Archives for September 2016

This is a great collection of eight 10 to15 minute episodes featuring our favorite underwater explorers, The Octonauts. We follow along as Captain Barnacles and his crew explore the world’s oceans, rescue the creatures who live there and protect their habitats. This collection has episodes with wild creatures such as Sea Snot Cucumbers, Mudskippers, Marine Iguanas and Slime Eels! The Octonauts teach lessons about the importance of helping others and preserving the world around us-above and below the waves!  Bonus Features include episode selection and in-depth explanations of all the sea phenomena featured in the episodes via short animations and fun songs! This DVD is suitable for ages 3 to 7. It’s fun, silly and informative on a relatable level. KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Morgan B., age 11 comments, “I like that they have so many different characters who all love to help sea creatures and find out more about them. It is really great that they are helping young kids learn about the ocean and spark their curiosity about the creatures who live there.” See her full review below.

Octonauts: Slime Time!

By Morgan Bertsch, KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Age 11

Do you like adventure, fun and marine biology? Then Octonauts: Slime Time is the perfect DVD for you and your family to watch together. This animated collection of eight shows offer fun-filled adventures where you learn about all kinds of fascinating creatures including algae, snot sea cucumbers, slime eels, marine iguanas, mudskippers, sea skaters, sea pigs and even giant squid. This is a really great collection of shows that are educational, exciting, interesting and fun to watch.

I like that they have so many different characters who all love to help sea creatures and find out more about them. It is really great that they are helping young kids learn about the ocean and spark their curiosity about the creatures who live there. One of the best features of this collection is that at the end of each episode they have a creature report which reinforces, through song, all the informational things for that episode and includes a clip of what the actual real creatures look like.

Even though there are many different characters which I enjoyed very much, my absolute favorite is Shellington (Keith Wickham). He is goodhearted and very inquisitive about oceanic creatures. The way he voices this character truly adds brilliance and friendliness to it. There is also Tweak (Jo Wyatt), a smart southwestern rabbit, Captain Barnacles (Simon Greenall), a kind polar bear, Dashi (Teresa Gallagher), an adorable dog, Peso (Paul Panting), a goodhearted penguin and Kwazii (Rob Rackstraw), a daredevil cat pirate. There is a wonderful gang of all kinds of animals and vegimals (Michael Murphy) who are just too cute for words. Their different personalities all come together as they help some fascinating creatures of the sea.

My favorite episode is with Marine Iguanas. I loved it because it is fun to watch and I had no idea that these creatures even existed and learning about them was incredible. This episode also involves a bit of a mystery and is very quirky. I learned quite a lot and loved seeing what they looked like in person in the creature report at the end.

I recommend this show for ages 4 through 18. Younger kids will love the animation and will learn about some terrific creatures. Older kids and adults will learn new things about these stupendous creatures and might even learn about a couple they never knew about before. I give this DVD 4.5 out of 5 oceanic starfish.

Credit: KIDS FIRST!

Friday, September 16, Amazon Original Kids Series Creative Galaxy, the hit “make-along, create-along” animated art adventure preschool series, is set to blast off for Season Two on Prime Video with all-new episodes!

From Out of the Blue Enterprises, with Angela Santomero (Blue’s Clues, Super Why! Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood) serving as Creator and Executive Producer and Samantha Freeman as Executive Producer, Creative Galaxy fosters lifelong learning and celebrates creative thinking through imagination-inspiring adventures filled with crafts, music, and dance. Samantha Bee (The Daily Show), Jason Jones (The Daily Show), Cloris Leachman (Malcolm in the Middle), Jason Priestley (Beverly Hills 90210), and Brooke Shields (Lipstick Jungle) return to lend their voices in the new season, along with singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb (Jake and the Never Land Pirates), Donovan Patton (Blue’s Clues) and Broadway actress Caissie Levy (Les Miserables).

Young viewers will join adorable alien Arty (Meesha Contreras), and his sidekick Epiphany (Kira Gelineau), as they travel around the galaxy to solve problems using various forms of art. Each vibrant and engaging episode highlights a unique creative medium – painting, music, sculpting, cooking and more – to showcase how art can be found in all different places and in many forms. The interactive stories and unique live-action craft segments designed to help adult viewers recreate the art projects featured in each episode with their kids, inspire children to “go be amazing!” and become idea makers and creative thinkers.

In Season Two, the galaxy expands as Arty introduces audiences to two exciting new art forms – cooking and singing/dancing – with new planets and celebrity hosts: Cooktopia with Chef Zesty (Donovan Patton) and Grooveopolis with Melody (Lisa Loeb). In addition, the new episodes celebrate key childhood “milestones” such as a parent’s birthday and losing a first tooth, bringing even more relatable preschool experiences to families everywhere.

Jarrett Krosoczka, a well-known advocate for creativity and visual literacy, is the Amazon Studios Thought Leader for the series. Kroscozka is a two-time winner of the Children’s Choice Book Award and is the author and/or illustrator of 27 books for young readers. Jarrett has given two TED Talks, both of which have accrued more than 1.5 million views. The series is animated by 9 Story Media Group.

The first season of Creative Galaxy is currently available for Prime members to stream and enjoy using the Amazon Video app for TVs, connected devices including Amazon Fire TV, and mobile devices, or online at Amazon.com/originals, at no additional cost to their membership.

Customers who are not already a Prime member can sign up for a free trial at www.amazon.com/prime. For a list of all Amazon Video compatible devices, visit www.amazon.com/howtostream. Creative Galaxy is also available as part of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited, the all-you-can-eat subscription service designed from the ground up for kids. FreeTime Unlimited is available exclusively on Amazon devices including Amazon Fire TV and Fire tablets, and a year-long subscription is included with every Fire Kids Edition.

Credit: Amazon Original Kids Series Creative Galaxy.

How is violent media affecting our children, and what can we do about it to protect them…now and in the future, before it becomes to late.

Dr. Johnson and Dr. Berdahl, authors of Warning Signs: How to Protect Your Kids from Becoming Victims or Perpetrators of Violence and Aggression [Chicago Review Press, August 1, 2016], have written a thought-provoking parenting guide that addresses the following themes:

• Harmful media influences on youth and how to deflect them
• How exposures to violent and sexualized media, unproductive parenting, and certain traumas during childhood through early adulthood, when the brain is still developing, heighten the risk of being affected by aggression or violence
• Keys to building good relationships with your children to promote safety
• What we can do as parents to protect our children from the harm of entitlement, rage, hate, and extremism

I received a copy of this book and found it very interesting and as a Mom of a Tween, I found it to be a very helpful book with some great advice! I really enjoyed learning how to build good relationships with your children in regards to safety.

More about the Author:

DR. BRIAN JOHNSON grew up in rural South Dakota and received his Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Iowa. He is a licensed child and adolescent psychologist, parenting expert, and full professor at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) where he has served as the training director of the doctoral program. Counseling youth and their families for over twenty years, he became Director of the Psychological Services Clinic in 2015 and recently brought a community mentorship program for at-risk youth, including those on probation, to UNC in collaboration with the Weld County District Attorney’s office. This is his second book with wife Dr. Laurie Berdahl; their first award-winning title was 7 Skills for Parenting Success. Connect with Dr. Johnson on LinkedIn.

DR. LAURIE BERDAHL obtained her MD from the University of Iowa and did her obstetrics and gynecology residency at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center after which she entered private practice. Sharing her husband’s interest in parenting education, she has published articles in the journals Medical Economics andParenting: Science and Practice. She and Dr. Johnson are proud parents of their two adult children. In 2014, Dr. Berdahl retired from medical practice after almost twenty years due to developing a permanently disabling condition. She continues to write and speak on issues related to parenting and adolescent wellness. Connect with Dr. Berdahl on LinkedIn.

Warning Signs: How to Protect Your Kids from Becoming Victims or Perpetrators of Violence and Aggression [Chicago Review Press] is now available via Amazon and through other booksellers nationwide.

This CD is just delightful and so sweet! It truly is a must-buy for all new Moms and their babies! I highly recommend!

Celebrating the unbreakable connection between parent and child, independent recording artist Sara Lovell takes an adventurous leap forward with her fourth album — her first for kids and families — You’ve Got Me, set for release on September 16.

A professional singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with wide-ranging musical interests and three critically praised albums to her credit,Sara Lovell moved to Berkeley from Los Angeles several years ago with a desire to create a permanent home and become a parent.  She’s now a full-time, single mom of an imaginative six-year-old who loves to paint his face and dance in front of the mirror.

Sara Lovell says, “You’ve Got Me is most definitely a love letter to my son, as well as a love letter to other parents and children: to parents who sing and tell stories to their kids and to the children who flourish with joy and creativity.”

With a vividly perceptive eye, a vast musical landscape, and a voice rich in both purity and nuanced detail, You’ve Got Me follows a day in the life of a child, beginning with a song to rouse even the sleepiest sleepyhead and concluding with a reflective lullaby as the sun goes down.

Furry alligator puppies, runaway socks, musical skeletons and flying ships are just a few of the wonders to be encounteed in Sara Lovell’sfanciful world.  With You’ve Got Me, it is apparent that Sara is not so much singing to children as she is reporting back with love from a magical landscape she inhabits.

You’ve Got Me effortlessly incorporates genres as diverse as ’70s-influenced pop, reggaeton, Afro-Caribbean, klezmer, and lounge.  Album highlights include a great blast of energy on “Dance Like There’s Music In Your Pants,” a deliciously spooky number, “The Skeleton Band,” the driving “I Can’t Wait,” and the Harry Nilsson-esque “Off To Bed We Go.”  Passionate gospel-influenced vocals are featured on the album’s title track, a heartfelt pledge of friendship and love.

Sara Lovell explains, “I’ve been a composer and songwriter for the majority of my life, but I put music-making on hold for a while when I made plans to become a parent. I moved to a new city, renovated my house, set up my recording studio and got on the waiting list for adoption.  My beautiful son came, and for the next four and a half years I hummed and sang little bits and pieces of songs and played one-armed lullabies into my phone recorder.  Slowly more brain cells returned, my son became more independent, I began compiling the song snippets (some for grown-ups, too) and I played a few for my producer, Monica Pasqual.  She suggested I finish one of the kids’ songs first, so I completed ‘Off To Bed We Go,’ and the rest came pouring out!”

You’ve Got Me will be available at amazon.com, iTunes, CDBaby, and saralovell.com.

Visit Sara Lovell’s website HERE.

Self Disclosure: I received a free copy of this CD to facilitate this post. Photos were provided.