Much of the penguins

Often, the best advice comes from the least expected sources.

Years ago, I hosted a Seattle preview screening of LITTLE CHILDREN with special guest, Todd Field, the director. I was fortunate to have dinner with him while the movie was unspooling, even though the Italian food served was as authentic as my Jamaican accent. After dissing his former classmates at AFI, including Darren Aronofsky, and discussing his collaborations with composer Thomas Newman, we chatted about something of far greater importance, our children, sparked by the moral conflict faced by the parents in his debut feature, IN THE BEDROOM. Todd spoke sweetly of raising his little ones in Maine and his desire to closely monitor the media they absorbed. I told him about my efforts to build a film library for Ava and he suggested I add… Pingu. I had never heard of the Swiss-animated series, but purchased it on-line immediately upon returning home that night. I am glad I did. The cartoons, in which the titular penguin and his family live life in an Arctic paradise of small-town values and pseudo-Scandanavian gibberish. The beauty of Pingu is how its good-natured charms translate universally.

This morning, Ava and I watched a new DVD of Pingu cartoons, giggling throughout. Ava has outgrown many other childhood entertainments, but not this one. I am thankful she has not and am grateful to Todd Field for his brilliant recommendation.

What do YOU think?