before her.  We see a bit more of the man who was in charge when her mother was killed and their city was destroyed.  A military group has discovered a group of Amazon's staying in a temple in Turkey that isn't even on the maps so they go to destroy them.  Just as the fight had fire on the island, so does the confrontation in the desert.

Diana is questioning the gods and Artemis in particular on why they abandoned the people.  As is often the case with gods the answers she gets is that it is happening as it should but not necessarily as the Amazon's wanted it to.  Diana has a lot of anger about the past and the present, but is starting to become a warrior again.