A Martian Comes to Stay - Penelope Lively

Advantages: A brightly illustrated book, great for pre-school children.
Disadvantages: None

...Goose Award’. She has illustrated a large number of books for a variety of authors as well as writing and illustrating a number of children’s books of her own: ~ Moonlight ~ Rhymes around the day ~ Peek-a-boo ~ When an elephant comes to school ~ Hat off baby! ~ Making friends ☺☺☺ About the author ☺☺☺ Penelope Lively was born in Egypt. Educated in England from the age of 12, she attended Oxford Uni. She has written a range of fiction and non-fiction books and also branched out in to the field of children’s books. Penelope Lively has won a number of Literary awards: ~ Booker Prize for Moon Tiger ~ Carnegie Medal ~ Whitbread Award She does have an official website, www.penelopelively.net which I have to say is very dull and could do with a revamp, perhaps to include simple games etc... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: engrossing read, beautifully written, full of actions and emotion
Disadvantages: none

..., and who we would like to be. ~~~My thoughts~~~ I have to admit I first encountered The Martian Chronicles when it was run on television circa 1979. It was the school holidays, so I was allowed to stay up, and it looked interesting. The high quality of the 3 night mini series adaptation and its intriguingly haunting storyline awoke my preteen mind from the glories of Star Wars and the original Battlestar Galactica, and off to my public library to find the book. I will admit it was heavy reading for me at the time, and I did not grasp many of the nuances that were going on, but it was a cracking read. Rockets, aliens, intrigue, and even ghost towns were all to be had, what more could I ask? Superbly written, the stories haunted me for years to come. I was to finally purchased this book to have always, and have now reread it so many times... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: captivating, imaginative, great for reading aloud, magical, children's book of the last 6 moths for me
Disadvantages: none at all

...Beatrix Potter and Maurice Sendak's 'Where the Wild Things Are' and you will have an idea. My daughter is now nearly four (3 and 10 months) and she loved it. I was watching her face as she was listening to me reading the story yesterday and, despite knowing quite well what was happening and what was coming next, she was noticeably excited by the tale, her face lighting up in the crucial moments. We took it back to the library now but it's a book I would definitely contemplate buying if I was in a habit of buying books or if I had a spare Amazon voucher as it has a fantastic re-read potential. Penelope Lively is an acomplished children's and adult author and a winner of many prizes including the Booker. 'The Cat, the Crow and the Banyan Tree' is a remarkable children's book, a true proof that small children's books benefit from... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful