When choosing a book to cover each week here on Ladybird Tuesday I often find myself realising just how little I really know and this week is yet another example of that. Some Great Men and Women is actually part of the Ladybird Key Words East Readers series (641) and contains a series of double page spreads on various men and women from history. Some of them were inventors, others adventurers and some military personnel. They certainly all have a place in history and I do recall learning about many of them at junior school. However, there are some people featured in this book that I have to ... read more
Magpie Monday – Lego Airport
I've been meaning to join in with Magpie Monday for ages and just never got round to it, or just though that my finds would not be of interest to others. Last week's charity shop booty was a bit special though. Lego. We all love it. Or if you don't then you much be a bit mad in my opinion. The only thing is that charity shops generally know that we all love it and hence the prices are often quite astronomical, especially if you find a boxed set that can be considered vintage or a complete set. In out local hospice shop last week I spotted a typical pile of plastic bags full ... read more
Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
The speed at which I get through books has decreased so much since I had Master C. Being exhausted, combined with no longer having pregnancy insomnia means that my "to be read pile" is growing faster than I can read and writing up what I've read on here is also no where near as fast as it used to be. It's therefore quite telling that I've only just finished Mummy Barrow's Book Club book for February - Gone Girl. Well, at least I managed it before we got into May! I've always loved a good bit of crime fiction and that's exactly what this is. What was slightly ... read more
Lucy Ladybird – Sharon King-Chai
You just know a children's book has got it right when you ask Little Miss C what she thought of it (the morning after she read it as a bedtime story for the first time with Daddy) and she instantly says: It's really, really pretty mummy and I love it! I'm completely in love with Lucy Ladybird too. The art work is simply gorgeous. Cute, colourful and full of little things for children to look for. There's also a magical huge fold out for the last page of the book and Little Miss C was so excited when she found this for the first time. In terms of the story... Lucy is a ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Indoor Gardening
Yes, I know it's Thursday, but sometimes you just have one of those weeks. Better late than never and all that... So let's talk about Indoor Gardening. Doesn't the title alone just age this book? Does anyone even talk about indoor gardening any more? I see plenty of references in modern day to houseplants and possibly herbs in the kitchen, but not much more than that. Indoor Gardening appeared as part of Ladybird series 633 which was entitled Early Learning, but actually featured a number of crafts and hobbies. As a series it's one I'd really like to find more of, ... read more
What sort of parent are you?
I'm not sure I know the anwser to this question at all. In life parents seem to come in all different shapes and sizes. There are the people who read all the books as soon as they get the little + symbol on the pregnancy test and always seems to be one step ahead of everyone else in terms of knowing what development steps come next and what the latest thinking is on how to take care of every challenging behaviour that your child presents you with. At the other end of the spectrum are the people who don't read a single book but just know what to do, and their children appear to be ... read more
Featured Post: Reviewing the household finances
There's not a day goes by at the moment without a story somewhere in the media about the current economic situation and its impact on families across the country. The recent benefits changes have highlighted this once again. All of us are feeling the pinch right now and one of the first tips when you're looking to save money is to check all your monthly expenditure to see where you can save money. It's common practice to consider changing your utility suppliers to save money but I'm not sure quite as many consider whether or not to switch bank accounts to a better ... read more
Review and Competition – Red Ted Art: The Book
I know I'm not the only person who let out a small squeal of delight when I heard that there was going to be a book version of Red Ted Art. Maggy Woodley's popular children's craft blog, Red Ted Art, has won awards and for many parents it is the first place they go when they are looking for craft projects to do with their children. Maggy's projects have also appeared elsewhere, both online and in print, and for her readers it seemed natural that the next step would be a book and finally the waiting is over. The subtitle of Red Ted Art the book is Cute and Easy Crafts for ... read more
Princess Evie’s Ponies: Confetti the Magic Wedding Pony
Simon and Schuster have sent me several Princess Evie books to review in the past and I have to admit that as I've not really liked the look of them much before (too much pink for my liking) I've not sat down and read them properly with Little Miss C and not reviewed them on here. This week Confetti the Magic Wedding Pony arrived and Little Miss C pounced on it as soon as she saw it. It seems she's got a bit of a pony obsession that I hadn't even realised - sorry! In each of the books (eight in total now) Princess Evie goes off on an adventure with one of her magical ... read more
Ping and Pong Are Best Friends (mostly) – Tim Hopgood
Who can resist a couple of penguins called Ping and Pong? Not me that's for sure! Basically, Ping and Pong are friends, best friends, but whenever Ping tries his hand at something he finds that Pong can already do it, but a million times better. Haven't we all had a friend like that? The question though is whether or not it is worth losing friends over. I'm not going to spoil the ending, but I have to say that it's wonderful to see a children's book addressing both the good and bad things about friendships as it's something that is so important to children. Little Miss ... read more