What We Are Reading Right Now #9

Lazy Saturdays are for reading… and that’s what we are up to over hear… in fact not a whole lot more just lately… reading, reading and reading…

I have never really been drawn to family history in a way where I need to go back to the roots of my roots… looking up great, great, great, grandparents has just never been my thing. But I have been reading this book, Who am I? The Family Tree Explorer and loving it. I have always seen history and my personal history as quite distinct… but this book brings it together and I have to say I am intrigued!!! Lots of easy and doable projects, heaps of ideas for tracing your ancestry. This is a really practical book, packed with heaps of ideas and projects, lots of ideas on how to create your family tree and I have to say my interest is piqued!!! We borrowed this book from the library!!!

And now for the kids:

Hood #1: When he saw this book Alienography 2: tips for Tiny Tyrants, he whipped it away and inhaled it!!! Hours were spent reading the words, mastering the artwork… sketches flew off the sheets of his drawing book. What is not to inspire: The wacky Chris Riddell at his very best!!! All sorts of creative bits and pieces, one of those delightful books that are packed with little surprises – a mini book within the book. A card game… with real alien playing cards. The pages are packed with incredible illustrations of the alien kind, very weird and wildly wonderful creatures – outer space as you may never have seen it before. As he says: “This book is a keeper.” We were given this book by Pan MacMillan South Africa, to review.

Hood #2: Escape… The Ultimate Survival Guide for kids… all of my readers inhaled this book… but Hood 2 claimed it, just his sort of book. This is the kid who has rescued us with many a flat tyre… and after reading this book he fully equipped to save us from a number of other, not so everyday, emergencies. How to escape from a sunken car; How to survive in the desert; How to escape from a bear… What about a volcanic eruption, forest fire… self-defence… and should I mention just to keep it light… how to avoid aliens!!! This book is packed with factoids, well illustrated instructions and step-by-step tutorials. Gotta say we all enjoyed this book and it makes a great reference book to slot on the shelf alongside our nature guides.We were given this book by Pan MacMillan South Africa, to review.

Hood #3: If I was looking for a gift for this gal child, I would have chosen this one… A Rumer Godden Collection, The Fairy Doll But she dove into the pile of books and picked it herself. She was drawn because of the “Forward by Jacqueline Wilson” because she is a Jacqueline Wilson fan, but what a treasury she found… A Rumer Godden collection packed with se7en whole books inside it!!! Books that I read as a child, like “Miss Happiness and Miss Flower” … and “Little Plum” A collection of beautiful stories that draw you into the world of dolls, and yet it isn’t about the dolls so much as the world of the dolls… these books inspire and encourage, you will laugh and cry and be carried along by the tales through the “ins and outs” and the trials of life. Have to say that after having a quick read again, these stories are timeless, I was taken straight back to the summer I read these books… they are lovely and this collection is just beautiful. We were given this book by Pan MacMillan South Africa, to review.

Hood #4: I don’t know a single child who didn’t at one time or another imagine that they would one day be a detective. How to be a Detective is the ultimate handbook. One of those pop up books that isn’t a pop up book – it is better than that!!! It has envelopes to open and clues to explore, a periscope to fold out and make and an ink pad for essential “finger printing.” This really is the “to do book” for potential detectives. The book draws the reader through a case, training them with the skills of the great Sherlock Holmes… This book is pure fun, short snippets of reading and packed with heaps of really useful information – How to make a wanted poster; and Rules of surveillance to name a few. This book is literally packed with things to do… packed with experiments and things to try. This book has kept this boy engaged for hours and hours… what can I say, I wanted to do a heap of the projects myself!!!We were given this book by Pan MacMillan South Africa, to review.

Hood #5: This is a seventieth anniversary edition of the classic: Gobbolino the Witches Cat. Books are classics for a reason, this book is the delightful story of a kitchen cat, that is anything but a kitchen cat!!! Poor Gobbolino has no desire to be a witches cat and is convinced that there is a better life for him elsewhere. The brave little cat sets off on a journey to find his own family… and this is the story of his scrapes and adventures as he looks for his comfortable fireside family. This is chapter book is a great first reader or a bedtime story… we are loving it again!!! We were given this book by Pan MacMillan South Africa, to review.

Hood #6: I know you are thinking, “Why on earth would we be excited about another Cinderella story?” That’s because Cinderella’s Secret Diary is not an ordinary Cinderella story. It is an exquisitely illustrated diary, and you are drawn into the world of Cinderella and you cannot believe that the beautiful drawings are not real. The invitation is of course real, you can take it from the envelope and examine all the details for the ball… followed by pages filled with feathers and jewels, gloves and glitter, petals and proclamations!!! Of course Cinderella marries the princess and leaves her lady reader a beautiful crown for their own use. This is a magical book… and a new take on a classic tale. We were given this book by Pan MacMillan South Africa, to review.

Hood #7: Oh be still my heart a darling dragon picture book!!! Everything to love… Lovebye Dragon is the story of a lonely young girl who is desperate for a dragon friend… she cries and cries and cries some more… and then a bit more… she cries a river… and eventually her tears run into a deep dark cave and drip onto an adorable sleeping dragon. He follows the trail of tears and announces: “I am here!” … “As I wished,” whispers the girl. These two do everything together, they are best friends for ever and ever and ever!!! Delightful story – because lets face it, every girl needs a dragon and this book explains the situation delightfully!!! We were given this book by Pan MacMillan South Africa, to review.

And the se7en + 1th Book:

Hood #8: A certain young person is of an age to find all things to do with knickers hysterically funny and this book provides him with the necessary belly laughs before bedtime… The story is about a young girl who’s mom is tasked with making knickers for Queen Victoria… they have to decide on fabric and style and well the whole family has an idea… and in the end “mom” makes some really ordinary knickers, pretty much like the ones you can see in the Museum of London today. It is the interesting author’s note, packed with history regarding Queen Victoria and her knickers, that bring us back to this book night after night!!! The team that bring us this book, Jackie French and Bruce Whatley are responsible for other family favourites of ours like The Diary of a Wombat, if you don’t know them, then look them up!!! We borrowed this book from the library and renewed it three times – read it every night for six weeks!!!

We really want to thank: PanMacMillan South Africa and the local library,for providing us with books to review for this post. We would like to declare that we were not paid to do these reviews, just provided with books. All the opinions are entirely our own!!!