At 5 Minutes for Books, we are proud to feature books across many genres for children and adults. This week is all about highlighting children’s books, and in this case movies, and if you’re interested in other Books on Screen, feel free to check out the archives.
Read the anchor post to find all of the Fall Festival of Children’s Books reviews and see how you can get involved as well.
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Thomas & Friends: Misty Island Rescue is the latest fully CGI-animated movie featuring Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends, and the first available on Blu-Ray. Michael Brandon narrates the story but each engine is individually voiced, which I think really adds to the enjoyment of the story.
The new Search and Rescue Station is under construction and the engine who is the most helpful will get to pull the new “Jobi wood” to the station. When Diesel decides to take this on himself he gets into trouble, and Thomas saves him. He is rewarded by a trip to the mainland but on the way there his raft is disconnected from the cargo ship and he winds up on the mysterious Misty Island. Here he meets 3 new engines, Bash, Dash and Ferdinand, who are logging engines. Thomas enlists their help to find his way back to Sodor, while Sir Topham Hatt organizes a search back on Sodor. Along the way Thomas realizes his decisions aren’t always the best ones, especially when he ignores the advice of his new friends, and that sometimes you can have a little fun while still getting the job done (and I totally didn’t realize that rhymed until after I typed it – I may have Thomas on the brain).
My 3 year old has several Thomas books and a train table full of tracks and trains in the basement, but has never really watched the show. Anytime I’ve tried to put it on, he loses interest rather quickly. He loves movies though, and carried the DVD box around the kitchen asking me every 5 seconds if it was time to watch Thomas yet. So to say he was excited is an understatement.
Once the movie started he didn’t move from the couch and he was appropriately worried and happy throughout. I think the CGI animation and the speed the story moves along helped to keep him engaged, but the exciting plotline and dilemmas encountered by the engines also were a big factor. He’s already asked when we can watch the Thomas movie again so I expect this one will be viewed many times to come.
The DVD has some cute extras – a “Search for Thomas” game and 2 karaoke videos. It’s also available on Blu-Ray, however we viewed the DVD format and the animation was still so good. I can’t imagine how amazing it is on Blu-Ray.
We have one copy of Thomas & Friends: Misty Island Rescue for one lucky winner. Leave a comment and we’ll announce the winner on October 2. This giveaway is closed.
Don’t forget to enter the Grand Prize giveaway as well.
If you or your kids are Kathryn Lasky or Guardians of Ga’Hoole fans, check out Jennifer’s interview with Kathryn Lasky.
We’re giving away $50 Fandango movie bucks to see that movie (or the movie or your choice) and the first book over at 5 Minutes for Mom.
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Nancy doesn’t always make good decisions but she tries her best. She write about her 2 boys and life in Colorado at Life With My Boys.