Showing posts with label Book Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book Review. Show all posts

Sunday 28 May 2017

AniMalcolm by David Baddiel - A Howling Good Read!

My daughter Emma absolutely loves to read. She enjoys getting involved in a good book and being whisked away into a story of fun and adventure. She loves the kind of books where you just can't wait to find out what happens next and if it contains a comedy element too, then even better.

Animalcolm by David Baddiel was therefore the perfect new addition to her book collection, as not only does it offer a fun exciting story, but it also contains lots of fabulous animals, which is ideal for my pet loving daughter!

The Book

The book tells the story of Malcolm, who doesn't like animals! This is a problem because his family love them and their house is full of pets. What the house is NOT full of is stuff Malcolm likes. Such as the laptop he wanted for his birthday.

The only bright spot on the horizon is the Year Six school trip, to....Oh no. A farm.

Over the next few days, Malcolm changes. He learns what it's really like to be an animal. A whole series of animals, in fact...

It does make him think differently. And speak differently. And eat differently. And, um, smell differently. But will he end up the same as before?

Because sometimes the hardest thing to become is YOURSELF!





Animalcolm is written by David Baddiel who is both an author and comedian. It is his third novel, with his previous titles 'The Parent Agency' and 'The Person Controller' being runaway bestsellers. The Parent Agency was also the winner of the Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 9 to 13 year olds at the inaugural Laugh Out Loud Awards.

The book is now available in paperback format and was previously released as a hardback book.

Review

As soon as the book arrived my daughter had a quick glance through the pages. She was intially surprised by the width of the book with it being slightly bigger to books that she would usually select. However when she looked inside she found that the text size was quite large and there were also some illustrations within the book, so she soon realised that she would actually be able to read it quite quickly.

The front cover of the book also drew attention from the youngest member of the family Riley, who thought that the pictures of the sheep and the pig riding a horse were absolutely hilarious causing lots of giggles.

It wasn't long before Emma had her head firmly in the book and before I had even finished making our dinner, she proudly proclaimed that she had finished the first two chapters. It quickly became apparent that it was a book she was really enjoying and even took it to school with her so that she could read it at break time, or quiet time in class.

The titles of some of the chapters also created a few giggles with her brother Ben, as she kept reading out the chapter headings out loud, such as 'Stinky Blinky' and 'Manky Lettuce'. This in turn attracted Ben's attention to the book with him quickly asking whether he could read it next.

We received the book on Thursday and by Saturday evening my daughter had finished it. She enjoyed it that much that she even missed the first part of Britain's Got Talent so that she could complete the final chapter, now that is commitment!

Overall Emma really enjoyed the book. It is aimed at 8 to 11 year olds and is suitable for both boys and girls. My daughter is 10 years old, so the perfect age to enjoy both the story and the comedy aspect within. She really liked the fact that there is some illustrations too, as most of the books that she reads now are just writing only and so she said it was nice to get some idea of what the characters and animals looked like.

This was the first David Baddiel book that she has read, but on noticing that he has written two prior to this one, she has already asked to purchase The Parent Agency with her next lot of pocket money.

Disclaimer: This is a collaborative post and we received a copy of the book on a complimentary basis for the purpose of provide an honest review.

Sunday 4 December 2016

The Brilliant & Bizarre Jelly Belly Bean Boozled Game - A Review

Whilst we were brainstorming for our Secret Santa gift ideas, my son mentioned a fun game that some of his friends had recently played. We had already selected 4 great presents to feature, but wanted something fun and little bit different to fill the fifth spot.

The game in question was Bean Boozled Jelly Beans by Jelly Belly, and I immediately thought how fantastic, a game involving sweets, who wouldn't like that? However, my son then went on to explain that these weren't just any jelly beans, and that the game featured some very weird and wonderful flavours.

Keen to discover more about this intriguing game, Jelly Belly kindly sent us a sample to try out for ourselves. When the product arrived, I was both excited and very nervous in equal measures.


The box is really bright and colourful, and immediately my eyes were drawn to the obvious Caution sign at the bottom of the box that said "Caution, contains weird and wild flavours". I was still keen to try it out however and began looking at all the surrounding images on the box which explained the different colours and flavours inside. They were:


  • Multi coloured - Tutti Fruitti flavour or.......Stinky Socks
  • Green - This could be Lime or.....................Lawn Clippings
  • Yellow - Buttered popcorn or.......................Rotten Egg
  • Blue - Berry Blue or.....................................Toothpaste
  • Peach - Peach or...........................................Vomit (This was the one I was most scared of).
  • Brown - Chocolate Pudding or.....................Canned dog food
  • Green - Juicy Pear or....................................Booger
  • White - Coconut or.......................................Baby wipes
The aim of the game is to take a turn on the spinner and see which colour it lands on. Each of the players then pick the corresponding coloured jelly bean. If you choose the tasty flavour then you win a point, but if you choose the bad tasting flavour then you lose a point. If you want to be really skillful then you could try and practice your best poker face and pretend that you are happily munching on buttered popcorn when really its Rotten Egg, but it is definitely not easy to try and pretend that your rotten egg flavour was delicious. Not easy at all! I did try to cheat a little and smell them beforehand to see if you could tell before tasting, and you couldn't smell a thing until it was bitten into, then it became quite obvious.


The great thing about this game, is that it isn't limited on players, so whether there are only 2 of you ready to play or 10, it is an inclusive game for all, the only danger being that you may run out of jelly beans, but you can buy them separately in order to keep them topped up.

We watched a few funny videos on YouTube prior to playing, though I'm not sure whether this was a good idea or not, as one minute I was laughing and the next I was filled with dread as to what they may taste like, but after building myself up to it, I was ready to play!

We sat down in the evening a couple of hours after eating our dinner, and the kids were already laughing before we had even began. My husband was confident that none of the flavours would bother him, and I was merely sat there wondering what on earth I had let myself in for. My son chose to spin first and it landed on blue. I was somewhat relieved by this, as the thought of a toothpaste jelly bean didn't bother me too much, but miraculously we all had correct Berry Blue flavour.

Next up my daughter took her turn to spin and it landed on brown, I was quite looking forward to trying a chocolate pudding jelly bean, but oh no, as soon as I bit into it, it tasted just how dog food smells and despite my best efforts to keep my disgusted face hidden, I just couldn't do it. I quickly ran to the kitchen to grab a drink, which in hindsight I should have made sure we all had before playing. The kids were all laughing hysterically at my panicked face, which was then making me giggle too whilst desperately trying to remove the dog food flavour from my tongue. I swear I can still taste it now.

I will hold my hand up at this point and admit that I excluded myself from the game when it landed on the peach colour, I just could not bring myself to try a vomit flavour jelly bean. Yes I am a total wimp, and either my kids are extremely good at lying, or they totally swerved this one and all managed to pick the correct flavour of peach again, so as of yet, none of us have had the unfortunate displeasure of tasting this one. The only one that didn't bother me too much was the toothpaste flavour as this just tasted like the pink drink you have at the dentist, although it was rather strange having it in sweet form!


The game is great fun both for families or groups of adults and although some of the jelly beans may taste vile, they don't actually contain any vomit or dog food, and I checked the ingredients on numerous occasions just to make sure. We are planning on playing this again over Christmas when all the family come round, and I am looking forward to seeing all their faces. I played this with my eldest children who are 8 & 10, which I felt was just about the right age for children to enjoy playing but obviously this is down to parent discretion.

If I was to change anything it would be to remove the vomit flavour and replace it with something less disgusting. I have a fear of being sick as it is, and so no matter how hard I tried to participate fully in the game, there was no way I could bring myself to try this one. Our version of the game was the 3rd edition, so it would seem that they change the flavours occasionally, so I would be interested to find out what flavours may be on the next edition.

Jelly Belly have a great combination offer on their UK site at present for a 100g box with spinner and a 45g refill pack for only £10. This can be found here: Jelly Belly Bean Boozled

Disclaimer: I was provided with this product free of charge, for the purpose of providing an honest opinion and review. All opinions are my own.






Wednesday 30 November 2016

The Gloriumptious Worlds of Roald Dahl - Review and Competition

I have fond memories as a child of reading my favourite Roald Dahl books over and over again, and they would be the first books I would choose to borrow from the library. My favourites were Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, The Witches. Fantastic Mr Fox and The Twits, but in reality I literally loved them all.

At the time, they were the only books that could really draw me into the story and make me laugh along as I read, and over the years I received many of Roald Dahl's books as gifts for Christmas or Birthdays and I was never disappointed. My children have gone on to enjoy these stories too, and have also built up quite a collection themselves.

However, when stories capture your imagination as much as Roald Dahl's do, doesn't it often get you wondering more about the characters, or simply imagining What Happened Next?

I was therefore delighted when I came across "The Gloriumptious Worlds of Roald Dahl" written by Stella Caldwell, illustrated by the wonderful Quentin Blake and published by Carlton Books.



The front cover of the book features a whole host of illustrations of popular characters, and the book is described as "A spectacular scrapbook of stories, characters and creations". It looked fun and inviting and I couldn't wait to open it up and read inside.

Unfortunately, my son got there before me, and I was pleased to see that after only a short while, he was chuckling away to himself whilst reading. After a bit of persuasion, he agreed to let me have a look through it with him so we could enjoy the book together.

The first couple of pages provided a little bit of insight into Roald Dahl's world, providing some facts and information on where he may have got some of his ideas from, based on his own life experiences. These small pieces of information continue throughout the book and really help you to learn more about the author and realise the inspiration behind the stories.



My son particularly enjoyed the Charlie and the Chocolate scrapbook pages which featured a funny advert for Willy Wonka's invisible Chocolate Bars, described as being perfect for eating in class, along with a letter from a school complaining about Willy Wonka's spotty powder which causes those who consume it to break out in bright red spots and as a result, half of the school was absent due to suspected "chicken pox". My son thought that this was hilarious and a great idea to get a few days off school, if only such a sweet existed! There was also a field guide to "Loompaland" where you can read all about where the Oompa-Loompas live, along with a map and dietery information!


My favourite was the government health warning in The Twits section telling you to be "Beard Aware - Know Before You Grow" informing you of all the things that could be hiding in your beard. Luckily being female, I don't have to worry about this too much, but it made me laugh and go ewwwww at the same time! There is also a very handy guide on How to be a Twit, just in case you ever become interested in the "Twittish Trickery of a Twit" haha!



There is also a lovely end to the book, that I won't reveal, but if you are a fan of Roald Dahl quotes like myself, then you won't be disappointed and I thought that this was a really fitting way to not only end the book, but to also remember Roald Dahl aswel.

The book itself is a 64 page hardback book priced at £16.99. It is designed with a scrapbook theme, with lots of little inserts, imaginary newspaper articles, recipes, photos & letters, and is sure to be a delight for any Roald Dahl fan.

If you would like to purchase this book, then this can be found on the Carlton Books website here: Carlton Books - The Gloriumptious Worlds of Roald Dahl

To celebrate this wonderful book, Carlton Books have kindly provided me with a copy to giveaway to one lucky reader. All you have to do is enter using the gleam form below. Good luck!

The Gloriumptious Worlds of Roald Dahl Book Giveaway

Terms and Conditions:
Entry is open to UK residents aged 18 or over. Any bulk/third party entries will be disqualified. The winner shall be drawn at random from all eligible entries. The winner shall be notified via email and will have 14 days to confirm that they wish to accept the prize. Should the winner fail to respond, then a new winner shall be selected at random from the remaining entries. The winner's details will be shared with the promoter for the purpose of prize fulfillment, which shall be sent directly from the promoter. Please allow up to 28 days for delivery, though every effort shall be made to try and get this to the winner before Christmas.

*Disclaimer - I was provided with this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and to give my honest opinion of this book. All opinions are my own.