Tag: book review

Animalcolm Book Review

Book Reviews / 9 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

We were sent a copy of the Animalcolm book to review written by Daniel Baddiel, Award winning author of ‘The Parent Agency’ and ‘The Person Controller’. Animalcolm is aimed at 8-11 year olds.

Animalcolm Book

Animalcolm Book Review

Eva loved the design on the front cover and spent the entire afternoon reading Animalcolm on the sofa! Although she only just turned 7 she found the book easy to read and really loved the illustrations throughout the book.

Unlike his family Malcolm hates animals do when he gets a chinchilla for his birthday which he is really not happy! To make things worse his year 6 school trip turns out to be a trip to a FARM. More animals..

At the farm Malcolm comes across a wise goat who grants wishes. He quickly changes in many ways, thinking differently, speaking differently, eating differently & smelling differently too! He learns what it’s really like to be an animal but will he ever be the same again!?

Animalcolm is David Baddiels third children’s novel and I would definitely recommend it as it seems a great read. Eva was completely captivated by Animalcolm and has already hidden it away in her room along with her favourites! I can see why Baddiels children’s books are winning awards.

Although Eva loves to read she tends to find a lot of books quite boring so I was pleased to see her totally absorbed in this book, and enjoyed the silence of course! We haven’t written a post on ‘Our favourite books this week’ recently for this very reason. It was lovely to see her enjoying Animalcolm and she couldn’t wait to tell me about it after. I think I will be ordering David Baddiels other books for her too.

 

Have you read Animalcolm or either of the other two books he has written?

Spreading The Joy Of Reading This Christmas

christmas / 9 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple
Reading

I have always loved to read and reading was my favourite thing to do as a child so I love the idea of spreading the joy of reading this Christmas by giving 3 amazing Penguin Random House Children’s Books (teamed up with Britmums) I received to Izzy as Christmas presents.

Izzy is really enjoying reading books with all of us and as we did with Eva, we intend to encourage her love of reading. We sometimes go to baby rhyme time at the local library and always come back with a stack of books which we read over and over at home. The girls have an ever growing book shelf too & these books will make a lovely addition!

Max & Bird

Max & bird looks like quite a funny book about a kitty who wants to be friends with Bird. He also wants to chase and him as a tasty snack . But that’s not what friendship is all about… is it? I can’t wait to read this to Izzy, I know she will love the illustrations as she loves cats!

 

The Little Elephant Who Wants To Fall Asleep

 

The Little Elephant who want to fall asleep is a the latest book from the author of The Rabbit who wants to fall asleep which is a global best seller! It’s aimed at helping children fall asleep.  Following Ellen the elephant on a journey through a magical forest that leads to sleep! This sounds like a brilliant book and I’ll definitely be trying it out on those nights the girls just can’t sleep.

 

The Dinosaur That Pooped Christmas

 

I can’t wait to read the dinosaur that pooped Christmas! We’ve read the dinosaur that pooped the world which the girls absolutely loved. This time Danny’s new dinosaur eats Christmas!! I wonder what happens next!?

 

 

They all sound like brilliant books, I can’t wait to read them to Izzy!

I loved books growing up and The Secret Garden was always my favourite as a young child! I have saved a copy for the girls to read. Hopefully one day it becomes a favourite for them, getting lost in the beautiful secret garden and storyline.

What was your favourite book as a child? Do you read it or plan to read it to your child/ren?

Are you giving books as gifts this year? Which ones?

*I’ve been sent these books by Britmums and Penguin Random House as part of their children’s books Christmas present challenge.

Racing In The Blood Part 1: The Seduction of Speed by Max M. Power

Cars and Bikes / 9 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

I recently received a copy of Racing In The Blood Part 1: The Seduction Of Speed By Max M. Power to review. If any of you follow my Instagram you’ll know the Mr & I love cars & racing.

I love the pictures on the front cover and back of the book by Andrew Whitson it really draws you in to take a closer look at the book.

If you love reading in depth stories about racing then this is definitely the book for you!

The introduction – The Birth and Development of Motor Sport is really interesting to read. It covers the repeal of the Red Flag Act in 1896, the first motor race in 1895 in France along with more facts and information on races, speeds and more.

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The rest of the book is full of stories about Frank Cartland and George Marshall. It explains how they ended up following the same paths racing the dangerous racetracks at Le Mans and Brooklands, the people they met, the things they did outside of the racetracks and everything in between.

With 30 chapters covering the twists and turns of racing following Cartland and Marshall on and off the track it is a fairly long but interesting book and includes circuits maps and photo’s of Brooklands in 2016.

This would be an ideal christmas present for racing enthusiasts who are interested in the history of the world of speed and want a little more detail than the basic facts. If your interested in the book you can buy it here from the Auto’s UK website.

The Hoxton Street Monster Supplies Cookbook Review & Giveaway!

christmas / 9 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

Hoxton street monster supplies

Most of you know we’re an oddball family and love all thing’s weird and wonderful so when I had the opportunity to review The Hoxton Street Monster Supplies Cookbook I couldn’t wait to see what it was all about! It looks rather interesting with the front cover stating ‘Everyday recipes for the living, dead and undead!‘ I have a feeling this one will be working it’s way into my brother’s stocking once I’ve noted down my favourite

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This Cookbook is full of all kinds of gruesomely gory recipes for all the monster’s out there! It’s just like any other recipe book with specific sections for recipes such as Biscuits & cookies, Jams & Preserves, Savoury Snacks for Entertaining Monster’s, anything and everything you can think of that you will need for entertaining monster guests or just a little home baking is in this book!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For hundreds of years, the Hoxton Street Monster Supplies shop has been supplying quality goods for the monster community – and this, it’s classic recipe book, has been in use for just as long.

Now, for the first time, it has been adapted for use by humans as well as monsters. So wherther you’re entertaining trolls, hosting a vampire soiree or expecting zombie round for tea, you can make delicious treats to suit every occasion.

 

It’s so difficult to choose a recipe to start with, do I go for the Fairy Brain Fudge? Some Dragon Fuel for my beloved dragon friends? Gingerdead men look soo delicious too, then there’s the Strawberry Shortdeads.. argh it is just soooo hard to decide and we haven’t even got to the cakes yet! *Drools* Don’t they all sound scrumptious!? Think of all the Monster Tea Parties you could hold to show off your baking skills!

Along with all the monstrously delicious recipes there are also pages full of Advice & Wisdom full of all the important stuff, Golden Rules For Entertaining, Seasonal Humans (This one’s been a great help, now I know which Humans to go for during which months!), Common Ailments & Recommended Cures, How to Carve a Human and more!

I was totally unaware of The Hoxton Street Monster Supplies shop existing in London so I will definitely be taking my brother & the girls along to visit & pick up some Icky ingredient’s to help us as we work through the recipes! Head on over to the Monster Supplies website to find out more.

Do you like the sound of this Cookbook for yourself or know a Monster who would? Well I have 3 copies for my Monster readers, just enter the giveaway to get your claws onto one of these delicious cookbooks!


Keep Calm and Carry On Linking Sunday

Jungle Jam Book Review

Family / 9 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

We were really excited to receive such a captivating & colourful story book aimed at children aged 0-5 years to review with the girls, Written by Louise & Noam Lederman & it’s called Jungle Jam.

We recieved the book, a magnet & a puzzle, I was impressed with the bright and colourful cover, it’s eye-catching but not too in your face, even the Mr agreed it looked good!
As it arrived whilst Eva was at school, I decided to see what Izzy thought of it first as it’s mostly aimed at her age group.

We sat and read it to see what Jungle Jam was about. We met Mikey the Monkey who was off on an adventure to make it big! Along the way he meets several friends in the Jungle but refuses to join them, intent on making it big by himself until eventually he decides to join them all and make it big together!

Izzy (2) sat and listened intently, pointing out all the new characters we met along the way, with her favourite being Ella the elephant and her drums.

 

Izzy spent the rest of the afternoon looking through the pages & claiming the magnet as hers and adding it into her magnet collection on the storage heater haha..

Eva (6) was just as impressed when she got home and loved that she was able to read it to her sister who sat & listened to the story again..several times!

The book is beautifully illustrated and the girls really loved reading it over and over and over… Eva loved it so much that she wanted to talk about it on her first video! She was a bit sniffly as she’s coming down with a cold & unsure of what to say but she wanted to do the video so badly, so here it is.

We definitely recommend ordering yourself a copy of Jungle Jam here on Amazon for just £5.99 to add to your bookshelf. It’s such a fun book to read with all the colourful pictures and characters and the lovely storyline, I can see this book being a favourite for quite some time! The last few pages have some awesome musical craft’s for you to make too!

Pink Pear Bear