Entertainment | Page 15 of 89

Nobody Hugs A Cactus, tells kids everyone gets grumpy and that’s OK

This is an ode to the surly children. Those kids whose moods are more often than not, negative. These are the dour children who want to be happy, but don’t want others to want them to be happy. They want to have friends and be loved, as long as it’s on their terms. Picture a pint sized Louis Black, albeit with fewer words and absolutely OK for children and you’ve an idea of the main character in Nobody Hugs A Cactus. Hank is the cactus who behaves like the prickliest human you’ve ever met-and believe me, you’ve met people like him before.

Nobody Hugs A Cactus is an illustrated book that demonstrates that everyone gets grumpy-and that there’s usually a friend around to help you out.

Hank simply hangs out in a pot on his window sill all day. Nothing really happens in front of him, after all it’s the middle of the desert. When something does pass by like a tumbleweed, jackrabbit, tortoise or cowboy he’s more apt to yell at them. At best he’ll raise his cacti voice and tell them that they’re on his property and to get off it ASAP.

That is until a very lanky cowboy walks by and suggests that he needs a hug. “It’s too bad nobody hugs a cactus”, he says as he saunters off into the sunset. For record we say something similar to our 7 year-old when he acts this way, except ours is slightly more condescending. “Is someone feeling grumpy?”, we’ll say when a certain someone needs a nap or is feeling a bit too big for their britches.

After the cowboy leaves Hank’s first comment to a wandering lizard is to immediately proclaim that he does not need a hug. When the second creature, this time an owl swoops by, Hank is slightly more amenable to the fact of hugging someone. After a couple more moments Hank is in full on hug mode, but can’t get anyone to give him the time of day. That is, until a cup gets caught up the in wind, which then gets stuck to his prickly face. He’s unable to remove it due to his dinosaur arms, so Rosie the tumbleweed swipes it off his cactus mug when she passes.

This unleashes a torrent of kindness from Hank. He grows a flower to thank her and waits patiently for her to blow by again. Does our formerly curmudgeon cactus ever get that hug?

Carter Goodrich does the art and story for Nobody Hugs A Cactus. He’s designed characters for Brave, Ratatouille, Despicable Me and many others. Hank is a cactus with personality. Initially all of that is negative and it’s expressed in a variety of tans and browns to perfectly convey the atmosphere of the American southwest.

Hank evolves throughout the story. Initially being the grumpy get-off-of-my-lawn plant, to the erstwhile friendly cactus who is in search of a hug. It’s in this friendly period that Hank’s emotions are best displayed. He’s still a relatively tiny cactus, but the minute movements that his face and tiny arms tell speak more than the words on those pages. At times Hank reminds me of teenage Groot and the perfection that both of these characters reflect the age or mood they’re going through.

Nobody Hugs A Cactus isn’t just for children that can be grumpy or crabby, because everyone can be that given the wrong circumstances. This is the go-to book now for our 7 year-old. We read it to him at night and let him handle the sentences that he’s comfortable with.

Scratchie: A Touch-and-Feel Cat-Venture with board book bite

Great board books leave older readers grinning when they finish them. The purpose of a board book is to entertain those young readers with introductory vocabulary, bright colors and durable pages, just in case they get chewed on. Scratchie: A Touch-and-Feel Cat-Venture succeeds in all of those categories and one more. It does the rare thing for a board book in allowing older readers (see: the adult reading the book) to grin when they finish presenting the book to the young audience. The result is a board book with just a little bit of bite.

Let’s be clear, I’m not talking ‘bite’ as in societal commentary or controversial parenting opinions.

Scratchie starts out talking directly to the human who is reading the book. The cat invites you to scratch along with them, first off the doormat and then climbing the wooden table that leads to the kitchen counter. Along the way young crawlers to pre-K kids can scratch the surfaces that present themselves on each page.

As cute as cats can be, they sometimes lead to trouble, which is what happens to Scratchie. Towards the end of the book our cat takes things one scratch too far and makes a big mess, just before the human in the book comes to break up the party. Suddenly Scratchie is at a loss of what to do. All that our cat can do is lie on her side and offer for you to pet her.

See, it’s just a little ‘bite’. However, this is just the sort of non-saccharine board book that some parents clamor for. Every bit of Scratchie is fabulous for children. It’s a board book that will allow their emerging senses to touch, chew and turn every page with glee. It also has that ever so slight gleam in those last two pages that accept and expect a mess, or just a little chaos to happen. And that is just the spirit that some new parents need to know is headed their way as said young reader grows.

The Multiplying Mysteries of Mount Ten adds up to middle school fun

Sadly it was our 9 year-old son who clued us into the pun that is clearly in the title of this book. “Daddy, it’s a book about a kid who accidentally goes to a math camp instead of art camp and it’s called The Multiplying Mysteries of Mount Ten. Mount ten?”, he said. Oh, mountain, Mount Ten, math camp, this is a clever pun that kids (or at least my kid) got before I did. I need some coffee.

The Multiplying Mysteries of Mount Ten, middle school book, elementary school book, Krista van dolzer, math camp, art camp

The Multiplying Mysteries of Mount Ten reads like a summer camp based mystery that’s at home with Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys or some of their more modern contemporaries. As an adult, those two franchises are the first ones to pop into mind because this book blends the two and can be enjoyed by boys or girls equally. Granted the lead character in Mount Ten is Esther, a 12 year-old girl. However, the book is filled with enough gossip, mystery, adventure and upper elementary school conspiracy theories to keep anyone that aged involved. There are also the puzzles.

Esther was supposed to go to art camp, but somehow her stepdad gets the reservations mixed up and she’s going to Camp Archimedes. It’s also raining, storming so hard that the roads are closed due to flooding just after they arrive. This is some great weather for a mystery.

This camp is renowned for their puzzles. Some of the puzzles are challenging and there’s one that’s so dastardly that it’s never been solved. Set among this competitive background are a couple of disappearing people, some folks that the kids can’t trust and the huge mountains that frame the camp.

Those readers in upper elementary through middle school will enjoy The Multiplying Mysteries of Mount Ten. Think of those insane theories that this age can come up with. If you pass that house after 9PM without humming snakes will pop out from the ground. A murderer used to live in that house and you can still see their face in the kitchen window. These are the absurd urban legends that live in the imaginations of ages 9 and up and this book is right at home with them.

The disappearances that happen in the book and their reasons won’t resonate with older readers. However those younger readers will swear up and down that they’ve had friends who have gone missing like that too. At which point you, as the adult can challenge them to do one of the math riddles that the books posits.

We couldn’t solve the riddles in the book. However, author Krista Van Dolzer has a degree in Mathematics from Brigham Young University and kids (like ours), will certainly try to solve them. If they’re like ours they’ll get caught up with the pacing of the book and end up not solving them; but they’ll enjoy the book as a lively, fun book that’ll make them smile.

Thank you For My Dreams, boiler plate gratitude for kids and families

Look them in the eyes please. Our kids do not like it when we say that to them, but they need to hear it. It’s what they should do when they speak to someone or when they say thank you. Aside from being an outstanding Oingo Boingo song, gratitude is something that can be difficult to express, either because we’re not used to saying it or think that the occasion may not really merit it. Thank You For My Dreams is by HSH Prince Alexi Lubomirski and the book began as a simple way for his young boys to say, surprise, thank you.

The young one had a nightmare and Lubomirski was calming him by reminding him to say ‘thank you’ for the things that he was thankful for. There’s their dog, cookies, family and many more things. Within a couple of minutes he was asleep again, but the list of things that the elder Lubomirski was thankful for kept growing. From that list a book was born so that they-and everyone else would never be at a loss for a list of things to thankful for.

The book is presented in contrasting two or three colors on each page with it being broken down into morning, day and night. There are some sight words that younger readers will be able to navigate on their own. What each page and its listed ‘thank you’ has in common is that they’re short and easily digestible.

It’s a way of letting younger readers know that it’s OK and that everyone has these feelings or thoughts. Sure it mentions thanking ‘you’ for warm clothes, music and other physical things. What resonate more with younger readers are those vague aspects of life, such as laughter, frustration, dreams and wonder that kids might not realize that they need to navigate.

Our 7YO is like that. He is the only one who gets frustrated in school. He is convinced of this. Of course, adults know that he’s just one of hundreds of thousands of kids that get frustrated in school, but to him, he’s the only one. Thank you for the emotions that allow us to realize when we’re frustrated.

Thank You For My Dreams is a feel-good book that defies sarcasm or ill will. Sure, you may think of a pop song or two with those words in its chorus or lyrics. However, after skimming through a couple of pages in the book you’ll be charmed by sublime or rarely thanked things that you’ll be thinking of tonight. To make this book even more appealing, all of the proceeds from its sales go to a humanitarian charity called Concern Worldwide.

The Angry Birds Movie 2 is one that kids will enjoy….for a moment

Our 9 year-old loves going to the movies. He’s a lot like me in that respect, it’s a combination of the relaxation of the film, getting a snack or relaxing for a couple hours. He is almost at the age where he’s able to discern an entertaining movie from a good film. To that end he’s been really excited about seeing The Angry Birds Movie 2. It is what every elementary kid we know is talking about and the reviews have been favorable.

The Angry Birds Movie 2 improves upon the original, but not by much and that’s not saying a lot. Ages 7-9 will enjoy it.

That is, they’ve been favorable if you look at them and then read the review all the way through. The Angry Birds Movie 2 is actually good. It’s the rare film that improves upon the original, and more quotes are out there to talk about the movie. For us this film wasn’t as bad as the first one, which was just slightly better than The Emoji Movie.

So, to that end, The Angry Birds Movie 2 does improve on the original. The film is loaded with jokes, so many jokes that it’s an eventuality that you’ll crack a smile at least once during the movie. Another thing that stuck out for us was its use of music. There dozens of instances of popular song snippets being used to set up scenes. My wife did nudge me when they played The Final Countdown, AKA, the greatest song ever. I forget what scene the song set up, but the :20 of the song was outstanding.

Adults are not the key audience for The Angry Birds Movie 2. For most people over 11 the film will be instantly forgettable. On the way back home I asked the younger son (7YO) if he liked the film. He answered yes and the prattled on about which bird was the funniest, his favorite scene and much to my chagrin, nothing about The Final Countdown. His older brother said that he liked the film, but couldn’t remember one detail about it.

That jibes with what we saw in the movie theater. Our 7YO was laughing out loud and having fun. His older brother was mildly amused and eating popcorn. I suspect that the elder one was there just for the snacks in hindsight.

The plot in The Angry Birds Movie 2 is about a newly discovered island that seeks to crush the red and the black birds. In writing this it’s hard to believe they actually made a first movie about two groups of birds who are out to destroy each other. While this sequel hints at something bigger and better, a la, Minions style, it’s more likely that all of these birds on the big screen will wind up like the Dodo.

Summer matches the season the best of all possible ways

In children’s literature a book is only as good as its illustrations and layout. Summer by Cao Wenxuan with illustrations by Yu Rong is a great illustration of a book that is more than the sum of its parts. Summer starts out with dreamy, pencil-like illustrations of a savannah and the typical creatures that you’d see there. An elephant, lynx, jackal, rhino and others all coexist in the heat. The opening pages of summer match the slower pacing of the season perfectly. As the book goes on the continued heat shortens the patience of our characters and speeds up the pace of the book. The result is a slow build of a book that pays off with reader’s smiling due to the story, its graphic design and colors.

It’s a testament to musical artists when their releases take on the personality and feel of their title. Alice in Chains did this with Dirt. That release is a benchmark in varied pace grunge that made dirt something you didn’t mind hanging out with. Summer does this too, except it manages to do it at the peak of the day in an already inhospitable area. This book feels hot and this is one bit of heat that you won’t mind feeling.

All of the animals are hot. There’s not much shade and even fewer trees to provide said shelter. Sometimes it’s the bigger animals that win the break from the sun and other times it’s the small animals that can sneak into the nooks and crannies of the tree. But, everybody has their breaking point and even the non-anthropomorphic animals in Summer get short at each other when it gets too hot.

It’s right about here when they all see a father and son walking across the arid grassland. They notice that the shadow of the much taller father is shading his son. All of the animals realize that between all of them they have a variety of sizes and could probably do the same thing.

This is where the layout of the book seals the deal and delivers the payoff. The first page is 1/6 with a lowly lynx providing shade to a mouse. The next sixth of a page has the jackal giving shade to those two. Other bigger animals join the shade train until they’re all much cooler, when a cloud floats by and provides relief to them all.

It’s a book about the heat of summer, combined with a lesson about sharing with other, as well as being patient. OK, that last one isn’t too much of a lesson, but kids will enjoy looking at the art, reading the poetry and deciding which animal is their favorite. The text is simple enough for second graders to read by themselves. There are some sight words for emerging readers to practice on and that age will love the animals and final pages where they provide shade for one another.

The other thing about Summer is that it feels like it could be part of a series. Granted that’s due to the fact that we know something happens after summer, but if Wenxuan and Rong are able to produce as high a quality tale for fall, winter or spring we’d be all in.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold, too much nostalgia in the backpack

I’ve never seen an episode of Dora the Explorer. I was familiar with her talking backpack, can-do attitude and educational elements through pop culture, but missed watching that period of Nickelodeon on TV. Because of that, I’m not brining any memories or baggage, be them good or bad to this review. The film reminds peoples about the difference of a film being good, entertaining or both. As a film, it’s entertaining, but it’s not very good, yet, I didn’t dislike the film either.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold is rated PG and has the action, mystery and humor that elementary kids want to see. This incarnation of Dora has her as a teenager in high school and not the 7 year-old that audiences remember her from on television. That was a wise move as it opens up the film to many more people who would not have accepted a CGI Dora. This fact certainly also saved them some money when it came to production costs.

To adults the film borrows heavily from Indiana Jones. It doesn’t matter which one because there were traces of each film in Dora and the Lost City of Gold. The soundtrack in the film was good, but also felt borrowed from those films. The only thing missing was Dora saying “snakes, why did it have to be snakes”, to make the inspiration more transparent.

Dora grows up in the jungle with Diego until they’re about seven years-old and then he moves to Los Angeles. She stays there for 10 more years until her parents have to go searching for a lost city, supposedly made of gold.

The advertising for the film did an excellent job. It’s the sole reason why a nine year-old who has never seen Dora wanted to see the film. It does bill itself as a very kid friendly Indiana Jones, albeit with a backpack and monkey best friend.

The kids enjoyed the movie well enough, but it didn’t leave an impression on them. When I asked them if they liked the film they both said yes. When I asked them what they liked about it they couldn’t say anything and there were no laugh-out-loud moments or action sequences that kept them on the edge of their seats.

For me the film was forgettable, but one that I really couldn’t dislike. Part of that is due to Isabela Moner who portrays Dora. She’s enthusiastic, packed with energy and makes the formerly 2D character her own. The other reason is Eugenio Derbez. He’s a manic comedian with fabulous facial expressions that lights up just about anything he’s in.

Ultimately Dora and the Lost City of Gold is a missed opportunity. It’s certainly full of charm, but not enough to be memorable. The film seemed lost between wanting to establish nostalgic connections with existing fans and creating an older story line that would allow it to demo up. In the end, it’s Tomb Raider lite, very lite, that will be entertaining for deeply nostalgic high school students and elementary kids.

All age comic books for August 14

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This is a great week for all age comic books. The 500 pound gorilla in elementary school graphic novels returns with their latest book. Dog Man-For Whom The Ball Rolls hits books stores and is guaranteed to be all that elementary school readers are talking about this week. Resistance is futile and kids will love this series. Slightly older readers in middle school and up will love Science Comics Cats: Nature and Nurture. This ongoing series from :01 First Second books takes a non-fiction look at various subjects and makes them entertaining and fun to read. Some cool all age comic books this week include Star Wars Adventures Annual, Usagi Yojimbo, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and more.

Are you new here? Check out the grading system that will hook you into exactly what ages the book you’re looking at is enjoyable for.

Pre-K: those crawlers, toddlers and early walkers 2-5

E: Anyone in elementary school will enjoy this book.

LE: Lower elementary readers who are 4-8 will enjoy this book.

UE: Upper elementary readers are those who are 9 and up.

M: M is for middle school, those readers that are 12 and up.

H: H is for high school and you won’t see much of that here.

Humor

Dog Man For Whom The Ball Rolls, E, M

Dog Man, For Whom The Ball Rolls is one of the best all age comic books of this week.

Mickey Mouse TPB Quest for Missing Memories, M

My Little Pony Spirit of the Forest #3 of #3, E, M Uncle Scrooge Colossal Coin Calamity, M Superhero Amazing Spider-Man #27, UE, M, H Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #10, EU, M, H Go Go Power Rangers #22, M, H

Marvel Spider-Man Steals the Show, Pre-K, LE

Spider-Man Steals the Show, great for pre-K through early elementary

Miles Morales Spider-Man #9, UE, M, H

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #47, UE, M, H What is the Story of Wonder Woman? UE, M Action/Science-fiction Adventure Time, UE, M, H

Dunkirk, M, H

Dunkirk by Sam Glanzman, great for middle and high school readers

Marie Curie, A Life of Discovery, H

Marie Curie, Life of Discovery is great for middle and high school readers.

Powers in Action #4, E

Science Comics Cats, Nature and Nurture, UE, M, H

Science Comics from :01 First Second has some of the best graphic novels out there. Cats will educate in a soft sell, informative way that allows readers to have fun whilst doing so.

Star Wars Adventures Annual 2019, E, M Usagi Yojimbo #3, UE, M, H