Thank you Falco Ink for sending us this DVD to review!

Not everyone grows up with a perfect family.  Many kids are raised by a single parent, and in most cases it's the mother.  It was the opposite for me as I grew up fast when my mother ran off when I was a teenager.  Comeback Dad struck a chord with me as I chose to forgive and reconcile with my mom. I was curious if the daughter, Nina, would do the same for her absentee father (Charles Dutton) in this movie.  

I won't spoil the ending in this review.  Nina is an up and coming composer who learned from her father on how to play the piano.  Her successful fiancé, Spence, loves her despite knowing that she can't trust him fully due to her broken relationship with her father.  Spence encourages her to make amends before their wedding and that includes an out of state trip to meet her estranged family. 

Unfortunately, this movie reinforces the false teachings of works to earn a person's way to heaven.    Nina mentions getting double heaven points for making the trip to see her family.    The Bible clearly teaches in Ephesians 2:8 and in Romans 9:16 that it is by God's grace alone that we are saved, not by our works.

Thank you Click Communications for sending us this DVD to review!

Strange Magic is a CGI animated musical that borrows from Shakepeare's "A Midsummer’s Night Dream" and Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's "Beauty and the Beast." After seeing George Lucas's attempt at romance in Star Wars II Attack of the Clones, I wasn't expecting much.  I began watching this movie with three of my kids and one of them left half way through to read a book instead. Of the two that remained to the end, only one liked the movie.   My son wasn't a fan of it.  Then again, George Lucas was inspired by his daughters to make Strange Magic.

The movie begins with a fairy princess, Mary Ann, preparing for her wedding day.  Along the way of her collecting materials for her fiancé's boutonnière, she runs into her husband-to-be kissing another fairy.  Not surprisingly, the wedding was called off and her father, the king, wants Mary Anne  to make amends with her ex, Roland.   Instead Mary Anne vows to be independent and swears off love entirely.  

Mary Anne is not the only one uninterested in love.  In the nearby Dark Kingdom, the wretched insectiod King Bog has forbidden anyone to fall in love and use of love potions is forbidden.  To ensure that his ban remains in effect, he sealed away the sugar plum fairy who is the only one that can concoct love potions.  

Thank you Fox for sending us a DVD of the season premiere!

Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader is entering its sixth season with Jeff Foxworthy as the host.  There have been some format changes implemented this year.  Instead of five 5th graders, there are now six and it's a new cast this time around.  Another change is that the 11th question for one million dollars comes from a sixth grade text book.

The questions start at one thousand dollars and after the 5th question is answered correctly for $25,000, a contestant will be able to leave with that as their minimum winnings.  A contestant can choose to walk away from further questions with all of their winnings to that point or try to answer the question on their own or with the help of the 5th graders.  

The contestants can choose questions from topics that range from first to fifth grade.  Beside the player is a 5th grade student who will answer the questions secretly with them.  (The students change throughout the show.) When the contestant and respective classmates lock in their answers, the correct  answer is revealed.  If the contestant answers incorrectly but the student is right, a save feature will be used once to  keep the contestant in the game.  If the player is unsure of their answer they can peek at their classmate's answer and choose to go with it or they can blindly copy the answer with no option to decline it.  If the classmate is incorrect, they will lose the game.  

The questions start off easy but get more challenging as the grade level increases.  From watching the season premiere I learned that the eagle is holding 13 arrows on the Great Seal of the United States.  l also learned that there are four planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) in our solar system that have a larger radius than the earth.  In  my defense, I did already know that forty-eight states shared borders and the proper way to spell nickel.  Regardless, I'd be wary of going on national TV to press my luck.

Thank you Frank Publicity for granting us access to a digital screener of this movie!

Dukale's Dream is a documentary featuring Hugh Jackman and his wife Deborah on a trip to Ethiopia to learn about World Vision's efforts there.  World Vision does more than give hand outs, they give hand-ups.  What that means is that they provide more than relief, they help improve the economy in poverty stricken areas.  

While helping out a coffee farmer named Dukale, Hugh witnessed firsthand the hard work required to sustain Dukale's family of seven.    Even though coffee is in high demand, the soil only yields harvestable beans every other year.  Dukale has to diversify his crops to stay afloat.  Even still he is barely scraping by.

Fortunately World Vision has improved his family's health and ecological sustainability.  World Vision has setup a methane gas converter that transforms cow manure to usable gas that Dukale's wife can cook with.  By using this gas, it makes their hut smoke free and improves his family's respiratory health and doesn't tear up their eyes.  

In order to improve living conditions for all of the Ethiopian coffee farmers, people need to consider buying fair trade coffee.  Fair trade coffee ensures that the farmers are not being taken advantage of and guarantees them a minimum price.  The farmers in turn must be certified and follow environmentally sound practices.  It's a win-win for everyone if we're willing to make sure the coffee that  we drink is fair-trade compliant.

Thank you Shout Factory for sending us this movie to review!

Maya the Bee was originally a German fairytale that dates back to 1912.  Since then it has been published into other languages, has become a TV show, and now it's getting the Hollywood treatment.  While the movie is a bit different than the book, much of the story remains the same.

Maya is born into an unstable beehive.  The aging queen is seen as "too soft" by her advisor and she schemes to replace her.  Meanwhile Maya is having trouble trying to find her role in the bee community.  Nobody seems to be as carefree as her and she seems to cause more trouble than is useful.  

After exploring the Meadows without permission from her teacher, she befriends a grasshopper and other insects.  It's here that the story borrows a bit from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.  Wasps and bees are hostile towards each other and any reason will suffice for starting a war with the opposing side.  Young bees and wasps are instructed not to communicate with other insects, but especially not bees or wasps.

Naturally, Maya and her best friend, Willy, meet a young wasp and save his life from a spider.  To save face from his angry father, he confesses that they saved his life, but denies his friendship with them.  They meet up later in the movie and he apologizes for that.

 Thank you Bohlen Group for sending us this book to review!

Extravagant Graces is written by Jeanette Chaffee, a survivor from the TWA Flight 840 that had a bomb detonate in mid-air. She goes into detail with her story and how she believes that a guardian angel was among the passengers to spare the structure of the plane and many of the lives within it. Upon sharing her story over the years, she has chronicled twenty-two other stories that defy luck and show God's grace in the midst of chaos.

There are two plane crash stories and two stories of martyrdom. Many people are familiar with the five missionaries who were speared to death by the Ecuadorian Acua tribe in 1955. Not only does this book retell that story, but it goes into details about the lives of the widows and how the Auca tribes people heard the musical score from the 2005 movie, Beyond the Gates of Splendor, before it was even released!

In the 1960s Phyliss and Phil Masters went to Dutch New Guinea to reach out to the cannibal Yali tribe. After converting several tribesmen, including the shaman's son, there was some hostility. This cost Phil his life in 1968. Amazingly, Christianity still thrived within the tribe and when a plane crashed nearby later that year, the only survivor was a nine year old boy that the tribe took in as an attempt at peace.

Not all of the stories are heavy hearted, like the one of Shirley Dobson leaving her hometown of thirty years to move to Colorado Springs. Her husband, James Dobson, joked that she left drag marks from California all across the Rockies. By their faithfulness, their ministry has flourished and is still going strong today!

Thank you Yekra for granting us digital access to review this film!

Christopher Rush was born with muscular dystrophy and what he lacked physically, he made up for it intellectually.  In fact, he was able to converse with doctors when he was only nine months old.  His physicians told his parents that he would be  "no more than a dishrag, and dead by the age of two."   Chris lived life to his fullest and as a kid he became to poster child for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  He got to meet and inspire famous people including Ronald Reagan, Tony Orlando,  and Jerry Lewis.    

Not letting his disability getting the best of him, Chris graduated with honors in high school, college, and even when receiving his law degree.  He also became the first person with muscular dystrophy to become scuba certified.  Despite his doctor's grim prognosis, Chris lived to be thirty years old.

Wanting to give back to others he developed the Go Far program.  While not easy, it is doable if anyone puts their mind to it like Chris did.

Thank you James Samuel Gutshall for sending us a copy of your book to review!

Sweet Gentle Rain is a collection of poems and short stories that the author has written and gathered together since the mid 1980s.  In 2006, he received a trophy from the International Society of Poets for reciting his poem "Breakers" in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Inside this twenty-seven page book, you'll find poems about thankfulness, hardships, wonder, searching, time passing, grandkids, and annoyances. 

Some of the poems are light hearted while most of them are thought provoking.  Almost all of them are spiritual in nature and give thanks to God, our wonderful creator.  Each of the poems are accompanied by photographs or paintings.  All of them are fitting, but some of them are higher quality than others.   

As a mother of three, my favorite poem was "Ladybugs and Squirrels" talking about the curiosity and short attention span of his grandson, Nicholas.  My ten year old daughter enjoyed reading this book as well.  Sweet Gentle Rain can truly be enjoyed by young and old alike.  There is one alcoholic reference in the book and sadly it contains a grammatical error on page 19, "And drank way to[o] much wine".

 Sweet  Gentle Rain  is self published through Xlibris and is available online for over  $18.  I find that price too steep for my liking.  Fortunately,  the kindle version is more reasonably priced at $3.99.  

Thank you Romans 12LLC for sending us a sling backpack!

Romans 12:12 says "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer"

That's an awesome verse worth  memorizing and living by.  Romans 12 LLC aims to uplift and remind Christians to Hang On Pray Everyday® with useful products and attire.    On their website HopeinaBox.com you can purchase t-shirts, hats, backpacks, mugs, greeting cards, and blankets.  The prices are very reasonable too.  You can purchase a bookmark for 99 cents and red t-shirts are on sale for $4.99.  There are various styles of baseball caps  from $15 to $26.  

It's safe to say that they have something for everyone available on their website.  The sling backpack I was sent seems to be of good quality.  Apparently it's kid approved as my daughter has claimed the backpack as her own.  There are various H.O.P.E. in a box bundles available that range from $20 to $50.  The shipping rates are from USPS and go up if you need it sent priority or express.  

Thank you Bohlsen Group for sending us this book to review!

Many Christians celebrate Christmas on December 25th and Easter on a Sunday in late March or Early April.  What if our traditions were proven to be wrong?  Patrick Cavanagh is Putting Tradition on Trial using astronomy and ancient Greek texts as evidence against an Easter Sunday resurrection.

I recently did (and highly recommend) a Bible Study called The Life of Jesus Christ Love. Life. Message. Mission. with my small group at church.    It's a great study that's easy to read and one of the chapters had a nice day by day break down of the last week of Jesus' life on earth.   Most Christians accept that the Last Supper was on a Thursday and that he was captured later that night and put on trial and to death on Friday.   Traditionally, Christians believe and celebrate Jesus' resurrection on Easter Sunday.  

While united in celebrating Easter, Christians have often contemplated the year of Christ's death. Many believe it's either 30, 31, or 33 CE.    Using astronomical calculations of the full moon in 14 Nisan, Patrick Cavanagh suggests that Christ died on Tuesday, April 15th in 32 CE and that by late Friday (approximately 72 hours), the women were informed that He had risen.  These are some pretty bold statements and the author makes a compelling case for them by providing Greek text and the works of Josephus to analyze key dates and how they all piece together.  

Putting Tradition on Trial continues to assimilate other historical events like the births of John the Baptist and Jesus in 3 BCE and Herod's death in 1 BCE.  Most people believe that Herod died in 4 BCE.  The book also mentions how the former pope Benedict stated his beliefs that Jesus birth had to be sooner than the currently believed timeframe of 5 or 6 BCE.  Since I'm not Catholic, I usually take statements from the pope with a grain of salt.  

Thank you St. Martin's press for sending us a review copy of this book!

CNN is doing a six-part series titled Finding Jesus and it discusses prominent figures and relics associated with Jesus and Christianity.  Finding Jesus: Fact. Faith. Forgery. is the companion book written by David Gibson and Michael McKinley.  The book covers John the Baptist's role and remains, The James Ossuary, Mary Magdalene's roles and remains,  the Gospel of Judas, the True Cross, and the Shroud and Sudarium.  

Each chapter discusses the relic or person's history, significance and authenticity.  According to the book, early churches were required to possess a relic in order to be considered credible.   The black market for Christian relics thrived then and it's still alive and well in the twenty-first century.  There are many verified hoaxes when it comes to bones of supposed prophets.  While some churches unknowingly acquired pig bones, other churches like one in Bulgaria, has a bone  from a Middle Eastern man.  Could it really be from John the Baptist?

The James Ossuary is another hot topic for several reasons.  Since Catholics believe that Mary remained a virgin, how could Jesus have a brother named James as the ossuary claims? The Catholic author(s?) suggests that Jesus had step brothers from a possible previous marriage of Joseph's.  The relic itself is a bit questionable since the inscription has two different authors and writing styles.   While the ossuary is genuine, the inscription on it could very well be fake.  The forgery was taken to court, but the accused forger was acquitted.

The gnostic gospels are brought up on two occasions with the Gospel of Judas and the Gospel of Jesus' Wife.  The Gospel of Judas paints the relationship of Jesus and Judas in a different light and shows them working together on the betrayal instead of it being one-sided as the other gospels proclaim.  The gospel claiming that Mary Magdalene was Jesus' wife is just as sketchy with many words and context missing from the text used to base this argument on.   While that argument isn't very convincing, the book suggests that Mary Magdalene could have been the woman who had demons expelled from her, and possibly the adulterer that Jesus pardoned.  

Thank you Bender/Helper/Impact for sending us this movie to review!

When I was growing up, I used to watch a show called The Hitchhiker which featured a hitchhiker (gasp!) who opened and closed each show, but did not star in the random thriller story in between.  The shows often revolved upon mankind's depravity and sometimes had supernatural plots.  Since I have not seen the original WWJD movie, The Hitchhiker television show is the closest comparison I can make.  

WWJD: The Journey Continues has the same drifter from the original movie, but the main story is completely different this time around.     The movie begins with the drifter catching a ride to a random location.   Meanwhile a young man promises his mother in her final moments that he would take care of his brother.   His adopted brother's prison sentence is nearly finished. Later that night, a church in the midst of being renovated in a rough neighborhood gets robbed.  The pastor, fearing for the lives of himself and his wife, abandons the church and  suggests they hire a pastor with no family to worry about.  Cue in the young man who happens to be a pastor and his parolee brother.  As luck would have it, the pastor's brother is  a carpenter when he's not breaking the law. 

The pastor's brother is not saved and it shows with his quick temper and wanting to pick fights with some trouble-making brothers who vandalize the church. The young pastor has a tight deadline to get the church up and running and financially stable.  Everything is on track until there is a robbery in the church and the pastor's brother pays the ultimate price.  Fortunately, he accepted Christ in his last moments of life.  

Thank you Thomas Nelson for sending us this book to review! The world can be a pretty depressing place with natural disasters, murders and needless deaths occurring everywhere on a daily basis.  Turning on the evening news shows more bad news than good.  It doesn't take much for anybody, Christian or not, to lose heart with all of th...

Thank you Cartoon Network for sending us this DVD to review! As the name suggests, Uncle Grandpa is a very odd show.  I'm not even sure how to describe it other than it being "face palm" funny.  The main character, Uncle Grandpa, helps kids by taking them on adventures to solve their problems.  While he does have the ability to ...

Thank you Bender/Helper Impact for sending us a DVD of this movie to review! Confessions of a Prodigal Son was successfully Kickstarted in the spring of 2013.  The fundraising goal was a meager ten thousand dollars and Nathan Clarkson, the lead actor and project lead, raised $13,835.00 to make it a reality.  While the low budget aspe...

Thank you Shore Fire Media for sending us a digital copy of this symphony! Nobuo Uematsu is a world renowned composer who is best known for his compositions for Final Fantasy I-IX.  He has worked alongside others in arranging music for Final Fantasy X, XI, XII, and Chrono Trigger.  In his band Earthbound Papas (and The Black Mages be...

Thank you Disney for sending us a copy of the movie to review!

Even though Tinkerbell is in the title of this movie, she isn't the main character.  She does make a few appearances though.  Tinkerbell and the Legend of the NeverBeast focuses on a fairy named Fawn, an animal fairy who specializes in  the wildlife surrounding Pixie Hollow.  Because of her love for animals, Fawn often gets reprimanded for bringing potentially dangerous strays into the fairy village.

After a recent scolding from the queen fairy, Fawn stumbles onto a unique creature that she has never seen before.  Vowing to think with her head and not her heart this time, she studies this unusual animal that likes to make rock towers.  She wins its trust when she helps remove a thorn from its foot and a friendship between them is born.      

While Fawn fully trusts this unusual creature, the guardian fairies wish to send it away because of a legend about its involvement in a deadly storm that is starting to brew.  Is this creature the source of the problem or the solution?  Can the fairies come to an agreement and work together?  You'll have to watch the movie to find out since I don't want to spoil it for you.

Thank you Shout Factory for sending us this DVD to review!

Penguins live a simple life, believe the world is flat and nothing exists beyond the icebergs surrounding them. Jasper is a young penguin that doesn't conform to their beliefs. One day he sees a huge cruise ship which disproves the theory that only penguins exist. Jasper, unfortunately, does not succeed in his attempt to show this to the other penguins. In doing so, he is shunned.

While being tasked to watch his brother, Junior, Jasper loses sight of him. He later finds him making his way towards the cruise ship. Junior boards it followed by Jasper. While onboard, they meet nine-year old Emma and a cat named Lucifer. Together, they all vow to help the Kakapo parrot retrieve his stolen eggs from a passenger named Doctor Block and his helper Rolf. Can these four misfits work together to save the eggs from harm? Can the penguin brothers and Emma each earn their parent's respect? You'll have to watch the eighty minute DVD to find out.

While Jasper: Journey To The End Of The World is family friendly and earns its "Family Approved" seal on the front of its case, I did notice a couple of issues.  There is a scene where the Kakapo parrot falls down a laundry chute and into a washing machine.  Emma shouts OMG, spelled out.  In another incident the parrot says "Oh ca ca."  Last but not least, there's a margarita reference in the end.

Thank you No Starch Press for sending us this book to review!

After our ten year old finished JavaScript For Kids (highly recommend this book BTW!), our seven year old wanted to try Ruby Wizardry.  Not only is the programming language completely different, the formatting is as well.  This book is laid out like a story with snippets of code and complete ruby scripts woven throughout.

Ruby Wizardry teaches the basics such as variables, symbols, arrays, strings, loops, conditionals, case statements, opening/writing/adding to files,  and more.  The first chapter is dedicated to downloading and configuring the Ruby interpreter to correctly associate .rb files.  

Some of the code will need to be typed beforehand in notepad (or notepad++) and renamed as a .rb file while other bits of code will  need to be executed directly in IRB (command line interpreter).  My son got confused at times and occasionally typed code in the wrong program.

Adult supervision is strongly advised for younger kids to make sure they are "getting it."  Many scripts are playful including a text maze game, a monkey counting script, and a password checker.  Like all programming languages, a single typo can break the whole program.  A second set of eyes may be needed when helping your kids debug their programs.  A computer science degree isn't required to help locate spelling errors and the book's code examples are easy to understand.

Thank you Shout Factory for sending us this DVD to review! Have you ever wondered how ponies in Equestria get their unique markings on their flanks?  My Little Pony: Adventures of the Cutie Mark Crusaders explains the whole process.  Ponies are not born with their "cutie marks" - they are obtained when discovering their unique talent...