Abel's Island / The Dancing Frog

I loved this book!
My childhood friend Erin and I used to read this book over and over when I was about 10 years old. The DVD version follows the story perfectly! I ordered one for Erin as well. She was so excited!!

Abels' Island is one of my all time favorites
This is a kids story with a love story in it's core. Great for children and adults alike. We borrowed this from the library, and after watching we just had to have our own copy. This is a wonderful adaptation of the book by William Steig, Abel's Island. In the story a mouse named Abel gets stranded for a year on a deserted island, and learns to survive while realizing the most important thing in the world to him is the love of his wife. My 9 year old son loves to watch this story, since it has plenty of adventure to keep the kids interested as Abel has to learn how to survive. He is a spoiled rich mouse, who does not know how to fend for himself, yet he has become a Robinson Crusoe of sorts. He fights off an owl determined to eat him, and never stops trying to find a way off the island. Abel teaches himself create fire, to find and store food, build shelter, and to make pottery to eat with. He has to make use of his time and he finally learns he has an artistic side which brings him...

an Oldie AND a Goodie!
This is one of about 10 DVD's we constantly replay in our home. We bought the book and love it, too. What we love about the DVD is that is is 90% music and 'stop shot' pictures from the book itself, with 10% slow, deep, male, British narration. It gives you enough time to think, and the words are ponderful :) The pictures are as sweet as the story line. The theme creative. You will not be disappointed in wither the book or the movie. In fact, they are a beautiful complement to each other.

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The Marzipan Pig / Jazztime Tale

Delicious!
I came across The Marzipan Pig on cable TV years ago. Unfortunately the visual reception was bad--the picture was all zig-zag and I couldn't see a thing. But the narration was SO lovely that I couldn't change the channel.

I've been longing to see it ever since. Now it is on DVD so I got a copy from Amazon to watch with my 10 year-old nephew and 6 year-old niece. I forewarned them it had a couple sad parts but a good ending. They were both A-OK with the whole thing. We were not disappointed--the animation was as charming as the narrative. My niece was captivated by the dancing mouse. And we all enjoyed the poetry and alliteration of the spoken sentiments.

The Marzipan Pig remains a timeless treat. Highly recommended!

An absolutely lovely tale for children
I saw this on television when I was 5 years old. At the time I found it very peaceful and calming. My thoughts have returned to it here and there in the years since, until I finally went and bought it again. The narrative is gorgeous, as is the animation. The story is of a marzipan pig who falls out of sight and longs to be found; a mouse eventually discovers him but hungrily eats him. However, the spirit of the marzipan pig still influences all those who come into contact with the mouse, spreading love to the most unexpected places.

According to another reviewer, their daughter had nightmares from this. I find that quite amazing, considering how gentle and soothing it is, but all kids are different after all, and the ends of bell curves are far away. If your child is very sensitive and easily upset by the idea of a mouse eating a pig-shaped sweet, don't let them watch this. Otherwise, they will enjoy this absolutely lovely tale. Animation for children is so loud and...

Tim Curry Is Excellent!
Came across this short on one of the HBO Family channels by sheer random luck. I've been enamored with the short and narration by Tim Curry ever since. The style of it combined with Tim Curry's voice talent is very enchanting. Highly recommend!

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