Tag Archive | movie

Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children… a book review

It is RARE that I will EVER give the kids an extended lunch or a half day but this was the book to do it! Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs was one of those books. A young adult book, this fantasy utilizes old found photographs combined with a compelling story and characters you get to see to believe. There are so many haunting elements to this story… an abandoned orphanage… a mysterious island… tragedies both fresh and long gone… harking back to the second world war in fact! And to be faced with images that illustrate the story as if they were taken by someone for the story instead of the story written around… eerie and marvelous.

I don’t want to share too much, and really, this is a book to be read without knowing much at all to get the full impact… but though the main character (Jacob) is a teenage boy and it is ALL through his point of view I was totally sucked into the story from the very first page. 

Jacob’s grandfather was around his age during the second world war, he was sent away by his parents to an island in Wales as they were Polish Jews. His stories from his time on the island are mysterious and magical… and to Jacob, completely unbelievable. That is, until tragedy hits the family and Jacob begins his adventure to find out the truth. This leads him right to Miss Peregrine’s orphanage. 

The Images Ransom Riggs uses are haunting, sweet, mysterious, confusing, false looking, spooky… perfect. After I read the story I HAD to go through and glance at them again. The story itself was gripping, and I found myself sometimes reading character descriptions multiple times as Jacob comes across more and more peculiar individuals.

I have already put a request on book two – Hollow City and once I receive that one plan to request the third book… Library of Souls. Tim Burton IS coming out with a movie for this book (this is part of why a friend brought it to my attention), but my capacity for scary is much higher in books than in movies… so we shall see!

While I will not be letting the twins read this quite yet, it is definitely a book I will want to have them read in the future. You do need to have some knowledge of the second world war to truly understand the grandfather and the situations the orphanage was in, but other than that… there is a fantastic world of amazingly peculiar children in these pages! You really MUST check it out! ???????????????????????????????

This entry was posted on 12/03/2016, in Uncategorized. 7 Comments

Boxcar Children the Movie

We found, quite by chance, that in 2014 there was a Boxcar Children movie made (cartoon) so of course, on a quiet and COLD Friday afternoon we popped some popcorn and HAD TO have a watch. It was an interesting situation. Myself and the twins had read the first book but the younger ones had not. I think we ALL got some enjoyment out of it.

But here is my review… the kids will follow… BEWARE OF SPOILERS… with theirs of course!

Anyway. The movie does follow much of the main storyline of the book. The characters are the same, the situations definitely familiar. Of course, to save time a lot of the slower bits are removed and some events sped along. I honestly found the voices for all the characters fit the story, the animation was not Disney super slick but fun and the level of suspense did not make any of the kids uncomfortable. For a movie based on a children’s book it is actually rather fun well worth the watch even if you have NOT read the book and if you have… not a disappointment!

ZANDER

It was a good movie. I liked the voices for the people. They sounded like how I thought they would when I read the book. I think the dog (Watch) looked better in the book (illustrations). The book and the movie are both a little different. They were both really good. I think you could read the book first or watch the movie first. You would enjoy both. I read the book because there was a dog in it.

GAVIN

I think it was good. I think they should make more movies about the books. I loved the colours and the animation. I thought it was better than the book because they added stuff not in the book. I think kids would like it. I think it doesn’t matter if you read the book or watch the movie first but if you read the book first you won’t be disappointed that there is stuff in the movie that was not in the book and same about the book having stuff that was not in the movie.

EMANUEL

I liked that they lived in the boxcar. I loved the little doggy (Watch). I haven’t read the book but I still want to when I am 10. I like that it is about kids. I would watch the movie THREE times! I like how they made the boxcar into a very beautiful place using recycled things.

TRINITY

It was cool. The dog (Watch) was cute AND my favourite. I loved the big house. It was not a scary movie. It was a good movie. I would want to watch it again!

You can read our book reviews on Books ONE, TWO and THREE! There are 19 books in the series by Gertrude Chandler Warner. I really do expect that Gavin at least, will want to read them all! boxcar-dvd-cover

A Guest for the Weekend

July 18-20

A wee bit of schoolwork, just half a day… is all we need to earn a special treat on a decent summer day.101_8691

Now for the treat… going to the beach with some of our favourite beach buddies – Renee, Nathan, Evan and Jeffrey. We simply do not get bored of this lovely beach.101_8697101_8694 101_8696

101_8708 101_8699 101_8703Even Jeffrey got in on a little sand… not for a lack of our trying to keep his grabby fingers out of it. He is growing up so quickly!101_8707 101_8709

Every time we drive there and back we pass some amazing gates… I had to share a quick picture of them!101_8710

On Saturday we grew our ranks by one… Aidan came for a sleepover. He is definitely a welcome addition.101_8712

101_8714 101_8717101_8720The girls got a special mailing from Gammie… pretty dress up bits they were more than willing to share between them. Sadly I think TRINITY walks better in heels than I do!!!101_8719

We ended our Saturday with a movie in the livingroom… and popcorn of course!!101_8721

Sunday was the final installment of our VBS… the kids all came together (some in their special shirts) and sang a song for the congregation. We stuck around for the song but had plans after that with Aidan. It seems like our summer has zipped by. Sundays have been so tied up with cousins leaving and friends needing us that we have not made it to church like I would have liked.101_8726

After singing we packed everyone up with a picnic and sunscreen and headed out to the beach. First stopping at the park…101_8728 101_8732 101_8733

It was even windy enough to fly kites!!! Clearance find at Walmart at the end of last season.101_8740 101_8743 101_8744

Of course the main attraction was the beach and lake itself.101_8749

101_8751 101_8756 Aidan is a blast to have with the kids. They took turns being covered with sand and everything.101_8760

Definitely wore them out.101_8767

And with Aidan being a fellow Lego lover, he was a great help in building the new Mixels sent from Gammie.101_8771

Throw in creativity and some time in the sunroom and I think we showed Aidan a fun sleepover! He definitely is a family favourite!!!101_8772

And some extra photos to enjoy!101_8734 101_8748 101_8762 101_8765 101_8766 101_8753