The Tale Of The Great Easter Bunny with Frankie Bridges & Cadbury

Posted on March 31, 2018 by Fiona Martin

Frankie Bridge (former member of The Saturdays) has collaborated with Cadbury to release her debut book, a fun Easter tale perfect for little ones at this time of year. The re-adaptation of The Tale of the Great Bunny created by Cadbury 20 years ago follows siblings Jack and Molly as they discover a series of mysterious clues and embark on an enchanting Easter Egg Hunt alongside their parents, Tom and Sarah. It takes place within the family home but what the family don’t know, is that there is a secret, hidden rabbit-hole at the bottom of their garden… where The Easter Bunny lives.

The book is downloadable now from the Cadbury website which would make a perfect read for Easter Sunday. My little boy has been enjoying it already and loves the concept of the Easter Bunny bringing the children all the chocolate goodies.

Cadbury’s also sponsor lots of egg hunts at National Trust sites so be sure that once you’ve downloaded the book, to do a search for your local egg hunt. We participate in one every year and can’t wait to do one this year (just fingers crossed for a dry day!). What I can confirm is that you always walk away with a delicious Cadbury’s chocolate treat so it’s definitely one not to miss.

Do you have any plans this Easter? We’ll be joining a Cadbury’s hunt as well as doing our own mini hunt in the garden, then spending the rest of the day at home consuming chocolate and reading Frankie Bridges fun storybook to help bring the Easter magic alive!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

The Birthday Thief – A Personalised Book for Kids

Posted on November 12, 2017 by Fiona Martin

The Birthday Thief is another personalised book for your child from the wonderful range at Wonderbly. Along with Kingdom of You, this book takes your child on a journey where things go a bit wrong but it all works out in the end, with this book being personalised by finding your child’s birthday again, looking for both the year and the date. All of the books contain your child’s name throughout with the main character of the book representing your child, with options to personalise hair colour etc.

The story is easily followable with not too much writing on each page. What I like is that each page is full colour and packed full of illustrations that my son loves to look at and digest whilst reading each page. He has a good look and points out things and really gets immersed into the story before we move onto the next page. The story has plenty going on to really keep children entertained and the text is broken into small verses with added rhyme to make it fun to read.

We love these personalised books from Wonderbly and they are great keepsakes for children who always love to see their name upon the pages. They make particularly great gifts either for birthday’s or Christmas – why not check them – you’re sure to know a child that will love it just as much as mine did!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

Kingdom of You Personalised Book from Wonderbly

Posted on September 15, 2017 by Fiona Martin

Kingdom of You is a wonderful personalised book for your child from Wonderbly. Along with a range of titles such as The Little Boy who Lost his Name, there are a choice of books for your child in which their name appears throughout in an enchanting and engaging tale.

What I like about Kingdom of You and the other books available is not only is your child’s name published throughout, you have a choice of characters and various other options to tailor it to your child’s tastes and likes.

Kingdom of You is about a child who dislikes tidying his room (anyone have one of those? I know I do!) and then the laundry genie appears and grants him three wishes. These will all be things that your child thinks are great but unfortunately having all these isn’t as good as it seems so fortunately the genie grants a fourth wish in which everything goes back to normal.

The book is well thought out and engaging with full colour pictures on each page. My little boy loved to read the text then spend a few minutes checking out the picture and telling me what was going on and what he thought was going to happen next.

Kingdom of You from Wonderbly was a big hit with my little boy and we have read it many times over. There’s nothing more a child loves than seeing their name in a book and putting themselves in place of the character throughout the story. We’ve been entertained and loved reading the adventure together – a really special book for a child to treasure!

Have you checked out the personalised books at Wonderbly? Perfect for gifts or special occasions – any child is sure to love receiving one of these!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

Our Jacky Ha-Ha Girls Book Club

Posted on March 24, 2017 by Fiona Martin

Jacky Ha-Ha by James Patterson a top selling author, is a perfect read for girls age 9+. Packed full of fun and jokes as it follows Jacky Ha-Ha’s day to day life in which she can’t help cracking jokes and seeing the funny side in everything. She turns any dull moment into a laugh sometimes without thinking it through but is this just a cover for the emotions she is feeling inside? We were sent a bundle of books and goodies to hold a girls book club at home and my 9yr old Miss M was excited to invite a group of her school friends round.

“With her irresistible urge to tell a joke in every situation – even when she really, really shouldn’t – twelve-year-old Jacky Ha-Ha loves to make people laugh. And cracking wise helps distract her from thinking about not-so-funny things in her life, like her mum serving in a dangerous, faraway war, and a dad who’s hardly ever home.
But no matter how much fun Jacky has, she can’t seem to escape her worries. So one starlit night, she makes a promise to keep her family together… even if she has to give up the one thing that makes her happy. But can she stop being Jacky Ha-Ha, if that’s who she really is?”

The girls all arrived rather excitedly and couldn’t wait to share their thoughts on the book. They were all enjoying what they had read so we started off by having a little chat, talking about some questions from the prompt sheet I had been sent such as:

How did Jacky get her nickname?
What are some of your talents?
Have you ever stuck up for a friend in the way Jacky sticks up for Meredith?

It was lovely hearing the girls chat and discuss things that we wouldn’t have otherwise and they all seemed to have fun, being inspired by what others said which led them to think of other things to say. It certainly seems to help reiterate the story line of the book and got the girls to think about parts of their life they may not have otherwise. They also recalled funny bits they remembered which set them all off in giggles!

Although the book is quite lengthy, it is broken up with black and white images on most pages which the girls enjoyed and helped maintain their interest whilst reading. Ideal for girls from 9 to 12 years old it is a busy story line but one with meaning and depth behind it.

Once the discussions were over it was time for some fun. The girls happily did their word searches and coloured the props for the Jacky Ha-Ha photo booth, whilst sucking lollipops and enjoying a refreshing glass of lemonade.

The photo booth was a huge success and they posed in various ways whilst giggling together.

We really enjoyed the Jacky Ha-Ha book club and would definitely like to hold another in the future. The girls weren’t sure what to expect at first but found it fun and loved that they were all reading the same book. It certainly helped the girls bond and reinforced their love of reading!

I am a member of the Mumsnet Bloggers Panel, a group of parent bloggers who have volunteered to review products, services, events and brands for Mumsnet. I have not paid for the product or to attend an event. I have editorial control and retain full editorial integrity. [I have received a voucher in return for writing this post]

Finding Dory – Book of the Film

Posted on December 22, 2016 by Fiona Martin

Disney Pixar Finding Dory Book of the Film from Parragon books tells the sequel story to the Finding Nemo film that was a big hit a few years ago. We haven’t seen the film Finding Dory but the children were exciting to receive the book and get reading. My 8yr old read it herself over a a couple of weeks and really enjoyed it. She then passed it to her younger brother age 6 who was really keen to listen to the story and we happily read him a couple of chapters each night before bed.

Forgetful Dory is very happy living in the ocean with her friends, Marlin and Nemo. But one day, memories of her long-lost parents come flooding back to her. With the help of old friends and new, including Hank the septopus, can Dory finally discover her past?

The story follows Dory on her adventures where she meets old friends such as Destiny the whale who recognises her and helps tell her about her past. She finds many friendly faces along the way in this exciting adventure.

In the centre of the book are 8 full colour picture pages which really help bring the story to life. Mister B, my 6 year old really enjoyed looking at these to remind him what the characters looked like and retell the story in his own words. The chapters are short meaning you can easily pick the book up and just read a few pages or a few chapters if you have more time.

Both children have enjoyed the story and found it fun to read and listen to. For any fans of the Finding Nemo or Finding Dory films then this is the perfect book to keep them entertained and read about all the fishy friends having fun together.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

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Read and Play Dinosaur Activity Pack – Review

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Fiona Martin

The Read and Play Dinosaur Activity Pack from Miles Kelly has been a huge hit here with 5yr old Mister B. It really is packed full of activities that have fully engaged him and he has returned to the pack time after time.

The box opens out to reveal a pile of contents including a story book, an activity book, a puzzle and two precut sheets of accessories. What’s really clever about this box is that the flaps and the inside all contain things to do which you’ll see further down the review, but also the box is a great place to store everything at the end of play.

We started reading the story book ‘Rex gets a Scare’ which is perfect for young children with full colour pages and lots to look at which also keeps my 5yr old entertained as he likes to tell me everything that he sees going on through the pictures. The story follows Rex, a large green dinosaur who shouldn’t be scared of anything but finds he gets scared by flowers and bees. He has lots of dinosaur friends around him though to support along the way.

The activity book is packed full of puzzles and games that my little boy loved from mazes, dot to dot, spot the difference and even a fun ‘Scramble and Slide’ game that he loves to play.

The box itself opens up to become a dinosaur play scene. There are some press out sheets to create dinosaur models of Rex and his friends which we sat and made together. My little boy could then play with his model dinosaurs on the play scene which he really enjoyed.

The flaps of the box fold over to reveal a couple of board games, ludo and draughts. The counters for these can be popped out of one of the pre cut sheets and my little boy loved the dinosaur discs. Prior to this my little boy wasn’t aware of the rules of draughts but it is now a game he enjoys and happily plays.

One of his favourite parts of this set was the puzzle. I think because it was round it had extra appeal, but it is also a really good thickness that will last unlike a lot of puzzles in book sets like this.

Overall I think that the Read and Play Dinosaur set is excellent and has been thoroughly enjoyed here along with being packed with good quality pieces that have been well thought out and are perfect for young dinosaur fans.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

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The Incredible Intergalatic Journey Home Book

Posted on September 20, 2016 by Fiona Martin

The Incredible Intergalatic Journey Home is a personalised children’s book that encaptures children’s imaginations as they see themselves magically travelling through space in a bid to find their way home. The key to these book’s success is the personalisation with your child’s name used as the key character in the story and also the book really does take you right to your own doorstep.

The book is printed on high quality paper and and story covers over thirty full colour pages full of images to get your child talking. My little boy always picks up on everything going on in pictures and loves to tell me what is happening before and after we read the pages. This story follow two friends, you child being one of them and his name can be seen throughout. At one point he see’s his name in stars across a page in the book which is a really nice touch. We found the whole story engaging and my little boy was imersed in what was going on and intrigued as to what was going to happen next.

The Incredible Intergalatic Journey Home follows the journey of the two friends trying to make their way back home, coming across lots of fun intergalatic filled adventures along the way including aliens and other creatures who try to help them get home. The book is clever in that as they approach earth, the pictures incorporate a map of Europe, then as they zoom in on where you live, there is a recognisable icon of a landmark in the region where you live. In our case we had the Eden project as we live in the South West of the UK. The next page then zones in on a map view of your actual street which is really quite cool. Mister B didn’t notice it at first but as soon as I started pointing out the top of Morrisons and our road, he really got excited and couldn’t believe our actual house was in the book!

This book is exciting, engaging, fun, full of colour and most importantly personalised which children just love. You know it’s one of those books they will come back to again and again and will cherish over many years.

My 5yr old Mister B loved his Incredible Intergalatic Journey Home book as I would imagine any child would. Being personalised makes it really special and a long term keepsake and being able to show a child where they live in a book like this is great recognition for the future. I think these books are lovely and so well made but the ultimate thing has to be what the child thinks about them, but fortunately I’m able to say that my little boy just adores this book, loves the personalisation and the story line just keeps him entertained. This is partly due to seeing his name but for him the full colour pictures just captivate and draw him in, he does love books though but I can honestly say this is a hit and would most probably be with any child!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

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The Little Boy who lost his Name – Personalised Book Review

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Fiona Martin

The Little Boy who lost his Name is a beautifully illustrated book that is personalised to the name of your child over almost thirty pages of a fun adventure. Personalised books have always gone down well with my children so I thought this would be perfect for 5yr old Mister B to try out.

The book tells the story of a little boy who wakes up and has forgotten his name. He heads out on a mission to find it, and along the way meets various characters who he chats to and they end up giving him a letter in the hope that he finds his name.

Mister B didn’t twig at first that the letters where going to spell out his name but he was incredibly excited that he was coming across letters in the book that were the same one’s as in his name. We got to the end of reading the book and he said ” The boy’s got the same name as me!”, Bless him!

The book really is a lovely read, a fairly long story for personalised books and one that keeps the child intrigued, eager to see what the next letter will be. The book is high quality, well made and a great addition to any bookcase. Mister B loved his new book and I truly believe this is a well thought out, fun way of personalising a book that kids will love especially when they discover that the child’s name is the same as their own!

Also available in as ‘The Little Girl who lost her Name’, these books make fantastic gifts and a book to treasure for little ones, we loved it, why not check them out for yourself.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

Happy by Pharrell Williams – Book Review

Posted on December 24, 2015 by Fiona Martin

Happy by Pharrell Williams is a song most people will know, it’s definitely been one that’s been very familiar to me over the last year or two. Even my children know the song’s familiar tune from school disco’s and my daughter knows many of the words.

A book has now been released aimed at children and basically consists of the words of the song. It has a happy feel to it with pictures of children dancing around.

The book is hard back and of a lovely quality. The children love singing through to the words and dancing around the room, especially if you put the song on for them to listen to as well!

This book has a feel good vibe, just like the song, it gets kids active as they interact with the book by singing and dancing. If your kids love the song, then get the book for some added fun!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the book in order to write an honest review.

Christmas 4000 Sticker Activity Book – Review

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Fiona Martin

Christmas 4000 Sticker Activity Book from Parragon is the perfect way to keep kids occupied over the festive season. With a jam packed book bursting with pages to keep little ones entertained and an exceptional array of stickers in the middle, every child will be keen to dig in and explore what there is to do.

The multitude of pages really does cover every kind of activity, from colouring to dot to dot, mazes, spot the difference, various drawing activities as well as loads of pictures for you to stick your stickers!

If your kids love stickers, then they certainly won’t be disappointed. There are many pages in all different sizes and shapes, but importantly they are brightly filled with festive images to create wonderful pictures with. I love the little gingerbread men skiing as well as a full set of stickers to recreate a nativity scene, including Mary, Joseph, shepherds, kings and of course baby Jesus. My little boy was particularly fond of these as he has recently perfomed his first nativity at school, so was excited to show me the scene on paper with these stickers.