song of the sea

We watched this movie last night.  It is sweet, sad, and heart-warming in all the right ways.  Plus the artwork & design is mesmerizing, and the interwoven Irish folklore gives the story an intriguing layer of mystery and depth.  Definitely recommend this for anyone age 6 and up (the more melancholy and tension fraught moments provoked some anxiety in my 4 year old).

If you really love this, another great movie based on selkie folklore is The Secret of Roan Innish.

selma

My 11 year old & I went to see this movie today and I strongly recommend it. It's one of the best movies I've ever seen, however, if you are planning to bring a child to see it, please read the Common Sense Media review here ahead of time so you can determine whether you feel this movie is appropriate for your child. 

la petite souris

In my house we have been reading books about Ernest and Celestine by Gabrielle Vincent (over & over & over...)

The books are currently not in print but we were able to borrow a pile of them through our local library. If you cannot find copies at your local library, editions of some the stories are available here at Book Depository.

Hopefully, however, the new movie of Ernest and Celestine will spark a revival of these sweet books, and perhaps more will be reprinted. 

 

I watched this new movie a few weeks ago with my sons, and was not at all surprised to discover that the movie adhered neither stylistically nor thematically to the original books (except, of course, for the fact that both feature a childlike mouse & fatherly bear as main characters).  Still, the movie had a charm all it's own.

I was especially intrigued by the story element in the movie which involves mice who retrieve children's baby teeth which have fallen out.  I wondered whether this was a French tradition (similar to the tradition in other countries involving the tooth fairy) and so I did some research.

I learned that in many French and Spanish speaking countries it is indeed a mouse who comes to claim baby teeth which have fallen out.  In France the mouse is called La Petite Souris and in Spanish speaking countries he is called Ratoncito Perez.  If you're interested, you can read more about traditions around the world here, and click here to read about a museum in Madrid dedicated to Raton Perez!

And if you are craving yet more bear & mouse stories after reading this post, I recommend getting ahold of some of these books by Bonnie Becker. So funny. Love them.

Tales of the Night

In 2001, as part of the San Francisco film festival, I saw the film Princes and Princesses by Michel Ocelot.  It was utterly enchanting and I had been wishing to see it again.

Then I noticed that Mr. Ocelot has a new film, Tales of the Night; I couldn't resist ordering DVD's for both Princes & Princesses and this new film. We've really been enjoying them and they were well worth the investment (though some of the stories are intense and I'd recommend previewing them prior to viewing with children under 8.)

Reading The Hobbit

One afternoon when I was ten years old I spotted this paperback sitting on the dining room table.  It appeared to me a very grown-up book -- daunting, intimidating, inaccessible and not for me. Still, I picked it up and read the first paragraph:

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.  Not a nasty, dirty wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

Then I knew this book must be for me. I stood at the table reading through the first chapter, and then finally went to find a comfortable place on the sofa to continue my journey.

My husband and I went to see the new movie version of The Hobbit two weeks ago.  Sitting in the theater brought me back to that moment I picked up this book and stood at table reading those first lines -- a skinny ten year old on the verge of a great adventure. I've read so many other books, traveled, earned university degrees, married, had two children, experienced joys and weathered storms in my life so far, but every time I encounter those first lines:  In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit... I am still that ten year old standing at the table...

Are there any books which bring you back to that first moment?

The Man in the Moon

Over the Thanksgiving holiday we took little Mr. to see the film Rise of the Guardians.  Although some of the sequences were a little frenetic (to say the least), on the whole, we liked the movie very much.  I was happy to discover that the movie was based on a new series of books by William Joyce and immediately requested them from our local library.  When we opened The Man in the Moon (the first book of the series), little Mr. and I found ourselves transported by the beautiful illustrations and old-fashioned story which has the feel of a classic tale.

This book is a new favorite in our house -- we love it so much that I had to share it with you!

The Red Balloon

My wee Bloom is completely obsessed with balloons.  When he wakes up in the morning, often his first word to me is 'bobble,' which can either mean 'balloon' or 'bottle' and I'm not sure which he means to convey... likely both.

My brother gave my wee fellow a DVD of The Red Balloon as a gift.  It's such a delightful film, and I think the rest of us around here enjoy watching it nearly as much as the baby does.

Do you have a favorite scene from The Red Balloon?

Happy Totoro to You!

For the past year (and a half) I've been wanting to give my Little Mr. Bloom a DVD of the film Totoro as a gift, but wanted to make him his own stuffed Totoro first.  FINALLY, I have made him his own Totoro!  It's eyes are a bit wonky, but he loves it.

If you are not familiar with the movie Totoro by the director Hiyao Miyazaki, here's a trailer so you can have a peek. I think it's one of the most delightful films ever made for children...  Meditative and magical...

A photo of my sleep rumpled birthday-boy opening his pile of gifts... I kept asking him whether he would be wearing his "birthday-suit" to school yesterday, it being his birthday and all. He did not think this was funny in the least (not the first time I asked him and not the fifth time I asked!)  I thought it was hilarious...

A Bluebird Picture Lantern (and a Bluebird Story for You)

When I was about 5 or 6 my mother took me to a screening of the 1940 movie The Bluebird starring Shirley Temple, based on the 1908 play by Maurice Maeterlinck. The story is about a brother & sister, Tyltyl and Mytyl, who are sent out by the fairy Berylune into various magical realms to search for the Bluebird of Happiness. Returning home empty-handed, the children see that the bird has been in a cage in their home the whole time. When Tyltyl gives the bird as a gift to a neighbor's sick child, the bird flies away. The moral is that, ultimately, happiness can be found within oneself.

There are two scenes from this movie which have stayed in my mind all these years later... The first magical realm the children visit is a cottage where their deceased grandparents live. The children have a nice visit with their grandparents, however as they prepare to leave, there is sadness. The grandparents reassure the children that, although they no longer reside in the world of the living, as long as the children hold them in their memories, they will still be awakened to life.

The second scene I loved showed Tyltyl and Mytyl visiting a misty realm where children are waiting to be born. In this realm they are guided by a personification of LIGHT and meet a child who will be born as a new baby into their family.

I hope you find the Bluebird of Happiness in your home and within yourself... always...

Movie Night: It's all about the Pirates

In our house, we love movies, and lately there has been a fascination with all things pirate-related. Pirates, of course, are crucial to the story of Peter Pan and so it's natural that movie versions of Peter Pan would join our line-up for viewing. If you're familiar with the original story of Peter Pan then you may agree with me that the Disney version is a mere shadow of J.M. Barrie's book.

There is, however, a gorgeous live-action version of Peter Pan. If you want to track it down, it was released in 2003 and directed by P.J. Hogan (Jason Isaacs a.k.a. Lucious Malfoy plays Captain Hook.) It's truly magical...

Also in our pirate-related movie line-up are several versions of Treasure Island. Little Mr. B. & Mr. Bloom both favor this Disney version made in 1950...

And we all loved this quaint 1934 version directed by Victor Fleming. Shiver me timbers... A fine swashbuckling tale for any young scallywag.

Mother's Day

Yesterday, I chose to give my Mr. Bloom the afternoon off to take care of home projects and go for a mountain bike ride while Little Mr. B. & I went to see the movie Babies.

I cannot begin to say how much I loved this movie. The contrasts were astounding, especially in the area of hygiene. It gave me pause (and made me feel ridiculous) to think about how much I worry about such things. Mostly, it was just wonderful to spend 90 minutes watching babies do the things they do with my own little boy pressed to my side, laughing at the funny parts and sighing at the sweetness...

Whether you spent yesterday honoring your mother or reveling in motherhood, I hope your day, too, was filled with joy.

Secret of the Kells

A few days ago I took Little Mr. B. to see the movie Secret of the Kells. The animation design was gorgeous and I would highly recommend this movie, but with a caveat -- the scenes depicting a viking invasion were abstract in style but intense and scary. For younger children, it might be better to watch this on DVD (and skip the scary parts.)

One thing I wish I'd done prior to taking my son to see the movie was borrow books about the Book of Kells from the library. In this way he could have studied the art closely and understood its relationship to the story in the movie (the books are on hold for us now at the library and we'll be able to enjoy them during the rainy weather predicted over next few days...)

If you see this movie, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did...