Here, by the way, are some links to the books and movies I recommend. Buying anything through these links will contribute to the “Don’t Make Simcha’s Children Wear Discarded Newspaper For Their Back-To-School Outfits” Fund. Thanks!
Sound and Sense by Laurence Perrine
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fairy Tales (including “The Selfish Giant”) by Oscar Wilde
Mouse Tales by Arnold Lobel
Fiddler on the Roof (DVD)
The Iron Giant (DVD)
Dumbo (DVD)
You liked The Iron Giant??? The stereotypical characters aside, the whole “guns kill people” thing was super irritating to me. I’m surprised.
I had really mixed feelings about it! So much irritating, but so much exciting and unusual. I wouldn’t hold it against someone who just couldn’t tolerate it because of the annoying parts. I also (I know this makes me really crazy) have a soft spot in my heart for Ted Hughes because I dislike Sylvia Plath so much. Ted Hughes wrote the book that the movie is based on, but I haven’t read the book. So there’s that.
I love “Mouse Tales”. “Mouse Soup” is also great, and so is “Small Pig” (a book I can still recite in large part from memory). The Frog and Toad stories are still my favorite Arnold Lobel works, but he wrote and illustrated so many other great children’s books, too.
We love “Iron Giant”. The gun thing is annoying, but the story overall is wonderful. My kids watch it over again and never tire of it.