I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of these books at a discount from Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.
One of my favorite ways to spend time is to look back at photographs and memories of our children. I love seeing how they have grown and matured over the short years, as well as re-reading the silly things they said when they were younger. To help document those memories, we purchased (at half price in return for this review) Me: A Compendium from Timberdoodle.
About the Books
Me: A Compendium is part of the 2021 Second-Grade Curriculum Kit from Timberdoodle. And while it is part of this particular kit, I choose to use it with our six- and eight-year-olds. So, we are currently using it with our first grader and our third grader. At just under 100 pages, this hardcover book (with a book jacket) allows our children to document a number of feelings, thoughts, and ideas using simple writing prompts.
There are spaces within the book to document in writing or illustrate answers to the following prompts:
- The funniest joke they know.
- Their opinion on different types of weather.
- The name of their shop, if they owned one, and what they would sell in it.
- Their favorite and least favorite dinners.
- What they hope to do when they grow up.
- And more!
What Do I Think?
What Do Our Homeschooled Children Think?
I have enjoyed the movie Clue from the first time I saw it. I did not get a chance to see it in the theaters so the only times I have seen it have been when it was shown on television or via VHS -- with all three endings combined together. I still have almost all the lines memorized. The actors and actresses in the movie are such a great ensemble cast.
I have seen almost every Harrison Ford film and while this may not be my favorite Ford movie, it is my favorite Indiana Jones movie. In fact, it is the only one I saw in the movie theater. I love the humor and history incorporated into it. Ford and Sean Connery are great together as father and son. Following along with Indiana Jones as he looks for his father and the Holy Grail, he finally finds both but must make a difficult decision.
I saw the original (and the sequel) in the movie theater. When the first one was released, our local one-screen movie theater would run movies for two showings each night. If you attended the first one, you could stay for the second showing. I remember sitting through this movie multiple times during the week that it was playing at that theater. And you always had to stay for the end for Slimer's appearance.
One of my all-time favorite Disney cartoons is Beauty and the Beast. I think because Belle is so fond of books, like me, I connected with her best of all the Disney heroines in their movies. And the music from this cartoon is fantastic. I was very excited when they included "Human Again" with the 2002 release because after seeing it on stage on Broadway. I couldn't imagine the story without that number.
I saw this movie at least four times in the theater. It combined two favorite actors (Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh) and history. I never watched the television series but I thoroughly enjoyed Kline, Branagh, and Will Smith in this big screen version. Kline playing two roles - that of the agent and president - is great. And the chemistry between the entire cast is also such that the jokes seem effortless.
If you asked me, "What is your favorite Cary Grant movie?" I think this would be the first to come to mind. While I do enjoy many of his other movies, I always watch this one at least once a year (around Halloween). Grant plays Mortimer Brewster, who discovers that his aunts are murderers shortly after marrying his girlfriend, Elaine Harper. The parts of the aunts and uncle are reprised by the actresses and actor who originally portrayed them on Broadway. The role of Jonathan Brewster, who is said to look like Boris Karloff, is played in the movie by Raymond Massey because Karloff could not leave his role of Jonathan in the stage production. To round out the cast of main characters, Peter Lorre (who happens to appear in a lot of my favorite Vincent Price movies) portrays Dr. Einstein, Jonathan's accomplice. Murder and mayhem are the theme throughout the entire movie but in a humorous way.
The novel, The Time Machine, was published in 1895 by H.G. Wells. I think I probably saw the movie The Time Machine (1960) with Rod Taylor before reading the book but both are favorites. One of the things that stands out for me is the Oscar-winning time-lapse photographic effects that illustrate the passage of time. For example, images that remain with me are the changing of the food and flowers in his workshop and the mannequin changing clothes. The portrayal of the narrator's friends by Alan Young and Sebastian Cabot also adds to the enjoyment of this particular movie.
Two of my favorites of the 1950s-1960s musicals are Doris Day and Howard Keel who star in Calamity Jane. Day portrays Calamity Jane, an American frontierswoman, and Keel portrays Wild Bill Hickock, who is remembered for being a scout, gunfighter, and frontiersman. The movie is primarily set in Deadwood, South Dakota with a few scenes in the Windy City of Chicago. Such notable songs as "I Can Do Without You," "The Black Hills of Dakota," and "Secret Love," which topped the Billboard charts at number one, help bring the story to life as we learn more about Calamity Jane and her love of Wild Bill.
I did not get to see the first release of Star Wars in the theater but the Star Wars Saga has always been a favorite. I still have almost all my original toys from Kenner and my stepson, son, and daughter now have their own growing collections of toys, books, and plushes from the originals, prequels, and sequels. While I may not enjoy some of the new movies as much as the original, they still hold a special place for me as they bring me back to my childhood and many hours of fighting battles with Luke, Leia, and Han.