Archives for October 7, 2021

Book of the week: Sandra Boynton’s Enchanting, New Tale: Woodland Dance!

Woodland Dance! invites us to an enchanting, midnight gathering of woodland creatures as they heed the call of the fox’s bugle to dance in a moonlit glade.  Boynton brings her signature illustrations and lyrical genius to this magical, go-to-bed flipside of the enormously successful Barnyard Dance!  After dancing all night to the captivating music of the Woodland Dance Trio, the animal friends wander off to bed while the Trio plays one last piece to welcome the sunrise. Capturing the secret magic of the forest and sparking children’s interest in the natural world as they settle down for bed, Woodland Dance! is the perfect sleepy time tale! Woodland Dance! (Workman Publishing; On-sale: September 28, 2021; $7.95) You can find it here.

I loved this delightful picture book and recommend it for all young children!

More about the author:

Sandra Boynton is a beloved American cartoonist, children’s author, songwriter, and highly sporadic short film director. Starting with the 1977 publication of Hippos Go Berserk!, Boynton has written and illustrated over sixty children’s books and eight general audience books, including five New York Times bestsellers. Her renowned books include Barnyard Dance!, Snuggle Puppy!, Belly Button Book!, EEK! Halloween!, But Not the Hippopotamus, and The Going to Bed Book. More than 70 million of her books have been sold—“mostly to friends and family,” she says. Boynton has also written and produced six albums of unconventional children’s music, which include performances by Brian Wilson, Brad Paisley, Kevin Kline, Kacey Musgraves, Blues Traveler, Alison Krauss, Meryl Streep, Spin Doctors, Davy Jones, Dwight Yoakam, Patti LuPone, Neil Sedaka, and “Weird Al” Yankovic in a duet with Kate Winslet. Three of Boynton’s albums have been certified Gold (over 500,000 copies sold), and Philadelphia Chickens, nominated for a Grammy, has gone Platinum (over one million copies sold). Boynton has also written and directed eleven short musical films, including “One Shoe Blues,” starring B. B. King; and two animated shorts: “When Pigs Fly,” sung by Ryan Adams, and “Tyrannosaurus Funk,” sung by Samuel L. Jackson, which won the 2018 Grand Prize for Best Children’s Animation Short from the Rhode Island International Film Festival. In 2008, Boynton received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Cartoonists Society.

Boynton has four perfect children, and an equally perfect granddaughter and grandson. She raised her family on a very old New England farm (it’s now a non-working farm, except for the hyperactive cartoon chickens and disaffected imaginary cows and such). Her studio there is in a converted barn that has perhaps the only hippopotamus weathervane in America.

Credit: The cover image was provided and I received a free copy of the book to facilitate this post.

The Ghost and Molly Mcgee * Fun Show About The Supernatural And Unlikely Friendships

Tween optimist Molly McGee lives to make the world a better place, fix what has gone wrong, and spread joy. Meanwhile, cantankerous ghost Scratch lives to make the world a worse place, break what has gone right, and spread misery. When a curse from Scratch backfires, he finds himself forever bound to Molly. Despite that, Scratch and Molly form an unlikely friendship that guides each of them through the ups and downs of their respective worlds. KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Avalon N. comments, “The Ghost and Molly Mcgee is a fun show about the supernatural. With so many things that don’t exist in the real world, this show makes you see into the world of the supernatural.” See her full review below.

The Ghost and Molly Mcgee

By Avalon N. KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 13

The Ghost and Molly Mcgee is a fun show about the supernatural. With so many things that don’t exist in the real world, this show makes you see into the world of the supernatural.

This show is about Molly Mcgee (Ashly Burch) and The Ghost whose name is Scratch (Dana Snyder). When Molly moves into a new house that is haunted by Scratch, Molly instantly befriends him and, in an attempt to get her off his back, he curses her so that she will be haunted forever – but, that ends up being a curse for him. To find out what happens to this hilarious duo watch this show!

One cool thing about this show is that, when the ghost does his haunting thing, the whole screen turns sideways and the colors go crazy, which makes it so entertaining to watch. Another thing I like about this show is the ghost council. The head ghosts hands out assignments and each ghost gets a scare report where they have to show a certain amount of scares during a certain period of time. The whole show is animated and has a very different style of animation. Most animated shows I watch try to look 3D and as realistic as possible, but this one is closer to 2D and it intentionally looks more like a cartoon. That has a more kid-friendly feel, especially with the scary ghost scenes. 

The message is that unlikely friendships can work out.

I give The Ghost and Molly Mcgee 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 6 to 16. I think younger kids might find the ghost scenes a little scary. This begins streaming October 1, 2021 on Hulu TV Live.