November 30, 2016
Little Blue Truck's Halloween
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The kids love the original Little Blue Truck, so of course they asked for the holiday editions. Didn't expect it to be so big, especially since our original story is in a traditional board book size. Still, it is sturdy and feels durable, which is great for small children. Even the lift flaps (something else I didn't anticipate) feel thick and sturdy. Each spread finds a new animal in costume and lifting the flap reveals which animal and their sound as they travel through the farm. Of course the ultimate costume for the Halloween party is the Little Blue Truck. Cute and simple book for children.
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Disney Princess: Sweets & Treats
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This is an overly simplified children's book, making it best for the younger ages. Each page spread features a simple one line description of a different princess's Halloween celebration. The book also included Halloween party invitations and stickers. Cute for my little girl who loves the Disney Princess line. Not sure that it's something my son will grow to like as well.
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Barbie: Happy Howl-o-ween!
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was one of my daughter's Halloween picks for her school book club. She loves Barbie, so of course she was all over this. It does come with 2 punch-out masks and a couple of sticker pages, which are also big hits. The story is all about Barbie and her friends setting up and going to a Halloween party. Of course it wouldn't be a Barbie book without the happy ending, though for once it's her friend in the spotlight and not Barbie herself. Cute and simple for a children's book.
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The Berenstain Bears: Learn About Strangers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Very wordy if you're thinking of reading to small kids. My 4-year-old got it pretty well, but she also really wanted story time, so she was paying attention. I doubt my son (1.5 years) would have any interest in it beyond tearing at the pages. It does teach an important lesson though, which is why we bought it as both of our kids are very much friendly social butterflies. Hopefully this will help teach them caution as they grow.
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Little Critter: Just a Special Thanksgiving
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
We realized we were sadly lacking in our Thanksgiving book collection with only one lone turkey book, so we picked this up from my daughter's school book fair catalog. While the concept is cute, I'm not sure the title fits as it seems to be more of a story of one disaster after another results in a community Thanksgiving dinner at the end. We'll see if this ends up being one to go back to or not in the future.
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Cuddles for Mommy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
There are definite highs and lows in this book. Haine pulls off some great things and the brothers actually being brothers is a definite plus. The whole shooting bit and living as a threesome after the wedding is rather disconcerting given Shiizun's prior obsession. It's also a little strange that they'll all live in Toguu house despite Takanari becoming the heir for Kamiya house. This whole series is rather strange and convoluted overall. Cute, but definitely strange.
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November 28, 2016
Kubo & the Two Strings
Kubo & the Two Strings (2016)
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
The story is okay overall, but not as engaging as I'd hoped from the rave reviews. It deals fairly well for a children's movie with what could be considered some fairly heavy concepts. Really though, I just can't get behind this style of animation. It looks strange and even more artificial to me, adding a layer of distance that keeps me from really feeling like I'm engaging in the tale. So why it may have a good message, I can't see this as one I'll be wanting to watch again in the future.
November 14, 2016
Equestria Girls 4: Legend of Everfree
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The girls go on a camping trip expecting to be far away from anything magical. This time, we don't even see a tail end appearance of the original Twilight. All the girls focused on this round or originally from this same reality. There is, however, hints of more power seeping out from Equestria and into this world. This is proven even more with the discovery of the crystals and the girl's new enhanced powers. It wouldn't be an Equestria Girls adventure without the Mane Six ponying up to save the day.
November 13, 2016
Trolls
Trolls (2016)
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I remember troll dolls being popular when I was a kid. Plain ones, one that clipped onto pencils, ones in costumes, and ones with jewels as their bellybuttons. Even dug them out of my parent's attic when we started seeing the movie previews for my daughter. While she loves the little McDonald heads that go on the colored pencils, she wanted nothing to do with the old ones I used to play with. Of course, this lead to her wanting to see the movie.
The movie itself is surprisingly good. Trolls are not something that I was ever overly fond of, so I wasn't really prepared to either like or hate the film. While the overly abundant happiness mixed with song and dance can be a little irritating, mostly at first, it ends up on a rather cute and happy note with an assortment of simple lessons sprinkled in. I do have to admit, DreamWorks might not have nearly the quantity of animated films that Disney does, but what they do have is largely made of decent to good quality materials and enjoyable on some level for pretty much everyone.
November 4, 2016
The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross 11
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
There are definite highs and lows in this book. Haine pulls off some great things and the brothers actually being brothers is a definite plus. The whole shooting bit and living as a threesome after the wedding is rather disconcerting given Shiizun's prior obsession. It's also a little strange that they'll all live in Toguu house despite Takanari becoming the heir for Kamiya house. This whole series is rather strange and convoluted overall. Cute, but definitely strange.
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The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross 10
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Okay, Shiizun is turning into a creep, but apparently has some reason for it if the backstory is any indication. Still majorly wrong, but it's nice to know more about the source of all this. Haine just can't seem to get out of the cross hairs in any of this. It's surprising how many people, even inside the family, are wanting to help the two, but somehow everything still falls apart in the end. It's getting a little predictable in that way.
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The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross 9
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Well, so far this is the best installment as far as how people react and pull together as well as moving the story along at the same time. Even Shizusama and Takanari appear to be working together of sorts when it comes to Haine. Haine learns a lot about her family, but they also appear to learn a lot about each other too. It's good to see she has so many people pulling for her, especially for how lonely and isolated she appeared to feel before. It would seem that her story is finally winding towards a positive ending if that is indeed how it will end.
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The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross 8
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Well now. Just when things are falling into a rhythm and improving all around, another wrench in the system. Haine's family is apparently more of a mess than anyone thought until now. We also get a bit of backstory on her parents, which is interesting as it mirrors what Haine is going through a lot. Takanari also finally stands up to Shizumasa for the first time, which is interesting. Haine appears to bring out a lot of unexpected emotions and reactions from the people around her. Hopefully for the better.
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The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross 7
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Looks like it's Ushio's turn to get some back story and growth this time around. Once again, everyone is focusing their emotions on Haine. Another set of bad timing for Takanari too, just when it looked like he was making progress. With this much trouble in such a small group of friends (and council members), it's a miracle they aren't constantly breaking down or fighting all the time... oh wait, they basically are. How do the every actually manage to sort anything out this way?!
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The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross 6
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Haine is stepping up in some ways and running away in others. She needs to come to terms with things with the twins, but it is good to see her standing up for Takanari and trying to help her friends grow. It would appear she managed to impress her father in the process, which would be saying something from the little (and not so great) things said about him. One thing is for sure, everything and anything seems to be set on making this relationship difficult for Haine and forcing her out of her comfortable little shell trying to hide who she was.
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The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross 5
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Well that backfired spectacularly. Definitely starting to feel bad for Takanari. Still can't decide what I think of Shizumasa for a variety of reasons. Haine is both predictable and surprising in her naivety and steadfast focus on her love. However this is going to play out, no one can claim it's boring. This is one series you really do have to pay attention to or you're going to miss a lot of details.... and those details are likely important later on.
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The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross 4
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I'm not sure who to like or dislike at this point. "Shizumasa" seems to be caring yet incredibly cruel at the same time, which is odd to wrap your head around. The "shadow" (as that's apparently the only alternate name given at the time) is becoming nicer and more of a character you want to like, but then ends up being intentionally cruel (though for understandable reasons that only he knows). Makes you kind of feel bad for everyone and yet wonder at their cruelty and stupidity at the same time. Cinderella's ball sure didn't turn out as planned.
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The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross 3
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Just when you thought things couldn't get any more confusing. Now we get to meet Haine's siblings, one whom apparently didn't even know about her or at least failed to make the family connection and the other who acts as if she hates her all in a vain effort to protect her. Rather twisted family dynamics if you ask me, not that it's saying much given the behind the scenes in the "emperor's" home. That's a whole other mess waiting to explode.... though it does seem that things at school and with the current pairing are getting better at least.
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The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross 2
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
We finally get a little bit more of Haine's backstory here, even going so far as to when she was "sold" and how she first fell in love with Shizumasa and how he "saved" her. There's still a lot of friction happening at school though, though the "emperor" appears to have softened up a bit if the way he protects Haine is anything to go by. Reading this still feels a bit like watching a train wreck. I know a little bit about what to expect from my friend's talking about the series, but I can't for the life of me see how they're going to get to that point. Should be interesting to untangle.
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The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross 1
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I finally sat down to read this as it's one of my friend's favorites and still can't tell what I think about it. Haine seems incredibly naive and yet unpredictable when it comes to her advice and strength. On the other hand, her "emperor" seems about as friendly as rock, though he does have a few surprising moments. The rest of the council and Haine's friend are all a mixed bag of tricks as well with varying degrees of hyper activity, melancholy behavior, or outright insanity. How this group manages to get anything done just might be the biggest mystery of all.
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