Here is a look at what's new this week in family entertainment as adapted from reviews and ratings by Common Sense Media. Click on the links to read the reviews in full.

In Theaters Now: Disney's A Christmas Carol
A perfectly cast Jim Carrey stars as Ebeneezer Scrooge in "Disney's A Christmas Carol." This classic tale about the importance of doing right by others is a 3-D fright fest with intense special effects and some terrifying imagery. For children brave enough to take it, the film is an excellent remake of the Charles Dickens classic Christmas tale. Rated PG, OK for Kids 8+

DVD: Aliens in the Attic
Kids will recognize some of their favorite Disney and Nickelodeon stars in the silly adventure comedy "Aliens in the Attic." In the film, a family vacation is upended by the discovery of some extra-terrestrials set on world domination. While the kids battle the bad guys, there are a few comically scary scenes, lots of immature name-calling and some pretty heavy flirting. Rated PG, OK for Kids 8+

TV: Fanboy and Chum Chum
Two thrill-seeking friends imagine themselves superheros in "Fanboy and Chum Chum." While there is little educational value in this film, there is also little to worry parents. The main characters are goofy, the action scenes are comical and the language doesn't get any worse than the occasional "butt." Rated TV-Y, OK for Kids 7+

When I heard about the latest version of "A Christmas Carol," which opens today and stars Jim Carrey in multiple roles (he's Scrooge, and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future), I went in with low expectations for this motion-capture-animated flick.

I'll admit this right up front: I'm not a huge fan of the motion-capture method of animation. If you're not familiar with that term, think "Polar Express." It was the first major movie created with motion-capture technology, and to me, it was a little creepy, and gave the characters a sort of soulless, dead-eyed look.

The next major film to use the technology was "Beowulf," starring Ray Winstone, Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn, John Malkovich and more big-name, respected actors. The creepiness factor didn't bother me so much with this one because it wasn't a movie that was meant to be a heartwarming holiday tale; it was a grown-up take on a literary classic -- a violent, monster-filled fable.

Love Twitter? So do we! It can be tough to keep tabs on all your favorite "Tweeters" from the "Twitterverse" -- but don't worry, we've got you covered! Here's our favorite parenting Tweets of the week, raw and uncensored, typos and all, just as you see them on Twitter. Follow ParentDish on Twitter to join the discussion (who knows, maybe we'll feature you here!).

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Read any good Tweets? Give us a shout on Twitter and let us know all about it!

Have you ever heard a baby cry with a German accent?

You can -- if you listen hard enough, said Kathleen Wermke of the University of Würzberg in Germany to the BBC. She led a research project which concluded that infants pick up the nuances of their mothers' accents, even while in the womb.

Researchers studied the cries of 60 healthy babies born to families speaking German and French. Wermke told the BBC that they could detect the French babies crying with a rising accent while German babies cried with a falling accent.

Wermke added that the research, which was published in the journal Current Biology, is more than just a slightly interesting curiosity. It suggests that human beings are influenced by the first sounds that penetrate the womb. Scientists already knew that unborn children could memorize sounds from the outside world in the last trimester of pregnancy, especially music and voices.

Rotting ladders on Adventure Playsets have prompted a recall of more than a quarter of a million pieces in the United States and Canada.

Working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Amarillo, Texas company has put out an official recall of the Adventure Playsets Wooden Play Sets, effective immediately.

A chalkboard on 10,000 Young Artist Easels sold by MacPherson's has tested above federal limits for lead allowable in children's products, prompting a recall.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the company has put out a voluntary recall, asking consumers to take the easels away from their kids until a replacement chalkboard can be sent to them.

The easels were sold mostly at art supply shops and online for about $75 between July 2004 and July of this year. Named Young Artist Easels, they were sold by MacPherson's doing business as Art Alternatives and manufactured in China.

The original packaging has the item number AA13301, and the UPC number is 082435133010. The recall applies only to easels with a chalkboard on one side and a whiteboard on the other.

The National Institutes of Health warn that lead poisoning is especially dangerous in kids. Even low levels of lead have been linked to lower IQ scores in kids, while higher levels are linked to anemia, muscle weakness and brain damage.

Parents can call MacPherson's at 866-319-5335 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Pacific time, Monday through Friday for a replacement, or e-mail them at recall@macphersonart.com. To fill out a form to have a replacement chalkboard sent your way, visit the MacPherson's Web site.

Related: More consumer alerts and recalls.

He grew up entertaining the children who tromped into an Iowa library for story hour, so it was only a matter of time before this furry friend, aptly named Dewey Readmore Books, starred in his own children's books.

In fact "Dewey: There's a Cat in the Library" is the follow up to Vicki Myron's best-selling memoir "Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World," which is set to be made into a movie by New Line Cinema. Meryl Streep has signed on to play Myron, but the former librarian, who discovered Dewey as a kitten abandoned in the Spencer, Iowa library drop box on a chilly winter morning in the 1980s, isn't done telling this feline's tale.

Kids are more stressed out than they were last year, and they take their cues from their parents. Credit: BrittneyBush, Flickr

Kids are more stressed out than ever, and their worries include family financial troubles, body image issues and getting into a good college or university.

The 2009 Stress in America survey, administered by the American Psychological Association, is the first to ask children about their stress levels, according to U.S. News & World Report. The results are startling: One third of the 1,206 children ages 8 to 17 surveyed admitted that they are more stressed out than they were just one year ago.

Dear Name Lady:

I have a 2-year-old son named John. We just found out that we're expecting another boy, and my husband and I really want to name him Jack. I come from the generation where Jack is Jack and John is John, but others see them as one and the same. Your thoughts?

- J

The idea that Jack is "short" for John may seem odd on the face of it. The names are the same length and have only one sound in common. In this century they're both standalone names, high on the charts. But for hundreds and hundreds of years, almost every Jack was actually christened John.

Jill Schulz, daughter of "Peanuts" creator Charles M. Schulz, is a busy woman.

She helps manage the massive "Peanuts" empire, especially Woodstock Ice Productions, drawing on her career as a professional ice skater. She also directs and choreographs the "All Wheels Xtreme" sports entertainment shows and still finds time for her husband, Aaron, and their two children, Kylie, 11, and Tyler, 7. She took time out of her day to chat with ParentDish about her dad, his legacy and the Peanuts 60th Anniversary Photo Look-A-Like contest.

ParentDish: I'm sure you've been asked this 100 times, but what's it like to be the daughter of a legend?

Jill Schulz: I always say that he's the only dad I grew up with, so to me he was always a dad first. I learned a lot from my dad. His philosophy on working hard and enjoying what you do, and enjoying the process. We grew up in Northern California, so we didn't grow up in a sort of celebrity Beverly Hills-esque lifestyle. My parents were from Minnesota, so we were all fairly "Plain Jane." We just grew up in a regular "Brady Bunch"-style house in the country.