Children's Books

Be Your Best Self – Life Skills for Unstoppable Kids

October 12, 2019 by penny Leave a Comment

Be Your Best Self is a message that is being shouted loudly and proudly by both children and adults everywhere. But how exactly do you do it? How do you be your best self on a day to day basis. That’s exactly what Danielle Brown and Nathan Kai aim to do with their book – Be Your Best Self.

Danielle Brown is a double Paralympic Gold medallist and five time archery world champion. Nathan Kai is (or was at the time of writing) a seven year old member of MENSA, a public motivational speaker and an elite athlete, as well as having a CV longer than most people three times his age. Together that have written this book to help children find an answer to the question “How can I be my best self?”

The day my review copy of Be Your Best Self arrived it was left on the kitchen table along with a bunch of other paperwork that had arrived in the post that morning. When she came in from school that day, nine year Little Miss C instantly spotted it and picked it up saying “ooooh this looks interesting”. I’ve not been able to get the book off her since!

From the small bit of the book that I was allowed to read before she took it off to her room I could see that it set out a really nice, easy to follow framework for how children should dream big and then find the steps they need to take to turn those dreams into a reality.

LMC is firmly set on a dream of being an author, but just a day after reading this book she launched into a conversation with me about how she can turn that dream into a reality and how she has written in her notebook the steps she needs to take to make it happen. How reading as much as she can now and studying hard in English lessons at school is her first step.

She also spoke about how the book’s sections on staying focussed and managing distractions had already helped her to concentrate in some of her school lessons, and how in one case her teacher even awarded her a house point for ignoring some boys who were trying to distract her during an English class. If that’s not the book in action then I really don’t know what is!

She also spoke about how useful it was to read the bits in the book written by Nathan. To hear things said by someone closer to her own age than an adult is.

I think one thing that really helped LMC relate so well to the book was the way that it spoke in a language that she was already very familiar with from school, about fixed mindsets and growth mindsets. She tells me that they have whole school assemblies on the power of growth mindsets and it’s almost as if the book has just validated for her so much of what her teachers have been telling her at school.

The fact that she’s so absorbed in the book and has taken it with her to her Dad’s house for the weekend so that she can “read it and learn from it before school on Monday” speaks volumes. Thank you Danielle and Nathan for helping my daughter be her best self!

Be Your Best Self is available to buy online here. RRP £12.99 Published by Button Books in October 2019. ISBN 9781787080386

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

Hedy Lamarr’s Double Life

July 28, 2019 by penny Leave a Comment

I probably ought to hang my head in shame right now. The truth is that I have heard about Hedy Lamarr before now, but if you’d put me on the spot and asked exactly what she was famous for I would have stumbled a bit.

Hedy Lamarr lived two very different lives. The first was very much in the public eye as she was a glamorous movie star and moved from her native Austria to Hollywood after being spotted performing the lead role in a play.

Her second life was a secret to all but her closest friends. She was also an inventor. Not just any old inventor either. She was responsible for the invention of frequency hopping. As someone who studied electronic engineering at university, frequency hopping is something that I got to grips with as an undergraduate, but many people will be totally unaware of its significance as a means of securing American torpedo guidance systems during the second world war.

Frequency hopping was not just a military technique though. Spread-spectrum broadcasting, as it is now known, is still in use today in many devices that communicate, whether that be via mobile phone networks or wi-fi networks.

Laurie Wallmark and Katy Wu’s book about Hedy Lamar and her double life not only tells children all about her achievements both on the screen and in her inventing work, but also goes into detail about what frequency hopping actually is, and the problem it was invented to solve.

This is the first time I’ve seen a book that not only tells readers about the life of the person in questions, but also explains their scientific achievements in detail. It’s brilliant to see that technical explanation there and written very clearly so that it can easily be understood, rather than someone just deciding that the subject is too complicated for children and glossing over it. It’s therefore no surprise to find that the author also teaches computer science.

Hedy Lamarr’s Double Life is written by Laurie Wallmark and illustrated by Katy Wu. It was published by Sterling im April 2019 and has an RRP of £12.99. It is available to buy online here.

Disclaimer: We were sent a copy of Hedy Lamarr’s Double Life for the purposes of this review. All opinions remain my own. This post contains affiliate links.

Barry the Fish With Fingers – 10th Anniversary Edition

April 30, 2019 by penny Leave a Comment

It seems somewhat appropriate to be celebrating the 10th anniversary of Barry the Fish with Fingers, seeing as that’s how many fingers he has!

I’ve said it before here on Penny Reads, and I’ll happily say it again, we’re massive fans of Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet in this house. For years now I’ve been reviewing their books and their characters such as Supertato, Norman the Slug, No-Bot and Dough the Bug are firm favourites, especially with Master C. Strangely though Barry the Fish with Fingers has passed us by, until now. Possibly because as a ten year old we missed him originally as Little Miss C is only just turning nine now. That’s why this 10th Anniversary Edition of Barry is perfectly timed. Master C is excited to meet a new creation from Sue and Paul and it’s lovely for Tube Stop Baby to be building up her own library of picture books already.

Barry is, much as his name suggests, a Fish with Fingers. And even better, his fingers are Fish Fingers! The other fish used to be amazed by the puffer fish who could blow bubbles, but that was nothing once Barry came along. Suddenly their world is opened up to all these different things that you can do when you have fingers. Everything from knitting and finger painting to finger puppets. But even better still – fingers mean that you can tickle!

What fun the fish we’re having. Well, all except one. Puffy the Puffer Fish was feeling rather sad that no one was interested in his bubble show any more. But then Barry put his fingers to good use and by doing something that only a fish with fingers can do he saved Puffy’s life.

There’s no doubt about it, Barry the Fish with Fingers is a delightful book. As with all of Sue and Paul’s books the illustrations are delightful – full of colour and fun. The story itself is again perfect to be shared with a small child, especially one that likes being tickled!

The 10th anniversary edition of the book is a brilliant way of introducing Barry the Fish with Fingers to families that might have missed out on him when he was first released. There’s a new celebratory cover with sparkly foil bits on the front, and on the back it features Sue and Paul’s other well loved characters – Keith the Cat, Doug the Bug, Supertato and Norman the Slug.

Barry the Fish with Fingers 10th Anniversary Edition is released on 16th May 2019. ISBN 978-1-4711-7818-4 and the Paperback is priced at £6.99. It is available to buy / pre-order online here.

Disclaimer: We were sent a copy of Barry the Fish with Fingers for the purpose of this review. All opinions remain my own. This post, and others linked to in it, contain affiliate links.

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.