childrens

Spongebob Truth or Square Review

- brandy3

Swiffer-Pink

 

 

 

 

Product description: SpongeBob SquarePants has gotten himself into quite a predicament. After being entrusted by Mr. Krabs to keep the Krabby Patty formula safe, SpongeBob is overcome with grief for losing the recipe. He then relies on the help of the most unlikely companion, Plankton, who wants the secret Krabby Patty recipe for himself. With the help of his friends, SpongeBob must use Plankton’s memory machine to retrace the happiest moments of his life to find the Krabby Patty formula in time for the Krusty Krab’s Eleventy Seventh anniversary.

****This movie is hilarious. We loved the thought of Spongebob and Sandy getting married even though it would be really wierd.  This movie is a little different then the show, with Plankton and Spongebob coming together.  Spongebob finally gets his wish of knowing the secret ingredients to the Krabby Patty Formula. 

Retail price:$10.99 on Amazon.com

Release date: Nov. 10, 2009

Running time:108 minutes long

Rating: 9

Disclosure: I received this product from Nick Jr. PR in exchange for my review. This however does not affect my views on the product. All thought s are my own.

Holiday Gift Guide: The Christmas Magic Book Review

- brandy3

Frozen Turkey

Product Description: Far, far North, when the nights are longest and the stars shine brightest, Santa begins to prepare for his big night of giving. He gathers his reindeer, feeds them parsnips and berries, and polishes his bells and his sled. Then lovingly, he chooses toys for every child in the world. For Santa loves them all, and he knows what each child at heart wants most. Then, with the thrum of magic that makes reindeer’s fly, he spreads the Christmas joy and warmth throughout the world–as he always has — and always will until the end of time.

The Author:LAUREN THOMPSON is the author of several New York Times bestselling childrenÂ’s books, including the much-beloved Little Quack and Little Mouse series and the award-winning picture book Polar Bear Night. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and their son. Jon J MuthÂ’s highly acclaimed picture books are beloved around the world and have been translated into more than ten languages. His Caldecott Honor Book, Zen Shorts, and the sequel, Zen Ties, were both long-running New York Times bestsellers. He lives with his wife and four children in upstate New York.

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****This book is  very bright and colorful. The book is a little different from most christmas books. No mention of elf, Rudolph, or any of the reindeer by name.   It was a fun and interesting book. My kids really enjoyed it.

Retail price:  $11.99 on Amazon.com

Pages:40

hardcover

Reading age:4-8 yrs old

Rating:7

Disclosure: I received this product for free in exchange for my review, this however does not affect my views on this product.

Monsters Inc is now on Blu-ray Review

- brandy3

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Product Description:Experience the film that captured the hearts of critics and fans around the world in a breathtaking new way. MONSTERS, INC. is visually dazzling, action-packed and hilarious, raves the Boston Herald. And now, with eye-popping, crystal-clear visuals and theater-quality sound, it’s even better on Disney Blu-ray Hi-Def! Lovable Sulley (John Goodman) and his wisecracking sidekick Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) are the top scare team at Monsters, Inc., the scream-processing factory in Monstropolis. When a little girl named Boo wanders into their world, it’s the monsters who are scared silly, and it’s up to Sulley and Mike to keep her out of sight and get her back home. Open the door to a fantastic world of fun and imagination that will have you screaming for more. Featuring never-before-seen bonus features, the original DVD and a DisneyFile Digital Copy of the movie, MONSTERS, INC. is a sensational new experience on Disney Blu-ray.

Bonus features include:

  • ride and go seek
  •  Building Monstropolis In Japan Go Behind The Scenes Of The New Attraction In Tokyo Disneyland.
  • Filmmaker’s Round Table Filmmakers Reflect On The Creation Of The Film.
  • Audio Commentary
  • Pixar Fun Factory Tour
  • Banished Concepts

****This has always been one of my favorite Disney movies. I love sully and mike, and of course Boo. She is so cute and funny.  My favorite part is when Boo dresses up as a monster and runs around saying Mike Wazowski!  My kids love when she isn’t scared of Randal and she growls at him. This is a great movie and even better on Blu-ray. I really liked the Monstropolis in Japan, that was really interesting.

This DVD comes in a 4 disc set. movie on Blu-ray, extras, DVD of movie and digital copy.

Running time:92 minutes

release date: Nov. 10, 2009

SuggestedRetail:$39.99

Rating:10

Holiday Gift Guide: Build A Bear Frosty the Snowman(giveaway)

- brandy3 203 Comments

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At Build A Bear Workshop, their mission is to bring a teddy bear to life.  An American icon, the Teddy Bear brings to mind warm thoughts about our childhood, about friendship, about trust and comfort, and also about love. Build-A-Bear Workshop embodies those thoughts in how they run their business everyday.

Build A Bear has started a quick and easy way to get your holiday shopping done. Gifts on the go features an array of customized animals, stuffed, dressed and conveniently packaged. They range in price from $15-$40. Some stores will also feature a build a gift station, where you can purchase an animal already stuffed, then purchase clothing to go along with it.

This Holiday season  Build a Bear is introducing some new furry friends.

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Frosty The Snowman, Holly and Hal Moose return with there lighting antlers and cheeks.

Winter Hugs Bear-4 in the 2009 collection(I really want this bear!), and so much more.

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**I received a Frosty the Snowman to review. This guy is so adorable. He makes a little chime sound and his cheeks light up. Great Gift for the holiday season. He is so soft and cuddly and features a broom, hat, pipe and scarf.  Frosty is a great little friend that now gets to join Hal the Moose (reviewed last year)

Just for you: The great people at Build A Bear have offered one of my readers a Frosty the Snowman.

To enter:Visit www.buildabear.com and tell me your favorite animal

extra entries:

Blog about this-20 entries

subscribe to my feed-1o entries

follow me on twitter-5entries

Tweet this giveaway-10 entries first time.(can be done daily for 6 entries)

Fav my technorati-6 entries

Contest will close 12/4/09

Disclosure: Build A Bear provided me with a product to review at no cost to me, and one to giveaway to my readers.

Holiday Gift Guide:Little Mommys Real Loving Baby Walk and Giggle Doll

- brandy3 2 Comments

dora

Product Description: Little Mommy’ Walk and Giggle’ doll needs your loving care as you nurture, play and help her take her very first big girl steps! Try to keep up as this interactive doll goes from sitting, to standing, to walking with you, and all by herself! This ‘big girl’ also loves to play peek-a-boo, drink’ from her bottle and take her puppy pull toy for a walk. Fully interactive doll includes 60 phrases, sounds and songs.

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*****This doll is so fun for any little girl, she talks, walks, sits, everything. My daughters are following her around everywhere. The doll takes 6 AA batteries that are not included, and the batteries go fast since this doll is so active. It’s like the doll has a mind of its own. over 60 words, and she goes from sitting to standing to walking.  perfect gift for any “little mommy”

Recommended for ages 3+

retail price:69.99 on Amazon.com

rating:8

Disclosure: I received the product at no charge in exchange for my review, this however does not affect my views on the product. All opinions are my own.

Disney’s Up Review

- brandy3 1 Comment

  

Synopsis: Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios take moviegoers up, up and away on one of the funniest adventures of all time with their latest comedy-fantasy. Up follows the uplifting tale of 78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen, who finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But he discovers all too late that his biggest nightmare has stowed away on the trip: an overly optimistic 8-year-old Wilderness
Explorer named Russell. Their journey to a lost world, where they encounter some strange, exotic and surprising characters, is filled with hilarity, emotion and wildly imaginative adventure. 
 
Bonus features:

  • Commentary by director Pete Docter and co-director Bob Peterson. 
    Dug’s Special Mission – An all new original short film that follows the
    misadventures of Dug as he attempts to complete his “special mission.”
  • The Many Endings of Muntz – Many ideas were hatched about how to dispose of the film’s arch villain, Muntz, and now viewers can see the many alternate endings.
  • Partly Cloudy –The hilarious short film that preceded screenings of Up.
    Everyone knows that the stork delivers babies, but where do the storks get the
    babies? 
  • Adventure is Out There – This action-packed documentary tells the story of the filmmakers’ own trek to the tepuis mountains of South America to research the
    design and story of the film.

Features for the Blu-ray disc.

  •  Cine-Explore – A visual montage of concept art, clips and documentary.
  • Geriatric Hero – A character study of Carl, from research to realization including art and design, rigging, animation and story.
  • Canine Companions – For anyone who ever wondered where CG puppies come from.
  • Russell: Wilderness Explorer – A character study of Russell from inspiration and design to finding the character arc and authentic voice for this wilderness ranger.  
    Our Giant Flightless Friend, Kevin – Find out how avian research and development at Pixar helped bring a mythical, 13-foot tall iridescent bird to life.
  • Homemakers of Pixar – Carl and Ellie’s house is an important “character” in the film.
  •  Balloons and Flight – Carl’s house and Muntz’s dirigible presented the
    filmmakers with two different problems.
  • Composing for Characters – Composer Michael Giacchino returns to score his third Disney•Pixar feature film.
  • Married Life – The original story concept that became the powerful “Married Life” scene, showing Carl and Ellie’s love story.
  • Global Guardian Badge Game – Players try to locate countries, states and capitals around the globe in a multi-layered BD-Exclusive geography game.

****This is a funny movie and very different from a lot of Disney movies I have seen.  My children really enjoyed the characters, specially Russell and Dug. All I kept hearing was Mommy a talking doggie!  I really like the character of Carl, he is a typical old man. My favorite part is when the house first takes off, and he realizes Russell is on the porch. Russell says can I please come in, Carl says no and slams the door!  Ha classic!

Retail price:2 disc set-$39.99 and 4 disc Blu-ray combo-$45.99

Release date:November 10, 2009

Running time-96 minutes long

Disclosure: I received this product free in exchange for my review. However this does not affect my personal views on the product.

Holiday Gift Guide:Dora’s Christmas Carol Adventure review

- brandy3 1 Comment

dora

Product Description:When Swiper tries to swipe the Christmas Star from Dora’s Nochebuena Party, he lands on Santa’s naughty list. To get back on the nice list, Dora must help Swiper travel to the past, the present, and the future to discover the true spirit of Christmas. Will you help too?

**** This movie is great for the holidays.  My kids were so excited to learn more about Christmas, and helping Swiper getting on Santa’s nice list.  We really like Dora, and my kids speak in total spanish when watching her. In this episode, you can learn spanish christmas words, and how Dora and her family celebrate the holiday season.

Release date: Nov.3, 2009

Running time: 52 minutes

retail: $13.99 on Amazon.com

Rating:9

Disclosure: I received a copy of this DVD at no charge to me in exchange for my review. This however does not affect my views on the product.

Holiday Gift Guide:Funky Kidz Music CD Review

- brandy3

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From Site: This musical recording is a compilation of classic children’s songs, familiar to both kids today and parents of yesteryear.  The songs are meant to invoke happy memories of childhood for everyone, while exposing children to the funky, high-instrumentation sound that oozes out of the Crescent City.

As a funky mother of two, I was disappointed by the offerings of children’s music and set out to expose my kids to a variety of musical genres.  From the time they were in my belly, I played everything from hard rock to classical ballads.  My sons, Jake, 9 (assistant producer) and Aidan, 5, took a love to New Orleans funk and so the concept was born… take kids songs and just make them funky.

The songs on the CD Are:

  1. You’ve Got A Friend In Me – Bonerama 
  2. Hokey Pokey – Big Sam’s Funky Nation
  3. Zip A Dee Doo Dah –Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk 
  4. Yellow Submarine – Papa Grows Funk 
  5. If I Only Had A Brain – Paul Sanchez
  6. He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands – George Porter Jr.
  7. Somewhere Over the Rainbow – Theresa Andersson 
  8. Froggy Went A Courtin – The Radiators 
  9. This Land is Your Land – Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters 
  10. When I See An Elephant Fly – Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes
  11. This Little Light of Mine – Ingrid Lucia
  12. Garden Song – Amanda Shaw and the Cute Guys

 ****I wasn’t really into the music, but I’m from the west coast and have never really heard this form of genre. My husband thought it was great and was really pleased. It’s a great way to introduce children to the sounds of New Orleans.   My children liked it after the first couple times it played. I think It’s a great CD for introducing genres of music to your children.

Retail price:$13.99 at www.FunkyKidzMusic.com

rating:6

Disclosure: I received a Copy of this CD at no charge to me in exchange for my review. This however does not affect my views of the product.

A Merry Fraggle Holiday Review

- brandy3

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Program Description: Music, fun, and holiday adventures with the Fraggles! Come along with Gobo, Red, Boober and the whole Fraggle gang for three wintry adventures bursting with wonder, laughter and rockin’ music! Whether it’s celebrating the annual Festival of the Bells or learning the value of generosity, the Fraggles discover that although the meaning of the season is different for everyone, it’s the power of friendship that truly makes the holidays special. So grab a scarf, cuddle up with a bowl of warm radish soup, and join the festive magic down in Fraggle Rock!
This DVD contains three holiday episodes
  • The Bells of Fraggle Rock-It’s time for the festival of bells, but while other Fraggles excitedly prepare, the holiday had lost its meaning to Gobo.
  • The Grapes of Generosity-After finding enchanted fruit that compels anyone who eats it to share with others, Gobo decides to keep all the fruit for himself.
  • The Perfect Blue Rollie-Wembley is happy when he and Boober find a rare stone-the’Blue rollie’-but Boober does not want to share with his friends.

DVD special features:

  • The Great Fraggle Freeze animated episode
  • Emmet Otter’s Jug-band Christmas Sing-Along
  • A look at Jim Henson’s The Christmas Toy
  • Holiday game and more!

***** These episodes really get you in the holiday spirit, and bring back a lot of childhood memories.  The Bells of Fraggle Rock shows how you should follow your heart and believe in yourself.  The next episodes teach you about sharing. I love Fraggle rock and am so happy they have come to DVD so I can share it now with my children.

Release date: Nov. 3, 2009

Running time:74 minutes long

Retail price:$14.98 but you can get it on Amazon for $8.99

Rating:9

Disclosure: I received this DVD at no cost to me in exchange for my review, this however does not affect my views on this product.

Holiday Gift Guide:Mickey’s Magical Christmas Review

- brandy3

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In this full-length adventure, a huge snowstorm leaves Mickey, Minnie and many other friends stranded leading Mickey and his guests at the House of Mouse to whip up an impromptu party that includes instilling a “Humbug”-quacking Donald Duck with the holiday spirit. Everyone shares their home movies and even grumpy Donald starts to smile when they realize the “Best Christmas of All” is the one you share with friends and family.

Mickey’s Magical Christmas: Snowed in the House of Mouse features more than 35 Disney characters, like the Princess’s, Lion King, Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, Bambi and more.

Bonus features:

Sing along songs-Deck the Halls, and Sleigh Ride

an episode of animated series house of mouse

The sounds of Christmas-discover secrets of Disney sound effects

****This movie is compiled with all your favorite characters, in great Christmas stories. My kids really enjoyed the movie, how could they not its Mickey. We really had fun with watching all the Disney characters come together. The.re were a few flaws in the movie,things that didn’t make sense. You don’t really notice unless your forced to watch it over and over.

Retail-$26.99

Release date: Nov. 3, 2009

Running time: 65 minutes long

Rating:6

I received this DVD free of charge in exchange for my review. This however does not affect  my views on the product.

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