Dear Moms, Dads, Relatives, Educators and Business Owners

I am back on my soap box again. This time I am singing the praises of local authors of children's books. My children have just discovered The "Jamela" range of books by Niki Daly. This highly awarded author and illustrator depicts local township life in South Africa centred around a young girl named Jamela. The books are beautifully illustrated, amusing, heartwarming and best of all available in English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu and Sesotho. My daughter claims they are extremely popular at her school library and she was lucky to get her hands on one this week. My children also love the book Fly, Eagle, Fly! A powerful and inspiring tale written by Chistopher Gregorowski brought to life with illustrations by Niki daly. A truly talented man.

The animation movie production companies certainly are getting highly creative with their storylines this year. We have seen Guinea Pigs saving the world in G-Force and this month in the movie Up we see a 78 year old man and an 8 year old boy going on an adventure in a house tied to an enormous bunch of balloons. Next month in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, we see food raining from the sky and I don't think it is organic, so it could get nasty.

The graphics, lighting and music in animations of today are impressive, however, they make what would have been a mildly scary scene in a movie when I was a kid, ten times more frightening. Don't be fooled by posters of cute little animals because there is almost always some nasty ones revealed only in the movie. Most of these movies are age appropriate for 6 years and up. I recommend, especially if you have sensitive children, to do a bit of homework on a movie before you take your kids to see it. I have found a really useful overseas website, Common Sense Media, that gives you honest and detailed reviews on movies, games and books. They advise from what age they feel the movie is appropriate and they also tell you what to watch out for such as violence and scariness, sexy stuff, language, consumerism, drinking, drugs and smoking. On our movies page we will now provide you with a trailer and a link to their review on the latest kids movie releases that we feature.

Friday is Roald Dahl day and to celebrate this author, the kids have to dress as their favourite book character for school. My daughter has decided she wants to be the Gruffalo's Child, complete with horns, pink spikes and furry tail. Sometimes I feel as though I am raising two boys! Although quite challenging, I do feel her choice of character a good one as it has been 10 years since Julia Donaldson released her book The Gruffalo. Two celebrations in one! Fantastic Mr Fox is our favourite Roald Dahl book and the story has been developed into an animation which will be released in December this year.

I would love feedback from you on what you would like to see more of in our family entertainment guide newsletter.

Happy Spring!

www.kidzworld.co.za

            September 2009