Teeny Manolo

What is it about Christmas movies that just seem so much more special than regular ones?

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
A Christmas Story
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Television Christmas Classics- (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, etc…)
A Christmas Carol (1951)
Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Home Alone
The Polar Express
Elf
A Charlie Brown Christmas

If you will excuse me, I am now putting on my flak jacket and ducking behind this wall to prepare myself for the barrage of criticism for excluding a particular classic movie.  Let me go ahead and make it a bit easier for you, so that you don’t have to write so much.

1. Yes, I have seen it.
2. Yes, I like Jimmy Stewart a lot, too.
3. No, it didn’t make me cry.
4. Yes, I have a heart.
5. No, it does not mean this entry should be placed in the “That’s Just Wrong” category.

I just don’t see what the big deal is about that movie.  It does nothing for me.  I know you have now probably lost all respect for me, but I love you just the same.

And if anyone knows any great Chanukah movies, please let us know!

(Looking for the TeenyManolo Sweepstakes? Go here)

In this day and age when leisure time is about as scarce as people who don’t own cell phones, it is more important than ever that families schedule time to be together.  There is nothing my family likes better than playing games, the kind where you all sit at the table and tease and joke and high five each other when you win.   Get some snacks, a tall glass of whatever, and let the fun begin. Oh, and taunting the losing side until the next round is also one of the major benefits.

For varying age groups, the best multiplayer games for families:

Uno- What could be better than a game in which double-crossing is not only ok, it’s encouraged?

Candyland- I’m not sure any kid should grow up without playing Candyland.

Jenga- Building tall things that satisfyingly crash at some point is a natural fit for kids.

Parcheesi- Simple, fast-paced, and easy to understand game that has been around for centuries, so it must be doing something right!

Scattergories- Fun and vocabulary building at the same time!

Cranium-14 games in one, what’s not to like? And if you hurry, it is half price!

Clue- Was it Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with a pipe?  And for those that think their kid is too young to be discussing murders and motives, there is a new version, Clue Junior, in which the mystery of a missing chocolate cake is solved.

The Game of Life- Life is all about choices, and this game is a real-time choices and consequences lesson.

Monopoly- Again, how can you grow up and not play Monopoly?

Scrabble- Nothing feels quite like a triple word score! You can get the classic or the Junior Edition.

What about you?  Are there any obvious ones that you feel like telling me about, so I can smack my forehead and exclaim, ‘D’oh!” when I read the comments? 

Now, now, some of you were a bit overeager on the last Listmania! post, Best Books for Younger Children. Here I present my final book list. I would say that these range anywhere from 3rd grade up to high school, but each child is different in reading skill and comprehension, so it is tough to say when they should pick up a particular book.

Many of these books are Newberry Award Winners, but I was quite surprised to find that some of the most beloved books did not win the award and were in fact honorable mentions.  I was also surprised to find myself getting a little misty-eyed at the memory of some of these books. Here they are, in no particular order:

Black Beauty
Ella Enchanted
James and the Giant Peach
Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales
Ramona (series)
The Little Prince
The Secret Garden
The Chronicles of Narnia
My Side of the Mountain (series)
Harry Potter (series)
The New Way Things Work
Harriet the Spy
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
Little Women
The Little Princess
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Black Cauldron
The Call of the Wild and White Fang
Tuck Everlasting
Bridge to Terabithia
A Series of Unfortunate Events (series)
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass
The Giver
Little House on the Prairie (series)
Anne of Green Gables (series)
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
Holes
The Phantom Tollbooth
A Wrinkle in Time
The Wind in the Willows
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
Shiloh
Charlotte’s Web
Because of Winn-Dixie
The Hobbit
A Light in the Attic
To Kill a Mockingbird
His Dark Materials (series)

Anything else?

I was one of those children who would receive a book as a gift and screech as loudly with glee than when it was a Barbie.  My mother would take my sister and I to the library every two weeks so that I could check out a stack of books sometimes nearly half my height.  I’m pretty sure the librarians knew us by name.  In fact, I loved books so much that when I grew up, I earned my degree in Literature. 

When I became a mother, I vowed that I would try to raise a child who was as voracious a reader as I am.  So far, it’s working.

To me, a good book is one that makes such an impression that you fondly remember it, even years after.  There seems to be a misconception that “great literature” must make a sweeping moral statement or somehow evoke the pathos of the human condition.  That they must be gilt and leather-bound tomes that you must gird yourself for before even opening the book. To me, what makes great literature is it’s ability to resonate with the reader.  Because a book that makes you giggle uncontrollably is just as important as one that imparts a lesson. These are some of my favorites, in no particular order. 

Younger Children

The Rainbow Fish
Goodnight Moon
Officer Buckle and Gloria
Guess How Much I Love You
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Hundred Dresses
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Spot (series)
The Snowy Day
Click Clack Moo: Cows that Type
Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
The True Story of Three Little Pigs
Tikki Tikki Tembo
The Cat in the Hat
Green Eggs and Ham
Frog and Toad (series)
Where the Wild Things Are
Madeline
The Real Mother Goose
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Harold and the Purple Crayon
If You Give a Mouse A Cookie
Lon Po Po
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh
The Velveteen Rabbit
Arthur (series)
Olivia
The Polar Express
Jumanji
Aesop’s Fables
Peter Rabbit and Other Tales

All right, what did I miss? 

And next up- Best Books for Older Children

Even though I in no way consider myself to be a film expert, I am going to bravely go ahead and open myself up to criticism by listing the best movies for kids 14 and under. And before everybody gets all huffy, these are in no particular order.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird
2. The Iron Giant
3. E.T. The Extraterrestrial
4. Holes
5. Monsters Inc.
6. Spirited Away
7. The Sandlot
8. The Princess Bride
9. The Lion King
10. Star Wars (IV, V, VI) (yes I am cheating by including them as one.)
11. The Harry Potter Series
12. Babe
13. The Nightmare Before Christmas
14. The NeverEnding Story
15. Goonies
16. Stand By Me
17. Finding Nemo
18. Raiders of the Lost Ark
19. The Sound of Music
20. Toy Story

What did I miss? What shouldn’t be on here?

Fire away in the comments section.