Children's Books > 10 GBP to 14 GBP Children's Books > by Title (First Letter)

Advantages: Brilliant end to a brilliant trilogy. Short chapters: ideal stopping places
Disadvantages: Much longer than the others. Very descriptive in the middle.

A little short of amonth ago, I woke up on Christmas morning and opened my presents. One of these was Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy. I had eagerly awaited these (guessing I would get them for Christmas) and tucked into them immediately. The first two in the trilogy, namely 'Northern Lights' and 'The Subtle Knife', leave you thristy for more. Pullman creates a fantastic tale over the course of the trilogy, leaving the reader needing ...
...first two books, over 500 pages long, and at points in the middle, it seems to drag slightly.I found myself pushing through long descriptive paragraphs without incidences of conversation to break up the monotony. These descriptions were integral to the plot, as is everything, but I felt Pullman was close to going off at a tangent in these parts. Pullman touches heavily on the religious nature of the books in this third and final installment. I had ... Read review

Advantages: Beautiful drawings
Disadvantages: No disadvantages

...It is an autobiography of a woman who many people will have heard of, and also have access to her many drawings and paintings on their children’s bookshelf. I am writing about Shirley Hughes, my all time favourite illustrator, and latterly, children's author. The autobiography is cleverly entitled ‘A Life Drawing’ and Shirley has drawn the front illustration showing an older woman, sitting on a low stool, with a satchel by her side. She has a floppy ...
...to my own children at a time when I was living in a modern box-like house. The Shirley Hughes illustrations showed me where it was that I preferred to live. I wanted to live in an Edwardian or Victorian house, with mantelpieces and rickety kitchen tables. I wanted rugs on floors, and knobbly banister rails up the stairs. I wanted a home where the kids could pull everything out of the saucepan cupboard, and play on the floor with them, and which would ... Read review

Advantages: Lovely, descriptive text
Disadvantages: wish it was longer

I'm so glad I stumbled across this author, which is how I found these books. My little girl is delighted by them and the fact that there are so many series just enhances the pleasure. They are simply but descriptively written with lots of sparkle, twinkle and glitter. The baddies are just naughty but not at all frighteneing, just right for bedtime and the fairies, well, what can I say. Daisy describes each one beautifully right down to their individual ... Read review

Advantages: lots of ideas
Disadvantages: none

Picture the Past These publications seem to be around forever, and in fact, this one was published in 1992, so they have been going strong for quite some time. Whilst involved on a recent topic of Ancient Greece with some Upper Key Stage 2 children, I raked this out, and found it had some really useful ideas; no need for me to actually have to think about displays, just open the book, and hey presto. The pictures are of actual displays completed ...
...by full instructions and a picture of the finished make. The instructions are such that older children will be able to follow then, and because the pictures are usually quite self explanatory, younger children could have a go with minimal explanation, as long as they were given the appropriate materials. At the back of the book there are a series of line drawings, mainly relating to making Victorian decorations, and these can be photocopied, without ... Read review

Advantages: The eggs are still green! The ham is still green!
Disadvantages: Latin, alas, is obscure...

...Non mi placent, O Pincerna, Virent ova! Viret perna! ‘Ova’ is a recognisable word even to those who have not studied Latin – the ovum means ‘egg’, the ovaries of course being the place eggs are produced. ‘Perna’ is the word for ham. (Ironically, the word ‘ovum’ is a neuter term in Latin, rather than female; the word ‘perna’ is a feminine word.) The word ‘Pincerna’ means waiter or server (it can even mean butler). Virent/viret is actually a verb, ...
...roughly translate into They do not please me, O waiter, Eggs that are green! Ham that is green! Yes, I know, it suffers a bit in translation; imagine the power of poetry and how sometime this can be lost in translation. Thus, it is important to understand the literary license with which Jennifer Tunberg and Terence Tunberg have translated the text. They have made an effort to make sure the meter, rhyme, and story fit the text as a Latin text, ... Read review