White Bird Movie Review

Movies

MBE partnered with Kingdom Faith for this review, post contains affiliate links

New Family Friendly Film Release

The new movie White Bird (Rated PG-13) now on the big screen, is the long-awaited sequel to the movie Wonder (2017). It is inspired by New York Times Bestseller graphic novel author R.J. Palacio's book Wonder (2012), which helped jumpstart the Choose Kind movement. White Bird is showing nationwide across the U.S. now, check local schedules to find a theater near you.

White Bird: Kindness is Forever

White Bird is a must-see, beautifully depicted period film for older kids and their parents of all backgrounds and faiths that's set in war-torn France. During the course of the movie viewers will learn about what the horrors of the Holocaust and the Nazi's siege over much of the Europe continent was really like with a spotlight on how it affected Jewish kids and the righteous non-Jewish peers who helped them. 

The cast is lead by Dame Helen Mirren, winner of an Oscar for Best Actress for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in the movie The Queen, along with promising teenage American actors Ariella Glaser (Radioactive) and Orlando Schwerdt (Children of the Corn) with Bryce Gheisar (A Dog's Purpose), who is expelled from his school for bullying, playing the grandson who is about to learn an important life lesson from his Grandma (Mirren's character) in the feature film.

The Story Line

Sensitively written and directed, this feature film shot on location in the Czech Republic and New York City, thankfully manages to keep the show of violence and otherwise graphically upsetting scenes to a minimum. Instead the action focuses on successfully getting such positive attributes as bravery, selflessness and kindness across to young and older viewers alike. 

White Bird is told primarily through point of view of two innocent yet impressionable kids who could not be more different and who as the movie progresses, form the most unlikely bond and friendship. As the story unfolds, Julian Albans (played by Gheisar), a crippled gentile school boy, risks his own life in an attempt to save his able-bodied classmate Sara Blum (played by Glaser) who was never nice to the boy and is now persecuted simply for being a Jew.

As she is being hunted down by vicious Nazis and their equally vicious dogs, Julian instantaneously forgives Sara for the cruelty she (along with others) has shown toward him and risk his (and his family's) own lives to help her hide in the barn on his parent's property. Mirren narrates, retelling the story of her childhood life as Sara living in Nazi-occupied France to her modern-day grandson, sharing with him for the first-time all the details about how she survived the Holocaust in hiding (with her friend Julian's help).

With inspiring, positive young role models demonstrating the ideals of forgiveness, bravery and loving kindness through their actions, this is a movie that tweens and teenagers, along with their parents, will relate to and well as learn from.

 

More about White Bird

Now showing in theaters, White Bird is rated PG-13 with a run time of 120 minutes. See the movie trailer as well as learn more about the film by following @lionsgate @whitebirdmovie @kingdomstorycompany, as well as hashtags #WhiteBirdMIN, #WhiteBirdMovie, and #BeBraveChooseKind on social. Get your tickets now.

Many thanks to Kingdom Faith Marketing Services for providing a screening of the film for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.

Back to School Food Allergy Solutions

Parenting

Navigating Food Allergies this School Year

GUEST POST

by Rani Maskatia, MD, Medical Director

Latitude Food Allergy Care

As students head back to school, those with food allergies face a unique set of challenges. In this story Dr. Maskatia, MD, Food Allergies Board-certified pediatric and adult allergist and immunologist, and Medical Director with Latitude Food Allergy Care, provides important things to know for families with students of all ages, ranging from preschool to college, who are returning to school with food allergies this fall.

Readers Note: This guest post is for informational purposes only and it is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice.

Tips to Support Kids As They Grow

Reducing the risk of exposure to allergy triggers is often easier said than done. What can families do to help their children prepare for the uncertainties that come with the school environment? Read on to learn about what different things a parent and/or student do, based on the child's age group, whether they are preschool or elementary school age; middle or high school age; or college or university age.

Preschool and Elementary School Ages

The focus for the youngest age groups is reducing external risks and building an environment that keeps children as safe as possible through awareness, communication, and clear emergency action plans. 

Communicate with the teachers, principal and other staff who will be with your child during the school day. Let them know what are the triggers, symptoms and emergency actions for your child’s specific food allergies. Submit requests for reasonable accommodations in writing. Ask questions about the school’s policies for students with food allergies. Remember that it’s a partnership, and everyone wants to create a safe environment for every child. 

Importantly, an emergency action plan should be in place starting at the start of another schoolyear. Providing this plan and updating school forms each year is a critical part of managing food allergies. If you need updated testing, physician signed forms, or an updated prescription for epinephrine, keep in mind that back-to-school time is a busy time for any medical office. FARE's Food Allergy Anaphylaxis Emergency Care Plan outlines recommended treatment in case of an allergic reaction. The Dept. of Education also lists modifications schools can be required to provide to students with food allergies. 

Middle and High School Students

Tweens and teens who may have been living with food allergies since childhood, are now old enough to begin to advocate for their own needs. Some schools may still require paperwork and a written emergency action plan. Ideally students are beginning to manage their own self-care, including self-carrying EpiPens at all times. 

Parents can empower their children at this stage of life to recognize the signs of a reaction, understand the difference between self-carrying and self-administering of epinephrine, and plan ways to stay as safe as possible in unpredictable environments. Encourage your son or daughter to ask questions, read labels, and avoid peer pressure when it comes to anything they will eat or drink.

College and University Ages

When going away to college, parents can talk through lifestyle scenarios that differ from living at home including life with roommates, eating in a cafeteria setting, going in parties, and potentially, drinking alcohol, etc. At this stage, self-care and self-advocacy may already be second nature for incoming college and university students with food allergies, but the typical daily routines and group environments will be new. 

A few things to remember: 

1. EpiPen prescription renewals are the student’s responsibility when he or she turns 18 years old. If they’re going away to college, they should bring more than one set so there is always a backup in their dorm room, know where to get refills, and where to get an appointment with a doctor if an emergency arises while away from home. Students should also know which medical services exist on and around campus (a good tip for college students in general). If necessary, they'll need to plan for getting refills with your home care team while classes are on break or if they will be going to a university abroad program.

2. Communication with peers and restaurants on campus is the student’s responsibility. So is filling out medical forms and making appointments (unless they’ve provided health proxies). If any of these things are new to your college student, help walk them through different scenarios and what-ifs, so they can mentally prepare for their new life on campus. 

3. As always, remember it's wise for the student to have two Epinephrine autoinjectors on hand at all times (even parties), and to consistently check ingredients whenver they eat or drink.

Conclusion

At any stage of “back to school," testing and treatment can reduce the burdens on students as well as parents. Since food allergies can develop and change at any time, periodic testing with an allergist is critical throughout childhood. Any transition to a new school offers an ideal time to make sure your child’s food allergies haven’t changed since the previous test, and to ensure that they are not unnecessarily avoiding foods that they’re no longer allergic to. In the long-term, treatment with oral immunotherapy (OIT) and XOLAIR (omalizumab) are options for patients of any age to provide an extra layer of protection to go back to school with much less worry for everyone.

About Latitude Food Allergy Care 

Latitude Food Allergy Care, founded in 2018 by mom Kimberly Yates, is comprised of a network of clinics providing testing and treatment, including oral immunotherapy (OIT), to help families with children of any age who are coping with food allergies to live more freely. Latitude has four clinics in the San Francisco Bay Area, a clinic in New York City, and a clinic in Brooklyn. Latitude is affiliated with UCSF Benioff Children’s Physicians and Weill-Cornell Medicine and partners with Columbia University Medical Center and Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University. For more information, visit Latitudefoodallergycare.com and follow Latitude @LatitudeFoodAllergyCare on Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin.

My Penguin Friend Family Movie Review

Movies

by Janis Brett Elspas, Editor

Mommy Blog Expert

New Family Movie Now in Theaters

MBE screened the film in advance for this review, Post contains affiliate links

A beautiful new summer family drama called My Penguin Friend (2024, Rated PG) which the whole family will enjoy, opens in theaters this weekend. It's a story touching on concepts such as family, resilience, friendship, nature and wildlife conservation. Brought to the big screen by Roadside Attractions, this is a picture that is based on an amazing but true story about a penguin living in the wild who bonds with a man who is suffering after a great family tragedy. 

COMING to DIGITAL Oct 1, 2024

Inspired by a True Story

My Penguin Friend is inspired by the true and amazing journey of a very special wild penquin which begins back in May 2011 in the beachside village of Ilha Grande near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

A Brazilian fisherman who is a sad and lonely father in the role of real-life João Pereira De Souza (portrayed in the movie by internationally-known actor Jean Reno) discovers a Magellanic penguin stranded on the beach near where he lives, the victim of an oil spill that has left the penguin soaked with thick, toxic oil residue. Without a second thought the man rescues the bird with the intention of caring for it, then returning it to the wild once the penguin is able to swim uninhibited again. 

In the movie retelling, João brings the penguin home and into his house to wash and clean off the bird's sticky feathers. At first his wife Maria (played by Oscar nominee Adriana Barraza) will have none of it, but luckily she finally relents and is no long bothered by having to share her home with her husband's new friend, a wild penguin.

The fisherman slowly nurses the sea creature back to health, with the two bonding during the healing process. When a neighborhood child sees João with the penquin for the first time, she excitedly points to itand says DinDim (pronounced Jin-Jin) which is actually the mispronounciation of pinquim, the Portuguese word for penguin. Though never intended to become a permanent pet, the name DinDim sticks with all the people in the seaside village.

When the penguin is physically fully recovered, João tries to do the right thing to return DinDim to the wild. But, everytime he takes the penguin out in his boat to release him, the bird keeps swimming back to the fisherman's beach. Day after day the penguin continues to hang around and the fisherman builds a penguin house for his long-term visitor. Then one day, the man discovers that DinDim is gone. While he misses the penguin's companionship, he is also glad that the bird has finally returned to his natural home in the sea. Many months pass by until the penguin suddenly returns to João's beach house, the process repeats itself each year.

Over time, by chance, DinDim is tagged with a GPS device by field scientists. Using the tracking device, these biologists who are studying the enmasse migration each fall of this species of Magellan penguin from Chile, Argentina and the Falkland Islands, prove that these small little penguins, like DinDim, have the mind-blowing ability to be able to travel as much as 4,000 miles on each migration trip along coastal South America.

  

The Making Of My Penguin Friend

Shot on location in Brazil and Argentina, the cinematography is breathtaking, both of the scenery and the wildlife. Ten penguins from the Ubatuba Aquarium in Brazil, a rescue facility caring for injured penguins unable to survive in the wild, were trained for various DinDim scenes you'll see in the movie. 

Scene after scene, often told from the non-human POV, the filmmakers strived for realism. That level of commitment really shows in their minimal usage of CGI and animation. In fact, 3D was reserved just for the scenes too dangerous for the penguin actors and for the ones that would be difficult or impossible to shoot. After seeing this movie myself, I doubt the audience will even notice because the transitions between the real and unreal are truly seamless.

On the music, David Schurmann, the director, notes, “I wanted sensitive, emotional music that draws you into the heart of the beauty and the danger, and composer Fernando Velazquez gave us something very special. His music touches your soul." I could not agree more with Schurmann's assessment, the music was so expressive, soulful, heartfelt and well-matched to what was going on in each scene.

About My Penguin Friend

Learn more about My Penguin Friend, where it's showing and booking tickets by visiting the movie's official website. Also, check out the Roadside Attractions studio site as well as follow them @RoadsideAttractionsFilms on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.