The Magic Christmas Key Book and Santa's Magic Key Review and Giveaway

We received product free from Wendell August to facilitate this review. 

Have your kids ever asked you how Santa gets inside homes that don't have a chimney or fireplace? My littles have. I have always told them it is just magic and that I really didn't know anything more than that. I don't recall anywhere that we have lived with a chimney or fireplace. So these questions didn't really come as a surprise to me. Small children are inherently, naturally inquisitive.

Wendell August, the maker of heirloom-quality personalized metal gifts in the USA since 1923, is proud to bring the tradition of Santa's Magic Key to children across the globe.

More and more homes these days are being built without fireplaces and fireplaces are also being replaced with "more efficient" sources of heat. Where does that leave Santa then? For centuries he has used rooftops as landing places for his reindeer and sleigh. Chimneys and fireplaces were his primary transportation to the inside of homes to get gifts to the children. Santa has had to seek other options, get more creative with his methods, and call out some favors of his elves. This is why Santa's Magic Key was born.

Instructions: Hang Santa’s Magic Key on your front doorknob on Christmas Eve, enabling Santa to get inside your house when you don’t have a fireplace…the coals in the fire are too hot…or Santa has had a few too many Christmas cookies to fit down the chimney! When Santa has finished his Christmas Eve visit, he will place the key on your Christmas tree to be ready for next year.

To take the tradition even further, read the book about Santa's Magic Key, entitled "The Magic Christmas Key." It’s a story about a young boy named Andy, his trusty dog Rufus and his loveable family. He goes on a marvelous adventure that starts with the gift of Santa's Magic Key and ends with some sound advice from Santa himself.

"Santa's Magic Key is a special gift that can be passed down from generation to generation," says Will Knecht, President of Wendell August. "It’s a heartwarming family tradition that reminds us that 'All things are possible when you believe.'"

This book has beautiful illustrations and a heartwarming story that is filled with wonder. My children enjoyed looking at the pages and me reading the book to them. The story has lots of words and does take some time to read, so make it a point to have time set aside for the occasion. My littles delighted in the excitement and magic of Santa Clause and his magic key. This story captures child-like wonder beautifully and reminds me of The Polar Express book.

The key itself is hand cast by Old Forge Pewter with Santa's Magic Key engraved in scrolly letters on the bow part of the key. The key comes with a red ribbon to hang the key with. This is wonderful to be used with the book as a keepsake and ornament.

The Magic Key and book are sold separately or together. Santa's Magic Key is 5 ½" long and retails for $25. "The Magic Christmas Key," written by Leann Smith and illustrated by Kip Richmond, is a 10 x 10” hardcover book and is available with the Magic Key in a keepsake box. The book and Magic Key sold together retail for $39.

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DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received products for free to facilitate my review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review. 

Planes DVD Blu-ray Combo Pack Review

We received product free to facilitate this review.

From above the world of Cars Disney and Pixar brings us Planes, an animated comedy about a crop dusting plane named Dusty who has high flying dreams of a life of racing. He meets all sorts of characters when he enters the Wings Across the Globe race. Will Dusty qualify for the race even though he is afraid of heights and not built for speed? You should watch Planes to find out!

My family and I loved Planes! It is a wonderful story where you'll be rooting for Dusty, the underdog that has a big heart. The plot is very good even though it takes some twists and turns that one might expect with the hero and villain scenario. We loved seeing all the different planes and how, even with the personification, they were detailed fairly authentically. In one of the bonus features, Klay's Flight Plan, they told how they completely changed how the wings were in one of the scenes just because they wanted to get the authenticity correct. That's some dedication. My favorite characters besides Dusty were Franz and his alter ego, and El Chupacabra.

BONUS FEATURES: (Blu-ray, DVD and Select Digital Retailers)

• Exclusive Franz’s Song (approx. 1:40) - Blu-ray & Select Digital Retailers - Produced exclusively for Blu-ray and HD Digital, this never-before-seen completely finished animated song features the German mini-car, Franz Fliegenhosen, who encourages Dusty on his flight.
• Klay’s Flight Plan (approx. 15:00) Blu-ray, DVD & Select Digital Retailers -Follow Director Klay Hall’s personal journey during the making of “Planes” and discover why his family connection to aviation made “Planes” his perfect project. Fly along with Klay as he lands on a working aircraft carrier to get first-hand experience on the flight deck.
• Deleted Scenes (approx.. 3:46) Blu-ray & Select Digital Retailers - Director Klay Hall and Producer Traci Balthazor-Flynn introduce deleted scenes from the movie. 1. Training Montage (approx. 2:38) 2. Taj Mahal (approx. 1:08)
• Meet the Racers (approx.. 5:50) Blu-ray, DVD & Select Digital Retailers - Featurettes introducing racers El Chupacabra (1:15), Ripslinger (1:15), Dusty (:90), and Ishani (:90).
• Top 10 Flyers (approx. 8:00) Blu-ray & Select Digital Retailers - ESPN’s Colin Cowherd hosts a fun, fast-paced countdown of the greatest aviators in history.

The bonus features were good on this combo pack. I liked the bonus feature of Franz's Song the most! It was very cute and witty. Klay's Flight Plan was a great addition that had the director and his boys looking at the making of the movie a bit and having a father son bonding experience. Both of the deleted scenes were partially in the movie, but some of their content was cut because it wasn't really needed to get the same feeling across. Meet the Racers are short clips about some of the main characters, building on their personalities a bit more. The Top 10 Flyers bonus feature was very educational and great for a homeschool mini lesson on flyers in history.

Here is the bonus feature, Franz's Song :)


My kids enjoyed the slapstick humor and fun animation in Planes. I enjoyed the morals the movie was teaching: go after your dreams and make them a reality, conquer your fears, be kind and giving, and make and keep good friends. Even thought the plot was fairly predictable my family very much enjoyed watching Planes. This is definitely a great animated movie for airplane lovers young and old!

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received product for free to to facilitate this review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

Elizabeth Mitchell and Friends The Sounding Joy Review and Giveaway

The Sounding Joy album cover. Cover artwork by Brian Selznick.

We received product free from Smithsonian Folkways to facilitate this review.

The Sounding Joy by GRAMMY-nominated Smithsonian Folkways family musician Elizabeth Mitchell is a tribute to Ruth Crawford Seeger’s overlooked but deeply influential 1953 songbook, American Folk Songs for Christmas. This is Mitchell's first Christmas album and it is a wonderful collection of folk carols for all ages. These are recordings that celebrate a Christmas before commercialization, an all encompassing custom of people sharing music, telling stories and celebrating together. The album includes Mitchell’s family, friends and neighbors, including Peggy Seeger, Natalie Merchant, Aoife O’Donovan, Amy Helm, John Sebastian, Dan Zanes, Happy Traum, and many others. The great assortment of voices, musicians, and instruments on the album breathes new life into words first sung over a century ago by farmhands, country preachers, and small-town congregations and gospel groups.

I love Elizabeth Mitchell! I have many of her albums and enjoy them daily. Now Sounding Joy has become one of my favorite Christmas albums. Most of the songs on the album are a refreshing change from the Christmas songs that you normally hear on the radio during the holidays. There are a few recordings that are not from the original songbook which include classics “Joy to the World,” “Silent Night,” and an a cappella arrangement of “Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming,” a “family heirloom” arranged by Elizabeth’s father-in-law, Michael Storey Littleton. I also loved hearing yet another familiar voice, Dan Zanes, of which I also love, on this album! I now long to have and hear the 1953 American Folk Songs for Christmas songbook to accompany Elizabeth Mitchell's album. The Sounding Joy is a wonderful throwback to a time much simpler than ours where stories and songs were handed down through generations.

Sneak preview:
Listen to “Children, Go Where I Send Thee (Little Bitty Baby: A Cumulative Song)”.


The Sounding Joy Tracklist:

1. Oh, Mary and the Baby, Sweet Lamb
2. Mary Had a Baby
3. Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow (feat. Mike Merenda)
4. January, February (Last Month of the Year) (feat. Amy Helm and Marco Benevento)
5. Joseph and Mary (The Cherry Tree Carol) (feat. Natalie Merchant)
6. Shine Like a Star in the Morning (feat. Simi Stone)
7. Joy to the World (feat. Jay Ungar)
8. Christmas Day in the Morning (feat. Peggy Seeger)
9. Mother’s Child (Child of God) (feat. Peggy Seeger)
10. Sing-a-Lamb (feat. Dan Zanes and Suzan Lori-Parks) 
11. Great Big Stars
12. Baby Born Today (feat. The Silver Hollers - Amy Helm, Ruthy Ungar and Chris Wood, with Larry Campbell)
13. Ain’t That a-Rockin’ All Night
14. Cradle Hymn
15. Bright Morning Stars Are Rising
16. Sing Hallelu (feat. Elizabeth Clark-Jerez)
17. The First Noel
18. The Blessings of Mary (feat. Larry Campbell)
19. Oh, Watch the Stars (feat. Aoife O’Donovan)
20. Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming
21. Mary Was the Queen of Galilee (feat. Gail Ann Dorsey and Joan Osborne)
22. Silent Night
23. Singing in the Land (feat. Natalie Merchant, Happy Traum, and John Sebastian)
24. Children, Go Where I Send Thee (feat. Natalie Merchant, Amy Helm, Ruthy Ungar, Gail Ann Dorsey, Dan Zanes, Aoife O'Donovan, Simi Stone)

70 minutes, 32-page booklet with photos.
List Price $14.98 CD, $9.99 Download

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Prize: Elizabeth Mitchell and Friends The Sounding Joy (2 Winners!!)

I am trying out Rafflecopter on my blog. Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for it below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received product for free to facilitate my review and some to giveaway. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

Guess How Much I Love You Hidden Treasure DVD Review and Giveaway

We received product free from eone (Entertainment One) to facilitate this review and the opportunity below to giveaway 3. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

Inspired by the best-selling books written by Sam McBratney and Illustrated by Anita Jeram,  Guess How Much I Love You: Hidden Treasure follows the adventures of Little Nutbrown Hare and his father, Big Nutbrown Hare, reminding us that there is no greater love or bond between a parent and child. These 7 episodes were part of the Disney Junior series which aired on TV. In these stories, Little Nutbrown Hare goes about exploring the meadow and playing with his friends, all the while learning valuable life lessons such as the importance of friendship, learning from mistakes, embracing differences in one another, and much more.

Little Nutbrown Hare Iceskating

I loved reading the books of this series when I was little and love to see them come to life in animation on DVD. These are so adorable and charming. My kids and I enjoyed them very much and each episode has a sweet message. The animation is really well done and I love all the forest characters. They remind me of the TV series: Little Bear, Franklin & Friends, or Winnie the Pooh.

Still from Slip, Slop, Slide

Episodes

• Hidden Treasure - Little Nutbrown Hare and his friends go looking for sparkly treasure and learn the valuable lessons: everything's special in its own way, nothing is ordinary, something that looks ordinary could be extraordinary, friends are treasure, there is treasure all around us, something that looks ordinary on the outside could be beautiful on the inside, sometimes things are much more than what they seem.
• Finder's Keepers - Little Redwood Fox finds a pile of spotted acorns unattended and takes them as his own, he soon finds out that they belong to Little Gray Squirrel and has to choose whether to keep and eat them or give them back. This episode teaches about doing the right thing and that sharing is better.
• It's Okay - Little Nutbrown Hare learns to forgive and that accidents sometimes happen.
• Slip, Slop, Slide - Little Nutbrown Hare learns that everyone is different and learns at different speeds. He also learns that practice makes perfect.
• Inside Day - Little Nutbrown Hare learns that some animals aren't meant to hibernate and that all winter is far too long to stay inside.
• Where's Little Redwood Fox? - Little Nutbrown Hare and his friends make up a new game and have a fun game of wits.
• Snowflake - Little Nutbrown Hare learns about reasons to love snow as he and his friends try to bring a snowflake to his father. He also learns that snowflakes are beautiful and everyone of them is unique.

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You can purchase Guess How Much I Love You Hidden Treasure DVD on Amazon.com for $10.73 at the time of this posting.

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Prize: Guess How Much I Love You Hidden Treasure DVD. 3 Winners!! US Only!

I am trying out Rafflecopter on my blog. Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for it below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received product for free to facilitate my review and the opportunity to give another 3 away to my readers. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.