Daddy Mojo

Bruce Lee: The Dragon Rises review

Bruce Lee: The Dragon Rises is an improbably comic book to love. It takes a kinetic art form, martial arts, and attempts to reproduce that in a 2D medium. Additionally, its title character was killed in the early 70’s and this comic book takes place in 2012. How could a fun and engaging story about Bruce Lee occur when it takes place decades after his death? We were first introduced to the comic as part of Free Comic Book Day. Darby Pop Publishing has a portion of the first issue out as an issue on FCBD on May 7. That sneak preview led us to get the first issue of Bruce Lee and it is fabulous, fun and entirely appropriate for all ages.

Continue reading Bruce Lee: The Dragon Rises review

STEM Robot Mouse Coding Activity Set review

I dread the day when our children’s homework gets too difficult for me to assist with. That was my fear with STEM Robot Mouse Coding Activity Set by Learning Resource. I do not know how to code and here we have a children’s coding activity set. Do not obsess over the term ‘coding’ in this case. On the first page of the directions it states that all coding does is transforms information into a form that a computer can understand. After a few minutes with Colby, the programmable Robot Mouse adults will understand how to make it work and so will your children.

Yes, after showing our 4 year old how to program Colby to find the mouse he could do it on his own. It’s not because the activity set is simple by any means, it’s as complex as you want to make it as you create mazes of all sorts of turns, cubby holes and more for the cheese to hide in.

Continue reading STEM Robot Mouse Coding Activity Set review

The $1 Summer Movies at Regal Cinema for 2016 #SummerMovieExpress

The Summer Movie Express 2016 schedule for Regal Cinema is out. This is a big deal. The $1 summer movies happen twice a week at your local Regal Cinema location. The movie times might vary from theater to theater, but the movies will remain the same-and every single one of them is great for kids 6 and older. Each film will be rated G or PG. Do we take our 4 year old to some PG films? Absolutely, he’s even seen a majority of the PG films in this summer’s lineup. However, gauge for yourself to see if your child would be OK with each individual film.

Continue reading The $1 Summer Movies at Regal Cinema for 2016 #SummerMovieExpress

New all age comics for April 13, 2016

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

This week in all age comics is fresh, closely followed by girl power. By that I mean when I look at the new comics for young readers I see lots of titles that are either brand new to the medium or ones that they’ll know from television. Some weeks the new releases have a good number of classic titles-and while there are a couple older characters in books this week they’ve all got a new feel. There are also some cool comics that speak more to girls with strong characters, action, independence and intelligence.

Wait, intelligence in a comic book? Oh yes. In science fiction and action this week Doctor Who (the 9^th Doctor) issue 1 in his own ongoing series starts as he masters time, space and teaching folks about English quips. Jeremy Whitley does a great job with the Princeless series and this week the Princeless Make Yourself mini-series comes out. This is issue 1 and tells the story of five female dwarves whose job it is to protect the others from dragons, just in time for a massive pink horned dragon to be seen over the mountains.

Sonic the Hedgehog #280, Star Wars Little Golden Book Force Awakens, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Animated Adventures #9 and many others also come out.

In humor the second issue of Action Cat and Adventure Bug, Spongebob Comics #55, Scooby Doo Where Are You? #68 and others hit. One of note for those that like Lumberjanes is Golde Vance. This is a mini-series about a young girl who wants to be a detective, but factor in some of the charm that Boom! Studios has, the creators Brittney Williams and Hope Larson and this is one series that you’ll want to check out. The links will take you to TFAW where you’ll save up to 20% on your comics. The music in the podcast is from David Szesztay over at Free Music Archive.

Humor

Science fiction/Action

Ultimate Spider-Man Web Warriors, Contest of Champions #1

For young readers who are looking for a low impact, non committal, fun way to read all age comics the mini-series is your best bet. Ultimate Spider-Man Web Warriors: Contest of Champions #1 is the start of a mini-series that’s modeled after Marvel series that airs on Disney XD. This is still Spider-Man, but it’s the all age version that is easily approachable to younger readers, say ages 5 and up.

In this mini-series our web-warrior is minding his own business (as he usually is), when he’s tricked by Scourge, Abomination and Beetle to a meeting. A brief battle ensues when Spidey swings around the city and slams into a massive force field that someone has placed the entire city. He’s quickly teleported to The Collector’s Ship where he learns that a sibling game is going on between him and his brother called the Contest of Champions.

Continue reading Ultimate Spider-Man Web Warriors, Contest of Champions #1

Looney Tunes #230 review

I get it now. More accurately, my children showed me how to get it. We looked at a Looney Tunes comic a while ago and I was not a fan. There was too much white space on the edges, the stories were too short and there was just something off that led me not to embrace it. Leave it to a 4 year old to show me the light. Specifically it was the light on Looney Tunes #230 and why it’s such a hit for all age readers.

Our 4 year old has an average vocabulary, but he knows what he likes. He likes Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny, among other cartoon luminaries. However, having just been to Six Flags where he was inundated with all things Bugs, Daffy, Tweety, Foghorn and more, he’s in a Warner Bros. state of mind lately at the comic book store.

Continue reading Looney Tunes #230 review

Learning Resources STEM Simple Machines review

STEM is the buzzword that parents hear in regards to their child’s education. It stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. These are the building blocks for the jobs that will be in demand when they’re entering the job force in 15+ years. STEM Simple Machines is a learning activity set from Learning Resources with 10 various STEM things to get their young minds thinking about these things.

Continue reading Learning Resources STEM Simple Machines review

Secrets of the Seven: The Eureka Key review

Somewhere between the written version of National Treasure, The Game, Goonies and Sherlock lies Secrets of the Seven: The Eureka Key. This book is intended for middle school, each chapter is about 12 pages long and it’s the best ‘children’s’ book we’ve read this year. It manages to take the nuggets that we loved in similar books and combines them into a full-fledged multi arc story that will run through seven books.

Continue reading Secrets of the Seven: The Eureka Key review