Daddy Mojo, Author at Daddy Mojo

Exploring Ghibliverse: The Ultimate Guide to Studio Ghibli

Ghibli is so ubiquitous that I accidentally started typing this in Ghibli font when I was trying to save the document under the same name. Yeah, there’s a font named after the iconic animation Japanese studio. Studio Ghibli is a filmmaker’s animation studio, much like bands that paved the way for other bands, such as The Gits or Pylon. Ghibliverse: Studio Ghibli Beyond the Films, books, music, manga and more-a guide to a magical world is a reference book with an opinion. It’s a research love letter featuring photographs of famous animators, hundreds of stills from movies and television shows, and dozens of images from the Ghibli Museum, showcasing an animation studio that produces work with its own distinctive style.

Ghibliverse: Studio Ghibli Beyond the Films is an accessible look at the animation kingdom.

You know the style, this book is encylopedic in its details

Don’t Draw in This Book! is finger-tracing laughs for ages 1-6

Last year, I was teaching a high school English class, and one of the students went rogue. They started drawing phallic shapes with various curse words directed at me. I know, normally one would expect that from elementary school students, but this student was special. Thankfully, their handwriting was poor and identical to the handwritten essays I asked them to do, thus, it was quite simple to confirm who the culprit was. Don’t Draw in This Book! is the toddler, pre-k and kindergarten entry point that kids need for a couple of reasons.

Don’t Draw in This Book! is an impossible to resist board book that engages kids one through six to touch, trace, laugh and learn.

The press the button series is a go-to for toddlers

Nobody 2 is good-stupid fun, for the most part….as long as you aren’t picky

What makes Bob Odenkirk so enjoyable as an action protagonist is his ‘everyman appeal’. In Nobody, the character was well-written. The first major set piece, a taut bus fight scene kicked off a nice vengeance movie that harkened to the golden days of the 1980s. The film was received so positively that it begot a sequel whose title doesn’t pull any punches, Nobody 2. Nobody 2 knows the assignment and admirably fits in the box, and does so in a manner that audiences have come to expect from sequels.

Nobody 2 is about 70% as good as Nobody, which according to the unofficial rule of action movie sequels is just below average.

A low bar is not an issue for films that embrace it

Sibling Adventures in Axolotl and Axolittle: A Picture Book for Kids

In my Venn Diagram of animals big and small I have an axolotl and a quetzalcoatlus. I know that quetzalcoatlus, according to fossil records, lived near Mexico; and that its much smaller phonetic friend, axolotl, is native to two freshwater lakes near Mexico City. Those STEM kids know what an axolotl looks like, but they’ve probably never seen one in real life. Even saying its name is fun, axolotl. It simply begs for an illustrated book like Axolotl and Axolittle.

Axolotl and Axolittle is a picture book with big, cute characters, who are small in real life, but pack a powerful punch that softly teaches amongst the laughs. .

The cuteness can not be escaped from

Weapons is a fantastically scary, head trip film for people who love cinema

Jump scares in horror movies don’t do anyone favors. They cheapen the film and make audiences prepare for a lazy scare, rather than the steady buildup that has a much greater payoff. It’s not to say that a jump scare can’t be in a horror movie, but it shouldn’t be their bread and butter. Weapons has one very effective jump scare. Weapons is a fantastic horror film. More than that, Weapons is a great film that lives in the horror realm, but also serves as a thriller with dark periods of humor.

Weapons is why you go to the movies. It’s a horror film that jumps genres, is well-written, smart and has ‘that’ factor people will talk about.

Fabulous film, utterly entertaining

Rebels, Robbers, and Radicals makes the Bill of Rights interesting, for real

I just had an Arsenio Hall moment. During his talk show, he had a catch phrase where he’d say “Things that make you go hmmmm.” As best I can remember, Hall would pause his monologue or joke and say his phrase. He wouldn’t directly state the implication that he was going for, because that’s to be determined by the audience. In my “hmmm” moment, I was reading about the Dred Scott decision. It’s just one of the multiple dozens of court decisions that are discussed in a common-sense manner in Rebels, Robbers, and Radicals: The Story of the Bill of Rights.

Rebels, Robbers, and Radicals looks at one of the simplest, yet confusing documents in United States history and makes in interesting for ages ten and up.

The nat geo effect, but with government for middle school

It’s Busy Down in the Woods Today is a poetic seek-and-find for today

Someplace, somewhere, there is a doctor’s or dentist’s office waiting for a copy of It’s Busy Down in the Woods Today. Wait, the mere thought of associating those offices with the book might put off the pre-K or kindergarten crowd. Instead, let’s say that It’s Busy Down in the Woods Today: Friends to Meet, Places to Explore and over 100 Things to Find is the rabbit hole, busy time, chill-out companion that young, manic minds need, even though they may not want it.

It’s Busy Down in the Woods Today is a seek-and-find book in Brown Bear Wood series, but offers a homespun, poetic twist for ages two to six.

There are other things to look for than a skinny beatnik guy

The Music Inside Us, a look at the life of Yo-Yo Ma, with takeaways for all

As a younger man I was always skeptical of biographical movies because you always know how they end. Since then, my thoughts on entertainment have evolved somewhat as to what makes a movie entertaining. That same qualifier has never existed for books, even when it came to children’s literature. The Music Inside Us is the story of world-renowned cellist Yo Yo Ma. It’s a safe bet most elementary school ages don’t know Yo-Yo Ma, much less what a cello is or can isolate its deep, soul searching sounds were they to hear it. As an illustrated book, The Music Inside Us is not a typical biography. Instead, it opens the book by asking a question about the purpose of music. This soft introduction works in partnership with the art that is realistic, painted, and muted in all the right ways.

The Music Inside Us: Yo-Yo Ma & His Gifts to the World is the life story of the world’s most famous cellist, but has life applications for those who are a prodigy.

The life story of Yo-Yo Ma, but with a takeaway for everyone