Book Review: Mister Cleghorn’s Seal by Judith Kerr

The author of the famous books The Tiger Who Came to Tea and the Mog book series, Judith Kerr, is back with a brand new book — Mister Cleghorn’s Seal.

It’s a fun and exquisite story by a much loved writer and illustrator. The book is recommended from 7+ but is definitely a story that can be enjoyed by younger children too if a parent reads it with them.

The story is about Mr Albert Cleghorn who finds an abandoned seal pup on a rock in the middle of the sea and decides to take it home with him. He names the seal Charlie. Mr Cleghorn hadn’t really thought about all the complications of his actions but he is determined to help Charlie and to find him a home.

It’s a sweet and funny but sometimes sad story that is beautifully written and classically illustrated with pencil drawings. It’s a book that will most likely become a classic and just as loved as Judith Kerr’s other stories. I can see us reading this book for many years to come.

Buy the book from Amazon.co.uk or other great book shops. It’s currently available as a Kindle book, hardcover book or Audio book.

We were sent this book for this review. As always, all my reviews are 100% honest and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Book Review: The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep

This book is everywhere at the moment and you’ve probably heard of it if you’re a parent. Its full title is The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep: A New Way of Getting Children to Sleep and it’s written by Carl-Johan Forssén Ehrlin who is a Swedish behavioural scientist with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a teacher of communications, a life coach and a leadership trainer. The book is specifically written to help children fall asleep quickly and easily.

In the beginning of the book there are some instructions to how to best read the book, like adding your child’s name, yawning and reading some parts slowly and some with emphasis.

The book is recommended by psychologists and therapists and has been praised by many parents.

“Have you ever struggled to help your child get to sleep and wished that you had a magical spell?

Carl-Johan’s enchanting book will soon have your young ones dreaming.”

— Matt Hudson, Bestselling author and psychotherapist —

The story itself follows Roger The Rabbit who gets help from Uncle Yawn and other friends to fall asleep in the evening. The story is full of sleep-inducing cues to get children into a relaxed and sleepy mood.

Having a toddler who’s nearly two and often very difficult to settle to sleep, I was very keen to see what this book was like.

Unfortunately, it’s not really suitable for toddlers — it’s too long, too many words on each page and the illustrations not fun enough. I understand that the story needs to be a bit dragged out and the pictures not too engaging for the book to achieve its goal, but it also means it doesn’t hold my daughter’s attention.

Reading it myself, made me feel sleepy and I’m sure older children — maybe over 4 years old — would feel sleepy when having this book read to them.

I think the book would work better for us as an audio book or an app so that we could listen to it in the dark at bedtime. We usually keep the room dark at night and reading this book until my daughter falls asleep would mean leaving the lights on and I think that would take longer than normal.

I do look forward to trying it in a few years’ time or with older kids of friends to see if the book works better for bigger kids with longer attention spans.

Buy the book from Amazon.co.uk if you are curious to see if it works for your kids.

We were sent a copy of this book for this review. As always, all my reviews are 100% honest and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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New DK Preschool Books Reviews + Giveaway

DK Books are launching lots of new, fun preschool books this autumn. They are just what we love — chunky board books with lovely, bright colours. Some of the books have textured surfaces, flaps, pop-ups, tabs to pull or sounds and there are lots of different themes such as animals, space, learning and much more.

We’ve checked out four of the new books:

• Pull The Tab Numbers
• Pull The Tab Colours
• Sophie’s Big Noisy Book
• Growl! Howl! Animals

The Pull The Tab books provide toddlers with a fun and colourful way to learn. These two books introduce simple counting skills and different colours to toddlers with clear labels and bright images to keep them entertained. The pull out tabs are chunky which makes them very sturdy and the design of the books is just lovely. My daughter loves them so much! The images are mixed photos and illustrations and there are so many items in the book that my girl really likes so she gets really excited every time she reads one of these books. She loves playing with them on her own or reading them together with me or her dad, going through the colours and numbers.

My daughter loves animals so Growl! Howl! Animals was a natural choice for us. It’s a vibrant and engaging book with lots of gorgeous jungle animals, some hiding under flaps. The background images are illustrated and the animals are photographs which makes a lovely mix. There are lots of my daughter’s favourite animals and she really enjoys looking through the book and checking under the flaps. The animal sounds are great too!

Sophie La Girafe is a favourite among many babies and toddlers and now she’s starring in her own sound book — Sophie’s Big Noisy Book. It’s a beautiful book in pastel colours that is very sweet. The style is, of course, quite French and on one spread, Sophie and her friends are enjoying a picnic complete with a baguette, macarons and cheese near the Eiffel Tower. I think it’s really cute! One of the sounds is French music which is absolutely adorable.

Both sound books are very large and thick but the sound mechanism takes up a lot of the books and they actually only have five spreads which is a good amount to keep toddlers interested throughout the books. Both books have 5 different sounds and lots of exciting flaps. The sounds are activated by light so you need to be in a light room or near a lamp to hear them. I wish the flaps were a bit sturdier because toddlers tend to rip things quite easily.

We love all four books but my daughter’s favourites are definitely the Pull The Tab books. They keep her attention for a long time as she goes through all the pictures and finds the words she knows.

Find out more from DK Books and buy the books from Amazon.co.uk.

Giveaway

I’ve been given the opportunity to give away our two favourite books to one lucky reader. If you’d like to win the two Pull The Tab books mentioned in this review, please enter via the Rafflecopter below. Terms & Conditions apply. UK entrants only. The competition will end on the 20th of October 2015.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We were sent these books for this review. As always, all my reviews are 100% honest and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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The Fairytale Hairdresser and the Sugar Plum Fairy Review

Abie Longstaff and Lauren Beard are back with another book in The Fairytale Hairdresser series. You might remember my review of The Fairytale Hairdresser and The Little Mermaid a few months ago.

In this new book it’s the night of the winter ballet but disaster strikes as the Prince of the Land of Sweets goes missing! The wicked Mouse King and Queen might be to blame. Can the Fairytale Hairdresser save the day with the help of some enchanted toys and some fairytale fashion?

The Fairytale Hairdresser and the Sugar Plum Fairy is such a fun and colourful adventure! It’s exciting and interesting and full of bright and very detailed illustrations. I love the style of Lauren Beard’s drawings and think that they complement the story beautifully. The Land of Sweets looks amazing and I would love to visit after looking at the yummy illustrations.

The book has a winter theme which makes it very suitable for this time of the year and the next few months but it can of course be enjoyed at all times of the year. The cover of the book is nicely decorated with textured glitter which makes the book even more dreamy.

This spread above is one of my favourites with all the different and fun styles. Before knowing the series, I expected it to be too girly for me but even though there are many glitter and fashion elements to the books, they are tough, cool and fun at the same time which I love.

Abie Longstaff and Lauren Beard really make a great team!

Buy the Fairytale Hairdresser books from Amazon.co.uk.

We were sent this book for this review. As always, all my reviews are 100% honest and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Book Review: Dork Diaries Puppy Love

The very latest instalment of the internationally bestselling Dork Diaries series is here! It’s called Puppy Love and it’s the 10^th book in the series.

In this book Nikki has to hide seven very aDORKable puppies from her parents, her nosy little sister and the entire school. Of course, mean girl Mackenzie Hollister is there to start some revengeful trouble but surely Nikki can do this… with some bumpy but hilarious challenges on the way, as always.

Kids (8 years+) love this series with its fun writing style and illustrations! If you’re new to the series, its style is quite similar to the Wimpy Kid books but it’s girly and there’s definitely more drama. It’s great to see the series continue and the puppy aspect of this book is sure to appeal to many readers.

Find out more on DorkDiaries.co.uk, connect with Dork Diaries on their Facebook page and buy the books from Amazon.co.uk.

I was sent a copy of this book for this review. As always, all my reviews are 100% honest and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Book Review: Aliens Love Dinopants

The bestselling and award-winning duo Claire Freedman and Ben Cort are back with another book in the Underpants series. The team have previously written and illustrated the hugely popular books Aliens Love Underpants, Dinosaurs Love Underpants, Aliens in Underpants Save the World, Aliens Love Panta-Claus, Pirates Love Underpants, Monstersaurus and Monsters Love Underpants. The books are successful worldwide and have been published in over 20 languages.

The latest book, Aliens Love Dinopants, is a story of aliens, dinosaurs and, of course, pants! What more could you ask for?

“When the aliens crash-land in the jungle, they have no idea that they are about to stumble on the biggest stash of pants ever. Their glee knows no bounds! That is, until the prehistoric owners of the outsized stash turn up…”

The story is full of adventure and fun and has loads of interesting characters. I love the cute aliens and the dinosaurs and they all look great in their quirky pants!

The illustrations are so colourful, beautiful and captivating — there’s loads to look at to keep little ones entertained. The chunks of text are the perfect length and they rhyme too. I love children’s books that rhyme because it makes it really easy for the reader to know what rhythm to use when reading plus it’s fun too. Kids aged 2-8 will love this book and laugh a lot reading it. 

The book is available to buy from Amazon.co.uk and other good book shops. Watch the trailer for the series here and find out more about the books on underpantsbooks.com or on their Facebook page.

We were sent a copy of this book for this review. As always, all my reviews are 100% honest and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Book Review: Imaginary Fred

This children’s book is like no other. Did you know that sometimes, if the conditions are just right and with a little electricity, or luck, or even magic, an imaginary friend might appear just when you need one? An imaginary friend like the one in this book — Fred.

Fred is the best imaginary friend you could wish for but no matter how hard he tries, the same thing keeps happening — his friend finds a real friend in the real world and Fred gradually fades away and has to wait to be wished for again.

One day, he thinks he’s found the perfect friend, when a boy called Sam wishes for a friend. Everything is going really well, until Sam finds a real friend. But something magical happens too because Sam’s new friend Sammi has an imaginary friend too. Her imaginary friend is called Frieda and really wants to be friends with Fred. It turns out, they make a great duo and Fred finally has a friend that will not forget him.

This book is the first extraordinary collaboration between the two children’s books superstars Eoin Colfer and Oliver Jeffers. They work so well together and the chemistry between the words of Colfer and the beautiful artwork by Jeffers is perfect.

The idea itself is very original and interesting. We’ve heard lots of stories of children with imaginary friends but I’ve never seen a book that’s from the imaginary friend’s perspective before.

The illustrations are simple but effective line drawings with a few dashes of colour — mainly blue and yellow which is the colours of Fred and Frieda.

The story is beautiful and different and one that both parents and children will enjoy reading together. I hope this collaboration means more future ones too, because this duo makes brilliant children’s books!

10 reasons everyone needs an Imaginary Fred

(a list based on the illustrations in the book showing Fred with all the children preceding Sam)

1. It’s someone to play catch with…
2. They’re happy to be summoned, so always there whenever you need them
3. They never complain!
4. They’ll happily dress up in the silliest outfits you can imagine
5. They’ll listen to music with you
6. They can help you work out how the toilet works
7. They’ll turn your one-man play to a full dramatic cast
8. They understand your pidgin French — and even chat back
9. They’ll always be there to read stories with
10. They can help you spot shapes in the clouds

Competition

For a chance to win the unique story of your own imaginary friend, written by Eoin Colfer and with an illustration by Oliver Jeffers, go here, scroll down and follow the instructions.

The book can be bought from Amazon and other good book shops that sell children’s books. I highly recommend it!

We were sent a copy of this book for this review. As always, all my reviews are 100% honest and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Book Review: Grrrrr! by Rob Biddulph

This beautiful book is the second book by the author and illustrator Rob Biddulph. His first book Blown Away is a much loved book with lots of 5 star reviews. It’s the winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, too. I’ve not read Blown Away yet but it’s been on my children’s-books-to-buy list for ages. I think I first heard about it watching Hannah Maggs/The Michalak Family Diaries on YouTube.

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Book Review: Ripley’s Believe It or Not! 2016 Annual

Last month, the new annual of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! was published and as always it’s full of extraordinary stories, mind-boggling facts and amazing photographs.

The annual has become a classic and a Christmas must-have for its many loyal fans. Last year, it was a Top 10 bestseller and this year it’s back with a completely new compendium of strange but completely true facts and fascinating stories ranging from a woman who married a Ferris wheel to a girl who cries stone tears and a drone pizza delivery service and lots more. The book is packed with features that are funny, weird, creepy, scary, disgusting, fascinating or amazing — there’s a bit of everything!

There are 10 chapters with different themes:

1. Believe it!
2. World
3. Animals
4. Body
5. Pop Culture
6. Transport
7. Feats
8. Art
9. Food
10. Beyond Relief

Though I knew of some of the stories in the books from the internet and TV, most were brand new to me and all material is new to this year’s annual — they never repeat content from one edition to the next which is brilliant.

The cover of the book has a 3D effect of eyes popping out which looks cool and a bit scary. I think the book would make a great Christmas gifts for kids around 9-13 years old but it would also be a fun book to read around Halloween.

There’s also a game that you can play online where you choose from a few of the photos from the book and add your face to it. You can zoom in and out and rotate your photo to make it look just right. It’s quick and fun and soon you have your very own Ripley’s photo that you can save and show friends and family. Find the game here.

The Ripley’s Believe It or Not! 2016 Annual is available from book shops now. You can pick it up from Amazon for just £8.99 which is a brilliant price for a sturdy hardcover book filled with colour photographs.

We were sent a copy of this book for this review. As always, all my reviews are 100% honest and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Roald Dahl’s House Of Twits App Review

Fans of Roald Dahl and The Twits (that I reviewed recently here) will be excited to learn that there’s a brand new app called House Of Twits based on the famous Roald Dahl characters Mr and Mrs Twit. It’s the second Roald Dahl app and it has just been released, in time for half term, on the 22^nd of October.

The app features the iconic illustrations of Quentin Blake and for the very first time we can see the characters rendered in 3D. The game is set in Mr and Mrs Twit’s rather revolting house and allows the players to explore the rooms of the house, including the filthy kitchen and the ghastly bathroom. The players score points by annoying and bugging the filthy pair by poking them, tricking them, feeding them disgusting foods, pulling on Mr Twit’s beard and even pulling Mrs Twit’s glass eye out! The app is full of mischievous fun that lets you score points along the way.

Many of these tricks are familiar to existing fans of the book — they are tricks that Mr and Mrs Twit often play upon each other. There are several games in each room and loads of yucky things to do. You can choose whether you want to play as Mr Twit or Mrs Twit and make sure to listen out for Mystery Parcels that contain extra tricks.

It’s definitely an app that kids will love! One thing that I really like is that there are no in-app purchases — this is essential for children’s apps in my opinion — and there is no third-party advertising, which I also value highly.

The app is made for children aged 6-11 and will especially appeal to the cheekier kids who love a bit of mischief and to both existing and new fans of the classic, much loved story.

Watch the trailer for House Of Twits below:

The app, developed jointly by the Roald Dahl Literary Estate and Penguin Random House UK together with interactive entertainment studio Chunk, is available to buy from the Apple Store and Google Play for £2.99. Go on, have some disgusting fun this half term! Buy the app and read more about it here.

We were given the chance to try the app for free for this review. As always, all my reviews are 100% honest and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Book Review & Giveaway: David Baddiel’s The Person Controller

David Baddiel who wrote The Parent Agency (I’ve reviewed it here), is back with a new book and a new adventure!

The book is called The Person Controller and it’s about Fred and Ellie who are twins. They are very similar and like the same things, especially video games and they’re very good at them. They’re not very good at much else though, like football or dealing with bullies at school.

One day, they meet the Mystery Man who sends them a video game controller like no other. This is a very special controller and it doesn’t control any of their usual games. Soon, Fred and Ellie find out what it does control and it could be the answer to all their problems and the key to their wildest dreams. At least that’s what it seems like at first, but is it too good to be true?

What would YOU do with a Person Controller for the day? See what some kids answered in this video below:

I really like David Baddiel’s ideas. He seems to know exactly what kids imagine and think about. I remember as a child (and now sometimes too) thinking about things like these. What if I could just control this or change this with a bit of magic?

His stories are clever and unique, exciting and funny but also touching and they deal with important emotions that children have. Baddiel is an impressive storyteller and I hope he keeps writing children’s books.

Like The Parent Agency, this book is also illustrated by Jim Field and has funny drawings scattered throughout the book. Kids love illustrations and so do I in children’s books. My test reader is a nine-year-old boy and he devoured the book in less than a week, reading it at every chance he had. He loved it!

Read more about the book on Harper Collins’ website and don’t miss the chance to win a PS4 by submitting what you would do if you had a Person Controller for one day. Enter here.

Buy this funny book from Amazon.co.uk (currently only £5 for the hardback edition) or any other good book shops. Or enter my Rafflecopter below for a chance to win a copy of the book! Terms & Conditions apply. The competition ends on the 12th of November 2015. UK entrants only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was sent this book for this review. As always, all my reviews are 100% honest and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Happy! By Pharrell Williams + Our Happy Party

Grammy Award winner Pharrell Williams has made a picture book for children. When I first heard about this I had no idea what it would be like, if it would be an illustrated story or something else. The book brings his song Happy — which was the best-selling song of 2014 in the UK and at the top of the charts in more than 75 countries worldwide — to young readers together with photographs of children across different cultures celebrating what it means to be happy.

The text of the book is the lyrics from the song and the photos are vibrant and show children that are happy, excited and having fun together.

Happy is one of my toddler’s favourite songs and it always gets her dancing! The book is very suitable for her and all other young fans of the song.

We’ve been a bit quarantined for the past month due to chicken pox — first my husband had it for two weeks and then my toddler got it for the following couple of weeks. Our Happy party had to be a small family event but it was a great way to distract my little one from her itchiness and we had a lot of fun together on the afternoon of our little party.

All the fun activities made us hungry so we had a break for some yummy snacks. We’d made cheese sticks wrapped in puff pastry (very tasty), enjoyed a selection of our favourite biscuits served on cupcake plates and some delicious nibbles from M&S — crisps and chocolate covered pretzels. 

The book is available from Amazon.co.uk and other good book shops. The hardcover version currently costs £7.00.

Don’t miss your chance to win a copy of the book by nominating a friend who makes you happy stating briefly how or why. Do this via Twitter using the hashtag #winHappy. The competition is open to UK residents and 20 lucky winners and their nominated friends will win a copy of the book.

We were sent this book for this review. We were also sent supplies to have a Happy party. As always, all my reviews are 100% honest and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Book Review: The Nonsense Show by Eric Carle

Eric Carle is one of my all-time favourite children’s book authors — his books and illustrations are brilliant! We all know The Very Hungry Caterpillar and I also especially love Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?.

Eric Carle is now back with a new book called The Nonsense Show and it’s full of strange, funny and preposterous scenes on each spread of the book. It’s all on purpose though and it’s all nonsense!

This kind of book combines nonsense with surrealism which kids love. The combination sparks creativity and imagination and makes children think about what is real and what is impossible or even absolutely absurd. In this book you’ll find ducks growing out of bananas, a mouse who’s caught a cat, a half leopard/half tiger who has spots and stripes, a fish and a bird who swap places, a horse and a person who swaps heads and much more craziness.

The Nonsense Show is a great children’s book! It’s fun and makes children think about life and how things work and Eric Carle’s illustrations are sure to spark an interest in art — they did for me when I was little.

Eric Carle’s books are like nobody else’s. He is an original and he keeps expanding and challenging the world of children’s books.

The Nonsense Show is recommended for children between 3 and 7 years old but younger kids will definitely enjoy looking at the pictures too. The book is very large which makes it great for reading to a group of children since everyone will be able to see the large illustrations easily.

The Nonsense Show and Eric Carle’s other books are available to buy from Amazon.co.uk and all other good book shops that sell children’s books.

We were sent this book for this review. As always, all my reviews are 100% honest and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Book Review & Giveaway: Clever Tykes Inspirational Books

Clever Tykes is a series of three storybooks for primary school children with positive entrepreneurial role models for the children to be inspired by. The series is currently used in over 50 schools across the UK and is now available to buy for anyone to use at home too.

The books follow three separate protagonists as they realise their passion and what they are especially good at and interested in. The stories show how they set about making their passions into their own ventures.

“Clever Tykes storybooks aim to introduce important life skills to young children through positive entrepreneurial role models”

Ben Cook – founder

“We’re passionate about raising aspirations in children everywhere through enterprise education, and we want to make sure that children, whatever their background, believe in themselves and excel in whichever career path they choose”

The books have subtle entrepreneurial messages and contain lots of valuable life skills that are important to learning and development — innovation, independence goal-setting, hard work and resourcefulness. Of course the stories themselves are interesting and incorporate the target literacy and numeracy for the specific Key Stage 2 age-range.

The series includes:

• Walk-It Willow about a girl who loves dogs so she sets up a dog walking business in her neighbourhood.
• Code-It Cody who is brilliant with computers and gets the chance to create is very own computer game.
• Change-It Cho who is passionate about healthy eating and exercise and wants to raise awareness about healthy living.

Children learn and get inspired by people around them, whether they’re physically there and real like parents, teachers and friends or fictional characters from TV, films and books. Using stories like these to promote important life skills and characteristics in children and giving them the inspiration and empowerment they need to believe in themselves and their future is such a brilliant idea and I’m sure it works very well. The next generation will be a very entrepreneurial one!

The sturdy paperback books are really good quality with thick pages. The font is easy to read and the text has a nice amount of line spacing. There are plenty of black and white illustrations throughout the books — nearly on every spread — which makes the books even more entertaining and fun to read.

My favourite one is Change-It Cho because her passion is the most similar to mine. All three books are absolutely lovely though! I hope to see them in more schools and home libraries soon.

The recommended age for the books is around 8 years old and KS2 but kids ranging from 6 to 11 are very likely to enjoy the books.

Clever Tykes books have an RRP of £7.99 each or £19.99 for the complete series of all three stories. They are available to purchase from CleverTykes.com and are also available from Amazon and Waterstones.

I have two sets of these wonderful books to give away to my readers. For your chance to be one of the lucky winners, enter my Rafflecopter below. Terms & Conditions apply. The competition ends on the 18th of December 2015. UK entrants only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
I was sent these book for this review. As always, all my reviews are 100% honest and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Book Giveaway: The Dragon of the Month Club by Iain Reading

“The Dragon Of The Month Club is the exciting first installment in a new book series that tells the story of Ayana Fall and Tyler Travers, two best friends who stumble across an extraordinarily magical book and soon find themselves enrolled as members of a very special and exclusive club – The Dragon of the Month Club.

On the thirteenth of every month a new dragon conjuring spell is revealed and the two friends attempt to summon the latest Dragon of the Month. The varieties are almost endless: Air Dragons, Paper Dragons, Fog Dragons, Waterfall Dragons, Rock Dragons, Tree Dragons – not to mention special bonus dragons for all the major holidays, including a particularly prickly Holly Dragon for Christmas.

But one day when a conjuring spell somehow goes wrong Ayana and Tyler find themselves unexpectedly drawn into a fantastical world of adventure based on the various books scattered all across Tyler’s messy bedroom. Travelling from one book-inspired world to the next with nothing to rely on but their wits and a cast of strange and exotic dragons at their disposal they must try to somehow find their way home again.

Drawing inspiration from some of literature’s most memorable stories – from 19th century German folktales to the streets of Sherlock Holmes’s London – the adventures of Ayana and Tyler bring these classic stories to life in delightfully strange and unexpected ways. Filled with fascinating detail and non-stop action these books will spark the imaginations of readers of all ages to inspire a life-long love of reading and seeking out books that are just a little bit off the beaten track.”

Win the book!

For a chance to win a paperback copy of The Dragon of the Month Club, enter my giveaway through the Rafflecopter below. Terms & Conditions apply. One winner will be chosen randomly. The giveaway ends on the 10th of March 2017. Open to international contestants too.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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The Misadventures of Max Crumbly Locker Hero – Review & Giveaway

Rachel Renée Russell is the number 1 New York Times bestselling author of the fun series Dork Diaries and the exciting new series The Misadventures of Max Crumbly.

The first book is called The Misadventures of Max Crumbly Locker Hero and is about Max Crumbly and his life. He’s just about to start middle school and it’s the scariest place he’s ever been.

There are a lot of good things about his new school but there’s one big problem — the school bully Dough Thurston or Thug as he’s also known as. His favourite way to spend time is to bully Max and stuff him in a locker!

Max dreams of being like the heros he reads about in his comic books but he’s not got any super powers — just the ability to smell pizza from an impressive distance! He will do whatever it takes though, to be the hero of his new school!

It’s a funny and exciting book for kids aged around 7-11 and I’m sure both boys and girls would enjoy it. There’s a cliffhanger ending to the book so your little ones will be excited for the next book launch! The book has lots of fun illustrations and is easy to read.

Buy your copy from Amazon.co.uk and other good book shops or enter my giveaway below.

Book Giveaway

For a chance to win a copy of The Misadventures of Max Crumbly Locker Hero, enter via the Rafflecopter below. Terms & Conditions apply. The competition ends on the 27th of February 2017. UK entrants only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was sent this book for this review. As always, all my reviews are 100% honest and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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The Whimsical Fashion Colouring Book by Natasha Itzcovitz Review

I love drawing and colouring — I have done for as long as I can remember. My three-year-old daughter has recently discovered colouring too and it is an activity that I love doing together with her.

Most of our colouring books are either a bit too childish for me (Paw Patrol and things like that) or too complicated for her (colouring books for adults) so I’m really pleased about our new one — the The Whimsical Fashion Colouring Book — as it’s the perfect middle ground.

The illustrations by fashion designer Natasha Itzcovitz are fun for both adults and children to colour in. This is her debut colouring book and it contains 100 hand-drawn fashion illustrations.

“Having graduated with a degree in Fashion Design, Natasha has created a world of crazy and wacky outfits that follow fashion through the ages, from famous fashionistas including Marie Antoinette and Jane Austen, to more contemporary styles boho chic and hipster street style.”

The book shows Natasha’s unique style and designs and the quirky illustrations are lots of fun to colour in for both my daughter and I. Finally, a colouring book that suits all ages!

Buy yours from Amazon.co.uk.

We were sent a copy of this book for this review. As always, all my reviews are 100% honest and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

The post The Whimsical Fashion Colouring Book by Natasha Itzcovitz Review appeared first on A Mum Reviews.

Bella’s Adventures in Africa by Rebecca Darko & Rutendo Muzambi

This is a new children’s book about a girl who leaves England with her parents to embark on an amazing journey across eight African countries. It’s an unforgettable journey for Bella as she explores these countries with her parents.

“From a thrilling Safari adventure to an exciting treasure hunt, Bella discovers that the continent of Africa is bursting with new experiences.”

The book is a collection of nine short stories based in eight different African countries — Ghana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Egypt, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Tanzania. The book provides an amazing opportunity for children to learn about the cultures of different countries and helps them form a positive attitude towards people from a different background.

The stories are suitable for children from around 5 and above, I would say. They’re a bit too long for my just turned 3-year-old but I’m sure she’ll love me to read them to her when she’s a bit older. There are illustrations throughout the book too which is always fun as they add to the story.

It’s exciting to come along on Bella’s adventures and to learn more about these African countries. It’s fun for all kids but maybe even more so for children who have a connection to Africa. I have some friends who have spent a lot of time in Tanzania with their kids and a friend who’s partner is from Ethiopia. I’m sure their kids would love this book even more due to their tie to Africa but it’s definitely a book for all kids from all backgrounds and countries.

You can order your copy of Bella’s Adventures in Africa from Amazon.co.uk.

We were sent a copy of this book for this review. As always, all my reviews are 100% honest and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Hosting a Children’s Book Club – Jacky Ha-Ha by James Patterson

As an avid reader myself, I was very excited to host a book club for my niece and three daughters of friends of mine. They’re all aged between 7 and 10 and love reading but had never taken part in a book club so they were very excited too!

We were chosen to take part in a Mumsnet project to host a mini mother-daughter book club event for James Patterson’s book Jacky Ha-ha so we had a little help getting everything ready and organising the activities for the event.

“With her irresistible urge to tell a joke in every situation – even when she really, really shouldn’t – twelve-year-old Jacky Ha-Ha loves to make people laugh. And cracking wise helps distract her from thinking about not-so-funny things in her life, like her mum serving in a dangerous, faraway war, and a dad who’s hardly ever home.
But no matter how much fun Jacky has, she can’t seem to escape her worries. So one starlit night, she makes a promise to keep her family together… even if she has to give up the one thing that makes her happy. But can she stop being Jacky Ha-Ha, if that’s who she really is?”

Before, I’d only taken part in book discussion at school and book clubs online but I’d never hosted a book club and never attended one in real life before so I was pleased to receive a booklet with activities, ideas for questions to discuss and party suggestions for this fun event.

Each girl received a copy of Jacky Ha-Ha and just under two weeks later we met up at our house joined by my two daughters too. My kids are too young for these books but my eldest loved joining in with the activities and listening the big girls chat away!

The girls sat around the kitchen table and enjoyed some sweeties and we started the book club by going through the questions in the booklet. The questions were really good and helped get a conversation going — not just about the book but the girls’ own lives too as many of the questions also asked about them.

For example:

• “Why is Jacky so impressed my Ms. O’Mara? Who are some of your female role models? Why are they important to you?”
• “Have you ever stuck up for a friend the way Jacky sticks up for Meredith? Have you ever had a friend stick up for you?”

They’re really great questions that made the girls think more deeply about what happens in the book and investigate their own thoughts and relationships.

After the discussion, we played with the photo props and photo booth kit and did the activities. This girl gang especially loved the Wordsearch game and designing their own book covers. Each girl took a Jacky Ha-Ha poster back home with them to remind them of their very first book club!

All the girls enjoyed the book and they said having a book club made reading even more fun and exciting. They loved that reading became a social activity through the book club.

We’re planning to continue this activity and take turns hosting a book club for the girls. What should we read next?

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Book Review: Make Your Own Farm Animals and More

Since being a child myself, I’ve always loved arts and crafts and it’s something I continued to do a lot when working with children. My eldest daughter is three years old and is now at an age where she appreciates getting creative and crafty too which is lots of fun!

We recently discovered the Animal Fun! board book series by Tracey Radford which features amazing craft creations in fun books for children. Her new book Make Your Own Farm Animals and More shows how to make your own farm animals, equipment and scenery with recycled cardboard.

Tracey Radford is really a master of turning everyday cardboard and paper into fun and impressive craft projects for parents and children to do together. They look amazing but are quite simple to make when you have Tracey’s instructions to follow as you go along.

Her book shows how to do it in a very nice way — the book is clear and easy to follow and looks great too!

It’s divided into four chapters:

• Chapter 1, In the Field, shows you how to make animals like cows, sheep, foxes and more.
• Chapter 2, Farmyard Fun, guides you through the animals closer to home like the farm’s sheepdog, hens, roosters, pigs, the cat etc.
• Chapter 3, Home Sweet Home, shows you how to create the farmhouse, stable, barn, the farmer and his wife and other details of the home.
• Chapter 4, Machinery and Scenery, shows how to make machinery and to create the scenery that ties it all together like a pond, trees, grass, flowers, trees etc.

Each little project has step-by-step instructions and handy tips. I love that you can gradually build yourself a large farm scene as you work your way through the book and add elements to your scene little by little.

So start saving those toilet and kitchen roll tubes, egg cartons and any other suitable cardboard because with this book you can turn them into something amazing with your children.

It’s such a cute and sweet book that boys and girls of all ages will enjoy. Even really young kids will enjoy watching and helping out with the little bits that they can. These projects provide hours of fun and of course you can play with your figures and scenes afterwards too.

It’s a great project for the Easter half term school holidays too as it will keep kids busy and entertained for ages.

Buy your copy from Amazon.co.uk and also check out Make Your Own Zoo that is very similar but with exotic animals.

We were sent this book for this review. As always, all my reviews are 100% honest and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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