Entertainment | That Bald Chick

The Day that Thomas Lost His Voice

December 15, 2011 By Virginia 23 Comments

Mister is a huge Thomas the Train fan. He has quite a few Thomas toys, including a train track and what not. My Uncle works for UP, and Mister believes that he knows Thomas personally. LOL.

Mister loves for me to make up stories for him about Thomas, and I thought I would share one of them with you.

I call it “The Day that Thomas Lost His Voice.”

One day, on the Island of Sodor, Thomas sat by the station.

Sir Topham Hatt was worried about Thomas. Thomas had been unusually quiet all morning. Thomas could usually be heard puffing down the tracks, but instead of chugging along, he sat still.

“Thomas,” said Sir Topham Hatt, “are you alright?”

Thomas looked back and forth, and shook his head, but said nothing.

“What is it?” asked Sir Thopham Hatt.

Thomas looked sadly at the the head of the railway.

“Cinders and ashes,” Thomas thought, “My horn doesn’t work!” Thomas felt very sad. He knew he couldn’t be a very useful engine without a voice.

“Thomas,” asked Sir Topham Hatt, “are you ill?”

Thomas nodded. He whispered, “My horn doesn’t work.”

“Why ever not?” asked Sir Topham Hatt.

“I’ve lost my voice.” Thomas knew that without his horn, he couldn’t signal to other trains when he was changing tracks, which would make it unsafe for him to be sent on assignments.

Sir Topham Hatt was puzzled, but knew that on occasion the train horns needed to be repaired or replaced. He ordered Thomas to go to the Repair and Go Station at the Sodor Steamworks, where his horn could be repaired if needed. To keep Thomas safe, Sir Topham Hatt asked Percy to act as an escort, and Harold to fly overhead to make sure the two did not run into trouble.

Thomas and Percy chugged quietly away to the Repair and Go Station, where both hoped that Thomas would get his voice back. Harold flew overhead and made sure the track was clear for them. Once there, Thomas whispered to the repairmen that his horn wasn’t working, and Percy left to find Sir Topham Hatt for his next assignment.

The repairmen used a crane to lift Thomas up to take a look. When a train came into the Repair and Go Station, they had to have a thorough inspection. The repairmen found that Thomas’ horn needed to be repaired and went to get one of the train horn kits from the shelves. Thomas wished that they had let him down from the crane before they went away, but was pleased that they came back quickly and set to work. In no time at all, Thomas’ voice was restored, and he tooted proudly. Now Thomas knew why engines feel all better, and are ready to go, after a visit to the Steamworks!

The repairmen smiled as Thomas said, “Now I can be a really useful engine. I have to find Sir Topham Hatt.” Thomas steamed quickly away, in search of Sir Topham Hatt. He gave an extra toot or two to the birds who flew overhead. Thomas was excited, and looked forward to working hard the rest of the day.

I made this one up when the batteries in his Thomas died. I told him that Daddy worked at the Steamworks and was in charge of horn repairs (i.e. battery replacement). It worked. He was happy to wait until Daddy got home and put new batteries in.

What cartoons are your kids fans of? Do you make up stories about the characters for them?

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: stories, thomas, train

A Gruffalo Kind of Christmas

November 19, 2011 By Virginia 2 Comments

Ever felt like everyone was out to eat you? That’s exactly how the adorable little mouse in The Gruffalo felt. But, he was one smart mouse. He used his wit, and told all his predator’s that he is meeting a monster, a Gruffalo, which scares them all and they decide not to eat him. Mouse becomes increasinly confident, and he thinks there is nothing that can touch him. Then he rounds the corner and comes face-to-face with the terrible monster that he made up…

The Gruffalo DVD is based on the award winning book by Julia Donaldson. I had not read the book before we received the DVD for review. In fact, I hadn’t even heard of the book. After watching The Gruffalo, I can certainly understand why the book is award winning. It is quite possibly one of the cutest stories I have ever seen.

After watching the film, I picked up a copy of the book from our local library. I was really surprised to see that the movie followed the book to the letter.

The animation of The Gruffalo is seamless and beautiful. The colors are vibrant. The story is captivating and timeless. This is one of those stories that will long outlive the author that penned it.

Interestingly enough, the first time the kidlets watched it, Sister was afraid of the mouse. She has long since outgrown her fear of the mouse and loves this DVD. It is on her “go-to” list. Anytime it’s her turn to pick, this is one of the three or four that she pulls out of the cabinet.

The Gruffalo DVD is available at local retailers nationwide, at NCircle, and on Amazon.

If you are Christmas shopping, for your own child or someone else’s little one, I would definitely recommend The Gruffalo! Make it a Gruffalo Kind of Christmas!

Filed Under: Books, Entertainment, Reviews Tagged With: books, DVD, giftideas, Kids, preschool, thinkchristmas

Theo: God’s Love

November 16, 2011 By Virginia 2 Comments

Finding quality, faith based, child-friendly shows can prove to be a challenge. Especially when we refuse to pay for television channels. Theo Presents offers just that in the new Theo: God’s Love DVD. Theo is an animated series that carefully guides children, and adults, through a study of systematic theology. Theo, the main character, discusses the doctrine of sin, God’s character, the Bible, salvation, and godly living. He does it in a way that it is easy for children to understand and make them want to learn more about Christian faith.

About Theo

Theo is a scholar, or student of God’s word. The animation series, based around his adventures and teachings, carefully guides children (and adults) through a study of systematic theology. Theo lives in an English village, and often entertains guests—two of his guests, Luther and Belfry, are mice. Theo discusses doctrines about sin, Godʼs character, the Bible, salvation and godly living with easy-to-understand illustrations that make children want to learn more about the Christian faith.

Theo, and his mice buddies, are appealing to kids of all ages. The lessons presented on the DVD are suitable for home teaching and/or for Sunday school lessons, Christian school curriculum, missions, and evangelism.

THEO: God’s Love Episode Descriptions

1. Saving Faith- 9 minutes

Theo teaches that the same type of faith that saved Abraham, saves you and me. He shares the story of Abraham as an illustration of the life of a man who trusted the promises of God, and lived by faith. Just as the Lord fulfilled his promise, of a son, to Abraham, He has also fulfilled His promise, of a Savior, to us. He sent his own son, Jesus, into the world at just the right time.

2. Loving Obedience- 9 minutes

Luther and Belfry, Theo’s mice buddies, have penchant for disobedience and get into trouble often. Theo teaches them that loving God and obeying him are two peas in a pod. Trust and obey. If we love God, we will obey Him. By demonstrating the consequences of Jonah’s disobedience, this episode teaches children a valuable lesson on obedience. Children learn that when we love God, and obey Him, we are blessed.

3. Forgiveness- 10 minutes

The central theme of the Gospel is forgiveness. In the biblical sense, to forgive something means to set it free. Choosing to forgive is not always easy for Luther and Belfry. Theo uses the parable of the Unforgiving Servant to teach them about forgiveness, and demonstrates that if we refuse to forgive others, we cannot expect God to forgive us.

Bonus Episode- The Good News

In this bonus episode, Theo shares the Good News of Jesus Christ in just five minutes.

About the creator – MICHAEL JOENS

Mike Joens has produced and directed scores of animated commercials for toy companies such as Milton Bradley, Hasbro, Kenner, McDonaldʼs and Playskool. In addition to commercial work, he produced and directed the animation segments for the award-winning video series “McGee and Me,” as well as the animated “Adventures in Odyssey” for Focus on the Family. After a waiting period of over 30 years, God opened the doors to Joens for the production of “Theo Presents.” At last, the dream of a cartoonist, called to teach the Word has come true. It is Mikeʼs hope that God will use Theo to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to children and adults in every country of the world!

I can’t tell you how excited I am about Theo. The DVD is fun, age appropriate, and Bible bases. My kids have really enjoyed watching this DVD, and I really enjoy that they are learning God’s word while they do it. It reinforces the lessons that I am teaching them on obedience and forgiveness, and as a Mom, I appreciate all the help I can get! It is written around the tenants of the Christian faith, which is one of the core things I want to instill in my children, and one of the reasons that we are homeschooling.

While the Theo episodes are brief (9-10 minutes), they are perfect for youngsters, and for anyone who needs a little something to reinforce the Gospel message that they are teaching their children. It is also ideal as a Sunday School lesson. Since the typical Sunday School class is only an hour long, the ten minute DVD segment will allow plenty of time for craft, snacks, and potty breaks.

It would be nice if the DVD had more than three episodes on it, which would enable more long range planning for lessons. However, the episodes that are included are well worth the price of the DVD. I did notice that the Theo Church Edition has an additional lesson, Armor of God (based on Ephesians 6:10) on it. There are also two additional DVD’s available in the Church Editions, one on Salvation and one on Christian Life. The Church Editions include printable lessons for each of the five episodes included on the DVD. If I had my druthers, as a homeschooling mom, I’d druther have the Church Editions than the home editions, because this series is just awesome.

As for printables, the website does offer three printable coloring pages that you can enjoy with your kids.

Also worthy of note is that for every Theo: God’s Love DVD purchased, through the Theo Presents Buy 1 Give 1 Campaign, Whitestone Media and Child Evangelism Fellowship® will send a child in need their very own DVD. Whitestone Media also has a free iPhone/iPad Theo Presents App. The app lets you bring Theo and his friends with you wherever you go with games, devotions, and downloadable activities.

Stuff someone’s stocking with Theo. They’ll be glad you did!

Learn more about Theo Presents on their Facebook and Twitter pages.

Filed Under: Entertainment, Faith Tagged With: DVD, Faith, homeschool

Princess and the Pop Star

November 15, 2011 By Virginia 1 Comment

I have long been a fan of VeggieTales, as you would see if you typed veggietales into the search bar on my site. We own over thirty VeggieTales movies (we won a VeggieTales DVD Library in a giveaway, and I have reviewed several others). My kids love VeggieTales, and I love that I can feel good about letting them have screen time. So, when I was asked to review VeggieTales®: Princess and the Pop Star I just knew it would be a hit.

DVD Synopsis

Princess Poppyseed’s life on her family’s farm is far from the glamorous but lonely world of her favorite pop singer Vanna Banana. Princess doesn’t like her chores (collecting eggs and milk) and thinks life on the stage would be so much better. Vanna Banana just wants a chance to be normal.

On a chance meeting at a playground, Vanna and Princess cross paths and realize that they look almost exactly alike—which leads to the crazy secret plan where they decide to switch lives! As each girl realizes that the life they longed for doesn’t fulfill all of their dreams, they learn that the life God gave them is the one for which they were uniquely and lovingly designed.

The Princess and the Pop Star includes the song “You Never Are,” written and performed by Dove Award-winning Artist, Francesca Battistelli.

It also includes the usual amount of high energy music and silly sing a long’s, as well as Princess Poppyseed’s Points For Being Uniquely You.

The silly song, Astonishing Wigs, is quite humorous. Of course, my favorite silly song is The Hairbrush Song.

Anyway, we received Princess and the Pop Star for review.

The storyline of Princess and the Pop Star is a good one, teaching children that we should strive for excellence where God put us, and that the grass is NOT always greener on the other side.

That being said, I was mildly surprised when Sister didn’t go ga-ga over a VeggieTales story specifically aimed at girls. She likes it. But she would much rather watch Sweetpea Beauty (which she calls Noodoos because of Snoodlerella) or Twas the Night Before Easter (which is her all time favorite VeggieTales movie). Up with bunnies, and down with the microphone, I guess.

While my little Princess prefers other VeggieTales over the Pop Star, I still think VeggieTales®: Princess and the Pop Star would make a great Christmas gift for the little girl in your life!

Filed Under: Entertainment, Gift Ideas Tagged With: DVD, giftideas, thinkchristmas, VeggieTales

Sesame Street- Wild Words and Outdoor Adventures

November 12, 2011 By Virginia 1 Comment

Sesame Street- Wild Words and Outdoor Adventures is a fantastic compilation of Sesame Street segments designed to teach your child about the outdoors and the environment in the world around them. Divided into four segments, kids learn about hibernation (Baby Bear Hibernates); habitats (Big Bird’s New Habitat); nature (Wild Nature Survivor Guy); and camouflage (Camouflage Challenge). It also has a bonus Alphabet Jungle Song.

Now in its 41^st season, Sesame Street is the longest-running program in children’s television. The series has received more Emmy awards than any other show in television history (130), as well as a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award honoring the 40^th year.

True to it’s reputation, this Sesame Street DVD is loaded with fun, learning, and celebrity guests. Special guests include: Jimmy Fallon, Kyra Sedgwick, Lin Manuel Miranda, Debra Messing, Cameron Diaz, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Meredith Viera. While I am not familiar with many of the celebrity guests that appear on Sesame Street, I do appreciate that they take the time to appear and make learning fun.

Each lesson introduces new vocabulary words, explains the meaning, and then reinforces the learning with engaging stories about the words. My kids really enjoy Sesame Street DVDs.

Mister really enjoyed learning more about camouflage, making Sesame Street- Wild Words and Outdoor Adventures a sure hit. Especially since we enjoy learning about the outdoors, and this DVD makes it so much fun.

Check out this clip, and you will see why.

Warning: the “That’s Camouflage” song may become stuck on repeat in your brain. It’s cute. But don’t say I didn’t tell you it might happen!

About Sesame Workshop

Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization that revolutionized children’s television programming with the landmark Sesame Street. The Workshop produces local Sesame Street programs, seen in over 140 countries, and other acclaimed shows to help bridge the literacy gap including The Electric Company and Pinky Dinky Doo. Beyond television, the Workshop produces content for multiple media platforms on a wide range of issues including literacy, health and military deployment. Initiatives meet specific needs to help young children and families develop critical skills, acquire healthy habits and build emotional strength to prepare them for lifelong learning. Learn more at www.sesameworkshop.org.