Go See: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was worth the wait. Of course, with Johnny Depp's return as the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow, we knew there would be laughs, deceit, and of course, mutiny.

The movie starts with Gibbs being tried as "Jack Sparrow." Captain Jack comes to his rescue, where Gibbs informs him there is an imposter "Jack Sparrow" who is getting a crew together.  Captain Jack finds the imposter and immediately knows who it is: Angelica. Jack finds himself on a ship with Angelica, sailing to the Fountain of Youth. But whose ship is it? None other than Blackbeard's, of course! And without Jack's help, they won't make it to the Fountain of Youth in time. So with twists and turns when you least expect, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is bound to leave you wanting more.

Thank you to Dianna, our contributor, for checking out the movie and for writing up this post.

Dianna was provided with two complimentary passes to attend an advanced screening to help facilitate this review. All opinions are 100% her own.

Go Read: Dinosaur Train Books!

Abers and I recently had the opportunity to check out some brand-new Dinosaur Train books, in honor of Get Caught Reading Month.

Get Caught Reading Month is organized annually by the Association of American Publishers to stimulate a love of reading in people of all ages.  Sid the Science Kid and Buddy from Dinosaur Train are teaming up and are participating in a free poster campaign (flat shipping applies) that supports Get Caught Reading Month. These are great for teachers or parents, check them out here! 

 We got to review three Dinosaur Train books, all of which are aged 3-5. There is:

Buddy and Friends 

This colorful board book follows Buddy as he meets many of his friends from the TV show.  This is a fun introduction to the various species included on Dinosaur Train. We still LOVE board books around here. I like that Abes can sit in her special chair and read and read and read, and I do not have to worry about her tearing any pages- this is wonderful during laundry time!!!

 Next, we got to check out A Surprise for Mom! 

This book details a sweet adventure that Buddy takes as he searches for the perfect gift for his mommy, ya gotta love that.

Lastly, we read Tiny Learns to Fish .  Mr. Pteranodon takes the kids to the pond to learn to fish, but they encounter some difficulties when they get there. In the end, team work makes it happen!

 As a teacher and as a mom, I love these books because they're colorful and teach important life skills in a fun and exciting manner.  Since I am a teacher, I tend to support these stories with questions like, "What do you think this book is about?" 

"What do you think will happen next?"
"Where did Buddy go with his friends?"

Following up with questions like this is so important and truly does help children retain what they just learned!

If you want to purchase these books for your little reader, check them out here:

Want more information on Sid the Science Kid or Dinosaur Train? Check out these great websites:

Dinosaur Train on PBS: http://pbskids.org/dinosaurtrain/

The Jim Henson Company: www.henson.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/hensoncompany
Twitter: http://twitter.com/hensonparents

Geocache: www.geocaching.com/dinosaurtrain

SID THE SCIENCE KID and DINOSAUR TRAIN air on PBS KIDS (check local listings for details).

We were provided with samples of these books to help facilitate this review. All opinions are our own.

MMCH: Mickey's Great Outdoors

If you have a toddler in your house then you surely can sing all the songs from Mickey Mouse Club House.  My daughter was smitten with the show with her first viewing. Now, at 2 years old, she loves following along and rocking out to "Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggety dogggggggg"!

Ava really enjoyed helping me test out the new dvd- Mickey's Great Outdoors.  It includes 1 Mickey Mote, a DVD, and a Digital Copy! As an avid iphone/ipad user, Ava LOVED having her very own 'mote (remote) to participate in her viewing experience.  As a mom-on-the go, I really appreciate the digital copy- and I wish we had it when we flew to Texas last month! When you have a digital copy, you can transfer a copy of the movie from itunes to your ipad. Pretty neat, huh?

Anyway, back to Mickey- just like the other movies in the series, Mickey's Great Outdoors follows Mickey Mouse and his buddies on a fun adventure.  There is lots to be learned along the way, all while providing fun entertainment for you and your child!

This DVD is available in stores TODAY!

We were provided with a sample to facilitate this reveiw. All opinions are our own.

Growums!

As I told you in a previous post, I will be posting some reviews of really fun products.  I am not really ready to post about Growums yet, but I just had to let you know what I'll be doing in the next few weeks!

Today, these showed up at my door:

When I left the Toy Expo, I was also given this:

Growums are themed garden kits, that have an interactive platform on Growums.com to teach children all about growing their own food, "from seed to harvest".  Cartoon characters represent each type of herb/veggie/fruit and really make gardening exciting for children!  I thought it would be neat to do an on-going post about these little gardens to help you get the full effect. Stay tuned!



Thank you to Growums for providing us with samples of the aforementioned gardens and for sponsoring the giveaway, I'm so psyched to test them out!

Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure!

Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure is a hilarious movie from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment about a girl named Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) who wants to go to NYC to audition for a show on Broadway. When Sharpay goes to audition she finds out the part is for her dog Boi. After Sharpay and Boi’s audition they meet their competition Roger and his dog Countess.

The main girl in the play is played by Amber Lee Adams. Amber Lee Adams is very mean to both the dogs and Sharpay and Roger. Sharpay told Amber how mean she thought she was. Amber very mad and Sharpay got fired!

Sharpay has to return home from New York to work which she really doesn’t want to do. Thankfully, she wasn't home long- the directors called her back for another audition and from there she gets the adventure of a lifetime!


I really liked this movie a lot, and so did my cousin who came with me. It was funny and really entertaining!


The DVD combo pack is available in stores TODAY!!!!!

This post was written by our teen contributor Monica! Thanks Monica for writing a great review!
Monica and her mom were provided free passes to see Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure in the theater, as well as a free copy of the dvd to help facilitate this review. All opinions are 100% Monica's.

PetCakes!

PetCakes!!!

 

It's a pet! It's a cupcake!  It's both, and it's a-dor-able!  PetCakes just debuted their Series two line and that's what I got to check out. Ava girl just can't get over the fun factor with these little guys- if she's playing in the kitchen, perfect, we have cupcakes. All other times though, she's bathing them, feeding them ba-bas, and taking them for walks in the kitchen. Insanely cute, right?

These little guys are perfect for travel or for taking to daycare- they're precious and snuggly, yet they are not too big. At $14.99/PetCake, you cannot go wrong!

Thank you to PetCakes for providing us with samples of PetCakes and for sponsoring the giveaway.