The Very Best Sheepdog, Colin the Crab and the Official Playmobil Annual 2015 - children's book reviews

The Very Best Sheepdog

When Ben, a gentle sheepdog, befriends Bo, a fun-loving lamb, he becomes the laughing stock of the farm yard. With both his parents being prizewinners, the expectation on Ben was high, but he just couldn't herd sheep.  But when a storm comes and scares all the sheep away, it's Ben who has to save the day. With his good nose and his love for Bo, Ben bravely battles the elements to try and save the flock.

The gentle text and illustrations bring the story of an unusual friendship to life.  It is a heart warming tale about nature and farming, which shows how perseverance and self belief can overcome difficulties.  The relationship between Bo and Ben is so cute and beautifully portrayed.  At the end of the book, little ones will be rooting for Ben!

The Very Best Sheepdog by Pinny Grylls and illistrated by Rosie Wellesley

RRP £5.99 Pavilion Children's Books

Colin the Crab

This little pop-up book from Norfolk based beach merchandise company Gone Crabbing, is not only a lovely story, it also contains a very important message about respecting creatures when crabbing and rock pooling at the beach.  It has some great pop-up elements to bring the story to life, which Freddy really enjoyed. 

Colin the Crab shares a rock pool with his best friends Sally the Starfish and Mike the Mussel.  They have an idyllic life until two children come along.  Colin watches in horror as his friends are caught and thrown into a bucket and taken away.  He sobs big salty tears as he tries to think of ways to get his friends back.  Thankfully, the children know how to treat living things and when they are returned to the rock pool at the end of the day, they explain to Colin how they were looked after by the children.  It is a really good way of showing families the right way to respect nature when it comes to compassionate crabbing and rock pooling.

Colin the Crab is not only the star of this book, he is also the star of the totally 'clawsome' range of seaside inspired gifts sold at Gone Crabbing.  He certainly is a cute little creature!  Hopefully, this story will encourage little ones to be more compassionate and respectful when they discover animals in the natural habitats.

This is a lovely gift idea, which compliments the other products in the Gone Crabbing range.

Colin the Crab is by Susie Mason and illustrated and engineered by Robert Crowther.
Available from Gone Crabbing for £7.99 (also available is the Colin Crab mug and soap).


Official Playmobil Annual 2015

This is definitely one to look out for in the run up to Christmas if you have any Playmobil Knight fans at home.  Annuals always make great presents to pop under the tree and they keep kids amused for hours, so they are always a good buy.

The annual is full of puzzles, colouring pages, quizzes and games all based around helping the Green Dragon Knights defeat the evil Red Dragon Knights.

The book is perfect if your child is a fan of knights, dragons and castles as it is dedicated to that theme.  The content is like that found in an activity book and doesn't include stories or cartoon strips at all.  The paper is thick and glossy and the full colour photos are spectacular.

It's a great choice for Freddy but if you have a child who prefers princesses, animals or fairies, they may not be as keen on the Knight theme.

RRP £7.99


We received these lovely books to review.

The Beano Merchandise for the Menaces in Your Life!

This year celebrates 75 years of laughter as The Beano reaches this great milestone anniversary.  The Beano has been a  part of my life for as long as I can remember.  My childhood was spent being a huge fan of Dennis and Gnasher, Minnie the Minx and the Bash Street Kids (especially Plug!)  I was a member of the Dennis the Menace Fan Club and held my wallet and badges amongst my most treasured possessions.  I even had a limerick printed in the comic once!  So needless to say, I have a big soft spot for The Beano, and was delighted to receive some of The Beano's fabulous merchandise to review.

An amazing range of products have been launched to celebrate the 75th anniversary including puzzles, classic card games, notebooks, a brilliant range of Beano toys, baby and adult clothes and of course the world-famous Annual to name but a few.

The Beano Annual is a perfect nostalgic gift for anyone who remembers getting the comic as a child or for new fans to The Beano.  I love that it features loads of Classic Beano cartoons from the past.  Old favourites are being given a new lease of life for the anniversary, and I love that parents can share their memories with their children as they enjoy the book together.  It is 112 pages of mischief, mayhem and fun featuring comic strips, gags, puzzles and games.

Lakeland have a range of menacingly good Beano stocking fillers this year with prices starting at just £2.99.  We received the Super Bouncy Ball Kit from the range. The retro Beano packaging features Dennis, Minnie and Gnasher.  The set contains two moulds and six coloured powders to make two bouncing balls.  Other gifts in the range include a Paper Aeroplane Making Kit, a Badge Making Kit and some tricks, jokes and pranks.  I think the are lovely and great novelty gifts for the young at heart as well as for kids.

The 1000 Piece Jigsaw puzzle by Gibsons is a beautiful design featuring iconic images from the Beano and The Dandy as well as some memorabilia such as the fan club badges, annuals and toy trucks.  The resulting collage brings back lots of memories from when the comics were at their peak and were a part of many childhoods. Gibson puzzles are top quality, made in Holland using thick and sturdy recycled board.  The finished puzzle is 486mm x 680mm.

This puzzle would make an excellent gift for anyone who enjoys doing jigsaws and will keep them busy over the winter months.  It is such a lovely design, it would be a shame to dismantle it afterwards!

I have really enjoyed my trip down memory lane and have loved sharing Dennis the Menace with my own kids who have been enjoying reading the annual to find out what antics he has been getting up to alongside all the other Beano characters.  The Bash Street Kids is coming out as a firm favourite with them!

Keep your eyes out for the fantastic retro Beano merchandise which is now available across a wide range of shops for the 75th anniversary.  It's perfect for fans old and new!

Details of the items above including stockists:

The Beano Annual, £7.99, All good bookshops

Super Bouncy Ball Kit, £6.99, lakeland.co.uk

Beano & Dandy Vintage Comic Collection (1000 piece jigsaw puzzle), £12.99, Amazon

Harper Collins Books for Christmas

Lovely new books always find their way under our tree at Christmas.  Giving books to the children encourages a love of reading that will hopefully last a lifetime.  My older girls are avid readers and I hope my younger children will follow suit.

This year Harper Collins have some gorgeous new titles and I have been lucky enough to receive three lovely books to review.

Diary of a Christmas Wombat

Mothball the wombat is a beautifully illustrated character that we have fallen in love with.  The slow and simple animal seems to have one thing on its mind....carrots!  This means that Santa's reindeer have a fight on their hands if they want to enjoy the carrots that have been left out for them by children on Christmas Eve. 

The wombat's eye view is such a quirky way of conveying the story.  The text is really simple and the pictures add so much to the storytelling that even the youngest children will enjoy following Mothball's Christmas adventure.

RRP £6.99 paperback

Hello Kitty Annual 2013

Christmas isn't Christmas without an annual or two to enjoy.  Packed full of fun, activities and games they make a fabulous Christmas gift.  This official Hello Kitty Annual features Kitty's advice on all kinds of topics: your superstar style, making perfect cupcakes, growing pretty flowers, creative colour matching, making perfume and more.  It's a perfect companion for girls.  The pages are colourful and busy, filled with hello Kitty fun on every page.

RRP £7.99 hardback (but keep an eye out for bargains on annuals!)

The Octonauts

Fans of the hit TV show The Octonauts will be thrilled to bits to find this big, gorgeous book under the tree on Christmas Day.  The crew of eight cute animals love to explore the big blue ocean from their underwater base, the Octopod.  There is always fun and excitement on their adventures.

The Octonauts are researching underwater habits around the world when Tunip the Vegimal starts to wonder where he came from.  So the Octonauts go on an underwater adventure on a quest to find Tunip's true home.  The nautical adventure will delight fans and the glow in the dark pages will add a real element of fun to a bedtime story.  Inspiring a whole new generation of marine biologists, this is a lovely book full of intricately detailed illustrations that little Octonauts fans will love.

RRP £12.99 hardback

Find these titles in all good children's books stockists.