The Book of Life was released on DVD and Blu Ray last week and we took part in the Twitter viewing party along with several other families. We hadn’t seen this in the cinema so that was the first time we saw the movie, and the kids were well entertained by it. It was a relaxing way for them to spend their evening during half term.
The Book of Life is the story of Manolo and Joaquin competing for the love of a girl – Maria. They all live in the Mexican town of San Angel and the story is told years later via a museum guide, showing children the “book of life” and sharing with them the story of these characters from Mexican fokelore.
During the Day of the Dead festival, two of the spirits make a bet for who they think will win Maria’s heart. La Muerte, ruler of the Land of the Remembered is backing Manolo and Xibalba, ruler of the Land of the Forgotten, bets on Joaquin.
Throughout the story we see how this progresses and as the years go back, Manolo is starting to win Maria’s love so Xibalba tricks them, leading to one death and one mistaken death! I won’t tell you exactly what happens next – you will need to watch and see!
The children were all gripped watching the movie, and enjoyed the story. The soundtrack really enhances the movie too with lots of old favourites that will be recognisable to parents watching (Manolo is a guitar player and has one given to him as a gift by Maria). So you can surprise your children by knowing all the songs despite not having seen the movie before!
The story ends on a positive note, and is all wrapped up nicely so that you finish watching with a smile.
We got into the mood of the story with some music and dressing up of our own too.
The Book of Life is available from on DVD and Blu Ray from Amazon and other stores.
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Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
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This looks like lots of fun! 🙂 I think I’ll have to add this to my watch-list.
Your kids look so cute with the instruments! x
looks like the kids had fun, my girls enjoyed the movie