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.

Ghost Gang Review

New Children's Series of Books: Ghost Gang by James Parkin

James Parkin is a self-published children's author who has written a series of books for 8-12 year olds about the "Ghost Gang".  We were asked by the author to review the first book in the series.

The Ghost Gang are a group of friendly young ghosts who reside in the old abandoned West Tower at Claire Rock Primary.  During the day they float around, braintalk with each other and look out for any children who are unhappy.  At nighttime they can enter a child's dream and try to help them with any problems they have.

The "New Ghost" tells the story of Winston, a young boy who drowned following an argument with his family on a day out at the park.  On becoming a ghost, he wants to become the sixth member of the gang, but his quick temper and habit of calling others cruel names gets him into trouble.  Will he sort out his problems and be accepted by the others?


Both Kizzy and I read this book so we could give both an adult's and the target audience's perspective.  
Kizzy was actually slightly uncomfortable by the premise of the story.  At first she thought it was "a little bit distressing" having a story about dead children, however, she did like the idea of the ghost children helping other children with their problems in their dreams and enjoyed the book. Winston's story was actually quite heartbreaking and from the opening line "'It was about half past three on a Sunday afternoon when my life as a child ended and my life as a ghost began" you feel sympathy for the main character.  Death is not something generally written about so graphically in a children's book, so I think it may take a little getting used to. I couldn't help but  think about all the broken families left devastated by the death of the children who are now in the Ghost Gang.

The settings, situations, dialogue and characters are all really familiar and children will relate to them.  The only difference is that the children in the gang are dead.  They are like a Deceased Famous Five on a mission to help other kids with their day to day problems involving friendship and family.  There are some important life lessons within the pages of the book and the overall message of finding solutions to problems is a good one.  The use of the 'ghosts' in such familiar settings is an unusual twist.  I could almost imagine this as a CBBC series!

You can read a short story and purchase the first three books on Kindle and paperback over at the website bigredsock.com.

Top That! for Summer Holidays

We're now into the long six weeks of the summer holidays and if you are anything like me, you'll be looking for ways to keep the kids happily entertained.  Top That! Publishing have sent me two books that are just perfect, especially when travelling with little ones.

Colours is part of Top That!'s Sticker Activity Book range.  Introducing key early learning concepts is made fun with this book.  It comes with 100 re-usable stickers that children will enjoy matching to the colours on each page.  Fun activities will keep the little ones entertained, perfect on a long car, plane or ferry journey.

I love the big glossy pages which combine photography and illustrations.  The spaces for the colourful stickers complete the pictures.  The activities support National Curriculum early learning objectives and include drawing, spot the difference, dot to dot and colouring.  The book includes smiley face stickers to reward your child as they learn about colours.

Priced at just £4.49 from Top That! this lovely quality 32 page book is a perfect solution for keeping the kids happy on their travels or entertained on a rainy day.  Other titles in the series include Counting, First Words and Shapes.  They are suitable for ages 3+.

Explore, Dream, Discover is a travelling book for creative kids.  Described as a travel-diary, memory-maker, doodle-pad, brain-engager, boredom-stopper, idea-waker, captain's-log and a thought-provoker, it is a truly unique book.  It is a hard backed journal which will make a wonderful travel companion for children aged 7+.

With sections dedicated to different aspects of their holidays, children are challenged to think, predict, research and observe things before, during and after their travels.  Diary pages are made interesting as children are challenged to write their entry in imaginative ways such as in rhyme, as if they were a time traveller or from the point of view of their shoes!  There are ideas for taking holiday photos with purpose such as using reflections, framing shots through doorways or selecting interesting themes.  You can then stick in your shots on the album pages.  A storage pocket lets the child store tickets, messages, menus, leaflets etc from their holiday.  The book is packed with over 100 activities, games and projects.

I for one would have loved this book as a child.  Holiday journals are such fabulous keep sakes but can sometimes feel like a chore for the child.  This book is inspirational, fun and full of amazing ideas and children will love keeping their holiday diary and it will be something unique to look back on in future years.

Priced at £7.19 from Top That! this is a wonderful book for creative kids.  I absolutely love it!  I know my girls will enjoy filling it in on their next holiday!  

*Top That!'s When I Dream Of ABC that I reviewed here, has won the children's category of the People's Book Prize 2011 Awards.  Congratulations to Henry Fisher and Top That! on their prestigious award!!*

Good Books for Tough Times

As a parent there are times when you have to discuss things with your children that make you feel awkward, uncomfortable or just plain inadequate.  The death of a pet, losing a grandparent, divorce or parental depression are realities that affect our children.  There are situations that young people find themselves in that can make them feel alone and afraid.

A children's charity has recognised the value of reading relevant storybooks during hard times, to help children cope with difficult feelings or situations such as bereavement, bullying or family break-ups, and has launched a new independent guide to recommend relevant material.  Partnership for Children's Good Books for Tough Times has been sent to 23,000 primary schools, 3500 libraries and is available free online for parents.  The guide will help parents, teachers and librarians find the right books to help children going through difficult circumstances.  It can help children deal with anxiety and give them a sense of perspective.  Reading a story about someone who has gone through a similar experience and come through it, is a real source of comfort to a child.  The promotion of mental and emotional wellbeing for life is the aim of this charity, and if children can find comfort through reading and be encouraged to speak out if they are anxious, then it is a positive step in the right direction.

Michael Morpurgo said "Reading is probably the best therapy there is, other than talking to Mum or Dad."

The latest edition of the guide (following on from an earlier version for 5-8 year olds)  focuses on the 9-12 age group and recommends 59 books.  The guide is divided into the following topics:

• Friendship and Difference
• Bullying
• Family Issues
• Bereavement
• Coming of Age

David Walliams's "The Boy in the Dress" is featured and shows, in an entertaining way, that it is OK to be different.  It celebrates the right of everyone to be themselves!

Roald Dahl's "Matilda" will hearten any child being bullied and give them confidence and hope.

Jacqueline Wilson's "The Illustrated Mum" deals with mental illness in the family.  The story tells of sisters dealing with a manic depressive, single parent mother.

Suzanne LaFleur's "Love, Aubrey" is a beautifully written novel about bereavement,  loss, understanding, forgiveness and ultimately hope.  

Kelli Dunham's "The Boys'/Girls' Body Book" gives clear factual information on growing up, bodily changes, emotional problems and stressful situations.  It is presented in a friendly, reassuring, non-patronising way.

The "Harry Potter" series is also recommended as books dealing with friendship, bereavement, growing up, loneliness and loss.

The list is available free of charge online  here.  There is lots of information and advice on the site.  So whether your child is an independent reader or if you snuggle up to read together, you will find entertaining, enjoyable reviews with suggestions that might just help your child through a hard time.

Listography...5 Books for Toddlers

What a cute theme for a list!  I've had 22 years of baby book buying and have spent a fortune with the Book People and Red House.  I love baby books so much.  I love the pictures.  I love the sing song text. I love sharing them with my littlies and see them run their chubby little fingers along the words as they come to realise that the strange squiggles actually mean something!  I love it when the older children read to the younger ones and pass on favourite stories.  Books play a big part in our household, we have a Tidy Books Bookcase that I won just before Christmas.  It is filled with board books, lift the flap books, noisy books and story books.  Freddy sits down and pulls a book out and usually exclaims "Oh Wow!" as he opens the pages.  I hope his love of books continues and that he becomes a book worm like his sisters.

Sharing a story with Daddy.

Here are my pick of the top 5 books for babies that have received my kids' seal of approval!  We've enjoyed many an hour pouring through these books.

1:  Bears in Pairs is over 20 years old now and is still much loved with its rhyming couplets describing the bears on their way to a tea party.  "Tall Bear, Small bear, Hairy bear, Scary bear!"  The pictures are charming and my children have enjoyed trying to find all the bears on the final page showing them all at the tea party.

2: With a daughter called Megan, we had to buy the whole set of Meg and Mog books.  The quirky illustrations and the funny stories have had my children riveted.  We particularly like the one where they visit the vets.  

3: Animal Pants will help nurture a love of toilet humour in even the youngest child.  We learn that skunks have smelly pants and a chameleon's pants change colour!  The brilliant illustrations are bold and bright.  It's a real favourite in our household!

4: Elmer the colourful elephant is such an appealing character who wants to look like everyone else so he rolls in berry juice.  I'd be glad to sport my patchwork colour scheme if I was Elmer...it's a funky Boho look!

5: The Ravenous Beast was Freddy's first favourite book that he shared over and over again with his Daddy.  The animals all try to out-hungry each other until the ravenous beast comes along and scoffs the lot of them!  Love it!

My First, My Latest and My Favourite

The lovely veggie blog We Don't Eat Anything With a Face has started a blog hop where you write a post about your first, your latest and your favourite 'something'.  You can pick whatever 'thing' you want to share...Lisa has chosen cookbooks and I was very pleased to see that she is a fan of Rose Elliot.  I love my Rose Elliot cook books.  Her no nonsense style results in excellent wholesome vegetarian meals.  All too often veggie cook books are so faffy and use ingredients that are just not found on the everyday shopping list of a busy mother on a budget.  Elliot's love of beans and pulses results in hearty fayre a long way from Alfalfa Salad and Chicory with Orange Sauce (why do people assume veggies don't want pie and chips??? It's just the meat I don't want...not the comforting, homely, substantial elements of proper grub!!)  Anyway, I digress....

Although Lisa generously opened up the theme, I'm continuing with her theme...Cookery Books!

My very first cook book that I bought myself was the Children's Party Cookbook.  I'd just had my first born and wanted inspiration for his birthday.  I still use it for the gingerbread man recipe and it's got some nice ideas for kiddies' parties in it.  I got quite good at making cakes.  Here is a pic of Joe's 2nd birthday cake...I'm still quite proud of this one!

My latest acquisition to the recipe book shelf is the Quorn Kitchen that I sent off for.  For just two Quorn labels and P&P, I received this lovely paperback book through the post.

It contains some nice simple recipes which all incorporate a Quorn product.  I was most pleased to see some proper good food like this Quorn and Leek Pie.  It's user friendly, well illustrated and a fabulous freebie.  I love Quorn products...they have made feeding my family so much easier and they are versatile, low in fat and low in calories.  

My favourite cookery book is actually the first completely vegetarian book I bought myself.  It's a big, fully illustrated book simply called Vegetarian which has over 300 recipes.  It has a reference section at the front and I remember pouring over the facts and figures to be sure I wasn't in some way going to starve my family by deciding to go completely vegetarian.  It has had such a positive influence on my vegetarianism.  It made everything look so easy and so full of flavour.  It gave me a lot of confidence at a time when being a veggie was not so mainstream.  I love books that have photos and I can sit and flick through the pages for ages just looking at the pictures of the food. (There's no calories in looking!)

My most used recipes are for the Veggie Hot Pot with Cheese Triangles (a version of which I made for Valentine's Day with heart shaped cobbler on top...yum!)...

...and the Spicy Bean and Lentil Loaf, which is fabulous and so easy my daughter has made it on her own.  It's nice to find good, simple, hearty veggie recipes, so beautifully illustrated and so easy to follow.