DVD Review: A Dolphins Tale

I was invited to a preview blogger event before A Dolphins Tale was released at the cinema and sadly I could not make it, so when Warner Bros. asked me if I would like to review it on DVD I nearly snapped their hand off.

The DVD arrived yesterday and what better to do on a very cold and bitter Saturday afternoon than to sit under the duvet with my little ladies and watch the movie. I proved to myself yet again that since becoming a mum I have turned into a blubbering wreck, this film and knowing that it is based on true events really moved me and I absolutely adored it.  I expected the film to be a big hit with JJ but due to his friends being here he has not even watched it yet, it was me and Miss E that it really touched.

I did not expect a 4 year old girl to be able to get so much of the film, but she was really engaged and enjoyed it and now keeps chatting about Winter the dolphin and her tail that died. The plot in a nutshell, is that Sawyer, an 11 year old boy who is struggling at school finds a hurt dolphin washed up on the beach and caught in a  crab trap. He starts to set the dolphin free and in those moments develops a special bond. When the dolphin is moved to the Clearwater marine hospital and named Winter, Sawyer breaks in to find her and ends up bunking off summer school so that he can spend time with Winter and nurse her back to health along with the staff at the hospital. He manages to engage a specialist to help build a prosthetic tail for Winter and organises a special event with his friend Hazel and her family so that Winter and the hospital can be saved.

This is a real feel good movie and one I would definitely recommend for great half-term viewing for kids of all ages. We will most definitely sit down and watch it again, with JJ this time. Take a look a the official trailer below and see if you fancy it too.
Dolphin Tale is out on DVD on 13th February 2012, it is available to pre-order on Amazon for the cost of £9.99 and Blu-ray is £14.99.

Run time - 108 minutes
Rating - U, suitable for all
Cast - There is  superb cast, including Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jnr and Kris Kristofferson



Disclaimer:  This is a review post

Review & Giveaway: Children's Book - Sir Scallywag and the Golden Underpants

Big congratulations to @BlueBearWood you are the lucky winner.  Please DM or email me your address details.  Many thanks, Michelle

There is a new favourite bedtime story in our house right now.  The girls are just loving this new book we have been sent. Sir Scallywag and the Golden Underpants is marketed as being perfect for boys aged 3 - 6 years and I think they are right, boys will adore the silly poetic verses in this story.  However, equally so two little 4 year old girlie girls are enjoying it as well.

'Read it again Mummy', 'Why has the King chopped his head off and flushed it down the loo?'.  Oh yes, I have been getting all sorts of questions and fielding those can be fun!  As you can tell from the questions there are a couple of bits in the book which I found a little questionable, not rude enough that I would not read the book but just a tad silly, the sort of thing that young kids love.

I felt the storyline carried a similarity to David and Goliath from the bible, in that just because someone is small does not mean they cannot conquer, which of course is a really nice message to give your kids.

The award winning author Giles Andreae was also the creator of Purple Ronnie, which made me smile as I have not thought about that little stickman for a few years. The illustrations in the book are outstanding as you would expect from Korky Paul, the man responsible for illustrating the Winnie the Witch books. In all the poetic wording and superb drawings join together to make a fabulous book, which is great lighthearted fun and a really easy read.

So how do you fancy winning your own copy?

How to enter:

• Mandatory - Leave a comment to let me know how I can contact you - twitter ID or email.
• Additional entry - tweet ''I want to #win a Sir Scallywag & the Golden Underpants book from @puffinbooks & @michelletwinmum #giveaway http://bit.ly/wASURx'

 Terms and Conditions of Entry:

• The winner will be chosen at random
• Open to UK and Ireland residents only
• Giveaway closes at 12 noon on Thursday 9th February 2012
• The winner will be contacted within 3 working days of the competition closing
• The winner needs to contact me within a week of my announcing the winner or I will draw again
• The prize is not transferable and there is no cash alternative
• The DVD will be sent direct from Penguin Books

Disclaimer:  This is a review post.  Many thanks to Penguin Books for this book.

Review: The Polar Express DVD

I don't think I have quite accepted yet that Christmas is over! Whilst I am enjoying being back to normal and having the chaos cleared out of my house I still love to watch Christmas movies.

So I had a very enjoyable 96 minutes a couple of days ago in bed on my own, watching The Polar Express. I had not watched this film before so when I received it as part of a Christmas present bundle from Warner Bros. I was super pleased! It is a G for general viewing and I can imagine all five of us sitting down next year to watch it together in the run up to Christmas.

It really is a very magical film. The animation is amazing and so different to many other animated films that have been released in recent years but in a beautifully mystical way.  I cannot even start to explain how much the film captivates you and draws you in, making you want to watch it the whole way through. An animated Tom Hanks is the conductor on board the Polar Express, which is a magical train that rides to the North Pole each Christmas Eve loaded with children. The four central children characters are excellent with their own very prominent and unique personalities and you watch them grow and change as they take this roller-coaster journey.

If you don't believe in the magic of Christmas before this film you certainly will afterwards.  I will happily recommend this as a family movie which will appeal to the adults just as much as the children (maybe even more so!). This is not your typical Christmas feel good film full of humour and pranks but that for me was a welcome change.

Amazon have some great deals on The Polar Express now and there is even a 3D version on Blu-ray too, which you could buy for £14.99.

Enjoy!


Disclosure:  This is a review post.

Children's DVD Review: Arrietty

As a child I loved Mary Norton's book The Borrowers, about tiny people who lived under the floorboards and came up to borrow things that the human folk may not need, such as sugar lumps and tissues.  So hearing it had been made into a modern film was exciting news. Arrietty is an animated family feature film which runs for approximately 90 minutes.  Made by the Ghibli studio that produced Spirited Away and Ponyo, it is the tale of a young boy called Sho who is seriously ill and comes to stay in a mansion in the leafy outskirts of Tokyo whilst he awaits treatment.  During his time there Sho meets a tiny little girl called Arrietty who lives in the depths of the house in her own diddy house with her parents. Sadly once her parents realise that a human has seen her they need to move away to keep themselves safe but before this we get a delightful story of an unlikely friendship and a slightly kooky housekeeper!

This is a beautiful film, which was enjoyed by all the family from my 4 year old girls through to my husband and I. The animation is just lovely, I commented to dh that it is not at all garish like some children's films.  It is muted and very realistic and the story unfolds in a very touching and captivating way.  This film has provided a couple of happy afternoons viewing for us so far.

Arrietty will be available to buy from all good retailers from 9th January 2012.  I would happily recommend it as a good investment to add to your family films library.  You can pre-order on Amazon for £11.99 for a DVD at the moment.

Take a peek at the trailor -



Certificate : U
Run Time:  90 minutes
Language:  English or Japanese with English subtitles
Actors: Saoirse Ronan, Olivia Coleman, Mark Strong, Tom Holland
Directors: Hiromasa Yonebayashi

Disclaimer:  This is a  review post, I received the DVD free of charge. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Review: Scotch Pop-Up Tape

Now I have to be honest with you and say this is going to be a pretty concise post, let's be honest, how much can I say about sticky tape before you click away?

I have been using the Scotch pop-up tape strips for probably 2 or 3 years now.  They do work out to be a little more expensive than tape on a roll but I find the faff of finding lost ends on tape rolls a complete put off and that just never happens with these nifty little strips.

When you need to wrap about 20 shoe boxes in Christmas wrap for Operation Christmas Child you need something that actively helps you rather than hinders and Scotch pop-up tape does the job really well.  Look, I even modelled my little dispenser in action for you -

The dispenser filled with 75 strips in a pad retails for £2.49 and refill packs of 3 tape pads are available for an RRP of £2.69 but I have to be honest and say that I always buy mine when they are on discount or 2 for 3 type offers.  I do like a bargain and you can pick them up in most good stationers, supermarkets and general retailers. Thea re 2 for £3.00 at Tesco at the moment.

So will I be using tape strips this Christmas to do my wrapping, oh yes I will, in about 10 minutes in fact.  All the kids are now asleep so it is the perfect time to grab dh and get in a bit of wrapping action - it is all rock and roll here!


Disclosure:  I received a dispenser and some strips for the purposes of doing this review.  I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.