Arts & Culture

Movie Review: Despicable Me

“When we got adopted by a bald guy,” the character of young orphan Margo states, “I thought this would be more like Annie.” But this weekend’s new animated 3-D flick, Despicable Me, ain’t no Annie. There’s no singing, just a wee bit of dancing, and though, like Annie, there’s a large cast, in this case, they happen to be bright yell...

Arts & Culture

I Hate Taking My Kid to 3-D Movies

(Warning: movie spoilers ahead!) I’m going to come right out and say it: I loathe 3-D movies. If there was a Facebook-style dislike button one could press when an ad for a 3-D movie came on TV, I would lean on that sucker to make my point. When yet another 3-D movie ostensibly marketed to the whole family is released, I pray my kids won’t no...

Arts & Culture

Movie Review: Toy Story 3

“He’s all grown-up,” pronounces Buzz Lightyear. “Our mission is complete.” In Toy Story 3, Buzz, Woody, Slinky Dog, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and all the other toys have to stand aside as their beloved owner, Andy, heads off to university. But the toys—especially the cowboy—just can’t quit Andy. When we first met CGI Andy, the Eve...

Arts & Culture

Movie Review: Shrek Forever After

When last we saw Shrek and Fiona they had just left the kingdom of Far Far Away with their three ogre triplets in tow. Shrek had rejected the throne and insisted on returning to his swampy ogre lair. But as Shrek Forever After begins, he finds that even an ogre’s swamp is not his castle once he becomes a parent. We’ve all been there. Now...

Arts & Culture

Movie Review: Alice In Wonderland

Would you entrust your child to the man who made the cannibalistic splatter-fest Sweeney Todd? That’s what Disney was hoping when it put the beloved children’s classic Alice in Wonderland in Tim Burton’s slightly sinister hands. As it turns out, it’s a perfect fit. Tim Burton and Alice in Wonderland were made for each other. Tim Burton was...

Arts & Culture

The Value of Danger for Kids

When Gever Tulley posted a YouTube video on the “5 Dangerous Things Kids Should Do,” from a speech he gave at the TED Conference, little did he know how quickly it’d go viral. (Hint: Very quickly.) After surprising Internet success, Tulley, along with wife, Julie Spiegler, set out to publish their super-controversial book, Fifty Dangerous Thi...

Arts & Culture

Reality Bites

Like pretty much anyone else with an opinion on the TLC show Jon & Kate (shown on the Discovery channel in Australia), mine has been rather negative of late. I publicly declared my own, personal Jon & Kate blackout in in a recent blog post, writing of the episode three weeks ago, "This is disturbing, and I feel dirty having allowed mysel...

Arts & Culture

Consume Less, Live Better

You may have noticed that green is the new black when it comes to raising babies these days. A swing back to cloth nappies and wooden toys shows that parents are starting to question the impact their families are making on the environment. Journalist and yoga teacher Debbie Hodgson (pictured right) has written a guide for parents keen to move to...

Arts & Culture

10 Kids Movies That Were Better Than The Book

Another Harry Potter movie opens soon, and so begins another round of criticism about how the film does or doesn't live up to the book. But for all that griping about the books done wrong by Hollywood, what happens when the movie is really better than the book? Check out these kiddie flicks that rocked the books. — Jeanne Sager 1. Shrek...

Arts & Culture

My Date With Dr. Ferber

L.A. may be the city of dreams. But, for us parents, Boston is the city of sleep. All of the greatest pediatric sleep doctors practice there. You can feel the pulse of their giant brain-veins as you drive down Longwood Ave. and Storrow Drive, past the medical Walk of Fame: Boston Children’s, Beth Israel, Mass. General, Dana-Farber.  Homes to th...