Review: Blue Kangaroo Series by Emma Chichester Clark

Back in 1998 Emma Chichester Clark wrote the first of her Blue Kangaroo books, "I Love You, Blue Kangaroo!".  A delightful story about a little girl called Lily and her favourite toy Blue Kangaroo. at least he was her favourite until Wild Brown Bear comes along, and Yellow Cotton Rabbit, and the Furry Puppies, and then more and more new toys, until Blue Kangaroo feels there just isn't room for him any more.  The book won the Grinzane Junior Award and was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal.

4 years after the last of the Blue Kangaroo books was released Emma has a new title out and has re-released 2 of the old favourites.

Review: The Imaginary by A.F. Harrold

"Amanda was dead"
Like most (strange) 7 year olds this opening line was enough to draw Ben into The Imaginary, a world of love, loss, new starts, old endings and imagination.

Amanda, like most children has a best friend, Rudger,  She found him one day in her wardrobe and he becomes her companion, there for all her adventures, dangers and challengers.  Amanda's mother is quite accepting of Rudger, her friends less so.  You see only Amanda can see him, he doesn't exist.  At least Amanda thinks only she can see him until one day Mr Bunting arrives informing her he hunts imaginaries and knows about Rudger.  With the rumour being that Mr Bunting eats them Rudger finds himself alone and running for his imaginary life.

Christmas: Book Advent

This has become another tradition in our house. We've gathered books as we go along and add new ones each year.

Every day in December the kids open a parcel and we share that book.

Review: The Nonsense Show - Eric Carle

My boys talk gobbledegook on a daily basis, they are extremely creative and have fantastic imaginations and they both love to read. Noah was really excited therefore when a book arrived for him (normally the books are afrom Penguin Random House, The Nonsense Show.  This book really made the boys laugh out loud as they read it from cover to cover and then started again.

Review: Timmy Failure

At 6 years old Ben loves mystery and solving crime but trying to get him to look at this from anything other than a superhero punch up view is really difficult. I was happy therefore to discover the Timmy Failure books by Stephen Pastis which cover the founder of the "best" detective agency in town - Total Failure, Inc.

Ben loves it and keeps a copy of Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made on the breakfast table flicking through, laughing at the pictures and reading excerpts out to me.

Book Review: Monsters Love Underpants by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort

We're a big fan of underpants in this house, so you can imagine the response I got when I asked the boys if they would like to review the new title in the 'underpants' series for Simon and Schuster.

Monsters Love Underpants is the seventh collaboration from Claire Freedman and Ben Cort who have already drawn us into worlds where aliens, dinosaurs, pirates and even Santa Claus expose their pant-loving antics.

This paperback edition features a QR code which takes you to a free online audio reading of the book by Mel Giedroyc.


I love this trailer for the book.

Ben, 6, is eager to help with the schools blog when he's old enough and often comes and sits with me to help me write some of the book posts, so he stepped in to help tell you all about the book.............

Shoutykid 2 by Simon Mayle

Last year Harry Riddles made his debut in Shoutykid 1 - How Harry Riddles Made a MEGA-amazing Zombie Movie.  If you didn't read it yet my review is here.  Ben loved it from beginning to end. So when I was asked if we would like to review the 2nd title in the series (out March 26th) the decision wasn't a tricky one.

Shoutykid 2 - How Harry Riddles mega-massively broke the school, Harry has far bigger concerns than fighting Zombies (even tho he is "the BEST gamer World of Zombies has ever seen") and the cyber-bullies his dad wants him to take up.... Sport!!!   Harry's dad manages to persuade him to join the school football team, but unfortunately they aren't very good.  This leads Harry to write to some stars of the football world like Sir Alex Ferguson

Flashback Friday - Look and Read (part 1): Through The Dragon's Eye.

I was going through the bookcase last weekend to work out what to read in our Chapter Book Challenge when I uncovered my old copy of Through the Dragon's Eye.  Slightly battered and every bit it's 23 years old but there none the less to enjoy with my kids,  But it wasn't the book that sparked my love of Through the Dragons Eye (tho at least I couldn't see scary Charn in text) but the TV
series,  The 10 x 20 minute episodes of Look and Read, shown in the Music Room when I was in Primary School.

 Once a week we would file into the little room, sit cross legged on the carpet and eagerly await the tales from Pelamar on our BBC VHS (not live as I was only 7 when it first aired in 1989 and I am sure it was the juniors, possibly year 6 when we watched it).  My teacher always brought the teachers notes in with her, a folder of activity and helpful hints for the 'working out' elements.  Not that I can ever remember her opening and using them.  Thanks to YouTube I can now share the enjoyment with my 2 boys

The Dinosaur that pooped.............

Nothing says Happy Christmas better then pooping dinosaurs does it?  So this year I won't be saying "Happy Christmas" to you, I will be sharing with you the fabulous creations of Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter (yup them guys from McFly) and "Poop, presents and prehistoric creatures".

We were really lucky to be asked to review that funny series and when the postie (eventually) decided to deliver it just before Christmas it was in great time for a 3h train ride to London.

I am sure the rest of the train enjoyed the hysterical laughter from our seats.  From mummy, who found it difficult to actually stop giggling long enough to read some of it, the boys who, well lets face it, it mentions the word poop - need I say more, and even Grandma managed a smile!

12 players ........... 1 world ..... who will survive? who will loose? #EndgameIsComing

Endgame is real. Endgame is now. Endgame has begun.

My first impressions of this youtube clip that has been going around the internet was WOW.  My 2nd was just how much it reminded me of Murder Game, a little remembered programme from 2002/3 in BBC.   But it (sadly) wasn't documenting the return of this epic but a new book adventure coming on the 7th October from James Frey and Nils Johnson-Shelton.

Book review - You Are The Love Of My Life. Susan Richards Shreve

You Are The Love Of My Life

 by: Susan Richards Shreve

It's 1973 and the Watergate scandal is on everyone's lips.  Lucy Painter, a children's book illustrator and single mother of two (Maggie and Felix) leaves New York and the married father of her children to return to Washington DC, to the neighbourhood where she grew up and the house where her father committed suicide.