Review - Temple Run (Run for your life) Multiple-ending books

JJ is a mega book worm, he adores reading and this is brilliant as otherwise he would want to sit at his screen all day. When I heard that Egmont were publishing some Temple Run multiple-ending fiction books I hoped he might like these and agreed for him to review them.

We received the first book in the series, which is available as of today, 7th August 2014. Temple Run - Run for your life - Jungle Trek is a 152 page paperback, which retails for £5.99 but I have seen it available on Amazon for £3.55, which is a super bargain. You can see it is aimed at a child by the large spaced writing.

Based on the very popular computer game, this book places you on a plane with Guy Dangerous and Scarlett Fox when it crashes. You need to make choices as you move through the book to determine how you will survive. The choices you make change the story and this means a different story every time. Your decisions will effect the outcome and if the story goes badly - which it often will - you can just start all over again.

JJ did like reading this and I have seen him pick it up a number of times but he said he preferred a classic book where there is just one ending as he wants to get into the plot. It seems like this book might be good to encourage kids who are not big readers to read a bit more as it is quite light and you can read through it fairly quickly.

JJ is nearly 11 years old but is a bit of a softie at times and he felt he could not read this book at bedtime as some of the plot lines like brain eating monkeys and snake pits worried him a bit, because of this I would not let his younger sisters read it. From the parts I've looked at though I think this book would be enjoyed by an older girl as much as a boy, particularly if they like adventure.

As well as this multi-ending book another has also been published today called Doom Lagoon and there will be another two to follow in November 2014.

We were also sent a couple of activity books, which are the shape and size of an iPad. These are approximately 50 pages of puzzles, quizzes, word searches, doodling, stickers, challenges and other word games. Retailing at £6.99 each I think they are good value for money and would make a fabulous gift for a youngster who is off to travel for a long journey and needs something fun to entertain them. The pages are a good thick quality paper and there is excellent variety in the books.

Disclosure: We were sent these books free of charge for the purpose of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Interesting children's books from Francis Lincoln & QED Publishing

I have two book lovers and one who finds all this reading lark just too difficult for words. I am therefore determined that I'll find some books to help my little Miss E to love books as much as her siblings and I do.

Miss E is an amazing artist and has really great skills for a 6 year old and this is where she chooses to focus her attention, so with that in mind I ordered her a book from QED publishing called 'Drawing and Sketching', it is aimed at 7 - 11 year olds but was fine for her and she is 6.  The retail price is £5.99 and for this you get 32 pages of tips and techniques to help you draw better. We found it a great starter to get your child interested in learning about building pictures up but Miss E was desperate for even more than this book gave her.

Here are a couple of samples pages from the book -

This is the squirrel that Miss E drew herself in about 10 minutes and since then she has drawn me loads of other creatures too, not bad for a  year old!

At school right now the girls are learning about pirates on their learning journey, so when I saw the hard backed 'Buccaneering Book of Pirates' I knew it would be a big hit. This book retails for £12.99 and has some fabulous stories in it to enchant your children, it is great to read to younger children or older ones can read it themselves. Our book headed into school and the whole class have been enjoying the stories.  In the front pocket is also a massive poster of a pirate with lots of little fun part to move, take out and educate. There are good sturdy metal holes in the top of hang it by, you can see just how big it is in the picture against Miss E!

The last book I choose I ordered with Miss M in mind. She is a confident reader and gets bored really quickly so I knew that some silly word poems would be right up her street. As well as reading them to herself and her twin sister she has been regaling anyone that has visited our house in the last week with a live rendition.

I am a poetato has 80 pages and is hardbacked, it is chocca full of really fun poems and they come in all forms, so it is fabulously educational for helping Miss M understand how to create poems and prose in new forms. The retail price is £12.99.

I'd happily recommend each of these books but my personal favourite has to be I am a Poetato as it combines fun and learning together in such a great way.

Disclosure: we received these books free of charge for the purposes of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Review & Giveaway: Children's Book - Sir Scallywag and the Golden Underpants

Big congratulations to @BlueBearWood you are the lucky winner.  Please DM or email me your address details.  Many thanks, Michelle

There is a new favourite bedtime story in our house right now.  The girls are just loving this new book we have been sent. Sir Scallywag and the Golden Underpants is marketed as being perfect for boys aged 3 - 6 years and I think they are right, boys will adore the silly poetic verses in this story.  However, equally so two little 4 year old girlie girls are enjoying it as well.

'Read it again Mummy', 'Why has the King chopped his head off and flushed it down the loo?'.  Oh yes, I have been getting all sorts of questions and fielding those can be fun!  As you can tell from the questions there are a couple of bits in the book which I found a little questionable, not rude enough that I would not read the book but just a tad silly, the sort of thing that young kids love.

I felt the storyline carried a similarity to David and Goliath from the bible, in that just because someone is small does not mean they cannot conquer, which of course is a really nice message to give your kids.

The award winning author Giles Andreae was also the creator of Purple Ronnie, which made me smile as I have not thought about that little stickman for a few years. The illustrations in the book are outstanding as you would expect from Korky Paul, the man responsible for illustrating the Winnie the Witch books. In all the poetic wording and superb drawings join together to make a fabulous book, which is great lighthearted fun and a really easy read.

So how do you fancy winning your own copy?

How to enter:

• Mandatory - Leave a comment to let me know how I can contact you - twitter ID or email.
• Additional entry - tweet ''I want to #win a Sir Scallywag & the Golden Underpants book from @puffinbooks & @michelletwinmum #giveaway http://bit.ly/wASURx'

 Terms and Conditions of Entry:

• The winner will be chosen at random
• Open to UK and Ireland residents only
• Giveaway closes at 12 noon on Thursday 9th February 2012
• The winner will be contacted within 3 working days of the competition closing
• The winner needs to contact me within a week of my announcing the winner or I will draw again
• The prize is not transferable and there is no cash alternative
• The DVD will be sent direct from Penguin Books

Disclaimer:  This is a review post.  Many thanks to Penguin Books for this book.

Children's DVD Review: Arrietty

As a child I loved Mary Norton's book The Borrowers, about tiny people who lived under the floorboards and came up to borrow things that the human folk may not need, such as sugar lumps and tissues.  So hearing it had been made into a modern film was exciting news. Arrietty is an animated family feature film which runs for approximately 90 minutes.  Made by the Ghibli studio that produced Spirited Away and Ponyo, it is the tale of a young boy called Sho who is seriously ill and comes to stay in a mansion in the leafy outskirts of Tokyo whilst he awaits treatment.  During his time there Sho meets a tiny little girl called Arrietty who lives in the depths of the house in her own diddy house with her parents. Sadly once her parents realise that a human has seen her they need to move away to keep themselves safe but before this we get a delightful story of an unlikely friendship and a slightly kooky housekeeper!

This is a beautiful film, which was enjoyed by all the family from my 4 year old girls through to my husband and I. The animation is just lovely, I commented to dh that it is not at all garish like some children's films.  It is muted and very realistic and the story unfolds in a very touching and captivating way.  This film has provided a couple of happy afternoons viewing for us so far.

Arrietty will be available to buy from all good retailers from 9th January 2012.  I would happily recommend it as a good investment to add to your family films library.  You can pre-order on Amazon for £11.99 for a DVD at the moment.

Take a peek at the trailor -



Certificate : U
Run Time:  90 minutes
Language:  English or Japanese with English subtitles
Actors: Saoirse Ronan, Olivia Coleman, Mark Strong, Tom Holland
Directors: Hiromasa Yonebayashi

Disclaimer:  This is a  review post, I received the DVD free of charge. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Recommended Children's Books for Christmas

Not too long until Christmas is upon us and if you are anything like me then some of your Christmas shopping will be done in bookshops.  I just love to browse through books, each year I take it upon myself to help the children I buy presents for improve their love for books.  I bought one of my nephews a book recently and he commented this would be his fourth book.  How sad is that?  My kids have dozens and dozens of books each and we visit charity shops and the library frequently so we can keep rotating and keep our reading fresh. I suppose my love of reading has translated into a love for them too - result!

I was recently sent 3 books to review and share with you.  Here is what we thought!

Magic Beans: A Handful of Fairytales from the Storybag. RRP £9.99 in hardback

This one suited my girls age group (they are 4) with me reading to them but equally JJ could easily have read it to himself at age 8. It is a wonderful book to read at bedtime and I was able to read to all 3 children with them  all equally being interested and engaged. The book contains fourteen wondrous stories and each one is described as a magic bean: written to capture a child's imagination. The collection of classic stories are retold in a modern manner by some of today's best children's story tellers including Jacqueline Wilson, Phillip Pullman, Michael Morpurgo, Anne Fine, and many more.

My girls particularly liked the tale of Rapunzel told by Jacqueline Wilson and I was super pleased to see Aesop's Fables included.  I have such fond memories of being read these simple but brilliant tales by my Mum when I was young. I would happily recommend this book for both boys and girls.



History Keepers: The Storm Begins by Damien Dibben. RRP £12.99 in hardback

JJ who is 8 read this but let me tell you a secret....  so did I and I am considerably older than 8! lol I am assuming this book is aimed at pre-teens/ teenagers but at a mature 8 JJ was fine reading it and really got into the fast-moving story.  In this book (the first of many I hope) young hero Jake Djones travels through time to save his parents – and history itself.  The way that true life historical events are woven into the story is extremely clever. I felt like I was being taken on a  rollercoaster ride through this book and it kept me turning the pages avidly. I believe this book will appeal to both boys and girls and should feature on every older child's Christmas list.  It is superb and I can't wait for the next book in the series...

Sapphire Battersea by Jacqueline Wilson.  RRP £12.99 in hardback

This is the second book in a trilogy, with the acclaimed Hetty Feather being the first. As JJ is a real boys boy I passed this book to my friends 10 year old daughter, H and asked for her comments. 'I loved it' was the first thing she said to me when I saw her the other day.  She told me that she read it in 2 days over a weekend as it was fantastic.  She had not read Hetty Feather prior to this book but she said it did not matter as she was able to understand everything in the book and she would, be using her pocket money next week to buy Hatty Feather. 

Her mum tells me that Sapphire Battersea is well written and very pre-teen/ early teenage years friendly. There is a sad part when a key character dies (I won't spoil it and say who) so you need to be aware that it is not really aimed at younger children. Also your child needs to be aware that there will be a third book out in a year or so which will reveal the ending to the story.....  so they need to be patient and wait for it!

Another recommendation, I am now reliably informed that JJ would have loved it too and whilst my assumption was that it is a girls book, apparently that is not so.

All three books are available at good booksellers such as Waterstones and WH Smiths and can also be purchased online from Random House.


Disclosure:  I received these books free of charge to review.  I was not instructed what to write and I remain honest.