Review Formats

Some of the reviews on this blog follow two specific formats, one for the zombie resource content and one for the parent resource content. Here's an explanation of the parts of each format:

Zombie resource content has most or all of these subheadings:

MPAA/ESRB/Other rating

If there is an official rating (like for movies, video games, albums, etc.) I will list it first.

ZPAA rating

Zombie Parent Appropriateness Assessment, the blogger's assessment of appropriateness.

Gore level

Zombies are quintessentially gory, though they can run the gambit from a Scooby Doo zombie (barely scary to anyone) to a blood-and-guts-soaked portrayal design to turn the stomach and the eyes.

Other offensive content

Fighting zombies often means swearing, bad attitudes, accidentally killing regular people (or sometimes on purpose), and last-ditch efforts for food, sex and other pleasures by any means possible, appropriate or not.

How much zombie mythology/content

Debates rage about what counts as a zombie. Do they have to be reanimated yet mindless humans? Do merely "infected" people who act like reanimated yet mindless humans count? How fast can they move? How mindless are they? I don't have answers, but I'll let you know what type you're dealing with.

How much fun

Some zombie stories are super-serious (28 Days Later or The Walking Dead) and some are super-silly (Shaun of the Dead and the Evil Dead trilogy). Even the super-serious stuff can be fun by being engaging and thought-provoking. They are fun without cracking a lot of jokes. I'll try to give you a sense of how much I enjoyed this particular book, movie, comic, podcast, etc.

Synopsis & Review

Here's a brief description of the content and an assessment of said content.

Sample text

Sometimes I'll include some sample text or maybe a preview or other media about what I have reviewed.


The Parent Resource format has these parts:

Brief overview of content

I provide a quick review of what the book/podcast/video contains, including resources/appendixes/index.

Author overview

Credentials and such of the author are presented. Often I use the blurb from the back of a book. Other times it's on the dust jacket. I haven't seen a blurbless book yet. I follow a similar process with other media.

Recommendations

1. Read cover to cover vs. consult as needed

I discuss the length and how easy it is to cherry-pick the most useful content out of the book. This is adapted for other formats (podcasts, videos, etc.).

2. Readability

Is it dry and scholarly or entertaining? Does it use personal examples? How bored or lost or excited or satisfied will you feel in reading it?

3. How helpful to a parent?

Is the advice practical or applicable? How easily can you go from reading to actual changes in you or your children's lives?

4. Did we use it?

Here I provide any personal anecdotes or applications we've adapted from the resource.

Sample text

A little flavor of the book or a preview of a video or a sample from a podcast.