Week 8 of the Ivy and Bean Blog-A-Bration!

It’s week eight of the Ivy + Bean Blog-A-Bration and we’re giving away a paperback copy of book eight in the series, Ivy and Bean No News Is Good News. And like last week, we’re also giving away 3 sets of Ivy and Bean Mini Notes. And we’re finally ready to reveal the Super Secret Really Cool Prize that will be part of the Ivy and Bean Prize Pack:

Welcome to the “Hotel Transylvania”

The Hotel Transylvania is an oasis of sorts. Founded by Dracula himself, it’s a resort where monsters can lose their cares and have fun among people who love them; instead of among people who’d stalk them with pitchforks and torches. It’s the first feature directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, a television stalwart whose credits include Dexter’s Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls.

Beautiful Dreamer: Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty”

Disney’s Sixteenth Animated Feature — 1959
Sleeping Beauty, or rather Princess Aurora (or maybe you know her as Briar Rose) has been given new life as one of the Disney Princesses (trademark symbol most definitely here). She’s the princess with long blonde hair and pink dress. My daughter has a Disney Princess snow shovel with her picture on it. That’s one broad product line. Why three names? The character is born and named Princess Aurora in the Disney film, based on a 17th century story La Belle au bois dormant, (The beauty asleep in the wood) by Charles Perrault, later interpreted as Little Briar Rose by the brothers Grimm. Disney uses “Briar Rose” as her alias when she goes into protective hiding as a peasant girl.

Ivy and Bean Blog-A-Bration Week Seven? Heaven!

It’s week seven of the Ivy + Bean Blog-A-Bration and we’re giving away a paperback copy of book seven in the series, Ivy and Bean What’s the Big Idea. And like last week, we’re also giving away 3 sets of Ivy and Bean Mini Notes. AND during week 9, a Grand Prize Winner will be chosen from all of the previous winners to receive:

We're Part of the Hello Fall Cash Giveaway!

Welcome to Hello Fall $1000 Cash Giveaway

Happy Home and Family and Jenn’s Blah Blah Blog together with the most amazing group of bloggers are bringing you once again another FABULOUS event where one very lucky reader will win $1000 cold hard cash!

Books We Love: “The Templeton Twins Have an Idea” by Ellis Weiner

Book Review and Author Interview
When I was a kid, I loved vintage Bugs Bunny cartoons, mostly because Bugs was sarcastic in what seemed like a grown-up way. As I read The Templeton Twins Have an Idea, Ellis Weiner’s first children’s book in a series for Chronicle Books, I was transported back to my own childhood, laughing out loud at Weiner’s clever send-ups of … well, everything. My husband kept asking what I was laughing at. I found myself reading aloud to him—a lot. Your delighted kids will read aloud to you, too.

Book Her, Gail! Dealing With My Own Reluctant “Reader”

This is one of those good news/bad news stories. The good news was that my four-year-old daughter Julia was developing an interest in all sorts of media: tv, movies, and apps. And whether the media was educational or entertainment, it was fun encouraging her to talk about the messages she got from the media she was beginning to really love. The bad news is that her interest in books nearly disappeared.

Ivy and Bean Blog-A-Bration - Week 6!

It’s week six of the Ivy + Bean Blog-A-Bration and we’re giving away a paperback copy of book six in the series, Ivy and Bean Doomed to Dance. And like last week, we’re also giving away 3 sets of Ivy and Bean Mini Notes. AND during week 9, a Grand Prize Winner will be chosen from all of the previous winners to receive:

Disney-Pixar’s “Finding Nemo in 3-D”: Go, Fish!

Disney-Pixar’s Fifth Animated Feature – 2003 (Original Release) 2012 (3-D Release)
About a year ago, Disney announced it would re-release a collection of its most popular animated films in 3-D. This seemed an easy decision owing to the success of their recent re-release, The Lion King in 3-D. The public could soon see a 3-D version of Beauty and the Beast (January 2012), Finding Nemo (September 2012), Monsters, Inc. (January, 2013) and The Little Mermaid (September 2013). Having already seen the re-release of The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, I admit it was great seeing those wonderful films on the big screen again; but the 3-D conversion didn’t enhance the experience. If anything, 2-D characters would sometimes appear to be paper-thin cutouts in a distorted 3-D world. As a big fan of (especially) Beauty and the Beast, I would pay to see the 2-D version of the film on the big screen, just so I could share it with my daughter. I didn’t need the 3-D “improvement.”

It’s the “Century of the Child” at New York’s Museum of Modern Art

Exhibition Review by Maggie Hames
In 1900, Ellen Key’s book Century of the Child predicted that the 20th century would see dramatic (and welcome) changes in the life of children. Progressive thought regarding children’s rights, development, and well-being refocused society in the new century. New York City’s Museum of Modern Art has taken Key’s work as a jumping-off point for an extraordinary exhibition that is well worth your time and attention.

The Ivy + Bean Blog-A-Bration Continues!

It’s week five of the Ivy + Bean Blog-A-Bration and we’re giving away a paperback copy of book five in the series, Ivy and Bean Bound to be Bad. And like last week, we’re also giving away 3 sets of Ivy and Bean Mini Notes. AND during week 9, a Grand Prize Winner will be chosen from all of the previous winners to receive:

Apps We Love: “Franklin Frog,” “Splash Math,” and “Fish Hooks”

I’ve just been hanging around the fishpond, trying to will summer from ending. But it’s no use. I’ll be back teaching by Friday and my little girl starts preschool on Monday. Ouch. I’m going to ease the jolt of the new school season by lingering pondside with a trio of apps that are leap-out-of-the-water clever.

Putting On the Dog: Disney’s “Lady and the Tramp”

Disney’s Fifteenth Animated Feature — 1955
The opening theme music to Lady and the Tramp is a full-blooded love song, “Bella Notte.” This love story happens to star dogs in all their simple and joyous honesty. As Josh Billings wrote (quoted at the top of the film), “In the whole history of the world there is but one thing that money can not buy … to wit—the wag of a dog’s tail.” To wit and to woo, as upper crusty cocker spaniel Lady is memorably wooed by the Tramp, a mongrel literally from the wrong side of the tracks. We meet him as he wakes up in a refuse heap at a train yard. The story is set in an earlier, quainter era. The opening moments of Lady and the Tramp show a horse-drawn sleigh similar to the “Once Upon A Wintertime” sequence in 1948’s Melody Time.

Ivy + Bean Blog-A-Bration Week 4!

It’s week four of the Ivy + Bean Blog-A-Bration and we’re giving away a paperback copy of book four in the series, Ivy and Bean Take Care of the Babysitter. And like last week, we’re also giving away 3 sets of Ivy and Bean Mini Notes. AND during week 9, a Grand Prize Winner will be chosen from all of the previous winners to receive: