Penny Reads

The Windsor Knot – S. J. Bennett

October 4, 2021 by penny Leave a Comment

As I stood in the local library, waiting for the kids to finally choose which books and audio books were coming home with us, the red cover of The Windsor knot caught my attention from a display stand. I’m not sure where I’d heard about this book, but I immediately knew the basic premise – the Queen turns amateur detective.

It’s a simple idea, but also one that weirdly seems highly likely. HM The Queen has always struck me as having an eye for detail and not missing anything that is going on around her and so I can actually quite believe that she would be very capable of solving a crime if called up on to do so.

I’m a bit of a fan of slightly comedic fiction about The Queen, with one of my favourite books of all time being Sue Townsend’s The Queen and I. After reading that and Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader The Windsor knot seemed a natural progression. And for anyone wondering I like did – SJ Bennett and Alan Bennett don’t appear to be related!

The Windsor Knot is a lovely light read. A sort of modern day Agatha Christie, with the Queen taking over Miss Marple’s role. Her assistant Private Secretary Rozie is also a fantastic character that I really enjoyed meeting in the book.

As someone who is a bit behind the curve and only just working my way through series 2 of The Crown on Netflix my brain kept flipping between the younger Queen in that and the Queen as she would have been in 2016 when The Windsor Knot was set.

It was interesting seeing some the spy theories in the book, especially surrounding the Russians, as they fit in really well with Vigil which I have just finished watching on BBC iPlayer. It’s strange how everything can sort of fit together like that.

Amazon’s listing for The Windsor knot talks about it being the perfect read for people who also enjoyed Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club and I would definitely agree with that. It sort of fits into a modern “cosy crime” genre.

The Windsor Knot is available to buy online here. RRP £8.99, but at the time of writing Amazon appear to be selling it in paperback fro just £2.

Disclaimer: All books mentioned in this post are ones that I have bought myself or borrowed from the local library. Some links are affiliate links. If you happen to buy anything having clicked on one of them I receive a small commission, but it will cost you no more than normal. Thank you for any purchases that you make. All are very much appreciated.

AD: A Year of Nature Craft and Play

September 29, 2021 by penny Leave a Comment

Out this week A Year of Nature Craft and Play is a brand-new activity book written by Becky Goddard-Hill and Catherine Hughes and published by Harper Collins.

It contains over 50 seasonal crafts, gardening projects, games, art and science activities for children aged 7+ and their families that are fun and eco-friendly.

This review is part of their blogging book tour to celebrate the of launch A Year of Nature Craft and Play.

You would pretty much have to have been living under a rock for the last couple of years not to have had a point where you stood outdoors, whether that be in your garden, on the street, on a local footpath or in the middle of the moors, taken a deep breath and gave thanks for nature and fresh air. It’s been a pretty horrific 18 months for so many of us and the signs are that lockdowns have made us stop and appreciate what we have around us.

Becky Goddard-Hill’s previous books have spoken about paying attention to the small things in nature and taking time be mindful and appreciate them, and she has now joined forces with fellow blogger Catherine Hughes to take this to the next level with their fantastic new book; A Year of Nature Craft and Play.

With an activity for every week of the year, A Year of Nature Craft and Play is packed with crafts, gardening, games, art and science activities for all four seasons. For each week you are provided with a list of what you need, clear instructions, useful diagrams and inspiring, colourful photographs.

Cloud Watching

With the weather being so all over the place at the moment we took at look at some of the summer and autumn activities as we reviewed the book. A sunny day at a local community event gave me and the youngest the perfect opportunity to do a spot of cloud watching whilst a football game was going on. Lying on a picnic blanket a the side of the pitch we stared up at the clouds and she took great delight in spotting a dinosaur, CBeebies’ Bing and a “scary monster” in the sky. Such a simple way to pass the time, but one that sparked so much creativity and laughter as we saw different things floating above us.

Making a Journey Stick

The typical British weather worked against us a bit in our attempts to create a journey stick as an autumn activity. A shame as I had visions of it being such a photogenic activity.

Used by Native Americans and Aboriginal people to record a journey this is such a simple way for a child to pick up “treasures” along a way and use them to remember their journey. They can be made using either a stick (as the name suggests) and string, or a piece of cardboard and double sided sticky tape. I thought the latter might be easier for a two year old, but I can confirm that cardboard becomes really soggy if it starts raining on your journey and your toddler tries to “stick the rain on the stick”. My only tip for making your own journey stick is to choose a dry day on which to do a cardboard one! Once the rain abates we’ll be heading out to try this one again.

Our planned year of nature craft and play

I’m determined that now the older kids are back in school, the youngest and I need to get into more of a rhythm with our days rather than just frittering them away with chores and kids’ tv. What better way to establish a rhythm than by following the rhythm and seasons of the year? I’ve made a list of the autumn activities in the book and stuck it up on the kitchen cabinet so we can quickly pick something before heading out once a week for an outdoor adventure. I’m even going to try to be organised and share what we get up to over on Penny Blogs. Fingers crossed we find our rhythm and that the weather cooperates.

A Year of Nature Craft and Play – Book Details

A Year of Nature Craft and Play by Becky Goddard-Hill and Catherine Hughes is published by Harper Collins and is available to buy online here, RRP £12.99.

Nature Craft and Play Book Tour

If you would like to visit the other Nature Craft and Play Book Tour bloggers you will find them here

1st October – www.emmaand3.com

2nd October – www.whattheredheadsaid.com

3rd October – www.mummymummymum.com

4th October – www.whatkatysaid.com

5th October – www.monkeyandmouse.co.uk

6th October – www.wemadethislife.com

7th October – www.thriftymum.com

8th October – www.rainydaymum.co.uk

9th October – www.goingonanadventure.co.uk

Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of A Year of Nature Craft and Play for the purposes of this review. All opinions remain my own. This post contains affiliate links. If you buy anything through these links it costs you no more than if you had arrived at Amazon on your own, but I received a small commission. Thank you for any purchases that you do make.

Ladybird Tuesday: Talkabout Box Set

May 25, 2021 by penny Leave a Comment

I don’t normally feature Ladybird books from the same series back to back here on Ladybird Tuesday, but I’ve got an excuse this week. I’m desperate to share with you something that I found whilst taking a week off to finally go and visit my mum for the first time in what feels like forever.

We headed out with my daughter and nephew to the National Trust’s Clumber Park and whilst there I was delighted to see that their secondhand bookshop was open again. I was even more delighted to find this one one of the shelves in the children’s section – a box set of books from the Talkabout series.

Now I have to admit that I don’t know a huge amount about the box set, or even when it was published. The box itself is very much lacking on details. There is a list on one side of the books it contains – more on that in a moment – but there is no date anywhere, and not even a copyright notice of any kind.

According to the box it should contain the following books from the Talkabout series: animals, home, the beach, shopping, the park, gardens, starting school and bedtime. The version I have is missing animal sand starting school, and instead contains baby and holidays. Also, home has a glossy cover, yet all the other titles have matt covers.

I have no idea is it’s just a case of different books being put in the box before it made its way to the secondhand shop, or if maybe different titles were in there from the start. Slightly weirdly, all the books in the box are individually priced and looking at the back covers I don’t think they were all published at the same time. Another sign that I don’t have the original books in my box? Or a sign that these boxes were thrown together quickly, possibly to get stock moving before a new version of the walkabout books was released? I’m yet to find a definitive answer, but will keep digging to try and get one.

In the meantime I’m just going to sit here and appreciate the gorgeous artwork on the box itself. What looks like an incredibly detailed collage. Very similar to what featured on the covers of the individual talkabout books, but with more texture.

About Ladybird Tuesday

Ladybird Tuesday is a regular feature here on Penny Reads, where I delve into my Ladybird book collection and choose a title to share with my readers. The weekly series originally started on my old blog, Being Mrs C, and this post originally appeared on there. I’m now in the process of moving all those posts over to Penny Reads and also adding titles that I have acquired since then. A list is currently being compiled here of all the titles I have in my collection.

Ladybird Tuesday – Talkabout holidays

May 4, 2021 by penny Leave a Comment

I’m pretty sure many of us are talking about holidays, or the prospects of holidays, right now. It seems like a lifetime ago that we could just plan a trip and that it was likely to actually go ahead. With the possible relaxing further of travel restrictions in a few weeks it seemed the perfect time to feature Talkabout holidays from Ladybird series 735.

The Talkabout books were originally released in the 1970s and were a perfect way of introducing young children to books. Prompts on each page to talk to children about, and gorgeous illustrations – many by famous Ladybird regular artist Martin Aitchison.

Released in 1977 Talkabout holidays covers pretty much everything there is to discuss on the series of holidays. Well, holidays as they were in the 1970s. Things start with choosing where to go and booking the trip. Lots of holiday brochures and a trip to the travel agent rather than just clicking on a website as we might today.

The book does mainly focus on the sorts of things you might get up to on a holiday in the UK, but there is also a gorgeous retro picture of the interior of an aeroplane and a page where you can discuss a French street scene.

The book also has a couple of things in it that I have to admit to not fully following. Like the picture story of leaving a radio on the car roof as you drive off. Was leaving things on the roof a common part of 1970s holidays?

As well as pages where you’re asked retell a story based on pictures, the book also features a couple of maze style puzzle pages too. It really isn’t a quick bedtime read, but instead a book to really be lingered over and discussed.

From what I’ve read over on Ladybird Fly Away Home (scroll down to near the end of the article), Ladybird reissued many of the titles in this series in the 1980s, but with totally different artwork, that was possibly cheaper to reproduce. Such a shame as I think it is the illustrations that make this title so particularly gorgeous.

In the introduction pages inside the front cover of the book it talks about how the books have been planned with “qualified nursery school advisors” and it’s clear just how useful these books are for helping to engage young children in conversation. Inside the back pages are ideas for extending the use of the books and everything written in there is still very valid today. For many first time parents in particular, knowing how best to share a book like this with a child isn’t something that necessarily comes naturally. Giving parents the tools to help their children develop a love of books is so valuable and done so perfectly here. I’ve heard some people say that they don’t really like the Talkabout series of books, but more fool them!

About Ladybird Tuesday

Ladybird Tuesday: The Public Services – Water Supply

April 20, 2021 by penny Leave a Comment

In The Nanny State Made Me, Stuart Maconie talks about how frankly stupid it is that something as basic as water is no longer a public service. And how spot on he is. It’s not as if the companies have any competition in the sector and also having a clean and safe water supply is a basic need to everyone.

Way, way back in the early days of Ladybird Tuesday I dipped into series 606E, The Public Services, looking at Electricity. I even commented at the times about how the whole concept of Electricity, Gas and Water being public services was vintage in itself. Years on, it’s time to revisit the series again, but this time we’ve moved on to the Water Supply.

I still smile to see this book labelled as being “A Ladybird ‘Easy-Reading’ Book”, but then when I consider some of the slightly obscure titles that my eldest two have brought home as school reading books maybe it isn’t as strange as I used to think. Kids do seem to have an interest in some of what us adults might class as mundane, or even geeky, and I think it fair to say that books on the Public Services fall into that category. Luckily I think I, and several of my friends fall into that geeky category.

Water Supply starts off with what has to be one of the most obvious things here in the UK – the fact that it rains rather a lot and hence we have a lot of water. It then goes on to explain about what a well is. Again, it seems like the obvious, but just a few months ago I honestly met someone who claimed never to have seen a well before and didn’t really believe that they exist. What the…?

The rather sweeping statement that “some large cities have made use of all the water that is nearby” is where this particular Ladybird books heads towards being being sexist in the way that so many of their books did. It goes on to tell us that the men at the water department must find more water. Heaven forbid that they might have a woman on their team!

Dams and reservoirs are explained, along with some helpful statements like “if a valley with houses in it has to be flooded, the people living in them must move”. You don’t say? Or maybe I’m just being a tad cynical in my old age…

In fairness though the book goes on to explain how the water is then taken from the reservoirs, treated to make it safe into drinking water, and taken to people’s houses. The book then looks at all things domestic, and covers much of the same ground as the later title Waterin the Ladybird Leaders series. They don’t leave that sexism behind though as there’s still lots of talk about the “men from the water board” having various jobs to do. Let’s just hope the modern day equivalent book would be a bit more balanced from an equality point of view.

About Ladybird Tuesday

The Librarian – Salley Vickers

April 15, 2021 by penny Leave a Comment

From one book that talks about the benefits of libraries, amongst other things, to a book set in a library and with the benefits of libraries and learning at the core of the story: The Librarian by Salley Vickers.

In 1958, Sylvia Blackwell takes up a new job as the children’s librarian at East Mole library. As a child she had a love of books and she wants to share that with other children. To enthuse them about the written word.

She moves into a small end of terrace cottage and tries to settle into village life. She gets to know the family that live next door but one very well, and starts to try to reach out to local children and their families via both the WI and the local primary school. In doing so and through inviting them to the library, she ends up making friends with three young children in particular – her neighbour’s son, her landlady’s grand daughter and the daughter of the local GP.

But things are not straight forward. She ends up having an affair with the married GP and the neighbour’s son, caught between the attentions of two girls, ends up getting himself into all sorts of trouble. In doing so the children’s library is dragged into a local scandal, and the results of it threaten Sylvia’s own job there.

Part one of The Librarian is set in the late 1950s and as it’s a period that I really enjoy I found myself loving Sylvia (even if I didn’t agree with all the choices she made in life!) and I became incredibly caught up in her life in East Mole and everything that was going on around her. I was intrigued to find out what would happen next and was looking forward to seeing where the story would go, when suddenly part one finished and part two of the book began.

Without much by way of an introduction part two of the book is suddenly set in modern day and it’s a good few pages before you actually realise which of the book’s characters you are again following. You’re left assuming that it’s Sylvia, but then rather disappointingly in my opinion you find it’s actually another of the people that you first met in East Mole.

Part two of the book really does demonstrate the benefits of libraries as centres of communities and as places for both learning and escapism. It also shows how events of childhood can really shape a person – both for the better and sometimes the worse. But, and it is quite a big but, part two just really seemed to jar against part one for me. Yes it picks up some of the ends of what happens to some of the characters, but it seems to only give Sylvia a passing comment. I wanted to know so much more about what happened next to her and I was left almost feeling a bit let down. I’d become so invested in her in part one of the book that moving the focus almost seemed disloyal. I sort of understand why, even if I can’t explain why here as it would give away some of the story, but it left so much hanging in the air that I didn’t really feel satisfied when I finished the book.

Despite all this I did take away some good things from The Librarian. As a lover of libraries, and in particular children’s libraries, I could see what the character Sylvia was trying to do and wanted to support her in doing it. There were quite a few nice mentions of children’s books from the time and a very useful list of recommended reading from East Mole library at the end, which fits well with my aim to read some of the children’s classics that I missed as a child (a separate post on that soon). Having also just read Tom’s Midnight Garden as my daughter was studying it this term whilst I was helping with her home schooling, I was interested to read some of the references to it in the text and that too helped my understanding of some of the theories about it that were discussed in The Librarian. I’m just sadly still left feeling a tad disappointed at the end, and wishing I knew properly what happened to Sylvia when she left East Mole.

The Librarian by Salley Vickers is available to buy online here.