A Horse for Angel by Sarah Lean

A Horse for Angel by Sarah Lean
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nell is being brought up alone by her mother after her father ran off to the United States when she was a small child. She feels like her mother sends her to lots of after school activities just as a form of childcare.

She is looking forward to spending the Easter holidays with her grandmother but at the last minute the plans change and instead she has to go off into the countryside to stay with an aunt she barely knows and 2 young cousins. They live on a small holding and everything is alien to her.

Before she goes on the holiday she finds something in the attic that her father left behind but the day she arrives this is taken off her by a mysterious girl on a horse. To get it back she has to find out more about this intriguing girl and about herself.

A moving story with plenty of interesting characters and set in beautiful countryside. Aimed at pre-teen readers but enjoyable for grown ups too.

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Friday Book Review: Otter Chaos! by Michael Broad

Otter Chaos! by Michael Broad
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed sharing this with my son at bedtimes. Its a simple story about the conflict between 2 otters that dates back to their youth so that they still hate each other when they are grandfathers.

Each otter has his own family (the Blacks and the Browns) with 3 generations all needing a new home. The 2 youngest otters in each family are best friends so they are very upset to learn of the family feud. Things get worse when both families claim the same new home as theirs.

As the grandfathers used to be boxers as young otters they decide that the 2 families must compete against each other in varying competitions to see which family deserves to win the nice big home. It is only the 2 mother otters that take a back seat on this and build up a friendship whilst observing their families antics.

The characters of each of the otters are well created so that they are all individuals. The question is can the young otters friendship survive the contest? And which family will be made homeless at the end of the day?

A good book for confident young readers or to share as there are just enough illustrations and the story keeps you going.

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Sunday Book Review: Hobbit and Hello Kitty Annuals

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The nice people at Harper Collins kindly sent us a couple of annuals to review. My children usually get an annual each from Father Christmas so they were excited to get ones a month early with the promise that Santa would still bring one on his sleigh!

The Hobbit an unexpected journey annual 2013

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last couple of years you will know that one of the most keenly anticipated film events will finally be with us in December! My children have grown up with Lord of the Rings and have had the Hobbit read to them. Needless to say we are all excited about the film - just hoping I can take both to the cinema to see it but awaiting the final certificate....

In the meantime we had an argument over which child was the official reviewer of this annual as both my 9 year old daughter and 6 year old son claimed it! In the end I decided it would be my son who would try it out.

The book has plenty of snippets and photographs from the story and the film and my son recognised a few of the characters from Lord of the Rings:

The book is appealing to both children and adults and would be great for any fans. There are plenty of activities and puzzles to while away the Christmas holidays:

Definitely one to put on your list to Santa!



Hello Kitty annual 2013

This is ashamedly girlie with its bright pink cover! It is full of snippets from Hello Kitty:

There are also quizzes and activities for girls to do on their own or with friends:

If you have a slightly older Hello Kitty fan say 7 or up then they will have a lot of fun with this annual. It has great advice on friendship which is very important to this tween age group. In fact it would be a great basis for a sleepover.



I am sure that both of these will be very popular this Christmas but The Hobbit one would be the one I'd like to find in my stocking!

Monday Harper Collins Book Reviews

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Time to tell you about the lovely books Harper Collins sent for my 5 year old son to enjoy with me:

1) Up and Down Oliver Jeffers 

Once there were two friends..

This is the story of a boy and his best friend who just happens to be a penguin. This book is a sequel to Lost and Found. It seems like nothing can come between them until the penguin's dream of flying completely obsesses him. We were sent the version that comes with an audio CD of the book narrated by Richard E Grant.

The illustrations are beautifully simplistic and the story was really engaging for both my son and myself. Not surprisingly Richard E Grant does a marvellous reading of the story but it was also a pleasure to read it to my son myself. 

A great addition to your child's bookshelf.

ISBN: 978-0-00-744045-0
Format: Mixed media, 1pb 1cd
Imprint: HarperCollins
Division: Children’s

UK: £ 7.99
Canada: $ 15.99
Ireland: $ 7.99

Book Review: My Henry

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I have been sent a bundle of books from Harper Collins to review and this is the one my 8 year old daughter chose first: My Henry by Judith Kerr.

“It’s things we’ve never tried before That are the greatest fun, Like riding on a dinosaur, Which I had never done.”

Judith is best known for the Tiger Who Came To Tea but this is aimed at slightly older children. In the book the verse and drawings are the thoughts of a widow as she imagines wonderful adventures with her now deceased husband. Why should death stop them having fun together?

This was a delightful story to read and having lost a much loved family member it is a good book to share with a child who is missing them. Henry and his wife go on the most amazing adventures including climbing Everest and flying on a unicorn. The book is very well written and beautifully illustrated.

I would thoroughly recommend this book and my daughter loved it as well.

ISBN: 978-0-00-738812-7
Size: 220x280mm
Format: Paperback

UK: £ 6.99
Canada: $ 9.99
Ireland: $ 6.99

UK: 02 February 2012
Canada: 15 March 2012
Australia: 01 May 2012