I need Ideas for mature books and movies without intense/scary content for an emotionally...

[ilovemygirl]

It's tough to explain. I have a four year old. She is really fragile emotionally. She can't handle when animals are hurt or when kids are separated from their parents or any kind of violence at all. I'm trying to work on it gently with her but in the meantime she's unable to handle anything intense without getting inconsolably upset whether it is a book or visual.

I'm starting to have a really really really hard time with what to read and watch with her. She's not reading on her own yet but her interests and maturity levels have moved far beyond "baby stuff".

The only thing that I've thought of doing for books is getting some non fiction ones about geography and weather and such from the library. She does actually sit for them and is somewhat interested but it really isn't enough to be all we do. She likes to be read to A LOT.

As far as shows and movies, it's the same thing. I think the only movie I've found she can handle is Mary Poppins. We'll watch shows about painting and cooking sometimes.

I guess what I'm looking for is something with an average pace and maturity level that isn't slow and boring enough to put me to sleep in the first minute but also not intense enough to upset her.

Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions?

[raksmama]

my son  got frightend easily too at that age. I read a lot of books to him about things he liked, trucks,train, animals,bugs but so many of the stories were scary for him and the same went for movies. We watched a lot of nature documentaries about animals and fish and of course lots about trucksand trains!

[Jane93]

If she wll watch older movies, there is a ton of light-hearted stuff (but not babyish) that would work:

Bringing Up Baby with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn is a fabulous light-hearted screwball comedy.

The Court Jester with Danny Kaye

Singing in the Rain

All the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers stuff would be great ]]

The Music Man

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is also a lot of fun, but that might be a little too intense (the abduction scene might be a little much).

[Daffodil]

The Magic Schoolbus books are good - look for the originals by Joanna Cole, rather than the ones based on the TV show.

Here are some chapter books that are quite mild.  I can't recall anything intense in them, but my kids are way less sensitive, so it's possible there might be something I'm forgetting.

Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner

the Noisy Village or Troublemaker Street books by Astrid Lindgren

The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook

The Jamie and Angus Stories and Jamie and Angus Together by Anne Fine

Jenny and the Cat Club

Happy Little Family - Rebecca Caudill

Did You Carry the Flag Today, Charley? - Rebecca Caudill

Thimbleberry Stories - Cynthia Rylant

[Vancouver Mommy]

My dd was the same - even Mary Poppins made her weep (she was scared by the cannon and devastated when Mary leaves). Magic School Bus still scares her at six, but she can handle it. At four she would have become apoplectic. Winnie the Pooh movies terrified her. We eventually gave up trying to find movies that we could get all the way through. Eventually she could handle Lady and the Tramp, the Aristocats and other movies of that era. She even went through a phase when she was scared of the Wiggles. I have no idea why.

[beanma]

My oldest was just like this when she was younger and I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with the books we read then, but it's true what they say about not being able to remember! Finally, one came to me!

The Brambly Hedge stories by Jill Barklem. They're not really long, but after repeatedly checking out the books from our library we got the Complete Brambly Hedge off Amazon which has 8 short stories with beautiful illustrations. There is a real story to them—they're more than a simple picture book, but not long. My sensitive little girl just loved, loved, loved them! 

We also liked "Milly, Molly, Mandy", but I do not recommend "Betsy-Tacy" although it is often recommended in the same breath as "MMM". It   was written in the 40s and there are some disturbing period appropriate things (for example a baby dies) that really shook us. Kids didn't want to have anything to do with that book after that. 

If she's really got a long attention span she might like "Pinky Pye" by Eleanor Estes. That was another fave. It's pretty long, though. There are several books by Estes, but this is the one that they really liked. The family spends the summer at the beach (in the 20s?). The father is an ornithologist and they adopt a stray kitten who learns to type on the manual typewriter. It got them really fascinated with typewriters for awhile, too. 

[Kanna]

If she can handle Mary Poppins, she's probably up to handle "My neighbour Totoro" by the Ghibli studios. It's animation and very, very sweet and fun, and also a bit magical like Mary Poppins.

The sisters in the movie have a fight once and the younger of them wanders off without telling anyone, and so people search for her (at one point thinking she might have drowned in the village pond) but for the viewer, it is clear that she is alive and well (if upset because she lost her way), since the movie shows where she has gone.

Also, the girls are living with their father, since the mother is sick at the hospital, but she is getting better and the girls only miss her, but overall not worried or anxious. In the end, thanks to their "magical neighbour" they get to secretly visit their mother (the hospital is far away) and in the credits, everybody is shown togehter and home.

Overall, the movie focuses on the relationship between the sisters and with the neighbours, and the fun they have exploring the countryside (and meeting their magical neighbour)

And now that I think of it "Kiki's delivery service" might be another good bet (also by Ghibli)

To quote wikipedia:

Kiki is a 13-year-old witch-in-training, living in a village where her mother is the resident herbalist. It's traditional for witches to live for a year alone when they reach 13. In the opening of the story, Kiki takes off for the big city with her best friend, Jiji, a loquacious black cat. Kiki settles in Koriko, a beautiful city by the sea. After a hard start, mostly because of her own insecurity, Kiki finds friends and a place to stay. But she has only one witch's skill: her ability to fly on a broom, at which she is still not fully proficient. So, in order to support herself, she begins a delivery service.

[kathymuggle]

While not great literature - how about Arthur, Franklin, Berenstein Bears etc?  No animals die and the parents are quite present.  They do usually revolve around a theme and that might be frigtenning  (like dealing with a bully or tooth loss) ..or not.

I have read Scaredy Squirrel to numerous kids, and it is funny, age appropriate book for a four year old (it is not a babyish picture book) and it explores taking baby steps with your fears in a very gentle way.  It rocks.   http://www.amazon.com/Scaredy-Squirrel-Melanie-Watt/dp/1553379594

[Kanna]

TV - The Flintstones

Movie - Robin Hood, the animated Disney version

[onlyzombiecat]

In my Neighbor Totorro there was some fear from the girls that the mother would not get better. That is the reason Mei took off on her own and got lost after fighting with her older sister- to take some fresh vegetable to her mother to help her get well. The older sister, Satsuki, and the neighbors are upset and frightened. In the end Mei is found by Satsuki and they see their mom is okay.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096283/synopsis   It is a really good movie and not scary or violent.

Babe

Winnie the Pooh movies and books

Paddington Bear

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Alice In Wonderland

Pippi Longstocking

Homer Price

My dd has always enjoyed Beverly Cleary's books.

Dd also likes non-fiction books particularly about animals.

[Thalia the Muse]

I think I'd stick to picture books for a while -- many of them are very gentle, and if the art is good enough they don't feel babyish at all. My daughter loved more sophisticated picture books well into elementary school. She's ten, and still sometimes like to get her old picture books out!

Gentle picture books with big-kid (and parent -- I love all of these) appeal:

Tuesday or Flotsam, David Weisner

The Madlenka books, Peter Sis

When the Sky Is Like Lace, Elinor Horwitz

The delightful Frances books by Russell Hoban

Adele & Simon, Barbara McClintock

The Chicken Sisters, Laura Numeroff

Eloise, Kay Thompson

Animalia or The Water Hole, Graeme Base

[Kanna]

Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman!!!!!

You can see a trailer of the book here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH4lyJWa_84

It is absolutely delightful  ^_^

[Katielady]

Totoro is WAY too freaky, IMO, for a child as sensitive as the OP describes. I adore it, but it's got some spooky animation like the grinning cat bus, plus the theme of the absent, ill mother.

You might try looking for some older Golden Books, esp ones by Margaret Wise Brown. Some of them are long and complex enough that they may hold her and your interest, but the themes tend to be very innocent and light. There are also books by Gyo Fujikawa that are interesting yet drama-free. Poetry books might serve you well, too. A Child's Garden of Verses was one of my faves when I was little.

Movies will be tough to find, based on what you describe. I think I'd stick with DVDs of TV shows. Kipper is cute, and Miffy. May be too young for her (and def. boring for you) but I think anything more interesting would also have scary stuff.

[beanma]

I disagree about Totoro. My dd1 was this same type of very sensitive child and she loved Totoro. If you do a search on here you'll probably find posts from me from 5 or 6 yrs ago recommending it as a movie for sensitive kids. 

ETA: I decided to just do that search for you. I pulled up several old threads on this same subject:

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/619124/movies-for-sensitive-3-1-2-year-old/20

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/583791/movie-rec-for-new-year-s-eve-4-year-old-wholesome-not-scary

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/345122/are-there-any-g-rated-movies-that-aren-t-scary

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/617991/magical-movie

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/1047318/movie-suggestions-for-a-very-sensitive-preschool-child/40

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/588328/chapter-books-for-a-very-sensitive-6-yo-girl/40 (books)

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/1005223/longer-books-for-5-yo-avid-reader (books)

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/784348/rainbow-fairy-books (books)

Edited by beanma - 8/15/11 at 3:32pm

[LynnS6]

We decided simply not to do movies until our kids got to be 6-7. Before that age, most kids can't follow the story arc -- meaning that they don't  understand that the 'problem' is set up early and then resolved in some way or another by the end of the movie. They're too much in the moment. For my kids, the visual imagery was also too intense. So, the combination of development + sensitivity + visual imagery was too much. We did a few TV shows, and 1-2 movies based on TV shows, but that was it. Just this year at age 7 has our daughter been able to handle movies. But then, she's been through a huge jump in her ability to handle scary stories in books too.

Good early chapter books:

Mercy Watson series by Kate DiCamillo -- funny stories about the adventures of an overindulged pet pig. They're a great bridge to chapter books as they've got some great illustrations on many pages.

Cam Jansen - sweet little stories about a girl who solves (very tame) mysteries with her photographic memory

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Ivy & Bean series

The World According to Humphrey (and following books)

[midnightwriter]

My daughter was really upset by Babe (the movie). And Babe2 terrified her. We watched the first 15 minutes, and that was enough.
 

Originally Posted by onlyzombiecat 

In my Neighbor Totorro there was some fear from the girls that the mother would not get better. That is the reason Mei took off on her own and got lost after fighting with her older sister- to take some fresh vegetable to her mother to help her get well. The older sister, Satsuki, and the neighbors are upset and frightened. In the end Mei is found by Satsuki and they see their mom is okay.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096283/synopsis   It is a really good movie and not scary or violent.

Babe

Winnie the Pooh movies and books

Paddington Bear

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Alice In Wonderland

Pippi Longstocking

Homer Price

My dd has always enjoyed Beverly Cleary's books.

Dd also likes non-fiction books particularly about animals.

[ilovemygirl]

Originally Posted by Katielady 

Totoro is WAY too freaky, IMO, for a child as sensitive as the OP describes. I adore it, but it's got some spooky animation like the grinning cat bus, plus the theme of the absent, ill mother.

You might try looking for some older Golden Books, esp ones by Margaret Wise Brown. Some of them are long and complex enough that they may hold her and your interest, but the themes tend to be very innocent and light. There are also books by Gyo Fujikawa that are interesting yet drama-free. Poetry books might serve you well, too. A Child's Garden of Verses was one of my faves when I was little.

Movies will be tough to find, based on what you describe. I think I'd stick with DVDs of TV shows. Kipper is cute, and Miffy. May be too young for her (and def. boring for you) but I think anything more interesting would also have scary stuff.

She has loved Miffy and Kipper for a long time. It's kind of sad to see her outgrowing them and it's hard because she has outgrown the content but not the pace. 

Originally Posted by kathymuggle 

While not great literature - how about Arthur, Franklin, Berenstein Bears etc?  No animals die and the parents are quite present.  They do usually revolve around a theme and that might be frigtenning  (like dealing with a bully or tooth loss) ..or not.

I have read Scaredy Squirrel to numerous kids, and it is funny, age appropriate book for a four year old (it is not a babyish picture book) and it explores taking baby steps with your fears in a very gentle way.  It rocks.   http://www.amazon.com/Scaredy-Squirrel-Melanie-Watt/dp/1553379594

Thank you sooooo much for the Scaredy Squirrel recommendation. She absolutely loved it :)

[kathymuggle]

Originally Posted by ilovemygirl 

Thank you sooooo much for the Scaredy Squirrel recommendation. She absolutely loved it :)

You're welcome
 

[journeymom]

Little Bear, both the books and the TV show.  The illustrations by Maurice Sendak are rich and magical.  That was one of those series I was sad to leave behind when my youngest out grew it. It'll always have a special place in my heart. 
 

Originally Posted by Kanna 

Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman!!!!!

You can see a trailer of the book here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH4lyJWa_84

It is absolutely delightful  ^_^

That's was just beautiful!