Ally Aldridge Movies, What have I been watching?

What am I watching THIS CHRISTMAS!

Everyone has a favourite Christmas movie don’t they?  But, when I first thought about it I drew a blank. 

What is my favourite? 

All I could think of was Home Alone.  Is it really my favourite?  Yes and No.  I asked my husband and he just likes watching movies, usually Marvel ones and not necessarily Christmas specific films.  

So, I gave it some thought…

My Christmas movie list in date order:

The Snowman (1982)

The first Christmas movie I ever loved has got to be The Snowman.  A lovely tale of a little boy’s snowman coming to life and taking him on an adventure.  

https://youtu.be/5A3THighARU

Home Alone (1990)

I find Home Alone a little cheesy today and the humour is very slapstick, however, it brings back memories of watching it as a kid and remember how much I loved it.  It also seems to be on every year so it has become a Christmas classic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEDaVHmw7r4

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

This animated Christmas movie is a different tale from the rest with Jack trying to take on Christmas and stars Sally (a redhead) ragdoll that is in love with Jack. 

https://youtu.be/wr6N_hZyBCk

 How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

This is new on the list and the love for this film has blossomed through my son’s love of the Dr Seuss books.  The Grinch is one of his favourites for the line “Pooh Pooh to the Whos” which sadly isn’t in the movie.  But, he still love the film adptation and now so do I.

https://youtu.be/YQV5Pr7pWtM

I haven’t yet been to see the new Grinch movie but looking forward to watching that tool.

The Holiday (2006)

Talking about Christmas films that bring back lots of good nostalgia, I do love the holiday.  It is an amazing feel good romance about two women who swap houses for the Christmas holiday.  Although, I still wonder why anyone would leave that gorgeous home in America to live in a tiny English cottage?

https://youtu.be/BDi5zH18vxU

Frozen (2013)

Whilst we are on the topic of animation, I think most familys will be watching this popular disney movie that is set in a snowy Scandinavian lanscape.  A loving tale about the love of two sisters, one of which has a dangerous power.

https://youtu.be/TbQm5doF_Uc

New films I’m looking forward to watching this year…

Absolutley Fabulous:  The Movie (2016)

I have loved Edina and Patsy since they first hit our TVs in the 90s and still find the episodes funny now.  I’ve not seen the movie and hoping to catch it this year.  Apparently Patsy kills Kate Moss at a party and the two BFFs are on the run.  I am going to piss myself laughing when she falls out the cab. I always do.  I love it.

https://youtu.be/Dj3ZWhlmexw

Angela’s Christmas (2018)

This film features a little redhead girl (I love how cartoonists love using their red pen for the main character) so I have to check it out.  It looks really good and is about a little girl that steals baby Jesus from a churches nativity scene.  And, that’s all I know…

https://youtu.be/4Hz1xZ7Mb80

I’ve already watched Arthur Christmas, Nativity!, The Princess Switch and The Christmas Chronicles.  

This year I have loved watching The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and now there is a holiday special called Chapter 11: A Midwinters Tale. I can’t wait to watch it!

As I have Netflix, I will also give the following codes a try:

  • 1474017 – Christmas Children & Family Films
  • 1394527 – Romantic Christmas Films
  • 1394522 – Family-friendly Christmas Films
  • 1475066 – Feel-good Christmas Children & Family Films
  • 1475071 – Goofy Christmas Children & Family Films
  • 1527064 – British Christmas Children & Family Films

Age related:

  • 1477201 – Christmas Children & Family Films for ages 5 to 7
  • 1477204 – Christmas Children & Family Films for ages 8 to 10
  • 1477206 – Christmas Children & Family Films for ages 11 to 12
  • 1476024 – Christmas Children & Family Films from the 1990s

More codes here.

What will you be watching over the holidays?  Do you have a favourite Christmas movie?  Let me know in the comments.  

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Ally Aldridge Books, Review

Pop-up books

Here, I share my collection of pop-up books and what makes them unique and special.

The hardest thing about pop-up books is that they do tend to be a little fragile and because they are very exciting this can cause children to damage them unintentionally.  In addition, some younger children may not have the skills to operate the pop-ups without causing damage which can be upsetting.

You will have to judge when your child is ready for them and may need to supervise the books. For example, only share them at special occasions or as a reward rather than leaving them out for you child to explore alone.

Some of these books are aimed at children specifically and are more hardy. Others are designed to show off the artwork of the author or the beauty of pop-up books.

The Tickle Book  and The Bedtime Book

  • Author:  Ian Whybrow
  • Illustrator:  Axel Scheffler

Tickle Monster and co

These books are designed especially for young children.  They have a rhyming story line that they’ll enjoy listening to.  The book has tabs to pull to cause parts of the story to move or pop-up.  With ‘The Tickle Book’ I tend to tickle my son every time the tickle monster pops up.  ‘The Bedtime’ book is probably better for bedtime as there is no tickling.

Snowman and the snowdog

Father Christmas bought this book for my son so it is no surprise that it is magical.  The first part of the book is a normal picture book following the classic story of The Snowman and the Snowdog.  However, when you reach the last page you are in for a surprise.

snowman-e1528022858184.jpg

The book has a sensor that causes built in lights to switch on and cause the stars in the sky to twinkle and a scene of London at night to pop up.  It is a beautiful ending and my son loves London so he points out the famous sights from the scene.

How to Find Flower Fairies

  • Author:  Cicely Mary Barker

Flower Fairies

This pop up book is written as a collection of discoveries about faeries. The pages are very elaborate scenes that pop up and have notes and journals entries about the faeries.  The front cover and camera on the last page has a holographic image that moves.  It truly is a beautiful book about faeries with so much thought and detail gone into every page.  However, I wouldn’t recommend this be shared with young children.

I’ve created a little clip on Instagram to show how clever and beautiful this book is as seeing is believing…

Goblins

  • Author/Illustrator:  Brian Froud

This tatty old book was produced in 1983 by my favourite artist.  I fell in love with his work which inspired the film Labyrinth (his son was cast as the baby kidnapped by the goblin king).

It is a first edition and I bought it second hand. I probably paid too much for it considering that some of the tags are very fragile but I am so pleased to have a copy.  I do share this with my son on his birthday or if he has been really good and he loves it.  Sadly, he tore the goblins nose on the last page to see the goblins underneath.

There isn’t much of a story but each page has so much detail and the artwork is amazing.  My son loves the last page where you can turn the book upside down to discover more goblins due to how they are drawn – it is genius.  I’ve checked many times to see if this book has been re-released but it hasn’t.

*****

Have you read any of these?  Is there a pop-up book that you think I need to add to my collection – I’d love to hear your recommendations.

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