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Plant, Sow, Make & Grow Mud-tastic activities for budding gardeners – Esther Coombs

April 10, 2019 by penny Leave a Comment

I’m not green fingered in the slightest, but I so wish I was! Walking round the garden centre yesterday I saw so many gorgeous things for the garden, but to be honest I don’t have a clue where to start with our garden. We’ve lived in the house a year now, and apart from cutting a few very obvious things back we’ve done little more than cut the grass in our back garden. I’m really hoping that under the pretence of teaching the kids what to do in the garden Plant, Sow, Make & Grow can help me improve my gardening skills, and get the back garden under control.

Described as a book of “mud-tactic activities for budding gardeners” Esther Coombs has brilliantly written a book that is not only nice and fun to read, but also teaches you a huge amount.

Split up into the four seasons the book contains gardening projects along side crafty outdoor projects to keep kids entertained. This is a gardening book that doesn’t require you to have a whole shed full of tools and an endless supply of seeds before you start, but instead shows you what you can actually do with very little. At the start it sets out the gardening supplies you do need – simple things like a trowel, hand fork, watering can and compost – but also other things like bubble wrap, lolly sticks and netting made from charity shop net curtains!

Plant, Sow, Make & Grow starts in spring, with a lovely little project to make little seed pots from old toilet roll tubes. It’s the perfect way to help children start to get their hands dirty, do a spot of recycling and also learn how to sow seeds. The book then moves on to talk about what can be sown when in the year, and talks you through all the different types of fruit and vegetables that you can grow in your back garden.

I love the way that Plant, Sow, Make & Grow brings together so many more things that just gardening. As well as crafty projects for the garden, that involve recycling lots of things from around the house, I also love the way that the whole book has a thrifty and eco focus to it. It shows you how to make a watering can from an old plastic milk bottle, and bird feeders from the heads of your sunflowers.

Because of the way the book is split into seasons it come back to some of the activities that you did earlier in the year, and shows you what to do next. So for example, you plant your strawberries in the spring, are shown how to cover them in the summer, and then harvest them later on in the summer. It even goes as far as telling you what to do with harvest gluts that you might be lucky enough to have.

The book doesn’t only look after plants though. Included are instructions on making a bug hotel and a page telling you about the sorts of wildlife that you want to encourage to come to your garden to help with your plants.

I’m incredibly impressed with Plant, Sow, Make & Grow and in particular the almost cyclic nature of the activities in the book. I can see us going back to it throughout the year, and each year, to be reminded about what we are supposed to be doing in the garden. If this Easter holiday rain ever stops it will be a great way to get the kids to help us make a proper start to our back garden and help create it into the sort of productive eco garden I have always wanted. And hopefully we can do it all on a budget!

Plant, Sow, Make & Grow by Esther Coombs was published in March 2019 by Button Books and has an RRP of £12.99. It is aimed at aged 4 to 11, but with parental guidance support I think you can adapt many of the activities for younger children too. As an adult I can also see it as a brilliant way of learning a bit about gardening alongside my children. Plant, Sow, Make & Grow is available to buy online here and at the time of writing it is priced at £8.56.

Disclaimer: We were sent a copy of Plant, Sow, Make & Grow for the purposes of this review. All opinions remain my own. This post contains affiliate links.

Lonely Planet Kids Sticker World – Airport, Castle and Farm

April 4, 2019 by penny Leave a Comment

The school Easter holidays are almost upon us, and if you parent anything like I do then you’ll know that you need to have a few tricks up your sleeves to get through the holidays with as much peace and harmony in the family as possible.

One trick that I’ve learnt over the years is the value of always having an activity book of some kind in my bag, or in the car, so that it can be deployed whenever we have a wait somewhere. Whether that be at a restaurant or cafe whilst our meal comes, or during a long journey, or possibly even something unplanned like whilst waiting for roadside recovery or waiting to be seen at minor injuries! All of these have happened to our family during one trip or another, and now I aim to be prepared for all eventualities.

I was delighted therefore to be sent the three new addition to the Lonely Planet Kids Sticker World Series – Airport, Castle and Farm. In these Sticker World books children get to create their own worlds. The books are a mix of doodle books and sticker books with each double page spread leading children through designing their own world – whether it be an airport, a castle or a farm in these particular books.

The Sticker World Airport book for example takes you through deciding what your airport will be called and where it will fly to, right through to who will work there and who will travel through it. It also takes children through the whole airport process. Going through security, waiting in departures, a spot of airport shopping, boarding the plane, what they will do on board, what they might eat whilst in flight and even air traffic control. It’s a brilliant way of explaining the whole airport and flight process to children and would be excellent preparation for a child who has possibly never flown before, or one who is particularly nervous, or who maybe has special needs.

Each book contains over 500 stickers that children can use when prompted to create their sticker world. The only small world of warning that I would give about the books is that the shiny pages mean that you need to choose your child’s drawing or writing implement with care so that you don’t end up with either pens that rub off easily, or ones that don’t show up properly. Felt tips are definitely the answer, and I found that the Berol ones that we always use worked fine, as long as you let them dry sufficiently before shutting the book.

In the Castle book, children are invited to help restore an old castle. As well as the layout of the castle itself, they are taken through thinking about the people who live and work inside the castle and what they will wear. Also, what will they find inside the castle? Art on the walls? Hidden treasures being kept safe? And might there be ghosts living there too?

Down on the Farm, children are introduced to all the animals and birds that might live on their farm, and all the jobs that the farmer must do there. There’s plenty to keep him (or her) busy looking after the animals and also fixing various things. They’re also invited to think about what the farm might sell in their farm shop.

All three Sticker World books are brilliant in that they combine pages to keep children occupied with also teaching them a huge amount about each world that they are creating. I’ve already talked about how useful I can see the airport book being if you are travelling with children. I can see the castle one working brilliantly with the castle theme that Master C will do at school in Year 2 and the visit to a local castle that they all go on. The farm one will work equally well if you’re planning a visit to a farm (much like we did recently over on Penny Travels) or learning about farms at school.

Priced at £5.99 each the Lonely Planet Kids Sticker World books are perfect for taking along with you any school holiday trips that you have planned, or just working through with your children over the holidays.

Sticker World Airport, Castle and Farm were all published by Lonely Planet Kids in February 2019 and are priced at £5.99 each. Each book has 40 pages, plus 6 sticker sheets.

Disclaimer: We were sent copies of the Sticker World Airport, Castle and Farm books featured for the purposes of this review. All opinions remain my own. This post contains affiliate links.

In the City – Dominika Lipniewska

March 26, 2019 by penny Leave a Comment

To young children everything is fascinating. They especially seem to love the hustle and bustle of busy places and I’ve always found that my children are completely mesmerised whenever I take them into London. Cities have so much going on. Much that us adults just take for granted, but through a child’s eyes everything can be new and exciting. In the City is a wonderful way to take a look at all the different things children might find in a city.

In the City is actually quite a long book, and as a result goes into quite a bit of depth about all the different things you might see, and hear, in a busy city. There are pages devoted to the buildings you might see, the people you might meet, the animals that call the city home, the different sounds you might hear, the various modes of transport, the food you can eat and the things you can do whilst in the city.

The text in the book had loads of prompts in it for you to use to start conversations with your children about what they can see in the pictures. It might be simply counting animals or boats, or maybe asking them about what types of food they like, or what modes of transport they have travelled on. This is particularly brilliant for any adults who are not natural storytellers and find sharing books with their children a bit challenging at times. It’s an excellent way of introducing lots of things that you can talk about with them.

The whole book is illustrated by Dominika in a very bold and distinctive fun graphical style. Her illustrations have lots of shapes in them, which may sound like a slightly weird thing to say, but when you look at the pages of the book (or the fab trailer above) you’ll see what I mean. Not everything looks exactly like it might do in real life, but again that is a brilliant conversation starter with the child that you’re sharing a book with. I can also see it as a brilliant way of encouraging a child to recognise shapes and also to draw. If you start them off with some basic shapes like a rectangle or a semi-circle and show them how the book has used some of these shapes to draw a car, a baby’s pram or a playground.

Sharing the book with one of my children I loved just how much there was to see and talk about in the illustrations. The bold style of them made them great for attracting children’s attention and both of us felt drawn to point at the pictures with our fingers to point things out to each other or to count things.

I liked the fact that In the City doesn’t actually state which city they are talking about. The N29 night bus is a bit of a nod towards London where Dominika lives, but as the book doesn’t focus on any distinctive landmarks it is quite possible to apply it to any city that you child might know, or might be about to visit. I think it would make a wonderful gift for a young child before a weekend trip to the city and it would be a brilliant conversation starter for talking about what cities are like and all the different and similar things that they might find there.

In the City by Dominika Lipniewska is published in Hardback by Button Books in April 2019. ISBN 9781787080300. £12.99. It is aimed at children aged 2 – 5 years.

Disclaimer: We were sent a copy of In the City for the purposes of this review. All opinions remain my own. This post contains affiliate links.

Superkitty – Hannah Whitty and Paula Bowles

February 15, 2019 by penny Leave a Comment

A crime fighting kitty? Not what you might expect at the Sensational Superhero Agency, but that’s exactly what kitty wants to do. She’s sick and tired of just answering the phones whilst Cheetah, Wildebeest, Lion, Elephant, Rhino and Bear are out in Big City chasing crooks and solving crimes.

One day a call comes in from Dr Fossil at the Big City Museum. Someone has stolen one of the bones from her new dinosaur exhibit. The one that was supposed to be revealed to the public tonight.

Kitty takes the call and decides that this time she’s not taking no for an answer. She heads out with the others to try to find the criminal behind the theft. On their way to the museum the others question whether or not Kitty can make it, but also show their own weaknesses by having to stop off en-route. Once they reach the museum Kitty shows that she very much has what it takes to be a Superhero in her own right. She is Superkitty!

It’s a lovely tale of believing in your own abilities to succeed at something and showing that you shouldn’t always judge someone else’s abilities by their external appearance alone.

This fast moving story is accompanied by some gorgeous illustrations that really help to bring it to life. A couple of the outdoor nighttime scenes may be a little dark to read in a dimly lit bedroom, but Master C enjoyed the excuse to put the “big light” on for that part of the story! He loved the story and it provoked some great conversation afterwards about how anyone can be a superhero even if they are a cute fluffy little kitten!

Superkitty by Hannah Whitty and Paula Bowles is published by Simon and Schuster on 21 February 2019. Hardback priced at £12.99 and paperback priced at £6.99. It is available to buy online here.

Disclaimer: We were sent a copy of Superkitty for the purposes of this review. All opinions remain my own. This post contains affiliate links.

Forest Craft – Richard Irvine

February 5, 2019 by penny Leave a Comment

A review of Forest Craft by Richard Irvine

I am a huge, huge fan in getting children outdoors. I firmly believe that it is possible to learn so much outside. Both in terms of academic learning, but also wider learning about nature and being at one with it. My children’s school already has outdoor learning as a key part of their curriculum and I know so many other schools are doing similar. I’ve also heard amazing things about local forest schools that cater for pre-school aged children. Bonn and I are keen that Tube Stop Baby is as much at home outdoors in the countryside where we live as she is travelling around the tube system in London.

On Instagram I follow several people who home educate and I love seeing what they get up to outdoors, especially in the woods. I was therefore intrigued to be sent a copy of Forest Craft to review by GMC. Over the years I’ve seen plenty of online articles about activities to do with children in the woods, but Forest Craft is a bit more specific than that. The book’s subtitle is “A Child’s Guide to Whittling in the Woodland” and it contains 20 whittling projects for children along with huge amounts of really useful background information for people who are new to working with wood.

The book explains the hand tools that you need to complete the projects, along with a guide on which wood to use, and about how the landowners permissions should always be found before taking any wood, even from dead trees. Before getting to the projects it also details all the different techniques that you use for the projects, with some useful photographs illustrating them well.

Knowing how impatient children can be to get started with a project I would thoroughly recommend that an adult reads the book and familiarises themselves with the tools and techniques before letting children lose on choosing a project. This is particularly key if you don’t have any prior experience at woodwork. One of the things that I think this book would be good to teach though is patience. Whittling projects are not something that can be knocked up quickly, especially when you’re inexperiences. It’s very much a labour of love and the projects take time, care and attention to get the finished result you want.

I really like the variety of the projects in Forest Craft. There is something that will appeal to all children. From the Harry Potter-esque Magic elder wand through to the Fairytale fungi there are also spud and dart guns to make as well as music instruments. Even if you didn’t let young children loose on the projects themselves there is plenty that an adult could have a go at whittling for their children.

The other good thing about Forest Craft is the presentation of the book. The instructions are clear and accompanies by step by step photographs. Additionally the book contains gorgeous photographs of children in the woods and some delightful illustrations. The combined effect is a book that not only contains loads of valuable information, but looks good too.

As a book just on whittling I did have initial concerns that Forest Craft may be a bit too narrow in its focus, but the finished result quashes my concerns. This book has so much inspiration and instruction in it that I think it the perfect addition to the bookcase of any family that enjoys an outdoor life.

Forest Craft A Child’s Guide to Whittling in the Woodland by Richard Irvine. GMC Publications. Published February 2019 in paperback. RRP £16.99 Available to buy online here.

Disclaimer: We were sent a copy of Forest Craft for the purposes of this review. All opinions remain my own. This post contains affiliate links.

Discover our Solar System – Colin Stuart

January 30, 2019 by penny Leave a Comment

Master C has an obsession with factual books. He just wants to know how everything works and he absorbs facts like a sponge. Once he’s into a certain subject he can spend weeks telling everyone everything he knows about the topic. Recently he’s been covering space and a recent space themed birthday party that he was attending meant that it was the perfect time to review Discover our Solar System.

Discover our Solar System perfectly manages to combine a book packed full of factual information with something that is written so that children want to read it and enjoy to do so.

This isn’t just a book that covers the planets. There is so much more content covering everything from the Big Bang through to the International Space Station. There is a timeline showing the Space Race and also pages showing different space rockets and the basics of how they work. Each planet has its own page, including a large illustration, and there is a separate double page spread on the dwarf planets, including Pluto.

All the factual text is accompanied by excellent illustrations which are incredibly detailed as the black background on each page makes them incredibly attention catching too.

At school I have noticed that children are taught about different types of book and when they cover factual non-fiction books there are certain things that they always look out for, like a contents page and a glossary. Master C and I were therefore very pleased to see that Discover our Solar System includes both. The glossary being brilliant for any child who is reading the book on their own and possibly wanting to make sure that they are fully understanding everything that they are reading.

Master C used the book to help him find a picture of Saturn so that he could then draw a version on it on the card for the friend that was having a space themed birthday party. If that’s not a brilliant ay of introducing a child to factual books like this then I don’t know what is.

Discover our Solar System is a brilliant book for anyone interested in space or astronomy and Little Miss C enjoyed reading it alongside doing her astronomy badge at Cubs recently. I’m hoping Master C finds it just as useful when he comes to do his badge at Beavers.

Discover our Solar System by Colin Stuart and illustrated by Charlie Brandon-King was published in October 2018 by Button Books. RRP £12.99 it is aimed at children aged 7+. It is available to buy online here.

Disclaimer: We were sent a copy of Discover Our Solar System for the purposes of this review. All opinions remain my own. This post contains affiliate links.