childrens

Disney’s Ponyo DVD/Blu-ray Review

- brandy3

Synopsis:
Walking on the beach near his home, a five-year old boy named Sosuke (voiced by Frankie Jonas) finds a beautiful goldfish trapped in a bottle. He releases the tiny creature and, sure that she is no ordinary fish, names his new friend Ponyo (Noah Lindsey Cyrus). As Ponyo and Sosuke grow closer, she reveals to him that she is the daughter of a powerful wizard (Liam Neeson) and a sea goddess (Cate Blanchette), and magically transforms herself into a real human girl. But by crossing from her watery world onto land, Ponyo has created a dangerous imbalance in nature. As the moon begins to draw closer to the earth, sea levels rise and a giant tsunami threatens to destroy Sosuke’s home. Ponyo’s father marshals all his might to find his missing daughter, as the two children embark on an adventure of a lifetime to try and save the world.

Bonus features(on Blu-ray disc):

  • The world of Ghibli
  • Meet Ponyo
  • Storyboard presentation of the movie

 

****I never heard of Ponyo before receiving this dvd, but I thought it would be a great way to introduce my kids to something new.  The beginning was a little slow and hard to understand, but then came together. A boy catches a goldfish and then looses it, while the fish is magic she decides to become human  to befriend the little boy.  Her turning into a human sends the ocean off-balance and a huge storm starts, with a major Tsunami,  Panyo starts to get sick, and goes back into the ocean. Where everything goes back to normal. and Ponyo gets to live on land. This movie was very different from any Disney movie i’ve seen.  It’s a good movie just a little hard to understand until half way through the movie.

Retail: $29.99 for 2 disc dvd & $39.99 for Blu-ray.

Release date: March 2, 2010

Running time:103 minutes long

My rating:7

Disclosure: I did not receive any compensation, a product was provided by Disney for my review.

 

Hurray For Huckle DVD Review

- brandy3
Cover Image - Hurray for Huckle!: The Best Outside Fun Ever
There are plenty of mysteries to keep the Busytown friends very busy! Missing playground items, a mysterious note at the Busytown Bank, an empty swimming hole and a flying saucer are only the beginning of the mysteries Huckle and the Busytown friends try to solve with some outdoor fun!
****Growing up I loved to read Richard Scarry books. My favorite characters were Lowly Worm and Huckle Cat, now I can share it with my kids on DVD. They thought the mysteries were so much fun and even pretended on their own. This dvd features 6 mysteries for you and your child to enjoy.  It was nice to be able to Busytown, something I grew up with with my children.
Release date:2/9/2010
Retail:$9.99
Running time:66 minutes
My rating:
Disclosure; I received a review copy through my patnership with N Circle Entertainment.

Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey Review

- brandy3
Synopsis: Curious George:Follow That Monkey, the fun-filled sequel to the hit animated movie. Join Curious George and The Man with the Yellow Hat as they set out on a cross-country adventure to reunite Kayla, a homesick elephant, with her family. The trio faces all types of comic calamities and colorful characters, and in the end learn that with family, friends and determination you can achieve anything.
Featuring the voices of Tim Curry, Matt Lauer, Jamie Kennedy, and Jerry Lewis.
Bonus features:
  • Two never before seen episodes-From the new season 6 months before it airs.
  • Curious George Cross Country caper game- puzzles lead George and Kayla from New york to California.
  • Hold On Here We Go music video
  • Coloring pages and wallpaper

**** My children love Curious George and think he is so hilarious. Curious George 2 is jam-packed full of adventure. George meets tons of new friends and helps Kayla the elephant get back home. My kids laughed through this movie, and my 4 yr old quoted “this movie is so funny.” We really liked this movie!

Retail:$19.99

Release date: March 2, 2010

Running time:81 minutes

My rating:9

Disclosure: I did not receive compensation for this review, I did receive a product from the company for my review.

Hannah Montana: Miley says goodbye dvd review & giveaway3/14CLOSED

- brandy3 22 Comments

HannahMontanaMileySaysGoodbyeDVD.jpg

Synopsis:Be the first to see the entire groundbreaking premiere of the pivotal Hanna Montana Season Three Finale! In Miley Says Goodbye? watch as Miley struggles with her biggest decision yet! Will she leave her rock-star life in Malibu to return home to her Tennessee roots to be with her favorite horse, Blue Jeans?  The finale Miley decides she needs to start controlling her own life.

This dvd includes 6 episodes, 5 which have already aired on the Disney Channel.

Bonus Material:

  • He could be the one alternate ending
  • Hannah’s Highlights: You never give me my money
  • Sister secrets-Miley’s real-life sister reveals another side of Miley

****This is not the end of Hannah Montana, there is still one season left. So of course from that you can figure she doesn’t go to Tennessee. The episode was kind of a disappointment to me. There was no mention of Hannah Montana that I can recall, and the whole episode was just sappy, no funny parts. Well except for Jackson who decides to move out on his own, and moves into an apartment that keeps falling apart.  Miley brings her horse to California thinking that would make her feel better, which it doesn’t. Then she decides she wants to move back to Tennessee, which makes all her friends sad. Since Lilly just moved in with her she is glad she still has Oliver, but he is going on tour with a band for 6 months. In the end, her dad buys a ranch in Ca., so they can stay.

Retail:$19.99

Release date: March 9, 2009

Running time:134 minutes long

My rating: 6 

I have one dvd to giveaway

To enter tell me your fav. Hannah Montana song. (not Miley Cyrus)

Extra entries:

Blog about this-8 entries must leave a link

Subscribe to my feed-8

Follow me on twitter-5 entries

Tweet about this-3 entries (can be done daily)

Contest ends 3/14/10

Disclosure: I  received a review copy from the company who is also providing the giveaway.

Barbie and A Mermaids Tale DVD Review

- brandy3 1 Comment

Synopsis:Barbie plays Merliah in this movie, A surfing champion from Malibu. One minute she is a normal teenager and the next she learns a shocking family secret:She is a mermaid!  Merliah and her dolphin friend Zuma set off on an undersea adventure to rescue her mother, the queen of Oceana.  Merliah and her new mermaid friends save the ocean kingdom. In the end, she discovers what makes you different can also be your greatest strength.

Bonus features on this dvd:

  • Queen of the waves music video
  • Outtakes
  • I can be a surfer-featuring Stephanie Gilmore, the #1 female surfer and Teen Choice award winner.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2ECXUWthkE]

****I just received this movie and I’ve watched it 3 times already. This is a really good movie, and my kids loved it. It’s kind of like the thirteenth year. Barbie is half human and half mermaid. Her Mother gives her to her grandfather when she is a baby. When she turns 16 she starts going through changes and realizes she is a mermaid.  I love that it teaches kids not to be ashamed of who they are, it’s okay to be different. 

Retail:$19.99

Release date: March 9, 2010

Running Time:75 minutes

My rating:10

Disclosure: I did not receive any compensation for this post, I did receive a product from the company for my review.

Leapfrog Math Adventure To The Moon Review

- brandy3 1 Comment

Join Tad and Lilly as they blast off on an exciting educational adventure! Tad and Lilly need a collection of things to take to school for their math assignment. They decide to get moon rocks, but have to figure out how to get them. With some magical help from their firefly friend Edison, they board a rocket ship to start their quest. Soon the twins learn math is everywhere, even in outerspace!Watch as they use their skills in counting, sorting, skip counting and recognizing patterns to overcome obstacles, find new friends, and make the trip back to earth.

Special features:

  • The sorting game
  • Four sing a long songs
  • Alphabet song from lets go to school

Here are some math tips you can try:

  1. Next time you’re in a waiting room with your child, scan the room (or the magazines on the tables) for evidence of “math.”  Advise your child to find as much math as possible, and you can give clues if you need to.  Numbers, patterns, shapes, categories, and measuring devices (e.g., ruler, scales), are just a few examples of some of the math you might see all around you!
  2.   Make patterns using standard household objects.  For example line up repeated objects–sock, stuffed animal, sock, stuffed animal, and so on.   Next, ask your child to continue the pattern to figure out the “secret code.”  You can vary the difficulty of the pattern to suit your child’s ability–banana, banana, pear, banana, banana, pear.  You can also make deliberate errors that your child needs to find–pear, apple, banana, pear, apple, banana, pear, pear, banana.
  3. Take a deck of cards, and discuss with your child all the ways you can sort the cards.  They can be sorted by color (red versus black), suit (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs), numbers (2’s, 3’s, etc.), royalty versus numbers (jacks, queens, and kings versus the numbers), odd versus even numbers, etc.  Sky is the limit!  You can play the sorting game with many collections of things around the house, such as socks and building  blocks.  


    ****This movie is fun and a great learning adventure for the kids. All about math and numbers. My children really got into it. My 4-year-old even told me she learned about even numbers and proceeded to say 2,4,6,8,10 etc. This is great learning tool for preschoolers to get interested in math.

Release Date:2/23/10

Retail:$14.98

Running time:38 minutes

My rating:10

Disclosure: I received a product for my review. no other compensation was received.

Sing and Learn Spanish DVD Review

- brandy3

Product Description-Sing and Learn is an engaging and effective tool, whether teaching a second language – in this case, Spanish – or preserving it as a native language at home.  Developed by Agnes Chavez, a language expert, teacher and producer of Spanish DVDs, the DVDs have been proven to teach Spanish to children the fun and easy way.  Children are constantly exposed to multicultural rhythms from around the world and Sing and Learn capitalizes on that, bringing Salsa, Cumbia and Ranchera music to life in these videos while showing youngsters engaged in fun, everyday activities.

I received the Sing and Learn in Spanish where you learn about animals, items from the garden, your house,  and so much more.   I think this is great and kids should learn another language early. Growing up in AZ, everyone in my neighborhood spoke spanish so it was so hard on me. My kids have already learned some spanish from children’s shows and this dvd is helping them more.

Retail:$19.99

Release date: March 23, 2010

Running time: 27 minutes

My rating:

Disclosure: I received a product from the Hit Entertainment for my review.

Americas Biggest Bedtime Story (Giveaway) 2/28

- brandy3 197 Comments

grab your books and pajamas because the nation’s largest annual bedtime story event, America’s Biggest Bedtime Story, is back by popular demand for the third year. BOOK IT! teamed up with children’s author and Golden Globe-winning actor John Lithgow to invite readers to participate in America’s Biggest Bedtime Story by logging on to www.bookitprogram.com on Thursday, Feb.18th. starting at 9am through all day.

For this year’s event, Lithgow will share his book, Carnival of the Animals, and if more readers participate in America’s Biggest Bedtime Story than in previous years,
BOOK IT! will donate funds for 50,000 meals to Haiti Relief through the World Food Programme. The magic number was set last year when 197,972 participants watched Lithgow read his book, I Got Two Dogs. 

To get you in the bedtime story mood I am giving away a PJ prize pack 2 $10 pizza hut gift cards and a copy of John Lithgow’s book Marsupial Sue Presents “The Runaway Pancake.”

To enter tell me your favorite bedtime story? Required

Extra entries:

Subscribe to my feed-8 entries

Blog about this-7 entries

follow me on twitter-6 entries

tell me your favorite pizza-2 entries

tweet-3 entries can be done daily

Disclosure: I will be receiving a gift card and book and the company will also be providing the giveaway

Sing A Long with Barbie Review

- brandy3

Growing up I was a Barbie fanatic, I had every car, doll and accessory imaginable. I loved the show Gem, but I never really got into Barbie dvds until my daughter took an interest. Now my daughters have tons of barbies, and almost every movie. Including the new Sing A Long With Barbie dvd we just received.

This DVD has all your favorite songs from the Barbie movies. I think it would have been a little better to have Barbie up on-screen like doing karaoke with you. It is mainly the scenes from each movie with the song.

The songs on the dvd are:

  • Connected (Barbie and the Diamond Castle)
  • Making my Way (Barbie and the Three Musketeers)
  • All For One (Barbie and the Three Musketeers)
  • Were Gonna find It (Barbie and the Diamond castle)
  • Here on My Island (Barbie as the Island Princess)
  • I need to Know (Barbie and as Island Princess)
  • Right Here in My Arms Reunion (Barbie as the Island Princess)
  • I am A Girl Like You (Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper)
  • The Cats Meow (Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper)
  • We Wish You a Merry Christmas (Barbie in A Christmas carol)
  • Chuzzlewit Jingle Bells (Barbie in A Christmas Carol)
  • Shine (Barbie in the 12 Dancing princesses)

This dvd also contains two music videos( Connected, and All for One).

My daughters love this movie, they danced around and sang watching this dvd. They Both love  Here on My Island and Connected, my favorite song would be Right Here in My Arms Reunion. The words are diplayed on screen for children to follow along, my kids don’t know how to read that though.This is a perfect Valentine Day Gift for any little girl!

Release date: 1/5/10

Retail:$14.98

Running time:37 minutes

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Mattel. In addition, I received a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Have Family Time With A Puzzle

- brandy3

January 29 was National Puzzle day, bringing the family together around a good puzzle. Puzzles are a great past time, and have been around for a long time. Here are some great reasons you should choose a puzzle for your next family night.(it’s educational)

  • puzzling is a challenging and thought-provoking activity.
  •  Puzzles are a great way to reinforce concentration and reasoning skills, while also promoting teamwork.
  • (For adults) puzzles might help reduce stress and provide some “exercise” for the brain.
  • (For Kids) educational and enjoyable experience that promotes social interaction.

National Puzzle Day has teamed up with Hasbro to bring you inexpensive family fun. Hasbro has a variety of puzzles for kids and adults, including their Yankee Candle Scented Puzzles. The 300-piece puzzles feature scenes of apple orchards infused with a scent of MacIntosh apples, a children’s tea party accompanied by the alluring fragrance of Clean Cotton and a scenic seaside town with the intriguing smell of Sage & Citrus. These familiar Yankee Candle fragrances are subtly released while solving the puzzles.

For the kids try cannister puzzles. They are larger puzzles pieces with toy figures of Littlest Pet shop and Transformers.  Time For us puzzles have both big pieces and little pieces, so you can do a puzzle with your little one.

***I received a Yankee Candle, President Obama, and Map game puzzle to enjoy with my family.  It’s short-lived fun, because once the puzzle is done you really don’t have much else to do(unless you have more puzzles). It’s a lot of fun though, and great learning for the kids, makes them think.

Please visit www.hasbro.com for more information, puzzles range in price from $2.99-$14.99

Disclosure:I did not receive compensation for this post, I did receive a product from the company for my review.

Scroll To Top