Marilyn Monroe - The Personal Archives

There is no more recognized actress of the twentieth century than Marilyn Monroe. She starred in some of the greatest films ever made and had relationships with some of the most famous men in the world. Even after death she has continued to be surrounded by interest and controversy. Through over 170 beautiful photographs and approximately 20 rare and removable facsimile documents, "Marilyn Monroe: The Personal Archive" will uncover the private life of the star, revealing her crippling stage fright, insecurity, difficult childhood and her ambition to be the greatest actress the world had ever known.

I have never been a fan of Marilyn Monroe, I have seen pictures of her and believe she was an icon of her time, but have never been one of her followers. However, this book would be a great present for Monroe fans everywhere. There are beautiful photographs of Monroe which accompany the detailed text which describes her well publicised life.

Included within the book are a number of pockets including Facsimile Items - these are a variety of memorabilia including personal letters, scripts, photographs, telegrams and sketches. I think these items add an extra interest to the book, giving fans extra information and insight into the lady who they idolise.

A book Marilyn Monroe fans will adore in their collection and treasure.

Thank you to Carlton Books for sending me a copy to review.

Jerry Hall, My Life In Pictures Curated by Jonathan Phang

Jerry Hall escaped from small-town Texas and was discovered on a St Tropez beach at the age of 16. Within a year she had appeared on the covers of magazines all over the world. A whirlwind life as a top model jetting from Paris to New York to London and all over the world was followed by a four-year affair with Bryan Ferry and then by 20 years married to Mick Jagger, travelling with the Rolling Stones and appearing on stage and screen. Over the years she has been photographed by all the greats and has consistently presented an impeccably glamorous image. She has also managed to maintain a private life without too much intrusion. Curated by Jerry herself, this book is a celebration of her life so far - a fabulous collection of photographs from her earliest modelling days to the present time, including her appearances on rock album covers, TV, film and stage. Works by Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Andy Warhol, David Bailey, Norman Parkinson, Helmut Newton, Karl Lagerfeld, Rankin - and many others - are featured alongside shots of her glamorous life and intimate snapshots of friends and family, Mick Jagger and their children. Interwoven through it all is Jerry's candid narrative, charting the highs and lows of her extraordinary life. Jerry Hall: My Life in Pictures documents the truth behind the image of one the world's most enduring and photographed stars.

A great coffee table book full of stunning photographs of one of the worlds top models of the last century. While there are plenty of pictures which are brilliant, both colour and timeless black and white stills. there is also lots of reading. A biography of Jerry's life, containing lots of interesting facts from her life. From the early days, leaving her home to travel to France to chase the dream of becoming a model, her life with Mick Jagger, the wedding, the children and her divorce. The book details her work with many top designers and photographers and was very interesting to read about her work with some of the industry's most popular and well respected members.

This book is a great coffee table book, but is also a must for all Jerry Hall fans.

Thank you to Quadrille Books for sending me this book to review.

Inside the Puppet Theatre by Claire Llewellyn and Veronique Leplat

Have you ever seen a puppet show? Now's your chance to go behind the scenes! Take a trip inside the Little Angel Theatre and meet Ronnie the puppeteer. As he takes you on a tour of the theatre, you can meet lots of puppets, find out how they're made and how a show is put on. This colourful non-fiction book brings the world of puppets to life. / Purple/Band 8 books offer developing readers literary language, with some challenging vocabulary. / Text type: An information book. / Pages 22 and 23 show a diagram of the different areas of the puppet theatre, to help children to recap what they have read. / Additional retrieval devices such as a glossary and index can be evaluated for their usefulness as children develop critical reading skills. / Curriculum links: Design and Technology: Puppets; Art and design: People in action
Book details
Published01/09/2010
PublisherCollins Educational
ISBN9780007336159

This is one of Collins Big Cat Reading Scheme books, however it is also a very informative little book for children who want to find out what happens inside a puppet theatre. The book has lots of photographs throughout the book depicting the life of a puppeteer.

At the start of the book, the reader is introduced to Ronnie, the puppeteer and he introduces you to his theatre. There is a section on string and rod puppets and also about glove and shadow puppets. Ronnie also talks about making puppets and also about creating the character - how will it move?

Although this is a reading scheme book, as previously said, I found it really interesting. There is also a glossary at the end of the book and a plan for guided reading. Included in this are some great ideas for further research and also general ideas for helping children with guided reading.

Thank you to Michael from The School Run forum for sending me a copy to review.

11+ Crossword Puzzles (Key Stage 2 English)

New Educational Aid to Stimulate FUN Learning for 11 Plus Exams. Make study for 11 Plus English a pleasure for your child!! Read on and see for yourself Based on the English Key Stage 2 National Curriculum, this new English SKIPS Crossword Puzzle Book is a truly exciting innovation to stimulate your child s appetite and interest, specifically when preparing for 11 plus. The first book is packed with interactive activities relevant to today s exams, and designed to hold the child s interest. The Crossword Puzzle Book will appeal to your child s sense of fun and excitement so that they will want to use the book at any time. This play-to-learn approach helps children to motivate and challenge themselves and to grow in confidence and self-belief, qualities that are the springboard for success. WE MUST NEVER UNDERESTIMATE A CHILD S NATURAL ABILITY, WHICH BLOSSOMS WITH LOVE, SUPPORT, ENCOURAGEMENT.......AND FUN !! Written by practising 11 Plus and SATS Tutors for 8 -11 year olds

My daughter loves puzzles and I think this is an ideal book for her. The puzzles are aimed at children currently at Key Stage 2 level and there are crosswords based on a number of different tools of the English Language. There are puzzles based on nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, synonyms and verbal reasoning at two different levels. Before each set of crosswords there is a section on, for example, what is a noun? noun formation? which would act as a reminder for the child as to what they have previously learnt, followed by a puzzle about noun formation and then a section inviting you to have a go at sentence construction using the nouns from the puzzle.

I really like the idea of the book, a great revision tool for what has already been learnt at school. There are answers in the back of the book for us parents who have forgotten all we learnt at school.

A great book for both children who want to practice their new school and for teachers who want a fun resource for English language lessons.

Thank you to Michael from TheSchoolRun forum for sending me the book to review.

Dinoburps by Ciaran Murtagh

The third hilarious story about caveboy Charlie Flint.It's a hot summer and Charlie creates a tasty fizzy drink for the dinosaurs to enjoy and to keep them cool. But there is an unexpected side-effect: very smelly dinoburps. To start with everyone finds it quite amusing, but the burping continues, even when the dinosaurs stop drinking the pop. No one can get any sleep and there's a horrible smelly fog lingering over Sabreton! It's up to Charlie to make a dangerous journey through the jungle, across the sea and to a volcano to get the remedy. And even worse - with a girl.

Dinosaurs who burp! what a combination. A great book for boys of all ages. I would not say this was a book for early readers. Great for readers who are gaining confidence in reading. I will be giving this to my son who is now reading more confidently on his own and I am sure he will love it.

The book starts with Charlie deciding that dinosaurs must be bored drinking only water and so decides to concoct a new drink for them but none he creates is liked by Steggy until he finds a purple flower - crushed, diluted with water and stirred with a liquorice stick. Fantastic, Steggy loves it but then lets out an enormous burp. Soon the town is full of the sounds of dinosaurs burping and the air is full of fog. Charlie must find a cure for the burps - a yellow flower which can only be found on Snapper Mountain. Charlie starts the journey and comes face to face with Sabre Tooth Monkeys and Crocodiles before climbing the mountain which erupts hot boulders! will he manage to get back to Sabreton and cure the dinosaurs from burping??

A book which boys everywhere will enjoy. My only disappointment was the illustrations, pencil sketches which looked very basic. The front cover looks quite attractive and I think if the illustrations inside were of similar quality, they would of looked better.

Thank you to Michael from TheSchoolRun forum for sending me the book to review.

Mr Stink

The second original, touching, twisted, and most of all hilarious novel for children by David Walliams -- beautifully illustrated by Quentin Blake. "Mr Stink stank. He also stunk. And if it was correct English to say he stinked, then he stinked as well!" It all starts when Chloe makes friends with Mr Stink, the local tramp. Yes, he smells a bit. But when it looks like he might be driven out of town, Chloe decides to hide him in the garden shed. Now Chloe's got to make sure no one finds out her secret. And speaking of secrets, there just might be more to Mr Stink than meets the eye! or the nose.

I recently read David Walliams latest release, Billionaire Boy, and loved it and so was really pleased to find Mr Stink appear through my letter box. David Walliams has created a great character and Quentin Blake's illustrations accompany the story really well.

Walliams has written a great book which again gives a great message to readers of all ages - don't judge a person by their appearance.
Mr Stink is a tramp who sits all day on a bench in the town centre, avoided by everyone because ... he smells. Chloe is a school girl and the daughter of a mother who thinks she is extremely posh, wants to be a member of Parliament and looks down her nose at others. There are many secrets in the family and Mr Stink has a way of outing the secrets while making the family reunite and become a loving family once more.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to adults and children alike who want a good story with a strong message included within.

Thank you to Harper Collins for sending me the book to review.

Twelve Days of Christmas by Trisha Ashley

Christmas has always been a sad time for young widow Holly Brown, so when she's asked to look after a remote house on the Lancashire moors, the opportunity to hide herself away is irresistible -- the perfect excuse to forget about the festivities. Sculptor, Jude Martland, is determined that this year there will be no Christmas after his brother runs off with his fiancee and he is keen to avoid the family home. However, he will have to return by the twelfth night of the festivities, when the hamlet of Little Mumming hold their historic festivities and all of his family are required to attend. Meanwhile, Holly is finding that if she wants to avoid Christmas, she has come to the wrong place. When Jude unexpectedly returns on Christmas Eve he is far from delighted to discover that Holly seems to be holding the very family party he had hoped to avoid. Suddenly, the blizzards come out of nowhere and the whole village is snowed in. With no escape, Holly and Jude get much more than they bargained for -- it looks like the twelve days of Christmas are going to be very interesting indeed!

My first Christmas read of 2010 and I am already excited! Oh how I wish to live in a big house in the country, completely snowed in with Holly to cater for the whole festive period.

I was first introduced to Trisha Ashley through her previous release, Chocolate Wishes and I was soon a fan, so when I heard her next book was due to be released, I was eager for a copy and I was not disappointed. Even the cover is beautiful and Christmassy. The large, country house with the snow glistening on the cover sets the scene perfectly.

Holly is a professional house sitter, who looks after clients houses while they are away. When she is asked by her boss to look after a remote house at Little Mumming over the festive period, it is ideal as Holly, who was bought up by her Strange Baptist grandmother, who celebrated only the religious festival of Christmas, and who has recently died and is also mourning the death of her husband some years ago, also around Christmas, the idea of getting away from the festivities are perfect.

Holly arrives at the house, with her Grandmothers treasured tin full of memories and her diaries, looks forward to a quiet time, however, it does not go to plan, when the owners family all talk about spending the Christmas period at the house, although the owner has disappeared to America on business and to avoid his brother and ex-fiance who spoilt the previous Christmas by getting together. As Christmas draws nearer, and the snow gets worse, more relatives drop into the house along with Jude, the owner, who decides Holly should stay and cater for them all. What is the attraction between Jude and Holly? or Holly and Michael? Will they all stay for the Twelfth Night festivities?

I loved this book. Set in a small country village, with real village community, pulling together when the weather got worse and they were cut off and the winter scenes were great for curling up at night and reading. The story was great, with twists and turns. I really loved the diary entries from Holly's nan at the start of each chapter - this was a story in its own right and I was eager to find out what happened to her as much as Holly. It was a book I could get lost in each night and really wanted to carry on to find out what happened. The characters became friends, although Jude was standoffish to start off with, and then came good - I really wish I could have seen Jude's finished sculpture, it sounded stunning!

I would recommend this book to all who want to get in the Christmassy mood, or want to get lost in a good book over the winter period, but don't read it when you are hungry. The meals Holly cooks all sound delicious. Trisha has added a few recipes to the end of the book which I think i am going to have to try.

A great read, thank you to Charlotte Allen at Harper Collins for sending me a copy to review.