Being Mrs C

An insight into the things in life that make me smile

Ladybird Tuesday: More words for Numbers

I'm sticking with the slightly scientific theme introduced on the blog yesterday for today's Ladybird Tuesday: More words for Numbers. I have to admit that when I picked this book up I wasn't really sure what to expect. What do they mean more words for numbers? Is this a thesaurus with just one entry? I'll let the description inside the cover of the book take over here: When describing the changing approach to the learning of  mathematics, the Schools Council observes in "Curriculum Bulletin No. 1" that we can accelerate learning by providing suitable ... read more

Ladybird Tuesday: A Second ‘Do You Know’ Book

I remember as a child sitting down with my Dad to look up some facts about planets as part of my school science homework. In those days the only way to do so was to sit down with some books yet I'm pretty sure that when I have to do similar with Little Miss C and Master C we'll be using the Internet instead and I think I feel a bit sad about that. Yes Google is very useful, but there was a certain satisfaction in finding the answers there on my bookshelf.  My choice for today's Ladybird Tuesday is a book that fact loving children would have jumped upon at the time - A second ... read more

Ladybird Tuesday: Picture Reading

As well as the many non-fiction books that Ladybird produced they were also responsible for many children of a certain generation learning to read through their Key Words Reading Scheme. This book, Picture Reading, was designed to fit in before children actually started reading though. The aim is to encourage parents to sit down with their children and to talk about what they see in the pictures and possibly relate what they see to things in their own lives. Picture Reading was the only book in series 721 and was originally published in 1972. Harry Wingfield was responsible for the artwork for ... read more

Octonauts and the Undersea Eruption

Another CBeebies tie-in today, but rather than reading about Knights we've now moved to under the sea and the Octonauts. A slight difference here is that the Octonauts originated as characters in books before moving to the small screen. Following their TV success they're now ready to go on some new adventures in books. In The Octonauts and the Undersea Eruption the Octonauts have to deal with an emergency caused by a volcano at the bottom of the ocean that is erupting. Will they be able to get everyone out in time? In particular the three floating blobfish, Bob, Bob and ... ... read more

Mike the Knight and the Real Sword

Mike the Knight is someone we've only recently got to know. For those of you that are not familiar with him - he's a Knight in Training who lives in CBeebies-land here in the UK. A wiki search tells me he might actually be Canadian, but I somehow had it in my head that all knights were English, so that's what I'm choosing to believe for now. To tie in with a new series having started on CBeebies this year two new Mike the Knight books have been released by Simon and Schuster and we were sent a copy of Mike the Knight and the Real Sword to review. In the story, Mike is due to ... read more

Ladybird Tuesday: Magnets, Bulbs and Batteries

There's absolutely no doubt that I was something of a geeky child. I had a chemistry set and also a selection of batteries, bulbs and electric wires. I also had a magnet set that I loved so much that when I saw the same one for sale on eBay last year (in new condition) I bought it instantly to put away for Little Miss C and her, then still a bump, baby brother. It's no wonder that I went on to study physics and chemistry at A-Level and engineering at university. I would have loved the Ladybird Junior Science Book Magnets, Bulbs and Batteries - in fact some of the projects look so ... read more

Snug as a Bug – Tamsyn Murray and Judi Abbot

Someone at Simon and Schuster must be totally in tune with when my kids are either under the weather or being awkward as it always ties in beautifully with when review books arrive from them. That's exactly what happened last week when Master C was full of cold and demanding almost constant feeding. Luckily the postman delivered a copy of Snug as a Bug and I was able to snuggle up on the sofa with them both to read it straight away. Any book that has a main character named after Master C is a sure fire hit in this house and that's exactly what we had here. The book starts ... read more

Ladybird Tuesday: Learnabout… Maps

There's nothing better than a New Year's Day walk to blow off the cobwebs post Christmas and that's what inspired my choice of this week's Ladybird Tuesday: Learnabout... Maps. The Learnabout series (series number 634 if you're wondering) included books on both indoor and outdoor activities ranging from Stamp Collecting to Coarse Fishing and Training Your Dog. I'm a complete map addict and hence the book on maps has to be my favourite from the Learnabout series. First published in 1967 I'm guessing that the copy I have has to be a later reprint - mainly due to the ... read more

Ladybird Tuesday: Learning About Insects and Small Animals

If you look at all the Ladybird titles originally published what really stands out to me is the number of natural history books that there were. They were not all confined to Ladybird series 651 (Ladybird Natural History Books) but that series is where this particular book sits - Learning about Insects and Small Animals.  First published in 1972 and written by Romola Showell this books concentrates on those smaller creatures that small children seem so fond of finding in their back gardens or whilst out and about. The level of detail in this books is vast and covers everything ... read more

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