CHECK ME OUT. I'M A GEORGIA O'KEEFFE PAINTING: I don't believe I was the only one here watching Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension last night. (Okay, it apparently debuted on the Disney Channel two weeks ago.) But that was fun.
Open thread for suggestions of cool children's media (tv, film, books) being consumed in your house lately. The P.S. 238 comic books have become very popular in our neck of the woods.
The Tiny Titans series by Art Baltazar. Takes the DC universe and sets it in a 1st grade or so. I think it's perfect for elementary school children; it takes all the wonderful superhero tropes and gleefully plays with them (I don't even have kids and I'm enjoying the blazes out of them).
ReplyDeleteA lot of people I know are REALLY into Adventure Time, and I find Regular Show to be a worthwhile diversion. Adventure Time is just a wonderfully absurd romp through a fantasy world that's been stripped of anything that doesn't help serve up a joke, and the show has such a weird scattershot ethos that I can't help but laugh at most of what goes on.
ReplyDeleteAs for Regular Show, well, allow me to quote "Summertime Loving, Loving in the Summer (Time)": "It's Summertime and you know what that means/Gonna head down to the beach and do some beachy things"
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It's pretty much just Wipeout around here, so if your idea of children's entertainment is not a couple of boys randomly shouting "big balls!," you can ignore the recommendation. Though I have it on good authority that a Cosmopolitan child just name-checked Jon Henson.
ReplyDeleteI would appreciate suggestions for one year olds, because if I have to listen to the They Might Be Giants Here Come The 1-2-3s CD one more time, I will break it in half. (Don't get me wrong. It's great. But I can now sing the entire thing forward and back.)
ReplyDeleteWipeout is just about the perfect summer show.
ReplyDeleteWell hell. Guest was me.
ReplyDeleteDitto. Mine is 13 months old. We've had some success checking out CDs from the library. I enjoy the ones where they take a band we know and love and make their songs sound more childlike. "Stairway to Heaven" tinkling away like a music box, etc. I think I liked the U2 album the best.
ReplyDeleteShe also loves to "read." This mostly involves chewing on book covers until the title is no longer legible. I have heard of a new kind of indestructible book, but am not sure it's worth the money.
I hear you on the here come the 1 2 3s. I woke up yesterday with "zero" in my head. And the toddler has now become obsessed with the " oh no, I never go to work song". do you have " here come the abcs"? Or here comes science? I know some folks cant stand them, but I really like the barenaked ladies kids album, snack time.
ReplyDeleteAlso, for the younger set, Wonder Pets. There's enough sly humor, especially musical humor in there that I can handle them.
I am still a big fan of Yo Gabba Gabba, especially the CDs. The mister returned from comic con with board book Yo gabba gabba comics, which is an awesome idea in theory. But I have so many issues with their choice of artist, and the fact that they apparently set the artists loose without a strong sense of brand and character design, and so the art quality is all over the place, even within the same book. I have a strong suspicion that they are being done by non children's book people, and not parents, primarily because they have Brobee LICKING a ball in "gabba ball" (I am trying to get the toddler to STOP licking shit, so way to model good behavior dudes)
I have 22 month old twin boys. We watch Yo Gabba Gabba and they have loved it since they were about one. The songs are great. Also, I have read to by boys every night before bed since they were about 7 months old. One of my sons generally runs around the room like a lunitic and the other sits on my lap when I read, but the one who runs around still knows the books and wants to be read to. It'll start being awesome and they'll start being REALLY engaged by the time they hit 18 months.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree on Yo Gabba Gabba. I especially like the guest stars. WTF is Anthony Bourdain doing playing a doctor? Or Amy Sedaris as the tooth fairy? It is awesome.
ReplyDeleteSandra Boynton, Philadelphia Chickens: http://www.amazon.com/Philadelphia-Chickens-Too-Illogical-Zoological-Musical/dp/0761126368/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314011700&sr=8-1
ReplyDeleteAny of the albums by Elizabeth Mitchell, including the one where she pairs with Lisa Loeb.
ReplyDeleteThere's a Ziggy Marley kids' album I've given as a gift and heard that the parents and kids loved.
Dan Zanes.
Alyssa, chewing on books is just what toddlers do, and it's okay - it's another way she sees books as something she likes. She'll get to where she doesn't eat it eventually.
Loved the Phineas and Ferb movie, but I missed the Georgia O'Keeffee comment, so I'll have to watch again. Also liking the Phineas and Ferb opening to the Little League World Series games.
ReplyDeleteWe're firmly in the tween stage here, which means he might be watching Phineas and Ferb and reading Big Nate books one day, and watching Stand By Me and reading Moneyball the next, and moving smoothly back and forth between the two. (Then again, I'm an adult who moves back and forth all the time between kids' books, YA books, and regular grown-up books.)
I bought all the Elizabeth Mitchell albums on a rec from Genevieve when my (now) 3 year old was little. They continue to be a BIG hit at our house.
ReplyDeleteI would also recommend Renee and Jeremy. Fun, folksy kids music.
My kids also love the Llama Llama books and Skippyjon Jones.
Laurie Berkner too.
ReplyDeleteAs I've blogged before, Bourdain's delivery of "I'm the doctor" is one of the greater line readings in the history of dramaturgy.
ReplyDeleteIn my house, the only things I allow my 9 year old Tiny Human to watch are Phineas and Ferb (which I love) and old episodes of The Cosby Show and Little House on The Prairie on DVD. I also allow The Mighty B which stars the voice of Amy Poehler and Back at The Barnyard both of which are definitely smart comedy for adults and children.
ReplyDeleteFor the little ones, I recommend going old school with the Schoolhouse Rock DVDs and CD as well as the updated 90s versions of the songs from Schoolhouse Rock Rocks. That got me through a lot of hours with a toddler!
Schoolhouse Rock! I could definitely do that.
ReplyDeleteYou know, my baby is too little for Cosby Show, but I will say that since becoming a parent, I think about Claire Huxtable all the time. We watched TCS religiously growing up, and somehow, Claire Huxtable became my motherhood role model -- especially since she, like me, is a lawyer. I should clearly buy my husband some Cosby Sweaters.
The "never go to work" song is routinely in my head AS I GO TO WORK. I think they call that irony.
ReplyDeleteI've been using the Wonder Pets as the official bribe to get the baby to sit still while I cut her fingernails. Works a treat. And it's such a cute show, too.
I will look for the BNL and other TMBG albums. We do have the ABCs, but are not quite as committed to it as to 123s.
I have one or two Elizabeth Mitchell songs on my iPod and should get the rest -- I really like them. We love the Sandra Boynton books, so I'll have to look for the CD!
ReplyDeleteAll of Fraggle Rock is on Netflix streaming.
ReplyDeleteMy three year old also loves the Yellow Submarine movie and the Fleischer Superman cartoons, though a couple of the latter are pretty racist.
Love love love Schoolhouse Rock.
ReplyDeleteMy son is now 8, and we STILL listen to all the TMBG kids albums, especially the new science version.
ReplyDeleteIf any of you don't have the 1-2-3's, it's part of Amazon's $5 album sale this month!
http://tinyurl.com/3wko356
Are we still reading this thread? I just came across a series for my 5 year old spacie called Horace and Boris But Mostly Delores, and I'm digging them. Who doesn't love cute feminist mice?
ReplyDeleteIf singing I Never Go To Work is wrong, I don't want to be right.
Sort of not really media, but Angry Birds the actual physical game that you can buy at Target, with a slingshot and a bunch of birds and pigs and plastic jenga-like pieces, is awesome.
I really like Justin Roberts. His stuff sounds a lot like Fountains of Wayne.
ReplyDeleteI like those books too, spacewoman!
ReplyDeleteSo for books with strong female protagonists, I have a list I made years ago when 4-year-old kiddo complained that it wasn't fair that boys always did the rescuing, why didn't we have books/movies where girls did it.
<span><span><span>Picture books:</span></span><span><span>The Paper Bag Princess - Robert Munsch</span></span><span><span>Petronella - Jay Williams</span></span><span><span>The Princess Knight - Cornelia Funke</span></span><span><span>A Cowboy Named Ernestine - Nicole Rubel</span></span><span><span>Cinder Edna - Ellen Jackson (she doesn't rescue anyone else, but she rescues herself)</span></span><span><span>Little Red Cowboy Hat - Susan Lowell</span></span><span><span>Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters - John Steptoe</span></span><span><span>Eloise - Kay Thompson (not a role model, but she's certainly not passive!)</span></span><span><span>Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse - Kevin Henkes (ditto)</span></span><span><span>Madeline - Ludwig Bemelsmens</span></span><span><span>Sleepless Beauty - Frances Minters</span></span><span><span>Miriam and her Brother Moses - Jean Marzollo </span></span><span>
<span>early chapter books:</span>
<span>Ruby</span><span> Lu, Brave and True (and sequel) - Lenore Look and Anne Willsdorf</span>
<span>Ivy and Bean (and sequels)</span><span> - Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall</span>
<span>Clementine </span><span>(and sequels) </span><span>- Sara Pennypacker</span>
</span><span><span></span></span><span><span></span></span> <span><span>Chapter </span><span>books</span><span>:</span></span><span><span>The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (and other Joan Aiken </span><span>books</span><span>, including A Necklace of Raindrops, which are short stories great for age 5-8)</span>
<span>The Blue Sword, The Hero and the Crown - Robin McKinley (older kids)</span>
</span><span><span>Dealing with Dragons - Patricia Wrede</span></span><span><span>Half Magic, Seven-Day Magic - Edward Eager</span></span><span><span>Mistress Masham's Repose - T.H. White</span></span></span><span>
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How about Justin Roberts? His stuff reminds me of Fountains of Wayne.
ReplyDeleteYep - Jon Henson is the object of much adulation by the Cosmo kids. Big balls!
ReplyDeleteGenevieve, Do you mind if I post this list to Facebook? I have a lot of friends who would greatly appreciate it. I'd love to give you credit but I'm not sure how...
ReplyDeleteI started my oldest on Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band at around 3, followed closely by Rubber Soul. To this day he loves those albums.
ReplyDelete