Anthony and the Ants – Book Review

Anthony and the Ants from Parragon books is an amusing little story that made us giggle.  It a nice size picture book with full colour pages and and fun illustrations.

Anthony and the antsThe story follows Anthony the anteater who loves his food, but unfortunately a group of ants keep walking away with his food before he’s had time to eat it.  Anthony starts to get really fed up that this keeps happening so decides to go somewhere else to eat.  I won’t spoil what happens next but it does result in the ants and Anthony being friends and learning to share with each other.

anthony antsAnthony and the Ants is a fun book with a happy ending.  Both my children enjoyed the storyline and thought it was quite amusing.  The pictures help to set the scene for them and they giggled at the ants carrying away all the food.  This is a fun, quick to read story that we’ll enjoy many times over.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and the book was sent to us in order to write the review.

 

Suteki Stencil Station – Review

Suteki! Mega Stencil Station by Cool Create is the new Japanese stenciling art craze using a golden ninja stamper aimed at children aged 5+.  The set comes with 9 stencils, 3 picture frames, 4 coloured paints, a ninja stamper and a workstation.

SutekiSuteki! has everything you need to produce three finished framed pictures although the paints, stamper, stencils can be used again and again.

suteki 2The stencils are layered using different coloured paints on each stencil to create a picture.  You receive enough stencils to create three different pictures, three stencils being used for each.  Also included are three picture frames consisting of a front frame, backplate and sticky pad on the back to adhere to a place of your choosing.

suteki 3As soon as 6 year old Miss M caught sight of this, her eyes lit up.  She loves her arts and crafts and the Suteki box really appealed to her.  It was the golden ninja stamper that really caught her eye and she was eager to try it out.

The first design she tried was of a girl.  You start by placing a blank cardboard square into the workstation, then put the first stencil in place.  The stencils are cleverly coloured the same as the paints so you know which colour paint to use with each one.  Although this is only a guide and you are free to colour them as you wish.  The workstation has four areas to squirt each coloured paint into – a job Miss M thought was great fun!

suteki 4It’s then time to start by dipping the golden ninja stamper into a coloured paint.  The stamper is a great size to hold and comes with 2 screw on sponge applicators at the bottom.  This allows you to swap to use a different colour without having to wash the sponge every time.

Once you have paint on the applicator then dab it on top of the stencil ensuring all the cut out bits are covered in paint.  It is then best to allow the paint to dry for about 5 minutes before continuing.  During this time we carefully lifted off the stencil and washed it along with the sponge applicator.

When the paint is dry, you cover the picture in the next stencil and use a different colour repeating the dabbing process as before.  Finally repeat with a third stencil to get the finished picture.

suteki 5As you can see above, the finished result of the Suteki is very effective.  Miss M absolutely loved doing this and it was easy for her to produce a great piece of art without it being too involved.  I like the idea that frames are included as this really brings the picture to life and it’s ready to hang on the wall. This is perfect for her age of 6 years and requires minimum effort for a fabulous return.  Anyone can do this, I think the age of 5+ is correct though in terms of keeping the template steady and not over dipping the stamper in the paint.

Miss M was keen to create another picture straightaway, so she got to work creating the monkey picture.  By now she was well away on her own, happily following the process I’d guided her through on the first picture.

suteki 6 And look how proud she is of the finished result!

suteki 7I have to say Miss M had a huge grin on her face the whole time while doing this Suteki activity apart from a few moments of concentration here and there.  She throughly enjoyed it and was eager and keen throughout.  I like it because it something a bit different, it has an element of fun with the golden ninja stamper and has been designed well with a plastic workstation tray that keeps any mess contained.

Here is Miss M proudly showing her finished pictures!

suteki 8Suteki has been a hit in this house, a fun activity that I think is great for children to enjoy.  It is a lovely to have a finished piece at the end that can be admired and enjoyed long after it was created.

suteki 9What not give Suteki a go or check out the Cool Create website where there are prizes to be won!

And if you are looking for other Cool Create art and craft sets, why not check out our Cool Create Daisy Chains review.

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

Wimpy Shrimpy – Picture Book Review

Wimpy Shrimpy is a delightful picture book from Little Tiger Press aimed at 3-6 year olds.  The book is brightly illustrated and follows the story of a little shrimp who’s a bit shy and doesn’t like to get involved with his friends as they play under the sea.

Wimpy ShrimpyThis book has a great storyline to help build confidence in young children as they see the shrimp avoiding joining in all the games with his friends and eventually his friends stop asking him to play.  This leaves the shrimp feeling sad and lonely, so he decides to be brave and join in with the games.  By doing so he realise’s how much fun it is and really enjoyed himself and his friends no longer called him Wimpy Shrimpy.

wimpy shrimpy picsMister B who’s 3, enjoyed listening to this story and the message in it is perfect for him as his is quite stubborn and reluctant to join in things.  We’ve enjoyed reading this and the fun, bright illustrations brought the story to life and gave Mister B lots to point at and talk about.  A great picture book for preschool children!

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

Christmas by Dick Bruna

Christmas by Dick Bruna has to be one of the most delightful children’s nativity picture books I’ve come across, telling an elementary tale of the nativity story with simple, but charming pictures in a hard back book.  To mark the 50th anniversary since the book was first published in 1963, a stunning gold and white edition has been published by Simon and Schuster.

Dick Bruna Christmas 50 years

Christmas tells the tale of the shepherds who see the bright light of an angel telling them of a baby called Jesus who has been born in Bethlehem.  They make their way to meet Jesus and find him in a stable.  The three kings also make a visit bringing gifts before returning home on their camels the spread the word that Jesus was born.  Everyone decided that every year the day that Jesus was born should be a holiday and that day is Christmas day.

I have read this to my children aged 5 and 3 numerous times over the last week or two.  This is the perfect time of year to read the book and due to them enjoying both the story and the pictures, it has become a firm favourite at the moment.  They love the nativity story which 5 year old Miss M recognises from what she has learnt at school .  She loves the style of the book and has read the book to us a few times with it’s easy to read sentences and simple style.  Mister B who is 3 enjoys the pictures which are simple and recognisable giving us something to talk about.

Dick Bruna ChristmasThe Christmas book includes a ribbon bookmark to save the page you are on with a delightful angel attached half way along.  Miss M love this and guides it through the pages as we read.  Dick Bruna’s illustrations are uncomplicated in design but totally lovable.  Any fans of Miffy (which we are) will instantly recognise his unique style which has lasting appeal through generations.

I absolutely adore this Christmas book by Dick Bruna and highly recommend it.  It’s classic tale that has widespread appeal which children will enjoy year after year.   The 50th anniversary edition is a delight that I am proud to put on my bookshelf and one that I only let the children read supervised.  This book will be enjoyed many times over by our family on the run up to Christmas and is a book that I hope I can read and pass on to my grandchildren one day.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions. We are not paid for reviews although we do receive the product to try out and enable us to write the review.