BOOK: Alamo Tree (2020)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Alamo TreeYear: 2020Author: Tana S. HolmesLength: 29 pages As a new father, I can appreciate when picture books try and approach complex subjects. I'm already tired of learning about zoo animals and colors, so a book like Alamo Tree is a nice reprieve from the monotony. Granted, I don't think my child is old enough yet to have the attention span to read this book, but it's nice to know I have it when that time comes. Of course, I'm not sure when I'll need to teach my child about the Alamo either. Told through the perspective of a tree located at the Alamo site, Alamo Tree tries to make the tragedy that happened at the Alamo relatable to children. Unfortunately, this means it cuts out quite a bit of context that kids might miss and wouldn't be appropriate for them anyway. Despite this, I'd consider Alamo Tree a good primer to gauge a child's interest in American history (even if it's...
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MOVIE: The Little Prince (2015)

by benmweilertNo Comments
The Little Prince Year: 2015 Rating: PG Length: 108 minutes / 1.80 hours I understand there are limitations when it comes to adapting picture books into feature-length movies. The amount of content present in these books isn’t even enough to cover a few minutes just reading it aloud, so extending it out over 100 minutes requires a bit of framing and exposition. While movies like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) took the approach of explaining why there was giant food falling from the sky, The Little Prince (2015) framed its iconic story with your standard “overbearing parent wants their child to succeed at the detriment of said child’s childhood” sub-plot. When I was growing up, I never encountered The Little Prince in all the picture books I read. Even without this prior knowledge, I could get a sense that the entirety of the book’s content was contained in the stop-motion sections of this movie. I felt there was a missed opportunity to do...
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