Doug Cornelius .com

I finally got The Son to listen to chapter books for bedtime reading. I had no success with the Harry Potter books. His babysitter recommended the Percy Jackson books.

The premise of the Percy Jackson stories is that Greek mythology is true. Zeus, Poseidon, Hades and the rest of the gods are still with us. Percy’s full name is Perseus. Like him, he is also the child of Poseidon and a mortal woman.

The Son loves the books. They are more lighthearted than the Harry Potter books. Instead of taking place in a gloomy castle, the action takes place in more recognizable locations across the United States.

Last night, we finished the third book in the series: The Titan’s Curse.

The Son saw the trailer for movie adaptation for the first book: The Lightning Thief. It just opened this weekend and he wanted to see it.

I wrote a review of the movie from the parent’s perspective. You can read it on GeekDad: 10 Things Parents Should Know About The Lightning Thief.

The Son and I went to see The Princess and the Frog while being snowbound at my in-laws.

It wasn’t very good, but it did get us out of the house.

You can read more in my post on GeekDad: 10 Things Parents Should Know About The Princess and the Frog.

Here are some of my recent posts on GeekDad:

• A Visit to the Patee House Museum
• Go-Go Kidz Travelmate Lets You Go Go Through the Airport
• So Your Kid Wants to be a Civil Rights Lawyer
• Heavy Metal Task Force Brings Big Machines to your TV

The Wife and I got a babysitter and went to see District 9.

The movie is directed and co-written by the South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp and shot in Johannesburg and the New Zealand studios of producer Peter Jackson. (You may remember him as the director of the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.) Jackson had originally picked Blomkamp to direct the movie version of Halo.

Was it worth the price of a babysitter?

Read more on my latest post on GeekDad: 9 Things That Parents Should Know About District 9.

The Son and I went to see the new Ice Age movie. He liked the first two and watched them over and over again. But that’s what kids do.

The Ice Age movies come out of 20th Century Fox, not Pixar. So they are in not in the same league as Up, Cars, Wall-E, and Finding Nemo. But I thought it was a good excuse to get out of the house and be the basis of a GeekDad post.

Read more in my post on GeekDad: Top Ten Things That Parents Should Know About Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

President Obama did an excellent reading of Where the Wild Things Are as part of the White House Easter Egg Roll. This book is a favorite for me and The Son.

For those of you who are unaware, Spike Jonze is directing a movie version of the book. Release is scheduled for October 16, 2009. You can see the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are movie on Apple.

After watching the real trailer, watch the spoof below for Everyone Poops. Another favorite for me and The Son.

Thanks to Tim at the the LibraryThing for pointing out the video of President Obama: Let the Wild Rumpus Start.

See:

• C-Span Video of President Obama Reading Where the Wild Things Are
• Move Trailer for Where the Wild Things Are
• Spoof Trailer for Everyone Poops
• Doug’s Library of Books on LibraryThing (at least those cataloged so far. I have many more to enter.