Posts by jo

test

20/10/201326/01/2014 by jo

Up and Down the Stage Play – a new Theatre Experience

The Ga Ga Theatre Company are a new company who have adapted one of Oliver Jeffers books into a show for children. Yesterday we headed to Clapham Picturehouse to see Up and Down the Stage Play – and had a lovely time!

‘Up and Down’ is one of H’s favourite books and the sequel to ‘Lost and Found’. It’s fun to read and a fine story about the value of friendship – the penguin wants to fly, finds a way, loses the boy, realises penguins aren’t meant to fly and realises that he’s happiest with the boy anyway.

So how do you make this into a great stage show?

Keep it simple – lots of plain dialogue – “up”, “down” and occasional questions – a parachute over the audience that the adult help move as the boy and the penguin play while staying faithful to the book. Both actors were excellent, great facial expressions and straight away you knew it was the boy and the penguin, I didn’t feel like it took time to get used to it.

There are just the two actors and a simple musical score. Questions such as “Have you seen the penguin?” encourage the children to join in and point or shout which way they saw it go. There’s lots of waving and including the children in the show which had H overcoming any shyness she might have initially had. I liked the attention to detail – things in the book which are seen in passing feature, and of course there’s a game of backgammon in there!

‘Up and Down’ has a really simple set – boxes which have various props or convert into the boy’s plane, and in the background the artwork from the book projected onto the screen.

‘Up and Down’ the stage play lasted about 40 minutes without an interval, and mixing live theatre with projections and original music worked really well. It’s suitable for babies and children up to the age of seven. Under 2’s go free.

‘Up and Down’ is showing right now at the various Picturehouse venues around London until early November. The Ga Ga Theatre Company are planning to do more shows like this, so keep an eye on their Facebook and Twitter pages – they have a Pinterest board too which I hope are ideas for future shows!

We were given tickets to review the show, all opinions are our own. Apologies for the quality of the photos, I didn’t want to take many so we could sit back and enjoy it!

18/10/201326/01/2014 by jo

Richard Scarry’s Biggest Word Book Ever!

It’s back and as big as ever! says the back of Richard Scarry’s Biggest Word Book Ever – and it’s not wrong.

Imagine your biggest book. Now double it. Double it again. You may now be close in size to Richard Scarry’s Biggest Word Book Ever. It is HUGE.

We’ve mentioned before about our love of Richard Scarry’s books – memories from my childhood have flooded back on opening them – pictures showing the lives of the creatures who live in Busytown. There are so many activities you can do on each page – spot things, spell things, learn to read some words, play i-spy – the list is endless. We can happily cuddle up and read through several pages of the book while getting some serious learnng in there too. The fonts in the book are good, and the pictures a delight. You can let your imagination do a lot of the work, the scenes from lots of everyday events, from airports to shops, homes, to buildings with everything labelled in that Richard Scarry way.

Oh, and Richard Scarry’s Biggest Word Book Ever is the biggest book I’ve ever seen. Don’t let me understate this fact. The product dimensions (according to Amazon) are 60 x 39.8 x 1.2 cm

At £24.99 it doesn’t come cheap, but as a classic I’d get it – with Christmas coming it’s the kind of thing I’d think of as a special present – and actually you can get it on Amazon at the moment for £16.49 which I think is a pretty good price. There are only fourteen pages, so if your child is a confident reader they’ll get some use of it, but it may be more suitable for a younger child. Personally I think we’ve so much to get through with H it’s going to last us a long time, and I’m sure I was seven or eight when I stopped looking at my Richard Scarry books as much, so potentially H will be the same.

Anyway, for me, a book I can hide behind and sit with H talking about the contents is a winner.

We were sent a copy of Richard Scarry’s Biggest Word Book Ever! for the purpose of review. All opinions are our own – H brings out the book to show all her friends when they come to play, which I think shows how much she loves it!

16/10/201326/03/2018 by jo

Topsy and Tim Are Coming to Cbeebies!

When I was a little girl I was a huge Topsy & Tim fan, massive. I remember my 1970’s books – and I was pretty delighted to find one a few years ago at a car boot sale. Fast forward over thirty years, the books are still in print and now H is also a huge fan, so imagine my surprise when I spotted there has been a tv series made! Topsy and Tim are coming to Cbeebies!

Series 1 of Topsy and Tim will start on Monday 11th November at 5.30pm on CBeebies and is on every weekday afternoon!

~~Right now I can’t find any start dates other than November~~, but right now I know one little girl who will be beyond excited when I tell her what I’ve found out. There is one other thing you need to know – June Whitfield will have a role!! This may make me a little more excited than I should be, but really, June Whitfield! Topsy and Tim are coming to Cbeebies!!

Considering the books were first published in 1959, and the editions I’ve since bought, there hasn’t been a huge amount of updating to the books really – a few bits here and there but nothing too drastic. The books are over fifty years old – and in fact are still going strong. ‘Topsy and Tim Meet Father Christmas’ was published this week and it’s on the list to buy before Christmas.

What more is there to be said about this? We’re beyond excited this is happening, with real people rather than cartoon-y, and hopefully on tv at a good time after school as well! Topsy and Tim have covered so many scenarios that we’ve faced with H they’ve become a good way to help explain things (though as Alex pointed out earlier, there isn’t a book about death).

On the BBC website they say “While the stories of Topsy And Tim are told and shot from the perspective of the five year old characters as they capture everyday childhood experiences. I hope audiences will enjoy and identify with both dramas.” (there’s also a piece on Katie Morag)

So yes, SOON! Did I mention Topsy and Tim are coming to Cbeebies?

BBC Article here

Oh, and don’t get me started on The Clangers too – how excellent is all this?

11/10/201326/01/2014 by jo

How To Lose A Lemur by Frann Preston-Gannon

How To Lose a Lemur is a new book by Frann Preston-Gannon, published by Pavilion Books. ‘Everyone knows that once a lemur takes a fancy to you there is not much that can be done about it’. So Very True.

How To Lose A Lemur is a fun book – the story of a boy who is followed by lemurs, who desperately tries to escape them; but they’re everywhere. He hides up a tree, disguises himself, rows off in a boat, takes the train, climbs a mountain and takes to the air in a hot air balloon (as well as a few more things), but STILL those pesky lemurs won’t leave him alone. Then he gets lost. Fortunately the lemurs are there who help guide him back home via all the places he’d been to escape them.

We’ve already read the book several times. The language is nice and simple and she’s able to work out words in it; the font is clear too. The illustrations are lovely – a mixture of hand and computer painted artwork. Add to that a story with a message about the value of friendship aimed at 2-5 year olds and really this is the kind of book most children will enjoy.

It’s quirky like an Oliver Jeffers book, with elements of ‘Going on a Bear Hunt’ at the end retracing their steps – with a happy positive message at the end.

How to Lose A Lemur is out today, 10th October 2013 and available in all good bookstores (I saw it well stocked in Waterstones earlier today).

We’ll be checking out more of Frann Preston-Gannon’s work now as I feel like these books could be our cup of tea – her previous two books are The Journey Home and Dinosaur Farm. Add to that there’s more Lemur books to come – ‘How To Love Your Lemur’ and ‘When Lemurs Come To Christmas’ – we can’t wait!

We were provided with a copy of the book for the purpose of review, all opinions are our own. The link above is an affiliate link.

08/10/201326/01/2014 by jo

Room on the Broom App

Julia Donaldson has written some brilliant books, most of them our favourites. Today saw the release of the Room on the Broom app at the App Store, a fabulous choice of games which bring the characters from the book to life.

The Room on the Broom app keeps the spirit of the book, and with H learning phonics and how to spell at school now, this is a fun way to help expand her learning.

There are a few games on this app though I wish there was an option for the words to be read out – fortunately H worked most of them out anyway, but if she’d had some guidance from the game (yes, I understand I’m the one who is meant to guide her) I think that would be a great addition.

Within each game you can play with the Witch, Cat, Dog, Bird, Frog and Dragon.
Join the stars – A join the dots on a broom, you fly through the air and connect all the sparkly stars then once they’re joined work out which image it looks like.
Find the hat – The Witch has lost her hat! Is it behind the tree? Help Dog find the hat in the very familiar looking woods.

Windy day collecting game – It’s a windy day and Cat needs help collecting a few things – the wind makes it go faster and faster as the game progresses while you collect golden leaves at the same time. Collect a certain amount to increase your overall medal! (this game was great for children who can’t read – a very good visual one)
Find the bow – The Witch has lost her bow! This game is identical to the ‘find the hat’ game – if you liked that you’ll love this!
Find the wand – The Witch has lost her wand! Same as the previous two games, plenty of fun and challenges to find it in less than a certain number.

Drawing with stars – You have a set number of stars in the cauldron to make a picture. Tap the witch when you’re done and she’ll fly your pattern – like your own home-made dot to dot!
Dragon loves chips – The Dragon wants Witch and Chips for tea and you need to help him. Choose the wrong food and he’ll let you know – he’ll have to make do with dragon chips, but that’s okay.
Fly the magnificent broom – You’re on the broom, assembling the letters of the chosen word – direct the broom up or down to get the correct letters and get the empty letter space to touch the letter to add it. Once one word is complete you get to start a new one.

The Room on the Broom app requires iOS6 and upwards.

The game is lots of fun, there’s plenty to do and it’s keeping H’s attention which is key for me – and she’s learning (especially on the last game). The illustrations are true to the book which makes it even better!

The Room on the Broom App is recommended for ages 3-7 and is available now at the App Store.

The official Room on the Broom App page is here

We were provided with a code to review this app, all opinions are our own.

07/10/201326/03/2018 by jo

Back To School?

H has now completed two full weeks at school. We are no longer in back to school mode, so I thought it might be handy to make a note of things we’ve found out since she started.

• some children may find it harder than others to settle and it’s horrible for the parent. You don’t know how your child gets on once they’re through the doors, but a traumatic drop off can make a horrible day for you. If your child is friends with another, why not try to arrange to meet up with them at drop off time so they’re walking in together? It may be they’re getting to the playground and feel quite intimidated by it.
• you will be bombarded with letters. At BritMums I got a Personal Planner and ordered it to start from September so I can log everything school-wise in it to keep organised. It’s a different kind of calendar to our everyday one, as I can make notes about school dinners so I know how many weeks we’ve paid for, and make sure all important days are properly logged. I’m finding the Personal Planner a big help. I’ll write more about it soon and will have a giveaway so you can win one as well.
• If your school is anything like ours, your child’s PE kit will stay in school until half term. Oh the horror! I asked H if she folded her kit when she puts it away to be told “I just push it in the bag, that’s okay isn’t it?” – I’m making a mental note to teach her how to fold things a bit better! *dreads half term*
• Your child will probably tell you absolutely nothing about school. This is normal. We are only finding out about what she’s done via other parents (and vice versa). H is finally starting to tell me some things which is nice. Bear in mind they’re using a lot of brain power at the moment with learning – they’ll find it tiring, and probably won’t want to talk about their day (much as we do when we’ve had a hard day at work). It’ll happen.
• The only thing which gets H out of her uniform at the end of the day is to tell her she can watch Lazytown if she gets changed. This may be bad parenting but it works. I get to do some work while she watches too, so it’s win-win. Except Cartoonito have changed their schedules. Damn you.
• I now know why people give their uniforms a wash before wearing. H’s cardigans and sweatshirts are red – and we have the red fluff balls on all our clothes.
• Buttons. Bravo you lucky parents whose uniform is adorned with zips, take pity on us buttoned ones! Never before has a buttonhole felt so difficult to someone so small – and there’s the peer pressure of PE and doing it without asking for help. I’m considering sewing some buttonholes and buttons on fabric for her to sit playing with. I realise this may be the dullest toy ever though.

• Books. You will be bombarded with books, lots of phonics. Lots of stories. If you’re really lucky your books won’t have words in them so you’re describing the pictures. They exhausted me! Fortunately we’re on words now, but as a parent I can see we didn’t talk about pictures in books as much as we could have. Reading words and not looking at what else is going on in the book is easy to do when you’re busy. Take five or ten minutes to stop and read and talk about the book – even if it’s only six pages. We’d read five or six books and get through them in that time – we’ve slowed right down. Everything is slowing right down.
• There will be songs your child sings that you don’t know. YouTube is usually your friend.
• You can never have too much uniform. Already one pair of tights has a hole.
• If your child is starting reception, you’ll be like most of us and grumble about the long settling in and short hours. Actually having come out of it, it made sense why they do it – everyone does it (it’s not like some kids stay longer and others are sent home – everyone goes home at the same time). Now the first full week is over she’s less tired than she was (but still tired). After school clubs won’t be offered for the first term as they like children to settle in first – I’m hoping for a couple after Christmas when I’m sure she’ll be ready.

• Bumps in the playground. Yesterday H came home with a big graze on her knee after a boy pushed her over. We have some wipes and plasters ready in a first aid kit so patched it up and it’s healing now. In fact you may need all sorts – check you’ve got the basics in anyway, as in, antiseptic wipes, plasters and bandages – it’s better to be safe than sorry. Fortunately we have a super new First Aid Kit so we’ll be fine!
• Don’t forget vitamins. For ALL the family!

Boots have put together a Back to School chart with loads of handy hints from other bloggers – you may want to have a read and get prepared now, especially if your child is set to start next September. Nursery has taught us some of these things, but it doesn’t hurt to have another read and there are many things I’d never thought about before now.

We were sent a first aid kit from Boots for this post, but all content is mine.

02/10/201326/01/2014 by jo

Party Bags

The party season never goes away, fun times. As a parent I had no idea about party bags when we did H’s 1st birthday party – everyone got a piece of cake (I think – I hope!) and a balloon (ditto) and that was it – luckily it was her first so it wasn’t like they’d expect much anyway, but as other first birthday party invites came we entered the murky world of party bags.

I’m no expert, so thought I’d add my top tips that I’ve picked up so far. I managed to get H’s party bag contents from ebay this year and I think I did pretty well – though could do better.

• Crayons. Everyone gives crayons, and you may find you end up with a tub full of the things. Never fear, as you can always melt them down and make jumbo crayons. See also : pencils. I try to avoid both as I know lots of people do them.
• Bubbles. You can’t go wrong with bubbles, although if you get a lot of parties that can also be a lot of bubbles – we currently have ten tubs in the cupboard from various bags. Keep to smaller tubs and they’ll run out faster! We need some activities for old bubble tubs… We got Magic Bubbles once – they never pop (or are difficult to, anyway) – one bubble lived for over three months in a cobweb in our house (oh the shame)
• Jigsaw puzzles. Almost every one we’ve had has been flimsy and difficult to put together and has been thrown away. If possible try to see the quality of them before you buy. There’s a reason they’re cheap…
• Noisy things. A winner! There’s a lot of choice and we found getting H to practice blowing into a party streamer or duck quacker helped her learn to whistle quicker. We’re still working on the whistling, but it’s definitely a skill they’ll pick up.
• Bouncy balls. You can never have too many of these, mainly as they’ll bounce over the fence so there’s a good losing potential here. This is an added bonus for parents who would like some of the party toys to ‘disappear’…
• Balloons. We had four balloons from parties in our front room. Sadly they met their end (two possibly via a pair of scissors, me bad), which were replaced by more balloons. They grow like weeds, and we’ve had some interesting party bag ones – the rocket balloon is currently a favourite and lasts for ages too. The rocket balloons are at the pricier end for party bags, but do seem popular – with the parents AND kids!
• Mini games. We love mini games! H got a mini connect 4 which she’s had a good play with, and one of those puzzles where you move the tiles around to make a picture which she’s had a lot of enjoyment from.
• PlayDough. Home made is good, as is shop bought. Home made is easier but shop bought takes less time. There are loads of deals for the stuff out there – I saw a buy one get one free for three tubs locally (but if you’ve got 24 kids at the party then it could work out pricey).
• Puzzle/colouring in books. These are always a winner, and I also found some magic paint ones (where you use a brush and water and the colours appear) – they usually work out about 25p each too.
• Random things. Olympics fever last year meant H had several medals in her party bags which are still played with. If the party is near a big event, why not think of something that links in with that?

Ultimately, you don’t have to spend a lot of money. This year with H’s monster theme I’ve managed to spend well under a pound per bag and still put around six things in there – I’m quite pleased with myself, and only one of them is of an unpredictable quality…

01/10/201326/01/2014 by jo

Know Your Egg Codes

A funny thing happened the other night. I was cooking tea and got some eggs we had left over that we’d bought from a local farm shop, and saw this :

I had no idea eggs were graded, it isn’t the kind of thing I’d notice or talk about, so out of curiosity as I’m a geek for a barcode (I can bore people senseless talking about how a barcode is generated), so I checked my egg codes. To be greeted with this :

Whoa. Let me repeat that. I bought some eggs from a farm shop who say on their website the eggs are freshly laid by their hens, yet they’re classed as caged? I wasn’t sure if the inside of the box could be relied upon and whether it was one being reused (I’ll check when I next go there) but I’m confused. The hens you see on the farm surely can’t generate that many eggs, are they all on show for us customers who aren’t thinking about what we’re buying? Surely not?

This needs further investigation. I contacted them via Facebook but so far no reply.

Do you know how to check your eggs? It’s a universal code, and you can trace how far your eggs have travelled with this link here. The ones I bought were laid in Horsham which isn’t that close to the farm shop I bought them from, so I suspect they’re buying the eggs in. I won’t be buying eggs from them any more, especially with their site claiming they’re freshly laid on the farm. Hmm.

After further reading, caged hens are no longer allowed in this country, but that doesn’t explain why these eggs are graded as a 3. The mystery deepens… does anyone have an eggsplanation?

This all unravelled one night on Facebook, and I’m glad I know about egg codes now and how to identify them – hopefully you will now too!

30/09/201327/08/2017 by jo

A Beano Christmas

The Beano is 75 this year and over at the South Bank in London is Beanotown – a fan’s must-visit, with loads of things to do there. We were invited to view their Beano Christmas range of gifts back in July so headed down on our day off.

The Beano needs very little introduction – a comic that has lasted over 75 years it has been constantly reinvented but kept in the true spirit it started with. The gifts for this year reflect this.

The standout gift was a Beano chopper bike from Raleigh – which doesn’t come cheap at £300 but oh my, it’s great! I’d love one of those, although I’ve no idea where I’d keep it.. and it’s probably not practical for taking on cycle rides with H.

Some of the gifts for this year included things you could personalise – from mugs to books to calendars. H really liked it too and we’ve already ordered (and received quickly) a ‘Daddy the Menace’ mug from Gone Digging for Shaun’s birthday which cost us around the £10 mark. H was VERY excited about creating something so personal too. This is also why I’ve had to delay putting this post up, I didn’t want him to see!

There’s some games – and a set where you can Prank Your Pals available now at The Entertainer, and as we know Dennis the Menace does love his pranks. I spotted a comic maker kit – billed for older kids it looks pretty excellent, you stick your characters and speech bubbles and make a comic book with the various elements on offer – I’d quite fancy one of those for myself.

If you’re feeling a little more grown up, there’s always the Beano duvet set, available now in Single and Double size (alas no kingsize, sigh).

Accompanying the Chopper Bike are some cycling shirts, including one featuring Minnie the Minx. There’s a cute little Dennis Babygro as well! They are priced up from £27.95 via Foska (you can get the Babygro from here)

My favourites were the Dr Marten Boots – in kids sizes too. If H’s feet didn’t grow so quickly when I buy her full price shoes she’d have a pair of red and black stripy Minnie the Minx ones which I’d have loved when I was younger.

The Beano Christmas event was great too – there was a free comic drawing masterclass from Kev P who draws for the Beano – and who drew the most amazing comic version of H – it’s on the wall!

There’s so much choice out there if you’re looking for Beano Christmas ideas – if you’re someone who remembers those comics from your younger days, you’ll probably find something you love too!

29/09/201326/03/2018 by jo

Educational Books That Are Fun

I’m always on the look out for books which will help H with her reading, educational books that will work with her learning at school. Recently I’ve come across two which I’m sharing with you today.

We were sent a copy of Bud and Roo’s Spectacular Adventures – The Beach by Jessica Valentine and Suzy Jones Biggar. This is a new book about two dogs, Bud and Roo and what they discover. It’s designed as an early reading book, with words that aren’t difficult to work out so you’re building your child’s confidence in reading on their own.

With Bud and Roo’s Spectacular Adventures – The Beach you have a short story with lovely illustrations in simple colours and plenty of things to spot and talk about on each picture. The books are targeted at the 0-5 age range, and I’m hoping fairly soon H may be able to read most of it without too much help.

Bud and Roo’s Spectacular Adventures – The Beach is available now at Amazon (affiliate link) with a rrp of £5.99.

Curious Cat’s Way Out Bunch – Which Endangered Animal Lives in Northern Canada? by Jenny Tulip and Dawn Smith is a new series for us – I discovered these books at the recent Carshalton Environmental Fair and bought a book (and was given this one for free) when we got chatting.

The Curious Cat series are educational, they base the series on animals which are rare, exotic and endangered. The books have facts about the creature’s appearance, habits and environment and it’s left to the child to guess which animal it’s about. H really enjoys identifying the animals, and with her limited reading abilities can work out which is which when faced with a page of them.

Add to that you’ve facts at the end, plus a world map – and with H having dual nationality I need her to understand how big the world is, these books help her learn about other countries and animals. There are no Australian books available yet, but that could happen in the not-too-distant future! The books are self-published at Green Art Creations and I can see a selection of the books are available at Amazon too.

I like that the book is written in rhyme which makes identifying the animal fun, and there’s plenty to talk about on each page.

Right now these educational books are fitting perfectly into H’s learning to read and discovering more about the world. I’d recommend both, as they have to be fun for the parents to read too – and these definitely are!

Mum Friendly

the things we do, the things we like

Author / jo