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Farm Rescue
Farm Rescue
2019 | Memory
The Kids Table series from Purple Phoenix Games seeks to lightly explore games that are focused toward children and families. We will do our best to give some good insight, but not bog your down with the millions of rules…

Farm Rescue is a cute little memory game with pretty excellent components, especially for a kids game. Though the box says 4+ my 3 year old picked it up pretty quickly and is surprisingly good at it.

The game comes in a box with a really great insert where the components can really only go in one spot. This is so wonderful for parents of younger kids who enjoy setting up and tearing down games. So thank you for that consideration, Brain Games! Anyway, the idea behind the game is to setup a 5 x 5 grid of face-up farm animal squares inside the provided picket fence border tiles. Each player will roll the two dice (one is color and one is an animal) and flip over the corresponding tile – like green chicken or purple cow. If a purple cow is rolled again in the future you must remember which tile featured the purple cow and flip it back over. If correct, then the farmer mini is moved closer to catching the wolf mini. If incorrect, the wolf mini is moved closer to the fence entrance. The game ends when either all tiles are flipped to their backs, the farmer catches the wolf, or the wolf gets into the fence to gobble up the remaining animals.

This game is surprisingly good! When my son picked it out at our FLGS (as recommended by the attendant) I didn’t know what to expect. I honestly, and foolishly, don’t keep kids games on my radar. When we brought it home, and after his nap, we were able to get a play in right away with Gramps as our third player. Ultimately we allowed the wolf to gobble up the animals, but we had a great time rolling the dice and flipping the animals (no Midwest cow tipping jokes please). My son also showed us that young children have far better memory skills than middle-aged dads and slightly older (you’re welcome) grandfathers.

My son LOVES his new game and I am so sure we are going to be playing it often. He even invited the farmer and wolf minis to the dinner table with him. He also took the following action shots of the game (which he never really offers to do, so this is big for him). Farm Rescue is a hit with our family, and if you are looking for a memory game with some meat on the bones (I had to), then check it out for your family.

PS – I often make mention of games that rely on color recognition that also play well with colorblindness. Though nobody in my family is colorblind, each of the colors in Farm Rescue also has an associated graphic – red circles, blue stars, purple plus signs. This is very much appreciated, and another high-five to Brain Games for having more inclusive components. Good on you!
  
Truth Teller (The Truth Teller Series #1)
Truth Teller (The Truth Teller Series #1)
Kurt Chambers | 2012 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
9
5.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Remember when you were 6 or 7 and first read The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe? Well I do and the whole 'you could go to another realm and be special' thing was such a key to drawing me into fantasy. And at that age the whole talking animals thing was entirely in keeping with my imagination.

But if you are a little older, nicely into double figures of age. Although the escape to another realm is still a terrific idea, the talking animals are just not going to fit anymore. What you need is a bit of action and likeable characters who are realistic while still being elves and dwarves. But if Narnia is no longer a viable destination at that age, where is?

Truth Teller fits the bill perfectly. Charlotte is a normal ten year old girl on holiday with her family. While wandering around the shops of the local town she finds a strange curio shop. She finds one of the objects in the shop interesting - a sort of snow globe without any snow. The odd little man who runs the shop gives it to her for free, but warns her that the price she pays might not be of the monetary kind.

That night while studying the globe she feels if she is falling into it and finds herself in a cold woodland, where she meets Elder. Very soon it is apparent to her that she is not anywhere near where she should be, if she is even on Earth at all anymore. Elder is an elf and he and his family try to help Charlotte find her way back home. Meanwhile dark forces are stirring and rumours of invasion are spreading.

Chambers has set out to provide an entry point into fantasy for younger (female) readers and has done a sterling job. My immediate reaction to this book was that it is flawless, in idea and execution. Although perhaps a little cliched for grizzle fantasy readers like myself it contains just enough strange creatures - elves, dwarves, giant wolves and druids - and a sprinkling of magic here and there to whisk the plot along. And it is whisked at some pace too, the narrative fluid and always in motion towards the books conclusion without much of a pause for breath.

Charlotte as the main character is well written and prone to modern turns of phrase that baffle her elven friends. Elder the elf boy she meets is charming and friendly even though he is as confused by Charlotte's plight as she is. The other characters are also very well drawn.

The story entwines the various threads into a whole that is easy to read and hard to forget. Reaching the last page was something I dreaded but like a lot of things the end of this book is just the start of the story of the Truth Teller.

If anyone is looking for a first book in fantasy, without the talking animals, this book fits the bill perfectly. Narnia for the iPhone generation? It's pretty close to that.
  
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Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated The Zookeeper's Wife (2017) in Movies

Nov 24, 2017 (Updated Nov 24, 2017)  
The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)
The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)
2017 | Drama
Story is harrowing and essential but film could have been made better
As a massive fan of biopics, The Zookeeper's Wife is an incredibly important tale of a the real life Polish couple who sheltered Jews in their zoo during the Second World War, helping 300 people to escape from Warsaw.

Dr. Jan Zabinski was the director of the Warsaw Zoo in the 1930's, and along with his wife Antonina and young son, they ensured the safety and care of animals in the area. Their life came to an abrupt halt with the German invasion of Poland in 1939, when most of their animals and structures were destroyed in the bombings and siege of the city. The zoo was closed under German occupation, but the Zabinskis continued to occupy the villa, and the zoo itself was used first as a pig farm and subsequently as a fur farm. All the while, Dr Zabinski smuggled Jewish people out of the Warsaw Ghetto and aided their way out of city, not before allowing them to stay in their own house. He was injured while fighting in the Polish resistance, but the couple were given an honorary title by Yad Vashem (Israel's official memorial for Jewish victims of the Holocaust) for their brave efforts.

Similar in the vein of films such as @Schindler's List (1993), there is an element of a saviour complex in these films, but unlike Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winner, it is less extravagant and less well-made, as there was very little engagement with the Jewish characters - focusing more on Antonina, played by Jessica Chastain. It is definitely heart-wrenching watching films based on the holocaust, and there were scenes I had to turn away from, such as when an elderly woman and her mother were shot dead in the streets by soldiers. The script and cinematography weren't at a high standard, however, and as a result the film definitely fell short. I would suggest reading the book @The Zookeeper's Wife - it has far more detail than the film, in which there were glaringly obvious plot holes.
  
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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness in TV

Mar 31, 2020 (Updated Mar 31, 2020)  
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness
2020 | Crime, Documentary
Tiger King is a true story. That in itself is an absurd thought. The story of Joe Exotic and his self built zoo, housing no less than 227 live tigers is something I never knew I wanted to hear until it was too late.
This well put together documentary took approximately 15 minutes to draw me in, and before I knew it, I had watched the whole thing.

The story in question revolves around Joe's constant rivalry and back-and-forth lawsuits with Carole Baskin, and her Big Cat Rescue sanctuary. It doesn't take long for everything to escalate to dangerous silliness, and the show documents Joe's eventual incarceration, where he is still residing currently.

This deep look into this cult like practice is fascinating to say the least. Some, including me, will argue that wild animals bred in captivity purely for profit is cruel, but it's genuinely difficult to see Joe Exotic as a bad person. His heart seems in the right place, and its sad to see him get so caught up in the money side of things, to the point where his intentions start to stray.
On the flip side, Carole Baskin on the surface doesn't agree with these kind of zoos and aims to rescue these animals, but in reality, she is still turning profit and her sanctuary is arguably just as bad.
These characters that we meet throughout all have layers and secrets, and ensures that the narrative being told through archive footage and interviews never stops throwing curve balls, as what starts as an animal park feud, devolves into embezzlement, attempted murder, suicide, missing persons, million-dollar legal battles... It's honestly hectic.
I'm incredibly interested to see what happens as a result of this series, and I personally don't think Joe will be incarcerated for too much longer.

The limited series could have benefited from losing an episode I feel, as it did drag a little towards the end, but overall, Tiger King is a fantastic documentary that's edited and put together to draw you in, and not let go.