New Articles: SixSeeds.tv

Family App of the Week - Ask Dave

Nancy French — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:54:00 EDT

So, you’ve got your iPad and you’re not sure if it’s a must-have or just another thing that demands a cord. Or perhaps you have an iPhone and aren't sure what apps are worth having and which are a waste of precious memory space.

We’re here to help, bringing you the best family applications for the iPhone and iPad. There are many apps vying for your attention, but SixSeeds is here to bring you the best ones available for families:

Title: Ask Dave

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

What It Does: Dave Ramsey is one of America's best financial counselors for normal people trying to figure out how to not only get ahead but raise kids who are savvy with their cash too. This new app is basically his show -- at your fingertips, divided up into various categories. Got a question about insurance? How do you raise kids to know how to give, save, and spend wisely? Does your teen need a car? Now you don't have to wade through info on his website or listen to his three hour show in the hope he'll touch on that subject. Just download the app, find the category you're interested in, and listen to his no-nonsense advice. His motto? "We give you the same advice your grandmother would, except we keep our teeth in."

How does it help the family?

When Mom and Dad are wise with money, everyone benefits. In fact, many couples start to try to figure out their finances once they have children and realize that ramen noodles won't work in the long run. So this app is helpful for parents generally trying to figure out their finances. (How much should a family spend on groceries per week, for example? If you get laid off and can't pay your VISA, how should you handle it?) However, it has more than practical advice about how to manage money, or a lack of money.

It also has a lot to say to parents who are trying to raise children who know how to think of money in the correct way. The Kids and Money category includes a wide range of topics, including, "Save for College Before a Roth IRA," "Teach Them Early," "How Should I Save for College," "Teaching them How to Spend," and several other topics from which to choose.

Because, let's face it. Wouldn't it have been much easier if we'd grown up knowing not to put all out college text books on a credit card just because Visa was offering a free tee shirt and a slice of pizza that week in the quad?

Features:

Listen to clips from his radio show, on topics you select.
Choose instead to read the question/answer when you are in places where audio isn't appropriate.
Need some inspiration? On Friday's shows, Dave asks people who have recently paid off their debt to call in and do the"debt free" scream. Now, you can hear these callers any day of the week. It makes it better that the producers also play Mel Gibson's "Freedom!" yell from Braveheart to coincide with the scream.
If you find a call particularly inspirational, share them with your friends and family through e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter.

Price: Dave Ramsey is famous for hating credit cards. He feels so passionately about this that you can't even use a credit card to buy his books off his website. However, this app doesn't require a debit or credit card. Because it's FREE.

Our Rating: 6 out of 6 Seeds

New on DVD: Two Big Disappointments

Rebecca Cusey — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 11:00:00 EDT

We had big hopes for these two films, but neither lived up to their promise, not even remotely. Here's this week's DVD rundown.

Clash of the Titans

fantasy/action

The Gist: Those cranky Greek Gods can't seem to get along. They fight and fight, kind of like siblings on summer vacation. This time, their bickering threatens the city of Argos. Perseus, who doesn't know he's the son of a god, just might be the hero Argos needs. Read our full review here.

The Ups: It gives you a reason to shout "Release the Kraken," which never gets old.

The Downs: The film takes itself too seriously, but doesn't deliver the goods. It's slow with way too much Greek theology for modern tastes. The story and effects fall short of magic. By the time the Kraken rears his ugly CGI head, you're kind of on his side.

The Verdict: Skip it. Let sleeping Krakens lie.

Be Aware: Rated PG-13 for fantasy action violence, some frightening images, and brief sensuality. IMDB Parents' Guide.

Repo Men

future action

The Gist: In the future, sick people can buy new organs and body parts to bump up their life expectancy. These organs come with a hefty price tag, however, and a gruesome result. If the consumer defaults on payments, big guys come and take back the goods by force. Which, as you can imagine, is unpleasant.

The Ups: It's a great concept, timely in this age of healthcare angst, and just chilling enough to grip.

The Downs: Great concept. Horrific execution. Maybe the guys who were supposed to write the screenplay forgot to pay their brain bill. The gore is cranked up, as if to cover the lack of plot interest.

The Verdict: Skip it. Watch Gattica, an oldie but goodie, instead.

Be Aware: Rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, language and some sexuality/nudity. IMDB Parents' Guide.

Read recent articles by this author:

"Ramona and Beezus" delights.

New on DVD: July 20

Shhh...Don't Wake the Dreamer. "Inception" Review.

Movie Review: Ramona and Beezus

Rebecca Cusey — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:00:00 EDT

Nine year old Ramona, in the Fox/Walden adaptation of Beverly Cleary's classic novel Ramona and Beezus, could not be more of a middle sister. Her teenage sister Beezus (Disney Channel star Selena Gomez) is pretty, smart, and way more put together than Ramona. Her baby sister is cuter and more charming than Ramona can hope to be. She's even cute when she smashes food on her hair. What's a middle sister to do?.

Birth order is not the only plague that Ramona faces. When dad (John Corbett) loses his job "crunching numbers," the family is thrown into turmoil. Everyone pitches in to lighten the load as mom (Bridget Moynahan) goes back to work. As hard as she tries, all of Ramona's efforts to help end in disaster. Her inability to "color in the lines" gets her in trouble at home, school, and everywhere in between.

Luckily, her faithful Aunt Bea (Ginnifer Goodwin) remembers the feelings of being a younger sister and will be there for Ramona. Or will she? Will some sweet-talking hunk take her away?

The delightful film bridges these classic issues with humor and affection for its characters. Casting the perfect Ramona must have been a daunting task. It's not easy to match the imaginations of generations of girls who grew up on the books. Luckily, Joey King is impish, creative, sparky, and brings just the right mix of trouble and heart to the role. One of the reigning princesses of the Disney Channel, Gomez will be familiar to fans of "The Wizards of Waverly Place." She acquits herself well in this role, which isn't particularly edgy, but ranges from tormenting sister to loving sister with a bit of growing teen thrown in.

Corbett plays the father as a loving mix of fun and worry. The only difficult casting is supermodel Moynahan as Ramona's mother. She acts fine, but her thin model looks make her scenes feel more like a commercial-perfect world than a real family.

I haven't read the books in adulthood, although they remain a distant, hazy memory of fun and feelings. However, Jill Joiner recently reviewed the classic book, which also includes a free way to read it before you head out to the theater. Parents will love that there’s no objectionable content -- other than cranky Ramona's threatening to say a "very bad word" -- which turns out to be "guts." (The film is rated "G.")

The plot, because it revolves around the loss of a job and fears of losing a house, feels very timely. As their parents worry and argue in muffled conversations through walls, the tension invades Ramona's childlike imagination. It's a scary world out there, especially when the pillars of a child's life - mom and dad - are struggling. However, it's just in this difficult time when the strength of a solid and happy family shines the brightest.

The core of the story, however, is the ever-changing relationship between sisters. At each other's necks one moment, but thick as thieves the next, the film captures the loving torment that is sibling-hood. They may want to kill each other sometimes, but when the outside world becomes threatening… they have each other's backs.

Romantic love stories abound in film, and love stories between parents and children are also common. However, films exploring the life-long complex love of siblings come around less frequently. Beverly Cleary was an expert at bringing it to life. Thankfully, "Ramona and Beezus" does her work justice.

Note: Micheal Flaherty, the president of Walden Media, is affiliated with SixSeeds, but was not involved in this review.

Our Huge Problem

Jean Yih Kingston — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 03:34:00 EDT

“Houston, we have a problem.” As does San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Memphis, and most other cities and towns across the US.

And the problem is….we consume way more calories than we burn. Two thirds of Americans are overweight and over 12 million are severely obese (more than one hundred pounds overweight).  Michelle Obama’s big cause isn’t literacy or AIDS awareness, but rather Obesity Awareness and Prevention.  She understands we’re a country with a serious health crisis and something drastic needs to be done.

It’s no wonder TV shows about people with weight problems have become popular. The Biggest Loser has an audience of over 10 million every week and has received high Nielson ratings for years. The movie, Precious about an overweight and pregnant teen, received numerous Academy Award nominations. Now there’s a new drama called “Huge” about a weight loss camp for teens starring Nikki Blonsky (Hairspray).

They always say when you’re writing fiction, make sure there’s conflict on every page. Huge took that concept and ran with it. In fact, there’s so little “normalcy” in the show and so much conflict, you start to crave a few more characters that aren’t extremely awkward and struggling. Adolescence is ripe with discord, even when things are “well” and your thighs aren’t rubbing against each other.   When you throw together fat bullied adolescents, each with a wide variety of family issues, the angst rises faster than the needle on a scale.

Blonsky (Willamina or Will for short) does a great job in her angry teen role. Her parents, both fitness instructors, are embarrassed by her and send her to camp against her wishes. Will is brash, unkempt, ornery and says things like, “I’m down with my fat”. She boldly strips down to her underwear, flaunting her size and shape as if she doesn’t care. But, her true insecurities shine through as she deals with the rejection of her parents.

Then there is Chloe who attends camp with her gay brother Alistair, but is so embarrassed by him, she hides the fact they’re related. She even finds a secret place in the woods to quickly hand him his share of care package items.

Hayley Hasselhoff (yes, daughter of David) plays Amber. Amber has a Marilyn Monroe-esque quality about her – she’s platinum blonde, wears thick mascara and constantly bats her eyelashes. Of course, she’s not nearly as overweight as the others. In fact, many don’t understand why she’s at the camp at all because she’s so close to normal size. Therefore, her presence alone causes tension, especially for the smitten boys and jealous girls.

Huge does a good job portraying how extremely difficult it is to be fat while simultaneously dealing with typical adolescent issues.   Even while attending “fat camp” the campers can’t escape being viciously taunted by the athletic and good-looking kids attending the neighboring tennis camp.

The leaders struggle too. The director of the camp not only was a former camper who continues to deal with food issues, but also has a strained relationship with her father, a tense relationship with the director of the adjacent camp, and insecurities about how the previous Camp Victory director was more appreciated. You wonder who’s more stressed, she or the kids under her watch.

The show is well written and acted. The kids and counselors try and form deeper relationships and honest dialogue creates deep connections. Blonsky does a terrific job of portraying a character both angry and vulnerable. Though some of the dialogue and storyline is exaggerated and a couple of the counselors too quirky for my taste, Huge realistically portrays the ugly issues facing overweight/obese teenagers. It’s hard to watch. Unfortunately, more and more of our youth will live this difficult reality if we don’t do something about our overindulgence.

Huge can be seen on Mondays at 9PM EST on ABC Family

New On DVD: Cops, Rockers, and Losers

Rebecca Cusey — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:00:00 EDT

Looking for something to take the mid-July blahs away? Maybe a movie? Here's what's new on DVD this week.

Cop Out

Comedy

The Gist: An attempt to revive the buddy-cop comedy, this film stars Bruce Willis as the straight cop and Tracy Morgan as the goofy one. Read our full review here.

The Ups: An opening scene, in which Morgan interviews a suspect using lines from every movie he's ever seen, is hilarious.

The Downs: That's about it for hilarity. The rest of the film is smutty, juvenile humor. Well, smutty and juvenile for sure. The humor part is up for debate.

The Verdict: Skip it.

Be Aware: Rated R for pervasive language including sexual references, violence, and brief sexuality.

The Runaways

Biopic

The Gist: Brooding sometimes-vampire Kristen Stewart plays 70's rocker Joan Jett and growing child star Dakota Fanning plays her early bandmate Cherie Currie. Jett is destined for fame, but Currie's star flames out in a drug haze.

The Ups: Fine performances by Currie and Fanning prove they can act. The film is a fine portrait of 70's rocker feminism. If you're into that kind of thing.

The Downs: The film can be a little heavy with the feminism (we get it, ok?) and leaves too much out to be a true Jett biopic. Plus, it's about sex, drugs, and rock and roll. With an emphasis on the sex, most underaged and much of it lesbian. All of it is fairly graphic.

The Verdict: Skip it.

Be Aware: Rated R for language, drug use, and sexual content, all of it involving teens.

The Losers:

Action

The Gist: Wouldn't you know it, the CIA has betrayed yet another group of black-ops soldiers. When will they ever learn? The team sets out to teach them a lesson, and teams up with a pretty girl with really big guns. (Zoe Saldana)

The Ups: Relentlessly fast-paced. Big explosions. More big explosions. Loud explosions. Snappy quips. And did I mention Zoe Saldana and her big guns?

The Downs: This is the cinematic equivalent of a Big Mac and supersized fries. Oh wait, that might just be a good thing.

The Verdict: If you're in the mood for something big, loud, fun, and dumb, this fits the bill perfectly.

Be Aware: Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action and violence, a scene of sensuality and language. The film makes enough stupid sexual jokes and uses enough swear words to rule out kids' viewings.

At SixSeeds, we talk about the stories that surround modern life. We love movies -- in fact, we even have a “brick and mortar” called SixSeeds Video in Winchester, Massachusetts! We know that good films have an amazing power to move, inspire, and sometimes even transform life. Bad ones make you regret plunking down the $10 for the privilege of listening to the guy next to you chew milk duds for two hours.

That’s why we want to keep you informed of the latest offerings on DVD and Blu-Ray. Listing the new releases below doesn't mean you should rush out and watch them with your pre-schoolers. In fact, over the course of the next few months, we’ll list many we wouldn’t let our teenagers watch. (Some, we regret watching!) But somewhere in America, a teenager is going to come to their parent and say, “Hey, I’m supposed to bring the movie to the slumber party. May I bring...?”

And right there in the aisle of the video store, a decision will be made.

Come back next week to read “The RunDown,” America... and choose wisely!

BOOKS: Beezus and Ramona

Jill Joiner — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:51:00 EDT

At SixSeeds, we believe in the power of a good story. The books our children are hearing and reading will move, inspire, and sometimes even shape their lives... even young lives. This week, we take a popular kids' book and examine it. Hopefully, the next time you're browsing though a crowded bookstore, our reviews will help you sort through the thousands of titles… and you can choose wisely!

Title: Beezus and Ramona

Author: Beverly Cleary

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Age: 7-12

Cost: $5.99

Buy It: here.

Rating: 5 out of 6 seeds

Read it for free: here.

The upcoming movie Beezus and Ramona, out Friday, will definitely lead to a renewed interest in Beverly Clearly’s writing, which includes such popular titles as Ramona Quimby, Age 8, Ramona Forever, and Dear Mr. Henshaw.

For such a successful author, reading wasn’t always her passion. Thankfully, she had an epiphany that would allow her to become one of America’s most beloved story tellers. Which books you read matter.

As a child in the 1920’s, Cleary was a struggling reader quite bored with much of the literature of the day. She longed for stories of real people who aren’t always perfect. Later as a young librarian, Cleary noticed kids who came into the library looking for the same thing, and the words of her mom rang in her ear, “The best writing is simple and funny.” That advice is how her first characters -- Ramona, Beezus, and Henry Huggins -- were born.

Beezus and Ramona is the first in the series of eight books featuring Ramona Quimby, which comically capture the relationship between sisters. While the main characters are girls (the father character is relatively flat), there is enough chaos, destruction, and hilarity that boys are also drawn into their world. Void of questionable material (the opposite sex interactions remain refreshingly innocent and language caps with “germy”), parents love it too.

Written from the perspective of Beezus, a stereotypical oldest child, who dutifully helps her mother with the household and with the care of her mischievous four- year old sister. Ramona is the epitome of a free spirit — she doesn’t color in the lines or necessarily even on the paper. While she has some obvious character issues, there is something slightly liberating about the freedom she symbolizes.

Throughout this book, the reader gets to see glimpses of Beezus’s struggle with her exasperating sister. She feels guilty for not loving her all the time. All the while, Beezus semi-idolizes her aunt Beatrice, her namesake and mother’s younger sister (between which a notable sororal parallel exists).

All of these emotions come to a head at Beezus’ birthday dinner. In typical Ramona style, she almost succeeds in ruining the birthday and turning all of the attention onto herself. But at the dinner table, something transpires as Beezus listens to the childhood tales of her mother and Aunt Beatrice.

Family loyalty is woven throughout the story. Ramona can frustrate the daylights out of Beezus. But when the librarian laughs at Ramona’s answer to “what does your father do?” (“He mows the grass of course.”), Beezus feels protectively perturbed. Or as angry and embarrassed as she is when Ramona intrudes into her art class and actually licks another child’s unwrapped sucker, she is again Ramona’s biggest defender when the child retaliates.

Bottom Line:

While there are endearing family interactions, this book is not exactly a sentimental treatise on the importance of sisterhood. In fact, it’s mainly just funny, and reminds us to lighten up about things that really won’t matter tomorrow. Somehow in the Quimby kitchen, we find humor in rubber dolls baking in cakes, bites taken out of every apple in a bag, and Ramona’s fifteen uninvited party guests surprising Mother in her bath robe. And as we laugh, a little part of us hopes that maybe next time… we’ll still feel like laughing when it happens in our own home.

To Talk to Your Kids About:

Do you think you are more like Ramona? Or Beezus? What things did Beezus feel guilty about? What things do you feel guilty about? Are there things that you feel about your brother or sister that aren’t good or that you wish you didn’t feel?

For Mom and Dad to Consider:

Do you have a “do everything by the book child” who may internally be longing for some freedom from all the rigidity like Beezus? Do you know the internal conversation of your child’s heart? What is behind his/ her actions?

Don’t miss the movie by Walden Media coming out July 23^rd. If you hurry, you still have time to read the book – maybe make it a “read-aloud” book this week before your family heads out to the theaters!

Movie Review: Inception

Rebecca Cusey — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:10:00 EDT

Inception, the latest film from Oscar winning director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight) is something entirely new and creative in a year that has churned out sequels and remakes. It's also very difficult to discuss.

Or rather, it's a movie you want to discuss, at length, over a few beers or a cup of tea (depending on your preference) late into the night. While being unbelievably gripping, it is also a "thinking movie" and utterly profound.

However, I can't say much because the film unfolds like a finely written novel, slowly revealing more and more of the situation, characters, and plot. The fine unveiling provides much of the pleasure of the film and I have no desire to rob my readers of that pleasure.

The story revolves around dreams, but isn't dreamy at all. Instead, the film has the tenor of a dream when you are inside it, intense, passionate, strangely frightening, oddly familiar. It's irrational at times, as dreams are, fed by deep secrets and unnamed desires that knock on the edge of our conscious minds and control more of our behavior and emotions than we want to admit.

It dares to ask how we define reality.

Leonard DiCaprio gives a worthy performance as a man of powerful longings who may or may not be dreaming. He's joined by Marion Cotillard as his wife Mal, Joseph-Gordon Levitt as a co-worker, and Ellen Page as another co-worker.

I may have said too much already.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that because "Inception" delves such deep waters as philosophy or such nebulous territory as dreams that it is boring. Far from it. The film catches the audience in the first few minutes and carries them along easily. Nolan has created special effects that we have never seen before, not so much subverting gravity as redefining it. There are moments of awe at the sheer beauty and creativity of the cinematography, a collective drawing of the breath of the audience.

To say that this film will be in the running for the Best Picture Oscar is simply stating the obvious. I expect it to win handily.

Just as a sleeper awakes from a dream unsure what it meant although the experience lingers, the audience leaves "Inception" a bit puzzled, but profoundly moved. It's the kind of film you'll find yourself mulling over for days and weeks. The message is there, but needs a while to be teased out and recognized by the waking mind.

So go see "Inception" and we'll sit down over a metahopical cup of tea (I'll have beer) and talk it over. I'm eager to hear what you think.

Movie Review: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Rebecca Cusey — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:37:00 EDT

Way back in 2003, Disney released a movie based on little more than a popular ride at Disney Land and its infectious chorus. (Yo, Ho! Yo, Ho! A pirate's life for me!) Three films and $2.68 billion later (that's billion with a b), the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is still going strong, it's acceptable to say "Arrr" again, and Cap'n Jack Sparrow has joined the ranks of most popular Halloween costumes.

Now Disney is working the same magic with "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," a film loosely based on the Mickey Mouse and dancing brooms segment from "Fantasia." With such a skeletal beginning, the trick is to create story and characters that can fill a feature length film while still staying true to the spirit of the original inspiration. Disney does just that.

Jay Baruchel plays the apprentice Dave, a skinny, nerdy young man with the mark of destiny upon him. In a brief prologue, we learn that the famous medieval wizard Merlin's three assistants split up after his death. Two continued his notions of justice through wizardry but one, Horvath (Alfred Molina) turned to the evil wizardess Morgana(Alice Kirge). For a thousand years, Morgana has been locked inside a charm with Merlin's follower Veronica (Monica Belluchi). While Horvath seeks to free his mistress, the faithful assistant Balthazar (Nicolas Cage) searches for Merlin's successor, who will be the only one capable of defeating Morgana.

Wonder who that is?

Dave has been living the life of a shy but brilliant physics student, trying to overcome a childhood humiliation, and creating fabulous electrical art. His life is literally upturned when Balthazar and Horvath both find him. He plunges into wizard training while on the run from the forces of darkness, but still makes time to court his fellow student Becky (Teresa Palmer).

Cage and Baruchel strike a comfortable chemistry, with a nice juxtaposition of banter and affection between them. Baruchel's character, Dave, rife with humor and insecurity, copies the roles he played in two wildly dissimilar (except for him) films: "She's Out of My League" and, oddly enough, "How to Train Your Dragon." Baruchel's self-deprecating nerd with a heart of gold may be getting a little familiar, but it is still charming. For the time being.

The joy of this film is that it doesn't take itself too seriously, coupled with pretty cool special effects. Humor filters liberally through the creative, fast-paced action. When a Chinatown dragon comes to life and chases Dave or Balthazar morphs cars on the fly, into a corvette no less, it fires the imagination of what could be possible if only we had the capacity to make it happen. The recreated Fantasia scene is a delight and fits neatly into the film.

It all adds up to a fun family film that older kids and parents alike will enjoy. Rated PG for fantasy action violence, some mild rude humor and brief language, the movie will be too intense for little kids, but should be fine for older elementary school and junior high kids. Parents that have a problem with depictions of sorcery, however, should be aware that the final scene revolves around Morgana doing incantations that, while not intense, are dark in nature.

Coming after "Despicable Me" and the transcendent "Toy Story 3," this film is another solid addition to the list of summer family films. While blockbusters aimed at older audiences have been disappointing so far this summer, the family film genre keeps humming along, thankfully. We parents need something to keep the mid-July wiggles at bay.

Girls Can Change the World: American Girl Introduces Service Initiative

Nancy French — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 01:07:00 EDT

If you have a daughter, you probably know about American Girl, the company which has developed an amazing collection of 18 inch dolls and consequently a pretty rabid following amongst the pre-teen set. In a world of Happy Meal toys, it's gratifying to have dolls that are built to last. And if your doll doesn't? The American Girl Doll Hospital can fix what ails her -- from mussed up hair to a dog-chewed arm. Your doll will be returned in a hospital gown, as good as new. Though they aren't cheap, they are exquisitely made and have compelling books to go along with them -- historical narratives that make the dolls (and history) really come alive!

But now, the company is doing something new -- something that really epitomizes the SixSeeds lifestyle. American Girl has pledge to donate up to $1 million in clothes, books, dolls, and money to charity.

How does it work?

Their website explains the process. The girls are supposed to visit shineonnow.com from July 13 to July 31, 2010, to contribute free stars to the charitable effort. The company's goal is to collect one million stars by the end of the program. The more stars your daughter contributes, the more chances she has to help give. Apparently, she places stars in the sky, one hundred per day maximum, getting ever-so-close to that 1 million star goal. In other words, your daughter will make a "virtual donation," which American Girl has promised to match with an actual donation. (Also, for every star your child donates, she’s entered into a contest to win an actual doll — parents can turn off that function if it feels a little more quid pro quo than you’d like for a charitable endeavor.) Not to make it sound more fancy than it is, as far as my eleven year old can tell, it literally is dragging a star into the sky. Not too exciting, but perhaps they wanted to show that charitable work sometimes is not that flashy?

How should I talk to my daughter about service?

SixSeeds thinks about this a lot. Because, even in a recession, we Americans have it pretty good. If you’re like our contributors, you enjoy the benefits of modern life – don’t well-made dolls with wonderful hair to braid make childhood so much more enjoyable? But we also struggle with how to balance our blessings with a desire to make a difference in the world, to connect with our communities, to fight against the constant sense of entitlement that pervades our children and teens.

Honestly, we don’t know exactly how to achieve this balance. However, we’ve found that something happens when kids and parents roll their sleeves up and start to serve others side-by-side…something amazing. We call it “family based service,” a seemingly bland tagline that doesn’t quite capture the joy we’ve seen in our kids’ eyes as they pack boxes full of candy and new DVDs for a soldier in Iraq or stuff backpacks full of new pencils and folders for children in Tijuana.

Instead of telling your daughter about this project, why not join alongside with her as she learns what it means to put others' needs before her own?

Also go through the information that the company sends her that will teach her about volunteering. For example, this paragraph is part of the free "tool kit" that American Girl sends out to interested people:

Once you start lending a hand, we know you’ll discover that the best thing about giving back is what it gives you: conﬁdence, a feeling of being needed, a sense of pride and accomplishment, new friends, and fun.

Talk to your daughter about this. How does she feel when she gives to others? Does she feel confident, happy, and accomplished? What if she felt sad, inconvenienced, and bored? Is it possible for service and volunteering to sometimes veer into selfishness? Why should you serve others? Is the "best thing" really the way it will make her feel, and the things she gets to accomplish?

What do the girls learn?

If your daughter signs up to to be an "Ambassador," she can download info about how to more than just give virtually. The download we received had this information:

1. Be a Fabulous Fund-raiser! Collect money to help
charities pay for things they need.

2. Be a Hands-on Helper! Roll up your sleeves and
volunteer your time to helping a worthy cause.

3. Be a Donation Dynamo! Find out who needs what
in your community!

4. Be an Awesome Advocate! Help spread the word
about causes close to your heart!

Which Charities are Helped?

Kids in Distressed Situations

K.I.D.S. (Kids in Distressed Situations) has helped more than 65
million needy children by providing nearly $1 billion in brand-new
clothes, toys, books, and much more. Having something brand-new
brings hope and conﬁdence to kids and their families. K.I.D.S. works
with nearly 1,000 local service agencies in the U.S. and around the
world to distribute new items to kids who are poor, sick, or homeless
or who have parents who are away from home or unable to care for
them. K.I.D.S. also helps families who have been affected by natural
disasters. American Girl is a proud partner of K.I.D.S. and is pleased to
continue donating new clothes as part of Shine On Now.

National Association of Children’s Hospitals

The National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related
Institutions (NACHRI) promotes the health and well-being of America’s
70 million children and their families. NACHRI works with over 200
children’s medical centers to ensure that all children have access to
a hospital when they need one and are provided high-quality care
and services. As part of Shine On Now, American Girl is supporting
NACHRI through a donation of American Girl dolls to bring smiles and
comfort to young girls who are in the hospital.

National Wildlife Federation

National Wildlife Federation (NWF) offers programs and activities
that teach and inspire people to protect wildlife and wildlife habitats.
NWF focuses on the future of America’s wildlife by protecting and
restoring the homes of endangered animals and helping people
gain an appreciation and understanding of the natural world. NWF
brings people together through a nationwide network of 4 million
supporters and volunteers. Since early 2010, American Girl has
supported NWF’s Be Out There movement to inspire families to
connect with nature. Through Shine On Now, American Girl is
providing more ﬁnancial support to help ensure a world of wildlife
and wild places for the future.

Save the Children

Save the Children works across the nation in some of the most
under-served, rural areas, where one in ﬁve children lives in poverty.
Partnering with local schools and community organizations, Save the
Children’s U.S. Programs provide literacy, physical activity and nutrition, and early childhood education programs, which beneﬁted more than 50,000 children last year alone. Combined with its emergency response work, Save the Children helped more than 60,000 children in the U.S. As part of Shine On Now, American Girl is donating books to Save the Children to help young children in poverty learn to read. Save the Children provides in-school, after-school, and summer literacy programs to help students develop their reading skills and receive the guidance and support they need to grow as readers.

How do I get more information?

To learn more about the program, visit the ShineOn website and explore whether you can use the American Girl company to launch a newfound love of service in your American girl's heart.

Or, better yet, your entire family!

New on DVD: Three Stinkers and One Possibility

Rebecca Cusey — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:00:00 EDT

Looking for a new movie to watch at home this week? Here's what Hollywood has served up in the DVD aisle. Um, better luck next time.

Bounty Hunter

Alleged Romantic Comedy

The Gist: A gruff but secretly sensitive bounty hunter (Gerard Butler) gets an assignment to die for: To track down his ex-wife (Jennifer Aniston) and bring her in handcuffs to justice. It's almost too good to be true.

The Ups: At 40-something, Jennifer Aniston is still extremely attractive, perhaps due to some sort of nefarious deal with the devil. Butler is less attractive.

The Downs: Where should I start? Cliches. Lack of chemistry. Lack of excitement. Lack of suspense. To top it off, it's just not funny or romantic.

The Verdict: Do yourself a favor and stay far away from this one. Seriously. Don't say you weren't warned.

Be Aware: Rated PG-13 for sexual content, including suggestive comments, language, and some violence.

Our Family Wedding

Alleged Comedy

The Gist: A young couple is getting married, which is an excuse for their families to act all kinds of crazy.

The Ups: The concept of a wedding between an Hispanic bride and African-American groom could have been an opportunity for social commentary, meaningful comedy, and a reimagining of family and race relations as in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?"

The Downs: Instead of that, we get a goat being indecent on someone's leg. Hardly Sidney Poitier. Crass, racially stereotyped to the point of being offensive, and -what's worse- not a bit funny.

The Verdict: Put this DVD in a dark room with "The Bounty Hunter," lock that room, and pretend neither ever happened.

Be Aware: Rated PG-13 for some sexual content and brief strong language.

Chloe

Sexual Thriller

The Gist: A woman suspects her husband of cheating. So, logically, she hires a hot young escort to seduce him. That'll show him.

The Ups: An excellent cast (Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried, Liam Neesom) can't help but deliver some good performances.

The Downs: I can't escape the feeling that a film like this, while technically well done, is just an excuse to watch seedy and titillating sexual situations and call it "art."

The Verdict: Skip it. This film isn't good for your soul, and certainly not for your teen's soul.

Be Aware: Rated R for strong sexual content, including graphic dialog, nudity, and language.

Greenberg

Dramedy

The Gist: A forty-something guy with little to live for starts to make some connections that perhaps will bring some meaning to his lackluster life.

The Ups: I haven't seen this film, but people have raved about Ben Stiller's performance and the film's quietly observant commentary on modern life. I want to see it.

The Downs: Apparently, if you are allergic to Woody Allen movies, this film might grate on you.

The Verdict: This is the best option for this week. If you watch it, let me know what you think.

Be Aware: Rated R for some strong sexuality, drug use, and language.

Movie Review: Despicable Me

Rebecca Cusey — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 09:00:00 EDT

When things are going badly at the office, it's nice to have a loving family to come home to. But what if you're an evil genuis bent on destroying the world and family is just another sign of weakness? This is the problem that faces Gru, a would-be dastardly dictator in Universal's new film "Despicable Me."

Steve Carell voices Gru, an old timer in the villain business. You can tell he's a bad guy because he drives a huge tank-SUV thingie and has furniture made out of endangered animals. Plus, he doesn't keep his lawn nice.

Gru and his hordes of giggling, bumbling, incomprehensible minions (who look to me like Veggietales characters) are planning something big, really really big. Seriously. Big. Any day now.

Gru is mildly successful as an evil CEO. He knows all the minons' names, even though they are forgettable names like Larry, Bob and Sam. He can give a rousing pep talk at the company rally. He's pretty good at schmoozing the villain bank for loans. (By far the most evil person in the film is the bank president, reflective of our national anger at the banking industry and its role in creating our poor economy. But that's another essay all together.)

Despite Gru's corporate people skills, the shareholders aren't happy. He has few results to show for his efforts, unless you count stealing the Times Square jumbotron as deviously sinister.

As Gru's callous mother never fails to point out, he's at the bottom of the list of powerful villains, below Lindsay Lohan and the guy who doesn't rinse out his cans before putting them in the recycling.

His rival, Vector (Jason Segel) has gone and shown everyone up by stealing a pyramid from Egypt. Vector, who is the Mac to Gru's PC, lives in a sleek IKEA castle with lots of organic curves and white minimalism. He doesn't even have a lawn to let go. Instead, he has this super cool glass floor with a shark tank under it. Show off.

When Vector shows a weakness for coco-nutty cookies, sold by three little orphan girls, Gru senses his moment of opportunity. Adopting them is the easy part. Getting them to cooperate with his sinister (well, sinister-ish) plans is the hard part. So he leaves a bowl of candy on the floor for food and goes back to his eeevil laboratory. The girls, being curious, adorable orphans and all, soon infiltrate every nook of his lair and set sights on his heart.

The humor in this film is spot on, reminiscent of an extended Bugs Bunny cartoon. It's a fun, bizarro world where a blackened Gru crawls out from a crater in the sidewalk after being hit by about 150 of Vector's heat seeking missles. It's merely a flesh wound, forgotten seconds later.

Someone on the team clearly has kids, because the three little girls act like children and not wisecracking adults. I would have liked to have seen even more of these delightful girls who splash in puddles, sing to themselves when falling asleep, and hope for illogical houses made of gummy bears. Edith, upon breaking some nefarious device, steps to the side, puts up big puppy dog eyes and avoids responsibility, saying "That broke," when she knows Gru saw her do it.

It's like they're in my house.

With so many films being released in 3D with no extra benefit for the extra money except sore noses from the glasses, this one actually lives up to the 3D promise. In fact, it's the best use of 3D since Avatar, with some of the action practically coming into your lap.

The audience knows from the start how the romance between Gru and fatherhood will end, but it's a fun ride getting there. While this film doesn't have the heart of Toy Story 3, it wraps up with a sweet little nod to family that will satisfy both parents and kids.

The ABCs -- Sesame Street DVD Giveaway

Nancy French — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:24:00 EDT

Congratulations, Sarah Dunn, for winning the 40 Years of Sunny Days DVD Set, We used a random number generator to choose amongst the many wonderful comments below.

Whom do SixSeeds readers love reciting the ABCs on Sesame Street the most? Though Sarah loved Richard Pryor, the one who got the most votes was Bill Cosby by a pretty wide margin!

Congratulations to Sarah... and to Mr. Cosby.

(Note, Sarah is a writer and has written for Murphy Brown, Spin City, Veronica’s Closet. She wrote The Big Love, which has been translated into 23 languages and then followed it with the new novel Secrets to Happiness. She lives in New York, and apparently has kids who need some Sesame Street in their lives.)

But you don't have to be a famous author to win! Stay tuned for more SixSeeds giveaways!

Enjoy the original Article, but note the contest is now closed.

With the adoption of our new baby girl Naomi from Ethiopia, I’ve been reintroduced to the joys of Sesame Street. While Elmo and Zoe are fun additions to the classic Sesame Street of yesteryear, nothing compares to the old celebrity cameos. Today, while trying to get Naomi acclimated to the alphabet, I searched for classic Sesame Street ABC segments – and boy, they did not disappoint!

In fact, I was so entertained by these that I thought it would be fun to see which classic alphabet moment you enjoyed the best. Please leave a your favorite to enter your chance to win a free “40 Years of Sunny Days DVD Set.” This has over 4-1/2 hours of the best Sesame Street memories on two jam-packed DVDs, ultra-rare, never-before-seen backstage footage, interviews, and segments from all 40 seasons!

One lucky winner will win this two disc collection just by commenting. (Make sure you also enter your e-mail address. This will both automatically sign you up for our free weekly e-zine, and allow us to contact you if you are the winner!)

On July 15th at noon (EST), we'll pick a name in a random drawing from all eligible entries received and send you an email notification.

Limit one (1) entry per person; NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Open only to legal residents of the 50 United States and Washington D.C. who are 18 or older as of date of entry.

So, here’s your question:

Which of the below classic Sesame Street ABC segments is your favorite?

Jackie Robinson

I chose this clip for three reasons. First, it’s Jackie Robison! How awesome is it that he was on Sesame Street? Secondly, I love how he says, “W.” (He makes President George W. Bush’s pronunciation of his own name sound erudite in comparison – though it’s totally how we say it here in the south.) And thirdly, this guy really take the alphabet seriously.

James Earl Jones

Again, another very somber recitation of our twenty six letters, this time from Darth Vader who honestly doesn’t seem sure he can make it all the way to Z. My favorite comments from YouTube: “It sounds like he’s going to use the ABCs to kill you.” And “His lightsaber's like a V the way it comes after U.”

Bill Cosby

First of all, what is he wearing? Is it a bib? A vest? A suit? Nevertheless, this man has done it all – and apparently, he’s argued his way through the ABC’s… with himself.

Patti LaBelle

Want to combine the alphabet with a rousing rendition fit for a Sunday morning? Then, this clip is for you.

Richard Pryor

The longest Richard Pryor has gone without profanity, and he recites the ABCs in a way that makes you think he just might break out into some.

When Times Get Tough, People Get Chickens

Nancy French — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:21:00 EDT

When my neighbor announced she was going out of town for the week, I offered to feed her dogs.

“Thanks,” she said. “But what about my chickens?”

Without a good excuse handy, I found myself standing in her hen house with a woven basket, feeling like a kid at Easter looking for melted M&Ms in the hot sun… my entire egg-hunting experience until that day.

After some quick lessons about feeding the chickens, collecting their eggs, and staying away from the rooster, I was horrified when I saw them drive out of their driveway on their way far from those birds.

But after taking my two children there every day after school, I began to enjoy uncovering the gorgeous eggs – speckled ones, blue ones, brown ones, even green ones. They were larger than the stark white ones I got from the grocery store – so large, in fact, I couldn’t fit some of them into the store-bought cartons. Plus, the sound of the chickens, their cartoonish movements, their bright feathers all worked together like avian Valium... peace without a prescription.

I'm not the only one catching "chicken fever." Author Susan Orlean wrote a beautiful article in September's New Yorker called, "The It Bird: The Return of the Back Yard Chicken:"

Chickens seem to be a perfect convergence of the economic, environmental, gastronomic, and emotional matters of the moment. In the past few years they have undergone an image rehabilitation so astounding that it should be studied by marketing consultants.

It may have started with Martha Stewart's "Entertaining" (published in 1982) which featured her flock of individually named pets, whose eggs later became the basis for her paint colors.

But the benefits of fresh eggs don’t end with an aesthetic appreciation: Fresh food simply tastes better -- the cheesecake I made with freshly laid eggs was just amazing – and eggs are a great way to create your own chemical-free protein. Chicken excrement is a rich source of fertilizer for your plants and is slippery, as I found out to the endless delight of my children. Additionally, chickens eat pests and aerate the soil.

It's possible to earn a regular source of income by selling eggs to neighbors, especially now that the “locavores” lifestyle (eating food grown locally or within a certain radius of home) has become popular. When my children sent text messages that they had fresh eggs, 4 dozen sold within twenty minutes.

Until the nineteen-fifties -- when inexpensive, year-round eggs became available at grocery stores -- many folks kept a few chickens in the yard. They were cheap and easy that children could do it as their chores. After suffering a period of time when people preferred modern living, the chicken craze is back.

Orlean quotes Bud Wood, owner of McMurray Hatchery whose hatchery has been sold out of chickens even before they're ready to ship for the past two years. The last time he remembers being this busy was 1999, when the Millenium bug threatened to shut down the world as we knew it. Which makes a lot of sense. On average, four free-range chickens cost only about eleven cents a day, which makes them the perfect pet for challenging economic times.

"When times are tough," Mr. Wood said, "people want chickens."

But how to get started with such an endeavor? Although you might be surprised at how “chicken-friendly” some cities are, check with your local ordinances first. A website called UrbanChickens.org details how city-dwellers can partake in raising chickens. Most local libraries have instructions for chicken pens, which can be as simple as a plywood constructed box or as complicated as a barn. (Or, a combination of a wooden box that looks like a barn!) Some chickens are raised free-range, allowed to roam freely to eat a more natural diet. These are the easiest and least expensive to care for since they feed mainly on bugs and grasses and don’t eat as much feed.

Urban dwellers can use brightly colored pens called “eglu cubes” which are easy to move, secure, and can house up to ten chickens. Very modern and clean, these pens fit in quite nicely in the neighborhood.

And speaking of the neighbors, did you realize that roosters are not necessary for egg production? My first exposure to roosters dashed my stereotypical impressions of the genteel Foghorn Leghorn bird gently awakening the neighborhood in the morning. Even though it was three o’clock in the afternoon, the rooster – when not strutting around or mounting the hens – was cock-a-doodle-dooing every fifteen minutes. Your hens (and neighbors) would be quite content without a rooster around.

Are you considering using chickens as an opportunity to teach your children about food, animals, “pecking orders,” and the good ole capitalistic laws of supply and demand? The Yahoo discussion group called Chickens 101, YardPoultry, and My Pet Chicken can all help you become a "chicken person."

There's no better time. As people are throwing around the words “global economic meltdown,” it's appropriate to reorient your kids’ lives toward something other than the newest iPhone application.

Working together as a family to grow your own food and make extra money fosters a “we’re all in this together” spirit and helps eradicate the sense of entitlement that all-too-easily takes hold of our families. Plus, it’ll give you a new sense of accomplishment as you sit down around the breakfast table to partake in fresh, fluffy omelets.

Better than melted M&Ms any day.

Click the video below to see how one Los Angeles resident began raising chickens because she felt so "disassociated" with her food.

New on DVD: Brooklyn and Sweden

Rebecca Cusey — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:10:00 EDT

Brookyln's Finest

Action/Drama

The Gist: Three cops on the mean streets of Brooklyn have a date with destiny. One's an undercover narc who has begun to forget which side he's on. Another is a Catholic SWAT-team family man tempted by the illgotten riches around him. The third is a tired, jaded, and tarnished officer with a week to go until retirement. Wanna bet it'll be an eventful week?

The Ups: One of those films that deal with heady issues such as redemption and damnation, this movie is just thick with moral quandaries and ethical grey areas that turn out to not be so grey. I love that stuff. Don Cheadle, Richard Gere, and Ethan Hawke are a pleasure to watch. Read our full review here.

The Downs: The film dances on the line of pretension. A little too self aware, it occasionally pounds the viewer over the head with its moral quandary-ness. In its attempt to be real and gritty, it strays into some explicit violence and sexual scenes that don't add much to the movie.

The Verdict: Depends. I enjoyed this film. It was kind of like "Crash" in uniform. I give it a cautious endorsement. If you don't like explicit content, skip it, or keep the fast forward button handy.

Be Aware: Rated R for bloody violence throughout, strong sexuality, nudity, drug content, and pervasive language. And by pervasive, they mean swearing like, well, New York cops.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Indie Suspense/Drama-Swedish language foreign film

The Gist: Based on the best-selling novel by Stieg Larsson, this adaptation follows a former journalist and a hacker as they investigate a 40-year-old disappearance. As the two delve deeper, they find dark secrets about the victim's powerful family.

The Ups: The odd couple team of journalist and punky hacker strangely works, in no small part due to their stellar acting. It's a edgy mystery that some compare to Agatha Christie.

The Downs: The mystery leads to a story of violence and rape, which is graphically shown and may be too much for some viewers. Proceed with caution.

The Verdict: Again, depends. If you love indie cinema, mystery, or the novel, you'll love this film. If you're more the romantic comedy type, the violence will be too much.

Be Aware: Rated R for disturbing violent content including rape, grisly images, sexual material, nudity and language. Not for underage viewing.

The Last Airbender

Rebecca Cusey — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 02:13:00 EDT

What do you do if you’re adapting a Nickelodeon cartoon series named Avatar onto the big screen, then James Cameron goes and names his technological blockbuster with giant blue things “Avatar?”

You name it the mysteriously compelling “Airbender” and hope that fans of the show make the connection. If you’re no fan,, here’s the set-up. In a mystical world, four tribes represent the four ancient elements: Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. "Benders" are born into each tribe, half-warrior, half-priest beings who (through elaborate tai chi movements) can manipulate the elements in CGI fantastic ways. For instance, the water benders suck up water from the ocean and form it into ice to seal off their castle entrance. There are advantages to being a bender.

As long as these elements are in balance, there is peace. But the fire nation, darn them, has gone and started a war against the other nations. They take villages hostage and kill any non-fire benders they find.

And so, in the midst of the chaos, the weary people look for the lost Avatar -- the mysterious reincarnated being who can learn to bend all four elements. He also is reported tall and blue and can ride flying dragons. Nope, sorry – wrong movie. But he can communicate with the spirit world, such as the moon spirit, from whence all benders derive power.

Or something like that.

This particular avatar is a scrawny, bald boy named Aang (Noah Ringer), who’s overwhelmed by the responsibility. He ran away from his monastery and ended up frozen in ice for a hundred years. In his pajamas, no less.

Oops.

Now that he's thawed, he finds all his friends long dead and the balance of the world all out of whack. That'll teach him to run away. He teams with Katara, a water bender, and Sokka, a teen warrior, to inspire villages to rise up against the fire nation. Riding a giant flying beaver creature with a round face, they travel north so that Aang can learn to bend water from the masters. (When this avatar is riding his flying beaver, that’s probably when he most wishes he’d been in James Cameron’s “Avatar.”)

There's also a story-line about the prince of the fire nation, Prince Zuko (Dev Patel) and his obsessive desire to regain his evil father's respect.

And so we come to the basic flaw of this film. Scene after scene is bloated with exposition about this fantasmical world and the people who live therein. Everyone has a relationship or history or problem and feels the need to tell the story in verbal form to someone else. All that talking sure adds up. The concepts are pretty neat (and all the more interesting as they come from a Buddhist perspective) but what we really want to see is fire battle water and earth battle air. We keep waiting to see all those tai chi movements put into action and instead we're treated to soliloquies from Prince Zuko about how daddy doesn't love him.

It shares a commonality with the week's other new release, Twilight: Eclipse, in that there's a lot of intense and emotive waiting, but not nearly enough pay off.

We never really bond with Aang or his sidekicks Katara (Nicola Peltz) and Sokka (Jackson Rathbone, who is up against himself this week. He also is in Twilight as Jasper Hale). They are more like symbols of hero and sidekicks than real people.

Not to say it's a bad movie, just not as good as hoped. The visuals, in the hands of inconsistent director M Night Shyamalan, are lush and rich. Some of the fighting is pretty cool, although in the post-Avatar (James Cameron's Avatar, that is) era, one hopes for more from 3D battles. One hopes to almost feel the water hit your face.

There's a word for what this film is. Ah yes, I have it. Mediocre. Middle of the road. Forgettable. It's not a bad way to pass a few hours, but about half-way through you realize that air doesn’t really need to bend… and you didn’t really needed to plop down $10 for a ticket to this movie.

BOOKS: Oh Say Can You See

Jill Joiner — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:21:00 EDT

At SixSeeds, we believe in the power of a good story... even the books our small children are hearing and reading. Stories have an amazing power to move, inspire, and sometimes even transform lives... even young lives. This week, we take a popular kids' book and examine it. Hopefully, the next time you're browsing though a crowded bookstore... you can choose wisely!

Title: O, Say Can You See: America’s Symbols, Landmarks, and Inspiring Words
Author: Shelia Keenan
Illustrator: Ann Boyajian
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Age: 2-6 grade
Cost: $16.95
Buy it: here
Rating: 4 out of 6 seeds

Considering the number of fireworks stands passed on the way to the bookstore, finding a plethora of Independence Day reading materials for the kids should be an easy task, right?

If you are planning to walk into the bookstore this week and find a book on the 4th of July, it might be a little more difficult than you’d expect. And If you are thinking you will just grab one from the children’s patriotic display, it definitely won’t be happening, at least not at the Barnes and Nobles in Nashville. Still empty handed on the quest for the perfect kid’s book, it’s time to call in the reinforcements. The sales clerk couldn’t think of a book and then proceeded to check the computer to confirm that they indeed had… nothing.

Fortunately, a book originally bought from the gift shop of the Empire State building can come to concerned parents' rescue… one readily available through Scholastic Books. If you are looking for a resource to help children have a greater understanding of our history, O Say Can You See: America’s Symbols, landmarks, and Inspiring Words by Shelia Keenan packs a ton of history into 63 pages. This would be a good Introduction to American History for early elementary aged kids, especially homeschoolers. It’s concise and covers a lot of ground, but the big picture does not get lost in the details. The illustrations are painted for children, but they still give the reader a somewhat accurate picture of the important places and symbols of America.

The book is broken down into 4 categories: Important Places, Interesting Objects, Inspiring Words, and Celebrating American Holidays. Also included is a glossary and a list of other helpful books on the subject. Its full of interesting tidbits. Did you know that it takes 570 gallons of paint to keep the White House white or that 1,000 freight cars were utilized to carry the stone needed for the outside of the Supreme Court Building?

Looking for some more quick and easy ways to help educate your children this holiday, check out this article from Parenting on Today. A little advice on this 4th of July: stick to the internet to find your books and save your extra time for your loved ones… and the fireworks.

Enjoy our other reviews of children's books!

I'm the Best! by Lucy Cousins

Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Movie Review: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Rebecca Cusey — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 10:21:00 EDT

I suppose this makes me an old fogey, but the more I watch The Twilight Saga, the more I wish someone would just throw some good, cold water on Bella, Edward, and Jacob and then send Bella off to college to grow up a little.

"The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" picks up the story of pretty Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and her intense love triangle with the dreamboat vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) and the muscular werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner). After nearly losing Bella to mean vampires in Italy, Edward has vowed to never leave her again. They spend sun dappled afternoons in a wildflower meadow, gazing into each other's eyes and kissing intensely but chastely. Bella has extracted a promise from him to turn her into a vampire at her next birthday.

However, deep in his furry heart, Jacob (who seems allergic to shirts) knows Bella loves him too and decides to fight for her.

With Bella, fighting for her is a literal endeavor. For one little mortal, she sure has a lot of enemies. This time, a renegade army of newborn vampires is building. Clearly, they have nothing good in mind.

To his credit, Bella's father (Billy Burke) is the only person who notices how inappropriately intense is her relationship with Edward. He encourages her to get out, see friends, do other things. He worries that she's giving up too much for Edward.

He's right. In her quest to become a vampire and spend eternity by Edward's sparkly side, Bella is willing to give up friends, family, future dreams of college and career, hopes of children, indeed life itself. "I will never want anything more than I want Edward," she tells Edward's sister.

Ah, to be seventeen again.

This, of course, is why God gave fathers to seventeen year olds. With the benefit of years of perspective, he knows that while she may always want Edward, there will be a great many things she will desire in addition to him. Fathers get out the metaphorical hose and try to keep seventeen-year-olds from doing anything stupid. Sadly, Bella's father is reduced to a bleating voice in the background as the movie focuses in on her angsty, intense passion for Edward. And Jacob.

This girl just doesn't know what she wants.

Edward does. He makes a good argument for marriage, and for waiting for sex until they are married. The film takes the intense passion the two feel for each other and channels it into the romance of marriage. In novelist Stephanie Meyer's capable hands and the hands of the screenwriters, marriage is portrayed as the most romantic of outcomes for Edward and Bella. It's not just a "don't do it" message about sex, it's a return to the idea that their wedding (and wedding night) will be the most romantic of moments, completely worth waiting for emotionally.

This is the best of the franchise yet. Emotions smolder satisfactorily, with a few self-aware moments of humor. Jacob is almost never fully clothed, which seemed important to the mostly female audience. Edward, thankfully, keeps his shirt on. Some of the Cullen clan tell their back stories, which are short but interesting. The battle scenes are satisfying and might even wake up the husbands, fathers, and boyfriends roped into watching it. And Kristen Stewart does that fluttery thing with her eyelashes a lot, by which you know she's very moved. You'll love it.

What concerns me is the very nature of Bella's love. Edward is bossy to the point of being controlling. He's always there, but they never do anything. They don't hike or fish or go shopping or watch movies or play Wii or volunteer at a soup kitchen or even work at the local ice cream shop. They never laugh. They talk about their feelings. It's all intensity all the time.

I certainly don't want my daughter looking for the type of love that consumes everything, including her personhood. While the emphasis on marriage is refreshing, the film begs the question what is the purpose of love, romance, and marriage? Is it solely to love and adore each other? I'd like to think there's more to it. I'd like to think love and marriage is the way by which we create a team to journey through life and affect the world. A team that enhances each other's strengths and reduces each other's weaknesses. (Bella and Edward don't have weaknesses, except her physical ones which will be changed when she becomes a vampire.) A team in which each person's goals become shared goals, whether to create great art or feed hungry children or be the best insurance salesman in Hoboken. A team that raises children, if so blessed, in a household of love and warmth that radiates light out into a dark world.

After all, staring into Edward's orange eyes might get old after a couple hundred years.

If the inward-focus of love is all there is, the intense talks and wildflower meadows, then Bella's desire to become a vampire and adore Edward throughout eternity makes perfect sense. However, if that inward focus is designed to evolve into a greater outward focus, then she will surely miss out.

These are the types of things you can talk to your teens about, if they are donning “Team Jacob” tees on the way out the door tonight. (Or, if you are.) After all, that parental “bleating noise in the background” is important, and doesn’t have to be in the background.

Not a Twilight fan? Read our Twilight Haters' Survival Guide!

Making Patriotism a Priority: Addressing the Patriotism Gap

Nancy French — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 05:22:00 EDT

Nothing says patriotism like the 4th of July. However, in “How to Raise an American,” best-selling author Myrna Blyth and former White House speechwriter Chriss Winston address what they call a “patriotism gap” – kids today seem much less patriotic than their parents.

Both philosophical and practical, this book is full of tips: dinner table debate topics, patriotic movies, historically accurate and compelling books, and “60-Minute Solutions” to instill a love of country. It challenges parents to take a citizenship test, to trace their “American stories,” and to evaluate their patriotic parenting skills: “Did you vote in the last election,” and “Did you attend a Fourth of July event?”

The authors write, “As mothers, we... have struggled with the same dilemma… we set out to create a real-world resource any parent can use to teach their kids about the greatness of America’s past, the promise of her future, and the important role each of us plays in this democracy. Without becoming a project for you or a chore for your kids, our book How to Raise an American shows you how to make patriotism a priority.”

Prioritizing patriotism is a challenging and worthwhile concept – for both parents and the kids. Perhaps you might like to be reminded of stories of the American dream, which laud the importance of faith, and celebrate the deep conviction of our military. By the time you get to chapter six, you’ll might even want to take “the Patriot Pledge,” a seven part oath to make patriotism an enriching part of family life.

The book also suggests taking family road trips to historical places. (For example, one of their top destinations was Philadelphia – the birthplace of freedom – where families can visit Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and Betsy Ross’s home. There are many others that might make for a good summer road trip.)

So, enjoy a good fireworks display, drink some lemonade, and make a commitment as a family to think more about the history – and consequently, the future – of this great country!

Published in 2007, this is not an easy book to find. Find it on eBay here, and on Amazon here, and read the first chapter of the book for free here.

Watch Myrna Blythe discuss her book on Fox and Friends here!

What Makes America Great

Editorial Staff — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 01:25:00 EDT

The 4th of July is a time to stop, reflect, and articulate why this country is so absolutely amazing. SixSeeds revved up the patriotic juices by asking our contributors to share why they love this country and what in particular makes this country great. What makes them want to break out into Lee Greenwood songs?

Rebecca Cusey: Inventions that Accidentally Change the World

A hundred years ago (1908. I just Googled it...another American invention), an American named Henry Ford changed the world by making an automobile that was accessible to the masses. I love that we're still doing that.

Changing the world, I mean.

I love that a system created by Americans so bored college kids could flirt with each other (Facebook) and a system created by Americans so bored college kids could tell each other what they were having for lunch (Twitter) have now evolved into machines of free speech that despotic governments struggle to shut down.

Iranian freedom fighters...Chinese dissidents...indeed, dissidents the world over have a new voice because some American kinda thought it might be fun to tell the world his thoughts about American Idol and devleoped a network to do so.

Can't wait to see what we come up with next.

Jean Yih Kingston: Opportunity

The best thing about America is the opportunity that's right at our fingertips. Decades ago, my dad arrived from China with everything he owned in a tiny beat up suitcase. He began his great and scary adventure friendless, dirt poor and with little grasp of the English language. My mom's story was similar. With hard work and determination, they scrimped, saved and invested creatively. Soon enough all five of us were living the American Dream.

What's great is this story isn't unique. At SixSeeds these last couple of weeks we've highlighted others with "rags to riches" types of stories.

Hard work actually pays off in America. If only we could grant the same for the rest of the world.

Nancy French: The Guys Who Sell Fireworks

Every June, the landscape of small southern towns changes when enormous red and white striped tents held up by enormous American flags pop up everywhere -- inside there are enough pyrotechnic devices to blow up a small village. It seems all Americans, even the most peace-loving of us, enjoy watching things blowing up. A good explosion inspires awe and laughter because of the frivolity of absolute destruction, and nothing compares to the smell of a smoldering ash remnants of a good blast. Sadly, you can’t just go around blowing things up every month of the year — people would talk. That’s why I love the ever-reliable merchants who rent the big tents that would make Ringling Brothers jealous -- every June, like clockwork. They not only make this nation great, they give us an excuse to indulge — ever-so-slightly — the patriotic pyro in all of us.

Rebecca adds another: Car Commercials

I know this is kinda goofy, but car commercials make America great. When you think about it, there are only seven basic messages you can express about cars.

1) It's safe (you won't get crushed like a bug in a wreck).

2) it's cheap (you might get crushed like a bug, but at least you'll have cash for the doctor's bills).

3) It's expensive (every one will know you could afford more than one of those cheapo deals). This is usually termed luxurious.

4) It's convenient (Oooh...look at all those cupholders)

5) It's tough. (You'll look like a cowboy behind the wheel of this truck as you drive to your desk job.)

6) It's fast/sporty/peppy which is closely related to

7) It's sexy. (This car will help you get dates.)

8) Recently, we added an eigth message - It's green. (Al Gore would approve of this car).

What's great about America is our endless creativity in which commercials mix and meld these messages. Some are funny. (Like our new favorite, Toyota's Swagger Wagon campaign. Some are informative. Some are filled with images that have nothing to do with cars. And a few touch a cord and bring a lump to the throat. I don't know how. I know we're supposed to reject consumer culture, live for what's truly valuable, etc, but I love the creativity of the human spirit that tries to sell me an AMC Pacer or a Ford Festiva and to make me excited about it.

Tom Walsh: Watching Fireworks, But Not At the Mall

Here in Washington, the 4th of July demonstrates something I love about America. I should note that I tend to have offbeat ways of observing the day. Though it's a short walk away, I never brave the sweat-soaked throngs down on the Mall -- I'm a fragile flower, you know.

A better option: three times in recent years I've been on my way somewhere at nightfall and ended up watching the big fireworks show from the shoulder of the local highways. Everyone pulls off to the side of the road when it's about time, gets out of their cars and watches the pyrotechnics, and then rolls on as soon as it ends, comfortably beating the traffic of the people who spent all day on blankets staking out the perfect spot.

But the years I've enjoyed the most have been the ones when, as the sun goes down and things cool off, I've been able to get up on someone's roof. You've probably heard that here in D.C. no building is allowed to be taller than the Capitol Dome, which is why it (and the Washington Monument), rather than skyscrapers, dominate our skyline. It means that if you can get on top of the roof of a three-story building, you have a commanding view.

On Independence Day here on Capitol Hill, if you wangle an invitation from the right friend, you can see a bit of the huge fireworks show over on the other side of the Capitol Dome, and that's nice. But what I really love to see are all the other fireworks shows going on. Every city neighborhood and suburb and small town seems to put some kind of show. This being a pretty flat part of the country, from a roof on the Hill you can see them going on in every direction, as far as you can see -- scores of little fireworks shows, maybe hundreds. Each is happening because the folks in one community cared enough, and took the trouble, to express their affection for their country, and for that community.

So yes, the official, "National" fireworks show in Washington is impressive, just like this nation writ large is. But this is also a country of countless small communities, with people who band together to take the trouble to make things happen -- like all those little fireworks shows, somewhere out in America.

New on DVD: Comedy, Kids, and Creation

Rebecca Cusey — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 11:00:00 EDT

What has Hollywood served up this week in the DVD aisle? Here's the rundown.

Hot Tub Time Machine

Comedy

The Gist: Tree old dudes and one younger dude visit the scene of their youthful debauchery (a ski resort), spill some beer on a hot tub, and get sent back to 1986. And a chance at a do-over.

The Ups: Don't tell anyone I said this, but this is a sidesplittingly funny movie. A side role by Crispin Glover (the dad in Back to the Future), as a one-armed bellboy, is worth the price of admission.

The Downs: This comedy belongs to the new genre that takes crass to a new level, coarse to new heights, and inappropriate to new reaches. Then it exceeds even that.

The Verdict: I absolutely, positively cannot recommend this movie. I cannot tell you how hard I laughed. If you watch it, it's on your own head. Not in any way appropriate for children, teens, or most adults.

Be Aware: Rated R for, well, everything. A hard R.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Kid's film

The Gist: Based on the popular Percy Jackson novels, this film follows the adventures of an ordinary kid who discovers he's the son of a god. A Greek god.

The Ups: This is a well made and clever film that makes the ancient legends interesting. Which cannot be a bad thing. Read our full review here.

The Downs: Tweens who love the novels almost universally complained that the movie took too many liberties with the plot, characters, and humor. Book lovers can be such a hard audience.

The Verdict: Rent it. It's fun and worth a view, if only to complain "Annabeth had BLOND hair in the book."

Be Aware: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is rated PG for action violence and peril, some scary images and suggestive material, and mild language.

The Crazies

Horror

The Gist: A small town is just the gosh darn perfect place to live until the residents start attacking each other with pitchforks. Maybe it's something in the water.

The Ups: As horror films go, this one is well made.

The Downs: Nothing new. And did I mention it's a horror film?

The Verdict: Skip it.

Be Aware: Rated R for bloody violence and language.

Creation

Drama

The Gist: A middle aged father struggles to keep his marriage together, to care for his kids, and to keep up with his career, all while mourning the death of a beloved daughter. Oh, and he's Charles Darwin. His work is writing the theory that changed everything.

The Ups: Heartfelt and moving performances by Jennifer Connelly and real life husband Paul Bettany show a lovely romance between two people who have been married for years.

The Downs: Religious objectors to the idea of Darwinian Evolution are portrayed, well...not quite as firebreathing anti-progressives, but not as intelligent people either.

The Verdict: If you like historical fiction, this is a good and well-made movie to watch.

Be Aware: Rated PG-13 for some intense thematic material.