So Garfield has been banned from the house. There comes a time in most families with boys where the comics get ripped out of the Sunday paper before the parents even wake up... so giddy they are to read the fresh strips from Peanuts, Garfield, The Family Circus and the like. This translated to my children checking out full collections of comic books at the library which I've tolerated for the past 6-7 months or so. One can resist twaddle only so much after all...But once the kids started mimicking Garfield's bad attitude, and laughing about John's busty girlfriend commenting about the need to shave her legs, and seeing "Shut up!" in there, I've put the kibosh on that cat being allowed in our house anymore.
Thankfully there's The Adventures of Tinitin
to fill in the void. The boys have had a growing interest in Tintin for close to a year now and it's coming to a full apex where they read each adventure from start to finish in one sitting, wide eyed and willing to sacrifice sleep and play in order to finish whichever new comic they've checked out. For those who are unfamiliar with Tintin, here's a brief excerpt from Wikipedia to fill you in:Set during a largely realistic 20th century, the hero of the series is Tintin, a young Belgian reporter. He is aided in his adventures from the beginning by his faithful fox terrier dog Snowy (Milou in French). Later, popular additions to the cast included the brash, cynical and grumpy Captain Haddock, the highly intelligent but hearing-impaired Professor Calculus (Professeur Tournesol) and other supporting characters such as the incompetent detectives Thomson and Thompson (Dupont et Dupond). Hergé himself features in several of the comics as a background character, as do his assistants in some instances.These are true, blue adventures with great characters and great endings... the kind of stuff with which boys should grow up (though the PC police will have their objections to the stark "good guys" vs. "bad guys" dichotomy, period-typical prejudices and use of weaponry). For all this and more, I am still happy to welcome Tintin into our home.
The comic strip series has long been admired for its clean, expressive drawings in Hergé's signature ligne claire style. Its "engaging",well-researched plots straddle a variety of genres: swashbuckling adventures with elements of fantasy, mysteries, political thrillers, and science fiction. The stories within the Tintin series always feature slapstick humour, accompanied in later albums by satire, and political and cultural commentary.
On December 23rd of this year, Steven Spielberg is releasing an animated Tintin movie in 3D which looks very promising and exciting. Certainly it needs a preview before the littles are allowed to watch it (Reading about gun fights and watching gun fights on a sensory overloaded movie screen are two different things.) but I am hoping it'll be fine for my 7 and 9 year olds to see with their father.
One should absolutely NOT consider seeing the movie without first becoming familiar with the beloved comics themselves first! (I feel the same way about almost all book-to-movie adaptations... but especially important stories like Narnia, Lord of the Rings, The Little Princess, etc.) Watching the trailer I can't help but think, "Thundering Typhoons! Look at that phenomenal animation!"
When your family starts growing up, it's very easy to adjust all the family read-alouds to the levels of the oldest. This is fine and good in some respects but I've noticed recently that the meaty, in-depth stories are getting far more readings around here than the simple ones suited for the 4 and under bracket. One way that I've remedied this in my own home is that when our family breaks for quiet time (we all split up into separate rooms and some of us nap, others read or play very quietly) I take 10 minutes or so with each of my youngest two children, my nearly 5 year old son and my 2 year old daughter. They each get individual attention to spend reading one or two of those "forgotten books" that were everyday fare here once upon a time. While my little ones are pretty good sports about listening to great myths or picture book biographies, they really do delight in those simple, simple stories that have their place in a child's mind forever. I'll share with you some of those titles in a bit but I first want to say a word about repetition.
books (which we like but the sequels just kinda went downhill) but these books are even better in my opinion. Kids crack up over the silly, detailed illustrations and want to point out all the fun things in the story...
which offers a great and historically accurate perspective on the Revolution from the other side of the Atlantic. Then there's 
which isn't as fascinating as Farmer George but it does offer an important look at an important man whose ideas still shape our world.
and the like. This topic is ripe with good books.
is superb. This book will be our spine for history studies for the next few years. Some compare it to Susan Wise Bauer's 
in that both tell history from the narrative style for what it is: a story. I have considered using SOTW for our history with the kids many times, but for some reason it never "felt" perfect (Yes I confess; she who praises logic and reason so often resorts to plain old gut feelings.) for our particular family, though it may be a great fit for others. Perhaps it's the rumors that after the first or second volume there are inaccuracies and blatant biases against Catholic history. Perhaps it's the daunting activity books or other curricula-like materials that accompany the text. I don't know. I just know that I never appreciated history as a child and I want to avoid that for my kids. History is so fascinating! And when it's told in an interesting, NON-textbook way, I think even the most school-weary child can't help but be drawn in.
which I think could be a great alternative for some people who want to listen to it in the car or who want to let their children listen to the chapter while Mama is doing dishes or helping Billy-Bob with Calculus.
If