Review: Storytime Magazine

30 years ago I remember sitting with my sister and mum and reading Storyteller Magazine,  Disappearing into a world of Gobbilino and My Naughty Little Sister and learning new rhymes and songs. When I was needed a change there were activities to do ........... Fast forward to 2016 and say hello to Storytime.

A small, independent publisher, Luma Works, had much the same views as me, magazines aimed at children nowadays are full of adverts and plastic toys.  I don't like them and my children don't like them!  They get bored within 2 minutes and abandon it in the corner of the room and lets face it most magazines nowadays cost more than a paperback book (I know which I'd rather spend my money on).    They remembered Storyteller fondly and thought it was high time the world had another story magazine for the new generation.

Storytime is about parents and children reading together, sharing great stories without an advert break.  YES - the only advert you will find in this 50 page magazine is how to subscribe for even more great issues.

I was excited when I heard about this magazine but I was worried .... what if it didn't live up to my childhood memories?  What if it was soo much better and tainted my memories?  What if my children didn't enjoy it as much as I used too?

Flashback Friday: Story Teller (and Little Story Teller)

Here we go 'round the mountain

singing our very own song.

When we're on our way

we shout "hooray!"

With a rat-a-tat-tat and a bing bang bong.

Doris and Morris, those adorable little magic hamsters ... Gobbilino ... Timbertwig ... My Naughty Little Sister ... Aldo in Arcadia and Digby.  

Mulit-coloured cassettes ... boxes ... binders...colourful magazines full of stories, puzzles and things to make and do.

  ..... Happy Happy memories.

Review: "The Week" Magazine

I was a little wary when I saw a request for people to review "The Week" magazine.  I'm not a big follower
of the news, I rarely watch it on TV and I cannot remember the last time I picked up a newspaper.  I follow BBC/ ITV/ SKY news channels on social media and figure if I miss a headline on them someone else will tweet it or facebook it and I'll look at it on the relevant website.

The Week is different,  it is a round up of the previous weeks important, and not as important news stories giving you everything in bite sized chunks.  for £3.10 a week, which - lets face it, is cheaper then buying a newspaper every day and in a handy A4 sized format makes it a lot easier to read on public transport then a large tabloid/ broadsheet newspaper.

For those who prefer their Kindle to a paper product The Week is also available online and electronically, you can also receive daily briefing updates.