GoGurt and Narnia
The last time we were at Costco, D asked me to buy a box of GoGurt. I’m not quite sure how he heard of GoGurt — whether he somehow saw an ad for it on TV in spite of our best attempts to TiVo out all the commercials, or if one of his friends brought it to school. It’s fairly high in sugar, but not otherwise bad for him, and we’re always trying to get him to try new foods, so I said sure.
As it happens, GoGurt is having a Narnia movie tie-in promotion, so all of the tubes have pictures of different characters. D understands that there’s a lion, and a witch (who is bad even though she’s very pretty), and informed me yesterday that the movie is "coming soon on DVD." I’m not sure whether D could handle the movie yet — I think it might scare him — but in any case, I want his first encounter with the story to be with the book.
So when we went to the library tonight, I asked him if he wanted me to look for a Narnia book. They did have several copies of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, so we took it out. When I finished reading the first chapter, D asked "what’s a faun?" and I told him that after he brushed his teeth, we could look on the computer and see if we could find a picture of one. And sure enough, the Narnia website has pictures of all the main characters.
So, between the marketing tie-ins and the multi-media experience, it’s not exactly an unmediated encounter between a child and the story. But if that’s what it takes for him to have the patience for a chapter book, I can live with that. Because getting to read stories that I loved to my kids is up there on my top 10 list of perks of parenting.
January 12th, 2006 at 10:03 pm
I’ve always been so excited about reading to my kid, sharing my favorite books … but now I find that I can’t make it through a board book with her without falling asleep. It’s very disappointing, and I’m hoping I’ll grow out of it.
January 13th, 2006 at 6:54 am
Well done! I am of the opinion that the route to the book is not as important as the book itself. I see no reason why parents can’t piggyback onto mass marketing. If we can’t escape the ads, at least we can dovetail to promote the books. I’ve done similar things with Harry Potter, Charlotte’s Web, Charlie Brown, and even Frankenstein (http://elliot.ishatar.org/archives/000715.html).
I hope you both enjoy Narnia!
January 13th, 2006 at 7:21 am
I loved that series, too–I read it when I was five. How old is your boy? I can’t remember finding it scary or upsetting. Granted, that was a long time ago, but I just remember peeking into every closet and wardrobe I could find in hopes of finding a magical kingdom hiding in the back.
January 13th, 2006 at 8:30 am
I personally was pretty bummed about the Narnia movie, only because I had what felt like a pretty profound experience reading those books when I was a kid. Now, when I read the book to my daughter, I’m kind of building on something I did decades ago, you know? And there’s no place for a movie version in all that. No doubt my daughter is oblivious to all of this.
I didn’t have a problem explaining “Faun,” but I definitely had to look up “Turkish delights” because I didn’t know those were.
January 13th, 2006 at 11:08 am
I enjoyed the movie, but J. (who’s nearly 6) thinks it will be too scary for him, and I agreed. However, we will rent it, and fast forward past the slaying of Aslan and the battle (possibly past more scenes with the witch, since he’s always found her scary in the books). He always finds “live action” scariness harder to take than in cartoons. But I know J. is more sensitive to this kind of thing than some of his friends.
There are some great audiobooks of the Narnia stories. The one we like best is marketed (sigh) by Focus on the Family. It’s very well-acted and read, and faithful to the book though a couple lines get omitted here and there for the sake of moving it along. We only bought one (Dawn Treader, my favorite), and said that we had to give at least an equal donation to an organization with the opposite views. But there are other audiobooks that are just read, not acted out – they just didn’t grab J.’s attentionin the same way.
January 13th, 2006 at 1:03 pm
Gogurt is weird stuff isn’t it? My stepson was into it for awhile, and eeeew.
I read the first Narnia book as a kid and just never got into it. My stepson likes them OK, but not as much as Tolkein, Harry Potter, and the Redwall Abbey books. He’s always been a big reader, and we take audio books for long car rides.
Have you ever heard of the Eddie Dickens trilogy by Phillip Ardagh? We listened to them two summers ago and it’s one of the few audio books that the entire family enjoyed.
January 13th, 2006 at 6:36 pm
ah. we try studied ignorance, confusion about how to rent videos, the organic-foods grocery, and granny cable. Annelies thinks Chuck E. Cheese means kids exercising. Her bookshelf’s still a study in 1975. The crap will show up, I’m sure, but in the meantime she mostly wants Frances and a Glen Rounds book. I think we’ll start reading _Little House in the Big Woods_ in a few months.
I’m seriously crept out by the new PBS kids’ show with the sloth, though. Big Big World. Sloth sounds & looks like a stoner statutory-rapist who drives an ice-cream truck. Have taken to a bright “How about some Caillou?” when the sloth comes on.
You may all point and shout “Bougie!” now.
January 13th, 2006 at 6:37 pm
Turkish delight = gross. I always thought poorly of Edmund for liking it.
January 13th, 2006 at 7:12 pm
I’m with you on the idea that reading books that you read as a child with your kids is a parental “top ten.” The Narnia books were not at the top of my “very best” list, though I enjoyed them, so they’re not really on my list right now, but we’ve done others.
we’ve been reading the “Fudge” books by Judy Blume, and the “Betsy, Tacy, Tib” books. My daughter is a girl — and she’s sensitive; I’ve been worried about giving her books with too much sadness (she had a cry over what happened to Anne (of Green Gable’s) parents, when I tried to describe those books). We’ll have to tread carefully there.
But, it’s really exciting to have her share in those books.
We should all make a top ten book list we plan on reading.
bj
January 13th, 2006 at 9:37 pm
The latest “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” movie came out right when my son was ready tackle reading it. I read some chapters to him (because hey, I wanted to hear it again myself), but he was really excited about reading it himself and *then* going to see the movie. He read it really quickly because of that. And it was very satisfying afterwards, when we had a good discussion about the differences between the movie and the book.
I don’t know if we’ll be doing this with Narnia, though, since I’ve heard some very mixed reviews about the movie. Also, my son’s read the first couple Harry Potters, but hasn’t seen those movies yet. Maybe it will be something to save for a sick day.
January 13th, 2006 at 11:22 pm
Yeah, the parental top ten list definitely includes favorite reads here too, and now that my daughter is old enough to enjoy chapter books, it’s finally possible. The other thing I really like about this is discovering things that weren’t written when I was a kid, like Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. That’s still a year or two away for my daughter, but it’s great for me now!
January 14th, 2006 at 8:11 am
When my daughter was 2, my wife’s secretary gave her a Barbie VHS. Barbie Rapunzel. It has a preview for Barbie Swan Lake. AND this little girl (a) figured out that this meant that there was another tape out there like the wonderful tape she had and (b) mounted a sustained, three-week campaign for us to buy it.
That’s when I knew that any notions we had of being in control had to be abandoned…
January 14th, 2006 at 9:38 pm
I saw Dora the Explorer for the first time today. What a perfectly hideous show. Nothing like training the kids from infancy to be Xbox zombies with onboard military ports. Annelies was very upset when I turned it off, but that’s too damn bad. We ended up watching Julia Child & Lora Brody make pizza.
Forgot to mention it on the other thread, but I love Julia’s cookbooks. Been using “The Way To Cook” for the last 15 years, and it’s a hell of a highhanded title, but she was right. She knew the way to cook. Also had good photo illustrations for people like me, who didn’t know the way to cook.
January 15th, 2006 at 9:48 am
Hey, congrats on your mention in the Times today!
January 16th, 2006 at 8:33 pm
My older daughter’s been asking about the movies, which she found out about because my wife gave the kids some happy meal toys. She’s not even 5 yet, though, and she seemed perfectly happy when we said she’s not old enough yet. She’s decided that she can see the movie when she’s eight, or maybe nine. In the meantime, she’s been asking to read the book, which we might do. We’ve already read Wizard of Oz twice and the first book or two of the Little House series. I liked the Narnia books as a kid, but they weren’t absolute favorites. I can’t really remember, though, what the proper age range for them is. Can a farly precocious five year old listen to the story and pretty much follow it?
And hey congrats on the Times mention! Wow, now you’re in the big leagues!
January 16th, 2006 at 8:35 pm
Oh, yeah, also meant to say: we start up our own version of the drop-in dinner on Wednesday. We’ve been talking them up for a month, and all of our friends have kind of hemmed and hawed and I was starting to think no one was gonna show. But now we’ve got 9 adults and 3 kids confirmed for Wed, so far. I just hope it’s not everyone coming this week and no one coming to any of the future ones.
January 18th, 2006 at 1:28 pm
If you want to show your kids a movie version of Narnia that isn’t as scary as the current version, there is an excellent version put out by the BBC in the late 80’s / early 90’s. The animation is horrible because hey, it’s the BBC but the movie is good. They gloss over the slaying of Alsan with just the sound effects and showing the kids crying. It’s a complete movie set and covers all the books. My son, who’s barely 3 has watched them and while I don’t think he fully understood them, he would ask to watch the “lion movie”.
If you’re looking for something to watch to replace some other annoying kids show … try Little Einsteins on Disney. Excellent show, one I can even tolerate watching with him!
January 19th, 2006 at 10:37 am
Scrivener, my fairly precocious five-year-old understands the Narnia books fine, so I recommend you try them with Ella!
What’s a not-too-obnoxious TV show for the five-to-seven set? We’re Tivo’ing Backyardigans and Charlie and Lola (the latter being a little young for him) and George Shrinks, all of which he likes, but he’s asked for some “bigger kid shows”. I will not TiVo Spongebob or Jimmy Neutron, though he can see them occasionally (and I do mean occasionally). I don’t like him watching Teen Titans, though he says his friends watch it. Haven’t come up with a good show for the in-between ages that isn’t all fighting (other than Cyberchase, which he adores).
January 19th, 2006 at 10:48 am
Scrivener, D is almost 5, and doing fine with the The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe so far. I can guarantee he wouldn’t have the patience for any of the Little House books, so I think your girls should be fine with Narnia.
Genevieve, what about “My Life As A Teenage Robot”? I would never have chosen to show it to my kids, but my husband did, and they love it, and it’s not too much attitude or fighting.
I have so many books I want to read to the boys it’s embarassing. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The Cricket in Times Square, and Stuart Little, and the Lloyd Alexander books, and the Moomintrolls, and The Great Brain, and His Dark Materials and The Phantom Tollbooth and Tales of A Fourth Grade Nothing… and.. and…
I’ve never heard of Ardagh — I’ll look him up.
January 19th, 2006 at 4:44 pm
Thanks, Elizabeth, I’ll look at it! I do remember seeing it once and thinking it looked pretty good.
I have LOVED reading books to J. that I read as a kid. He’s almost 6 now, and I’ve read him a couple of the ones on your list (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory [and the Great Glass Elevator, and James and the Giant Peach]; Stuart Little [and Charlotte’s Web and The Trumpet of the Swan]. I want to read him Cricket in Times Square, and all of the Lloyd Alexander books (not quite yet – slightly too dark for him right now) and the Great Brain books and Fourth Grade Nothing (he liked the excerpt of Fudge I read him). Loved reading him (a little abridged) Anne of Green Gables, and think it’s time for Anne of Avonlea. We’re working our way through the Little House books – next is These Happy Golden Years. He loved the Ramona books we’ve read so far, so we should get some more. I was thrilled that he loved all the Edgar Eager books as much as I did (Knight’s Castle is his favorite, but we also loved Half Magic and Seven-Day Magic.) We’re about three-quarters of the way through The Hobbit, and while the spiders were a bit too scary, and he asked me to skip most of the stuff in Mirkwood, he’s really enjoying it (and there’s nothing scary now until Smaug, which I’ll cut back on).
Next I’m going to get the Joan Aiken books: Wolves of Willoughby Chase, then Black Hearts in Battersea (which I loved so much that I still own). He likes fantasy, and things that are exciting but not too scary. I have to think of more books in that category!
June 13th, 2006 at 4:20 pm
i have a daughter of 5 jears old ,she need the happy meals barbie ,if someone have to much tell me.