The Saturdays

The Saturdays

by Elizabeth Enright

(first book in the Melendy Quartet series)

Henry Holt and Company, 1941

177 pp., 8 chapters

Age: 7+

Interests: family, siblings, art, music

Next: the other 3 Melendy books are The Four-Story Mistake, Then There Were Five, Spiderweb for Two: a Melendy Maze

Also by this author: Thimble Summer, Gone-Away Lake

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Stuart Little (1999)


Stuart Little (1999)

Rated: Rated PG for brief language

Length:  84 min.

Age: 5 and up.    Commonsense Media sez: 6 +

Scary Factor: Stuart in the washing machine as water is filling up; chased by cat several times; two major chases from alley cats in park

Intense: concept of getting mafia-like cats to rub him out (“scratch him out”); police station conversation about killing sprees and grisly crime photos; alley cats menace a lot but don’t get very close; alley cats dispatched in end by dumping them in pond (aren’t hurt, are seen climbing out and running off)

Bad Behaviour: George pushes another boy down, fists flying, etc. and doesn’t get in any trouble for it (the impression we’re left with is that it’s all right because the other boy was so unpleasant)

Language: swearing! “damn”s, “hell”; presumably included for sole purpose of winning a PG rating; also rude language, “shut up”, “moron”, “loser”, “speak to the butt”

Interests: mice, cats, New York, adoption, family

Next: read the book! More

Annie (1982)



Rated: PG (language)
Length:  126 min.
Age: 5 and up.       Commonsense Media sez: 6 +

Scary Factor: Annie is kidnapped, shoved into a car and taken away; she is also chased by Rooster (shouting “I’ll kill ya!”), climbs to a great height on a bridge, dangles over the edge before being rescued

Violence: the orphans are very rough with each other; Annie punches out a bigger boy, knocking him down; much slapsticky shoving about, pratfalls, foot-stomping; less amusing is moment at climax when Miss Hannigan tries to stop Rooster and he punches her, knocking her out; also, a ‘bolshevik’ tries to kill Warbucks with a bomb (a brief and rather lighthearted event)

Also: lots of verbal threats, between orphans and from Miss Hannigan (who likes to holler “kill kill kill!”), most used for humour

Language: “shut up”, several “damn”s, “hell”

Bad Behavior: Miss Hannigan is drunk most of the time (makes her own bathtub gin); grownups smoke quite a lot

Sex: Miss Hannigan throws herself at every man she encounters, in a manner, shall we say, unusual for a children’s film; Miss Hannigan lounges about in her lingerie; Rooster and his girlfriend paw one another, fully clothed

Interests: musicals, song and dance, New York, history

Next: OTHER MOVIE MUSICALS: Singin’ in the Rain (all ages), Mary Poppins (3), Meet Me in St. Louis (4), The Music Man, The Wizard of Oz (4), The Sound of Music (6), STAGE: see Annie the musical live if you can

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Eloise

subtitle: A Book for Precocious Grown Ups

Kay Thompson, author

Hilary Knight, illustrator

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1955

65 pp.

Age: 5 and up        (read full review: some may find content alarming!)

Interests: New York, hotels, room service, strong girls, bad behavior

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All writings posted here are © Kim Thompson, unless otherwise indicated. For all artwork on this site, copyright is retained by the artist.
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