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How to Nab A Rabbit – Claire Freedman & Monika Filipina

August 17, 2018 by penny Leave a Comment

Kids love the idea that all the different world’s that they encounter in books are all linked together. Little Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks are friends. Harry Potter has met Ben and his Gangster Granny. The logic that the Big Bad Wolf would therefore feature in another book came as being totally normal to Master C. And that’s exactly what happens in How to Nab a Rabbit.

In How to Nab a Rabbit, the Big Bad Wolf himself provides some foolproof tips as to how to get yourself a rabbit for the pot. In the words of the wolf himself:

For hungry wolves, this book is a winner,

It shows you how to catch your dinner.

Love bunny pie and rabbit stew?

They’ll soon become your dream come true.

The Big Bad Wolf covers off all sorts of different tactics, from stalking rabbits to creating holes for them to simply fall in to. He even addresses the most daring tactic of them all – The Love Lure.

Despite his fictional reputation, it seems that the Big Bad Wolf isn’t actually all that successful in nabbing a rabbit. So much so in fact that by the end of How to Nab a Rabbit the Big Bad Wolf has come up with a new idea for a book: How to be a Vegetarian!

I guess it just goes to show that it’s always worth having a back up plan for when things don’t go according to plan.

How to Nab a Rabbit is a proper laugh out loud kids book. With its rhyming verse it’s perfect for reading out loud at bedtime and Master C was chuckling along as I read. Author Claire Freedman knows exactly how to make kids laugh, and Monika Filipina’s accompanying illustrations capture the Big Bad Wolf’s attempts perfectly.

If you’ve enjoyed How to Nab a Rabbit then why not check out some of Claire Freedman’s other books that I’ve reviewed:

How to Nab a Rabbit was published by Simon & Schuster on 9 August 2018. Paperback ISBN 978-1-4711-4451-6 Priced at £6.99. It can be bought online via Amazon here.

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

The Night Watch Ninjas – Lilly Roscoe, Lisa & Damien Barlow

August 8, 2018 by penny Leave a Comment

Master C has been a huge fan of Supertato recently, and so it came as no surprise when the first book that he picked out in the latest pile sent from Simon & Schuster was The Night Watch Ninjas.

He instantly fell in love with the idea of Stinker the Stink-Meister Smellykins Skunk being on the loose, although to be honest he didn’t really seem that concerned with capturing him. Instead he was just getting excited about how smelly he was. I guess that’s boys for you!

The Night Watch Ninjas are concerned though. They make it their mission to capture him, despite the skunk’s best attempt to put them off his scent. Stink Bombs and Smelly Cheese won’t beat the ninjas, although a supermarket full of skunks does slow them down a bit. Luckily they remember their training and try to get inside the mind of their opposition. That’s the best way to success in a situation like this.

This is a fantastic, action packed book that Master C absolutely loved. The addition of the membership test for being a member of the Night Watch Ninja Club was a fantastic final part. Master C jumped out of bed and took the test incredibly seriously, jumping around his bedroom like a proper ninja. Well as much as he could in a bedroom that was reading about 28 degrees at the time! He just now wants to know what his first ninja assignment will be.

The Night Watch Ninjas is a great book to appeal to children who love a bit of action in their bedtime stories. Lily Roscoe has done a fantastic job in writing a story that really is packed full of action (and smells) and this is accompanied wonderfully by husband and wife team Lisa and Damien Barlow’s great illustrations.

Watch out for the Night Watch Ninjas (probably with Master C in tow) keeping your town safe from night-time mischief!

The Night Watch Ninjas was published by Simon & Schuster on 12 July 2018. Paperback ISBN 978-1-4711-6467-5 Priced at £6.99. It can be bought online via Amazon here.

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

Peter’s Railway Hits the Jackpot – Christopher Vine

August 7, 2018 by penny Leave a Comment

Anyone who knows Master C from one of my other blogs or my social media accounts will know that he is train obsessed. Totally!

He’s also a little boy with an eye for detail. One who likes to know exactly how everything works and why it does so in the way it does. And asks lots of lots of questions about things. Especially when it comes to trains. Luckily for me I’ve got an engineering background, so can work out answers to many of his questions. And when I can’t Bonn can usually provide an answer.

As much as he loves books he’s always been on the lookout for books about trains. When we take him to the supermarket and his sister is busy choosing a magazine I can usually find him sat on the floor. carefully working his way through a copy of one of the many train magazines that they seem to stock. He might not be able to read independently yet, but that doesn’t stop him looking at the pictures and trying to work things out from them.

His little mind was blown somewhat when we recently took him to Bekonscot model village. He’s been several times before and fondly remembered all the trains going round, but I think he’d forgotten just how much there was of interest to him in the gift shop afterwards.

As parents we all know what it’s like having to run the gift shop gauntlet before you can get out of a tourist attraction these days. Whilst I draw the line at some of the pieces of plastic that my kids seem insistent on buying I’m a soft touch when it comes to books. At Bekonscot I told both of them that they could choose a book to take home as a souvenir of the day and Master C spent quite a while choosing exactly which one he wanted.

Now, we’d come across Peter’s Railway before now. I think he may have been bought one of the books as a gift once, and I’d certainly found a couple in a charity shop, but when we read them with him originally I think he was still just a bit too young to take them in properly.

This time though at Bekonscot he was drawn to the selection that they had in the gift shop and was determined that one had to make its way home with him. With his preference for diesel and electric engines over steam ones his eye was drawn to Peter’s Railway Hits the Jackpot and I’m so glad it was as I don’t think the pair of us have ever enjoyed a book together quite so much.

The thing about Peter’s Railway books is that they are so much more than “just” a train story. Each book combines a train based story with loads of historical and engineering train related facts.

Their strap line is that they are for “children who love trains and engineering” and that’s why they are just perfect for Master C. Written by a chartered engineer they are packed full of accurate information, which fits in beautifully to each story. With separate pages for the “information bits” as Master C calls them it means that when we’re reading together at bedtime we can opt to either just stick with the story or to focus on some of the engineering bits. It’s also given me a better understanding of some of the railway engineering that Master C is so interested in.

As for the Peter’s Railway Hits the Jackpot story – it’s a wonderful tale about how Peter and his Grandpa manage to convince the Minister for Transport to fund an extension to their railway, so that they can help children travel to and from the local school. It’s basically a school boy’s dream come true, but written in such a way that the adults reading with them can also have a bit of a laugh in the process.

We’ve spread this book out, a chapter a night, as bedtime reading for when Master C is staying at my house for a couple of weeks and I’ve never seen him look forward to a bedtime story quite so much. Each evening (and a few mornings) he would eagerly appear clutching it and asking for another chapter. We’ve sometimes stopped mid-chapter to go and look something up or talk about some of the engineering behind what’s going on in the story, and it’s been a beautiful bonding experience too.

I’m a tad sad that we’ve finished, but it means that tonight I can find the other ones from the series on his bedroom bookcase and make a start on those. He’s also got a birthday next month and has already asked if he can have one of the others in the series as a gift. I just need to persuade him that us building his own private railway line from my house to his school (about 12 miles away) might be a tad ambitious. So far his only concern about the plan is whether or not he should tunnel under the M1 or design a fancy bridge over it!

Peter’s Railway Hits the Jackpot is available to buy online here. You can find other Peter’s Railway titles either on Amazon or on the Peter’s Railway website.

The Secret Sky Garden – Linda Sarah & Fiona Lumbers

June 29, 2018 by penny 1 Comment

There’s a whole range of emotions that go with pregnancy. The thing I found myself sobbing over the other day though was the fact that it means I’ll still be able to keep enjoying picture books with my kids. It’s a stage of parenting that I love. Little Miss C is definitely an independent reader now and somewhat beyond picture books. Master C though is still a huge, huge fan and usually chooses a couple every bedtime. Books like The Secret Sky Garden are ones that I particularly love though. The messages in them are just perfect.

Funni loves playing in the old airport car park. She goes there most Saturdays and either takes hire kite or recorder with her. She loves watching the planes take off and land. She’s learnt to imitate the notes from the tannoy system in the airport terminal on her recorder. She loves looking out over the city.

But, something was missing.

In that beautifully innocent way that only a child could, Funni decides to make a difference. Over the weeks she turns that disused car park into gorgeous garden. She tidies up, plants flowers and creates something really, really special.

But still, something was missing.

One day Zoo is flying into the airport and spots the garden from the aeroplane window. He decides that he needs to find the garden and visit and that’s exactly what he does.

He finds Funni and the beautiful world she has created. They fly kites together and he also brings his harmonica to play alongside her recorder.

Now, nothing is missing.

The Secret Sky Garden is one of those books that really can only be described as beautiful. Linda Sarah’s story, combined with Fiona Lumbers’ gorgeous illustrations are the perfect match. Just like Funni and Zoo. It’s beautiful to see a book celebrating the environment, kindness and friendship like this. It’s the perfect launchpad for a discussion with children about how we can all make a difference in life. An important message for everyone.

The Secret Sky Garden. Written by Linda Sarah and Illustrated by Fiona Lumbers. Published by Simon & Schuster on 28 June 2018. Paperback £6.99 ISBN 978-1-4711-1926-2. Available in bookshops and online.

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

Supertato Veggies in the Valley of Doom – Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet

June 28, 2018 by penny Leave a Comment

Supertato is a hero in our house. It’s about three years since he first arrived in our family and he’s made quite an impression in that time. Master C still regularly asks for his books at bedtime and still loves them just as much as he did when Supertato first came on the scene.

It was lovely therefore to receive the latest Supertato adventure to review – Veggies in the Valley of Doom.

Once again, we’re back in the supermarket and it’s night-time. The veggies are bored and don’t know what to do until broccoli suggests a game of hide and seek. The veggies all go off and hide whilst Supertato counts.

When they counting is up he sets off and managed to find several of the veggies before carrot finds a treasure map and the seeking steps up a level.

Their adventure takes them down the gardening aisle and then on to the Valley of Doom. But, just why is it called the Valley of Doom? And why does Supertato think they need oven gloves? And why do he and the veggies need too call upon Evil Pea for help? And will Evil Pea actually respond to a request for help?

Not forgetting what is possibly the most important question. Whether or not anyone will actually find broccoli ‘s hiding place.

It’s lovey to welcome Supertato back to our bedtime story time. Any child who has enjoyed his previous adventures will love this particular game of supermarket hide and seek. Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet have again worked their magic in the supermarket’s frozen food aisle.

Superato Veggies in the Valley of Doom, published by Simon & Schuster on 28 June 2018. Paperback ISBN 978-1-4711-7170-3 Priced at £6.99. The book is available in bookshops and also online.

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

Ladybird: How it works The Hovercraft

May 17, 2018 by penny Leave a Comment

Wherever I go I keep my eyes peeled for Ladybird books. You just never know when you are going to come across one. Most often I find the ones I collect in charity shops or car boot sales. Every so often though I see that familiar shape somewhere when I’m really not expecting it. That’s what happened with the Hovercraft title.

The latest example of this was whilst on the Isle of Wight for a quick trip with my boyfriend B. He was over there for a work trip and as I couldn’t tag along last time I made sure I did this year. After a trip up and down the Island line we then popped into the Hovertravel terminal building to find out how much a return ticket to the mainland costs. Our plan being that we could factor it into our schedule for when we next returned to the island.

Hovertravel

There, sat in a basket in front of a load of other hovercraft related souvenirs were a huge pile of copies of the old Ladybird title The Hovercraft. This was originally part of the “How it works” series. Picking up a copy quickly showed me that whilst the interior pages are an exact copy of the original 1969 title, this version of the book was actually published in 2011, specially for Hovertravel.

Their logo and website address appear on the back cover, along with the following text:

“Hovertravel, the only scheduled hovercraft operator in Europe, was launched in 1965 and is the fastest Isle of Wight service across the Solent, with a journey time of under ten minutes. It is also the world’s longest-running commercial hovercraft operator.”

This is then accompanied by the following “Hover Facts” and how Hovertravel:

carry over 850,000 passengers per year
operate up to 72 journeys per day
their hovercraft travel at 45 knots, faster than any ferry
also operates the fastest freight service

The inside cover of the book also notes that Hovertravel will celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2015. I’m guessing that when the book was published in the hope of it being popular as part of the anniversary celebrations. However, the pile of them still available to buy now in 2018 suggests maybe not.

Isle of Wight

It’s a shame really. The Hovercraft service to the Isle of Wight is one of many lovely little quirky things about the Island. Whilst the technology behind it may now be a bit old, it’s still fascinating to geeks like us. The How it Works Hovercraft book explains everything beautifully, even if the context of it all is a bit dated.

These Ladybird How It Works books may have been aimed at children, but they’re actually excellent for adults who want to learn about a new subject too.

If you want to find out more about the Hovercraft service over to the Isle of Wight then look out for a post very soon over on Penny Travels.

If you want to get your hands on your own copy of this Hovertravel version of the Ladybird book How it Works The Hovercraft then just head over to Hovershop, the Hovertravel website shop.