Race to Witch Mountain

Race to Witch Mountain (2009)

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


The last thing a cab driver expects to be dragged into is a race against government organizations and extraterrestrial ships to protect two children with unusual talents. A UFO "expert" gets pulled into the mix as they race to Witch Mountain to try and find a way to protect these unusual children and explain the odd phenomenons reported on the mountain. This series was told in a trilogy spanning from 1975-1982 originally. I haven't seen the originals to compare, but the new version combines excitement with the impossible and a bit a lot of the unbelievable.

The Haunted Mansion

The Haunted Mansion (2003)

My Rating: 2 of 5 stars


Based off the Disney ride by the same title in the theme parks, this literally brings the Haunted Mansion to life. It's both twisted and tries to teach the importance of family all at the same time. As I really don't enjoy the ride, I didn't expect to like the movie either. It was enjoyable, but not a favorite by any means. A good fit for our current Halloween themed movie run with the holiday coming up.

Preschool Day Hooray!

Preschool Day Hooray! by Linda Leopold Strauss

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is an adorable little book about a day at Preschool. Each description is kept to a short and rhyming sentence with correlating picture. Well designed and laid out for small children. It's a fairly accurate description of a small child's school day too from what I can remember and have seen. My kids love their school and routine.

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The Noisy Egg

The Noisy Egg by Judith Nicholls

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


As a "Little Scholastic" book, this is made specifically for 1-3 year olds. The story is that of a mother duck making her nest and her eggs hatching. Major emphasis on all the "quacks" for the duck sounds. Perfect timing as a wellness visit gift for my son as he just learned how to say "quack" the Saturday before. Can't say the actual story or art is overly thrilling, but as a simple yet informative book for small children, it serves its purpose well.

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God Never Leaves Me

God Never Leaves Me by Shaela Luter

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book is a very short board book style about prayer and never being alone. As the title indicates, it's heavy on the faith aspect. Cute art and very short story. Not something that will go on our favorites shelf or that I see being an often request despite having a good message.

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Toy Story 2

Toy Story 2 by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This is essentially the story of the Toy Story 2 movie, just very abbreviated. It is chopped into sections, which make it possible to read it one part at a time. Given it's condensed nature, there are a lot of details that are changed or omitted to keep it a good length for a child's attention span. The pictures are the real highlight of this book, which are beautifully done.

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Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 25: Crimson Death

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 25: Crimson Death by Laurell K. Hamilton

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I used to love this series, but it has been waning for me. Several times I've considered dropping it, but I hate not knowing how something ends... except it doesn't appear to be anywhere near ending. There are so many extra characters now that just seem to take up time and space without moving things along or serving a purpose beyond filler, cannon fodder, and/or sex that it's aggravating. Eventually the story does get back into more work scenes, but Anita essentially has her hands tied from the start before even getting to Ireland, which does no one any favors when it comes to the final showdown. We even get a very brief glimpse of Asher which shows he might be coming back into the picture (hopefully in a more positive light). I originally loved Asher when he was introduced, so his character turns have been a big letdown. If anything in this book, the real highlight is the wedding talk and the improvement between Anita, Nathaniel and Damian in too many ways to count. Edward usually helps move things along in his own way, but he seemed to mostly be peripheral filler to keep place of the actual "investigation" in Ireland. At the end, I enjoyed it, but it definitely won't be hitting my re-read or favorite list.

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On the Night You Were Born

On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


We actually have this in a soft book edition that was a gift from Nana. I've seen in stores in the board book edition a lot recently. The story is a little wordy for young children, but it is sweet and my daughter loves the bears. I expect my son will like it more as a book as he grows older where now he mostly prefers turning the pages and playing with it. Luckily it is very soft and a quiet book for him to play with, so he gets free reign with it (especially as Nana bought it for him to begin with).

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Good Night, Teddy

Good Night, Teddy by Francesca Ferri

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a wonderful soft book for small children that is nearly impossible to destroy and lots of fun. The teddy bear is attached by a string that can double as a bookmark as he moves through the story to participate in activities on each page or just for your child to play with. He even has a cute little set of pajamas he can wear or put in one of his activity pages. It can also double as a quiet time book with the soft pages and lots of teddy bear play time. Both of our kids enjoy this book on their own, together, or with an adult to read the story to them. It is simple enough that they can make up their own words that stay fairly in line with the story for each action presented without aide.

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I Want My Daddy!

I Want My Daddy! by Tracey Corderoy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This goes hand in hand with the I Want Mommy! book, which is part of why we got them as a set. This time it isn't Mommy that little Arthur wants all day, but he keeps calling for Daddy. While the toy dragon is in this book again, he wears a knight costume and Daddy helps him build and play. Our little boy is all about Daddy while our girl is all about Mommy. Thought these would be great respective books for when they want to be clingy and get a good story out of it too.

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I Want My Mommy!

I Want My Mommy! by Tracey Corderoy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


We just got this from my daughter's school book fair with the other matching book I Want My Daddy! They came together in a set and are absolutely adorable. In this one, Arthur is playing he is a dragon and isn't all that impressed when Mommy drops him off at Grandma's for the afternoon. Of course it ends up to be a grand time for everyone, but he's still excited when Mommy comes to pick him up. My littles are always excited to see their grandparents, but are usually just as glad to see us come home, too. Makes for an especially cute read when one of them is having a day where one parent or the other is all that will make it better.

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Minnie: Tie Your Shoes!

Minnie: Tie Your Shoes by Walt Disney Company

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


As a book it isn't the most engaging. They do try to make it a sort of cute story while being educational. The instructional design with the built in "shoe" is adorable however, and made it an instant hit. It's the first time my daughter has really shown an interest in learning how to tie something herself, so if this helps, we're all for it.

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Paw Patrol: Ready, Set, Write! ABCs & 123s

Paw Patrol: Ready, Set, Write! ABCs & 123s by Spin Master

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a wonderful learning to write, read and problem solve book. Not only does it have practice pages with writing lines and examples as guides, but it also incorporates games (connect-the-dot, mazes, counting, etc) to teach children how to write, read, and understand letters and numbers. As a bonus, this is a dry erase book, so it is entirely self contained and reusable!

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Disney Princess: Five Enchanting Tales

Disney Princess: Five Enchanting Tales by Various

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was my daughter's choice as her book from Nana for her school book fair. It isn't just a book, but a collection of 5 early reader "step into reading" books (mostly stage 2 with 1 stage 3 story). While some story collections share short stories from their respective movies that you otherwise would not know, these stories come straight out of the films. Stage 2 readers are ideal for preschool-grade 1 children, and stage 3 for grade 1-3, so it's ideal for those early years. Heavy on the illustrations and lighter on the wording, as is typically best for those ages. The stories included are:

1. The Princess & the Frog: Kiss the Frog
2. Cinderella
3. The Little Mermaid
4. Tangled: Outside My Window
5. Brave: A Mother's Love

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Disney Baby: Look At Me!

Disney Baby: Look At Me! by Walt Disney Company

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was baby brother's book from Nana for the school book fair. It takes classic Disney characters, shows various expressions, describes those expressions, and has a little mirror for the character's face on the opposite page for baby to imitate. It's adorable and engaging. What baby doesn't love mirrors?!

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If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I remember enjoying this book when I was a child, so when I saw it for a jaw dropping price in the school book fair catalog, I had to add it to our library. There is only about a sentence per page or description of a picture if there happens to be more than one on that page (rare, but there are a few). Between that, an amusing story that just builds on itself in a roundabout way, and cute illustrations, it's no wonder this is a fun kid's book for many ages. My daughter is only in preschool and was in giggles by the end of the book.

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Care Bears: Halloween in the Fa-Boo-lous Forest

Care Bears: Halloween in the Fa-Boo-lous Forest by Rick Reising

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was another school book fair pick; just in time for Halloween. Being a Care Bear kid's book, it has big pages of pretty illustrations with short paragraphs to tell the story on each page. More wordy than a lot of learning to read books, but still good for small children. As a lot of it is dialogue or description, it's easy to paraphrase if needed to keep the story whole and still interesting for short attention spans.

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The Kissing Hand

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


We first read this book with my daughter's preschool class for her first day of school. It was adorable and the kids obviously enjoyed it. When we found it for an excellent price in her school book fair flyer, we couldn't resist adding it to our library. The kids even made their own "kissing hands" that they carry to and from school with them. It's an adorable story and craft idea to help little ones ease into being away from parents for the school day.

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Luke Cage

Luke Cage (2016)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


We briefly saw Luke back in Jessica Jones, which makes sense given their future connection if the story follows the comic lines at all. Another Netflix hero pick up, they are doing wonderfully with their Marvel adaptations. Supposedly these will all be brought together for the Defenders, which is still in the same MCU as the Avengers. There are also references to events happening in the Avengers movies as well as seeing a familiar face from the Daredevil series. Iron Fist is also promised to join the line up, leading to some high potential on Netflix/Marvel end for another promising arc to their current film set.

Barbie Shorts 6: Dreamtopia

Barbie Shorts 6: Dreamtopia (2016)

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars


According to the packaging, this short is a Walmart exclusive. The art style for the dreamscape is vastly different from any of the other movies or artwork so far. The characters, however, are largely familiar, especially during their normal interactions when they aren't dreaming. I guess the changed art style does help differentiate where the story is taking place, though the imagination portion is so much different that I'm not sure there would be any need to worry about confusion regardless. A cute piece that mostly focuses on Barbie's younger sister, Chelsea. The other two sisters are nowhere to be found.

Barbie Shorts 5: Land of Sweets

Barbie Shorts 5: Land of Sweets (2013)

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This is a cute short that ties in with The Pink Shoes. Unfortunately, it's only available in German. So while it is cute, I can't understand a word of it. Would be nice if at least it had been released on the website with a subtitles option or something, but no such luck.

Barbie Shorts 4: A Camping We Will Go

Barbie Shorts 4: A Camping We Will Go (2011)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Better than the My Scene shorts as far as animation style goes. This brings us back to what we traditionally expect of the Barbie series. Nature doesn't always agree with the best laid plans, but the Roberts sisters make the best of it and end up having a rather interesting hiking experience, complete with luxury camper.

My Scene 3: Goes Hollywood

My Scene 3: Goes Hollywood (2004)

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


When one of the girls lands an unexpected lead part, the rest get left in the dust of her new fame and boyfriend time.... or is he? Turns out Hollywood might not be the fun it's cracked up to be and true friends are always just that... friends. The same flat animation style as the other My Scene shorts and also number 3 on the Barbie short films list. Can't say it'll be a fave any time soon.

My Scene 2: Masquerade Madness (2004)

My Scene 2: Masquerade Madness (2004)

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Like the first one, this is also listed as another Barbie short and completely different at the same time. This time, it's all about a fashion show and surprise birthday party. The art style is a little hard to get used to as the characters appear too thin, too tall, and very flat overall. There's none of the dimension rampant in the movie line.

My Scene 1: Jammin' In Jamaica

My Scene 1: Jammin' In Jamaica (2004)

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Literally the only reason we watched this is because Barbie is one of the main characters and my daughter currently loves her. Online, it's listed as one of the first Barbie short films, but it's actually part of another series called My Scene. While Barbie is certainly recognizable, and we do see some of the names as her friends or rivals in future films (like Delancy is Princess Charm School), there is nothing else really tying it in with the Barbie franchise. The art is totally different, and even her boyfriend is different - no Ken in sight. It's interesting, but not really anything big.

Barbie 34: A Puppy Chase

Barbie 34: A Puppy Chase (2016)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This movie takes place after The Great Puppy Adventure, with the same character design and the same pups which you meet in the first movie. Unlike most other Barbie movies however, Barbie keeps messing up in this one... a lot. It's only by some rather strange chances and a lot of intervention from other people (and animals) that the group ever gets out of the woods (literally) and back to Chelsea's dance competition.