August 1, 2017 | Daddy Mojo

Educational options for elementary school kids on Netflix

We’re part of the StreamTeam for Netflix and were compensated for this post-all thoughts are our own. With school starting for the vast majority of students in the United States let’s take a look at some of the education options on Netflix for elementary school aged kids. These are all shows that either of our 5 or 7 year old kids could watch. Some of them skew younger, but we’ll detail the ages and why it’s good for them.

Brain Games

Brain Games is for the older elementary school kids. There is nothing wrong with the content for younger kids, it’s just all education. This originally aired on the National Geographic Channel and is about the power and mystery of the mind. It’s fascinating because it has various optical illusions that you know where the answer should be, but people (and you) make the incorrect decision.

Ask The Storybots

How do airplanes fly? How does night happen and more are discussed in this very cute show for young elementary school viewers or younger. It’s hosted by digital characters with the assistance of various animation and is very cute. It’s funny stuff that will engage young viewers into learning something even when they just want to relax.

Continue reading Educational options for elementary school kids on Netflix

Force Friday II starts September 1 and it’s bigger than an Endor moon

Force Friday II kicks off at ALL Disney Store locations across North America on Sept. 1 and with it the launch of new products inspired by Star Wars: The Last Jedi! That’s all the new ships, droids, characters and scenes that you’ll discover in Star Wars: The Last Jedi in movie theaters later this year. Unite with fans around the world in the battle against the dark side Sept. 1-3 in an augmented reality treasure hunt at Atlanta-area Disney stores.

Continue reading Force Friday II starts September 1 and it’s bigger than an Endor moon

Best all ages comics for August 30

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Each Wednesday is new comic book day when multiple dozens of new comics arrive at stores. In that group are some of the best all ages comics. The comic books vary from week to week, but there are always some great ones out there. To find your closest comic book store just do a search for comic book store locator and one can easily be found within about 20 miles of you. The week the new all ages comics include some My Little Pony books (just in time for the film!), Go Go Power Rangers, a Star Wars Little Golden Book and many others. Here are five of the stand out best all ages comics and graphic novels that are out this week.

Big Nate: A Good Old Fashioned Wedgie

Big Nate is a classic comic strip. It feels odd to say that it’s ‘classic’ when new comic strips are still being published. However, all you need to do is read a series of them to realize that Big Nate is timeless and ages 7 and up will double over with laughter. The latest collection is Big Nate: A Good Old Fashioned Wedgie.

Mighty Jack and the Goblin King

From Little Robot to Zita the Space Girl author Ben Hatke has created some fabulous worlds that engage and entertain young readers. His space traveling hero is back, Mighty Jack and the Goblin King is the second book in this series. If you liked Mighty Jack then you’ll really love The Goblin King. It’s even better than the first one because it’s got a faster pace, has lots of action and still manages to develop Maddy, Jack and Lilly. This is kind of graphic novel that you can read to any age child.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens graphic novel

I would’ve loved this if I was a kid. Star Wars: The Force Awakens graphic novel is available for the first time in the U.S. This is BB-8, Kylo Ren, Rey, Finn and others in a very good chapter in the Star Wars cannon. It’s a graphic novel that has the great Disney animation that one expects from Disney XD and will translate to new, as well as old fans.

Harvey Hits

Casper the Friendly Ghost, Richie Rich and other classic Harvey Hits characters are back in their own monthly series. It was initially published in the late 60’s and this new, updated version from Joe Books is one of the best all ages comics for ages 5 and up.

Doctor Who Lost Dimension Alpha

We’re fans of the Doctor Who comic, but I can understand why some people are hesitant to jump in to it. Many of the stories are ongoing and folks don’t want to enter the story in the middle. For those people; Doctor Who Lost Dimension Alpha is for you, as well as, the Whovians who like time and space. This is a mini-series that has a danger so large that it requires the help of many doctors. Doctor Who does take some reading, so this comic book will be OK for ages 9 and up.

The music in the podcast is from Polyrthmics and can be found over at Free Music Archive.

Humor

Superhero

Action/Science-fiction

Caveboy knows its audience and clubs them into fun submission

Do you know of a boy who between the ages of 5 and 8? The Caveboy book series from Bloom & Read has your number. Bloom & Read is an imprint from Bloomsbury that is aimed at newly independent readers. These are the young readers that are beyond sight words and reading chapter books, but want to read longer chapter books that make them feel like the big kids they are. The Adventures of Caveboy and Caveboy is Bored! are just the ticket for those first or second grade boys that want to read.

Continue reading Caveboy knows its audience and clubs them into fun submission

JapanFest Atlanta 2017 needs to be on your go-to family events

It’s great to see the growth that JapanFest Atlanta has had over the past years. Our children have enjoyed the festival for the past three years and the older they get the more fun they have. This year will be the best yet for them because in the past year they’ve both discovered Pokémon. It’s because of that we’ve accepted that Anime Village, in addition to our previous year’s go-to fun spots will be frequented.

Continue reading JapanFest Atlanta 2017 needs to be on your go-to family events

A tale of two Masters from HBO Asia Films that martial arts fans will dig

I understand why people don’t enjoy martial arts films. However, I really enjoy them and also fully acknowledge that even when they’re bad, they can be very good. HBO has two Blu-Ray DVD releases out now that are under their HBO Asia Original Film series. Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So and Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying both have their moments and will be enjoyed by fans of martial arts films, but one of the m is more enjoyable.

Both of these films are Executive Produced by Cory Yuen who directed The Transporter and directed by Guo Jian-Yong who choreographed The Transporter films, Cradle 2 the Grave and others. It’s also important to point out that both films were filmed in Chinese, but have multiple choices for voice overs. For us the dubbing would’ve been a distraction so we watched them with the original audio track and English subtitles.

Continue reading A tale of two Masters from HBO Asia Films that martial arts fans will dig

Microsaurs: Tiny-Raptor Pack Attack is fun, action based, STEM reading

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

STEM is as STEM does and parents know that’s the path to children excelling in their education. But there are also the arts, creativity and letting your imagination go sideways that are also key aspects in making today’s students tomorrow’s leaders. So how does feeding dinosaur’s hot dogs and pizza factor into this? To answer that we need to jump into Microsaurs, Tiny-Raptor Pack Attack by Dustin Hansen and explore the small, yet large world he’s created.

Continue reading Microsaurs: Tiny-Raptor Pack Attack is fun, action based, STEM reading

New all ages comics for August 23, 2017

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

This week the new all ages comics might appear redundant, but they’re not. Some of this week’s titles have different art styles and age preferences. Namely there are two separate titles featuring Archie and Josie & The Pussycats, with one being modern and the other ‘classic’. Let’s take a look at five of the best all ages comics that are great for elementary students or older.

Archie

A tale of two Archies, three Archies actually. This week has Archie #23, as well as, Archie trade paperback Vol 4, that collects Archie issues 18-22. This is the new, modern Archie that’s more in line with Riverdale on the CW. It’s Jughead and friends in high school, with current problems and technology. This series will be of interest to grades 7 and up. For younger readers who want their Riverdale, dig into Betty & Veronica Friends Fall Digest #255. This is drawn in classic Archie style and the characters have simpler problems that usually revolve mistaken identities, petty jealousy or hamburgers. Grades 3 and will be OK for these ‘digest’ style books.

Yo Kai Watch

The art in the ongoing Yo Kai Watch comic book is manic, fun and what one would expect when looking at a typical Japanese manga. This is in comic book form, but the movement and scope of it seems larger than the 32 page package it comes in. This issue takes a look at Springdale in the future and readers in second grade and up will like this. Yo Kai Watch is one of the go-to all ages comics for younger readers that want to delve into ‘Pokémon’ style fun.

Mickey and Donald

Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in their own one-shot book. At $5.99 this one if for the fans of the two of Walt Disney’s great creations. It’s 48 pages of new-to-you stories about a duck and a mouse. These stories might have been previously printed in another language and this is their first time in English.

Jim Henson Storyteller Giants

Jim Henson Storyteller are a series of mini-series comics from Boom Studios! In the past they’ve also done some on witches and now Jim Henson Storyteller Giants is available in graphic novel. It collects all of the individual comics that made up the Giants storyline which featured giant stories from all over the world. If you have a Middle Earth kid (or are one) then you’ll like this. The art style is such that it won’t attract younger readers, say eight or younger, but those 10 and up that like fabulous art with great stories will want more of this.

X-Files Earth Children are Weird

What if Mulder and Scully were children and went camping in the backyard? The shapes would all be aliens, strange noises would be monsters and snack time would consist of out of this world chips. X-Files Earth Children are Weird is a children’s book about these two, re-imagined as kids, simply letting their imaginations run wild. This is a book that’ll be great for ages 5 and up.

Humor

Superhero

Action/Science-fiction