Usborne Activities - Christmas Sticker Book

This enchanting sticker book will keep children busy in the exciting weeks before Christmas. With over 800 stickers, including lots of shiny foil stickers, they can decorate a Christmas tree, fill Santa's sack with presents, build funny snowmen and have lots more festive fun. There is also a sticker advent calendar to complete.

Within this book there are 12 pictures to decorate with the included over 800 stickers. There is an advent calendar included which has corresponding stickers to count down the days until Christmas. There are stickers which are relevant for each picture, however I am sure not all of them need to be added to the pictures within the book. There is also a double spread of gold foil stickers which are included but are brilliant to be added to handmade cards or decorated presents.

I love the idea of this book, and I could see my children really enjoying adding the stickers to the pictures - all of which are beautifully drawn and include many scenes; bears making gingerbread treats, penguins playing on the ice, decorating a tree and the elves in Santa's workshop to name a few. Children of all ages will have fun using their imagination to complete the pictures.

This would be a great book to give to children of all ages as a present and would be a great gift for over the festive period or during the Christmas holidays to while away a few hours.

Thank you to Amy of Usborne for sending me this book to review.

The Usborne book of Drawing, Doodling and Colouring for Christmas

There's lots to draw, doodle and colour in this creative book filled with wonderful Christmas scenes, from jolly pictures to colour in to doodle-starters from which drawings can grow and grow and grow until they cover the whole page. Doodlers can complete the scenes however they want and the craft paper quality pages make this book ideal for drawing in.

As soon as I opened this book I wanted to run and grab some felt tips or pencil crayons and get colouring. There are so many different activities in this book; shapes to turn into pictures, pictures to colour and backgrounds to add doodles to. There are activities for all ages, with some pages being suitable for youngsters and adults, the art student or doodler. I was pleased to see that there were some of the intricate colouring pictures included (with the striking black outlines and backgrounds) which will look great coloured in bold colours. There was also an advent calendar double spread which included 25 small pictures to colour in the countdown to Christmas.
There are also many different styles of drawing - the modern, stylistic reindeer's, modern shadow trees. childlike images, whimsical, sketchy outlines and the modern take on the nativity scene.
There are a wide range of images, Father Christmas, Nativity, Snowflakes, Stockings etc but also less Christmassy designs - traffic jams with trees strapped to them, creatures hiding in the snow and town scenes.

I was also impressed with the weight of paper used in the production of the book. It appears to be of a heavy weight which should prevent ink bleeding through to the other side and ruining the picture.

I loved this book and will be using pages to entertain my children over the festive period, and I am sure I will join them in this activity as there were many pages that caught my eye. I will be looking at other books in this range as ideas for presents for children.

Thank you to Amy at Usborne for sending me this book to review.

Usborne very first words Christmas -

Little children will love learning their first Christmas words as they enjoy each delightful festive scene. Scenes include decorating the tree, getting ready for Santa and Santa on the roof, all enchantingly illustrated by Rosalinde Bonnet.

This is a lovely, brightly coloured book full of bright pictures which will attract young children's attention. It is a board book and therefore suitable for even the most youngest of children.

There are six double pages: Christmas is coming, Decorating the tree, Ready for Santa, Santa in his sleigh, Santa on the roof and Opening presents. Each double page picture has a large picture with many individual details labelled. There are many children included within the pictures and they are from many ethnicity.

This book would be an ideal gift for a child celebrating their first Christmas or for a slightly older child who is beginning to understand more about the festive period and begins to learn words. I like these books as they encourage children to learn new vocabulary and be able to vocalise their thoughts. As a mum who has a child with speech difficulties, I personally like these books as they have lots of elements in the pictures which can be talked about with the child, encouraging them to speak.

Thank you to Amy from Usborne for sending me this book to review.

Personally I Blame my Fairy Godmother by Claudia Carroll

The fairytale ending was just the beginning! Jessie Woods absolutely believes in fairytale endings. So would you if you had a recession-proof career as a daredevil TV host, a palatial pink mansion, and the dream boyfriend. But, quicker than you can say Cinderella, her life falls to pieces and suddenly her prince isn't quite so charming, her party-loving friends disappear and even her faithful friend Visa no longer loves her! Utterly heartbroken and jobless, Jessie is forced back home, to live with her step mum and two evil stepsisters. Is it time for her to give up on the dream - or will Jessie learn that happy endings can come in the strangest of places? Avon's hot new acquisition presents a tale of princes who turn out to be frogs, Manolo Blahnik glass slippers and not-so-happily-ever-afters!

I have not read any of Claudia Carroll's previous books and when I received this book I liked the synopsis and was looking forward to reading it. However, I when I started the book I found it was at a very slow pace.

I did enjoy the story - a girl who had the dream job on a television programme alongside one of her best friends. However, due to a lapse in judgement, Jessie looses everything - her dream job, which led to a decline in income meaning she looses her home and along with it her boyfriend, friends and lifestyle.

The story continues as she is forced to return to her childhood home, now inhabited by her stepmother and stepsisters - usually only seen at the annual memorial of her father. However, Jessie earns her keep by doing household chores and takes stoke of her life. after a hard hitting realisation that her ex-boyfriend, Sam, does not wish to rekindle their relationship, she takes stoke of her life and along with new friend, step sister Sharon, she finds a job, which leads her to finding another job through an old friend.
The story continues predictably with another turn of fortune and leaves Jessie looking at her life and working out what is important.

The book has many similarities to Cinderella and is right to be compared to a modern day Cinderella - there is the evil step-mother and the two wicked stepsisters, although they do change by the end of the book and Jessie who is left slaving at home while the step family are out at work.

Although i thought the story was a good one, I was not so keen on the authors style of writing. It was slow in places and i found myself wanting to skip pages to get to the next part. I also predicted how the story would progress. However, I did enjoy the modern day Cinderella twist to the story.

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

Mr Big by Ed Vere

Mr Big is strong, Mr Big is tough, Mr Big is ...well ...big! He has just one small problem - because of the way he looks he just can't get people to stick around. How can he show them that although he may look a little scary, he is just a great big softy inside? With his trademark bold colour and masterful graphic simplicity, Ed Vere sensitively and humorously tackles the universal and current subject of inclusion, reminding the reader that to get to know someone you need to look beyond their exterior. This is the third picture book from an exciting new talent, whose previous titles "The Getaway" and "Banana" have received great critical acclaim.

I have not seen the other books by this author, but I may just have to go and source them!
The cover of this book is brightly coloured and would attract the attention of a youngster within a display. The story is just as good, bright, bold pictures with doodle details to pictures. The pictures are simple but striking.
The message of the story is to look beyond the physical characteristics of a person and see their inner beauty and talents.

In whole this is a great book who I would recommend to parents of children under 5 years.

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

Billionaire Boy by David Walliams

A hilarious, touching and extraordinary new fable from the author of The Boy in the Dress and Mr Stink. Joe has a lot of reasons to be happy. About a billion of them, in fact. You see, Joe's rich. Really, really rich. Joe's got his own bowling alley, his own cinema, even his own butler who is also an orangutan. He's the wealthiest twelve-year-old in the land. But Joe isn't happy. Why not? Because he's got a billion pounds! and not a single friend. But then someone comes along, someone who likes Joe for Joe, not for his money. The problem is, Joe's about to learn that when money is involved, nothing is what it seems. The best things in life are free, they say -- and if Joe's not careful, he's going to lose them all!

Money can buy you happiness... or can it??? This is the latest book by David Walliams and he has written another cracker! I loved it, full of humour but still had an important message to give its readers.

The first thing i noticed about this book was the change of illustrator. Quentin Crisp illustrated the first two books but this latest book is illustrated by Tony Ross. The illustrations are just as good though.

The main character in the book is Joe Spud, son of Mr Spud, the man who invented and manufactured 'Freshbum' and made his billions. Joe wanted for nothing, top school, expensive presents, his own racetrack with his own formula one racing car. Except Joe did, he wanted love and attention and to be able to go about his every day life where no one knew he was the son of a billionaire.

Joe transferred to the local comprehensive school and enjoyed the anonymity, which lasted until his father used his private helicopter to drop Joe's forgotten homework into school for him. As soon as the school realised who Joe really was, he was being asked for money constantly. However, Joe made another mistake, thinking he could buy his friends friendship, to stop bullies, to make friends and to clear up any problems with people. Mr Spud also used to money to solve problems, to hire friends for a party, to get a teacher who put Joe on litter duty the sack and to buy an actress to be Joe's new best friend.

However, the end of the story showed them both the error of their ways.

I really enjoyed this book and found it a great read. The book is geared towards the 9+ readers and I think children of this age will love it. It will give them the message that money isn't everything.

Walliam's style of writing is one which is very like him. The book is full of humour and wit as well as humorous lists of lists of lessons at Joe's posh school and a list of names teachers should not have!

I thoroughly recommend it to adults and children who want a light read along with a few giggles.

Thank you to Michael from MyChild forum for sending me this book to review.

Trade Winds by Christina Courtenay

Marriage of convenience or a love for life? It's 1732 in Gothenburg, Sweden, and strong-willed Jess van Sandt knows only too well that it s a man's world. She believes she's being swindled out of her inheritance by her stepfather and she's determined to stop it. When help appears in the unlikely form of handsome Scotsman Killian Kinross, himself disinherited by his grandfather, Jess finds herself both intrigued and infuriated by him. In an attempt to recover her fortune, she proposes a marriage of convenience. Then Killian is offered the chance of a lifetime with the Swedish East India Company's Expedition and he's determined that nothing will stand in his way, not even his new bride. He sets sail on a daring voyage to the Far East, believing he's put his feelings and past behind him. But the journey doesn't quite work out as he expects.

I really enjoyed this book. When i started it, I didn't think it was going to be a book I would be shouting to every one to read but now i have finished it and I am - read it!!! It has something for everyone - a gorgeous hero, Killian, a feisty heroine, Jess, and a stepfather who is doing everything he can to swindle Jess out of her inheritance. The result is an adventure she never imagined being a part of.

The story also has a historical part to it which i found very interesting. It is based on the first trading voyage of the Swedish East India Company to China and it was obvious the author had done alot of research to ensure correct details were included. It was a time and subject I have not read about before and i found it an interesting backdrop to the story.

There are many themes throughout the story including adventure, fueding, passion and betrayal. I really enjoyed the story and kept getting lost within the story, wanting to continue reading to see how teh story developed. The characters drew me into the story and i really cared for their journey throughout the story.

In brief, i recommend this book to all historical book fans and ensure you have put by a day to read it as you won't want to put it down once you have started it!

Thank you to Choc Lit books for sending me a copy to review.