Children's Books > G Children's Books

Advantages: Great ideas for rainy days, role-play and pirate themed parties
Disadvantages: none

...includes a double page of pirate themed gold stickers. Pirate Hats: Shows how to make two different hats a rounded hat and a pointed hat. Easy and quick to make at any age (young ones with a little help) and can be used for dressing up and play immediately for both boys and girls. Pirate Ship Painting: More for the older children. Shows very clearly how to draw the ship including pirates. Money Bags and Silver Coins: For all ages (again young ...
...has dried. Great idea for pirate themed birthday parties to hand out as loot bag. Ancient Treasure Map: For all ages (again young ones with a little help) and only uses a piece of paper, some cold strong tea and colouring pens. Simple and easy to make though the paper needs to soak for an hour and was not dry until the next day, but provided hours of adventure fun. Pirate Paraphernalia: This includes a Telescope, shiny ear ring and an eye patch. ... Read review

Advantages: Lots of craft ideas relating to Valentine's Day
Disadvantages: A lot of adult input required.

...~ Zigzag card ~ Striped Valentine card ~ Valentine bracelet ~ Spiral heart twirlers ~ Pretty heart bag ~ Bright heart flowers ~ Glittery hearts giftwrap ~ Tissue paper flowers ~ Lovebird decorations ~ Hearts and flowers cards ~ Love bugs ~ Valentine roses giftwrap In the centre of the book there is a double page spread of valentine-based stickers that can are easily peeled off and either used on the ‘makes’ for the things in this book ...
...the activities myself, e.g. stripy valentine cards, valentine garlands and glittery hearts gift wrap which basically entails printing heart shape sponges on a bit of paper! Most of the girls I have come across in my many years of teaching just love hearts and all things related so have enjoyed the activities. One of my favourites are the ‘love bugs’ made from silver foil, painted and decorated and then finished off with card wings and pipe cleaners ... Read review

Advantages: Encourages listening and thinking skills
Disadvantages: Might make your brain hurt!

...after reading an article in the Times about keeping children’s brains active throughout the long summer holidays. We often play games and quizzes at family meal times (when I went on holiday I packed in my suitcase… type of game) so I though this book may give us some food for thought, so to speak. A thunk, explains the author Ian Gilbert, is a simple looking question about an everyday thing which makes you stop and reflect and then look at things ...
...question harder, everyday situations. The concept of thunks came from America where Matthew Lipman, a professor of philosophy, realised his students could tell him in detail what the great philosophers thought, but were unable to formulate ideas for themselves. About 10 years ago he developed a course of what became known as Philosophy for Children which was abbreviated to P4C. By questioning why they feel something to be true, or not, students ... Read review

Advantages: Well presented, brighly illustrated, full of ideas.
Disadvantages: Nothing you can't get on the internet!

...~ Flower sweets ~ Sticky Easter cakes ~ Sunshine toast ~ Easter truffles ~ Marzipan animals and eggs ~ Easter fudge ~ Coloured eggs ~ Easter cake ~ Chocolate nests ~ Easter fruit breat ~ Spiced Easter biscuits ~ Easter daisy biscuits ~ Cheesy chicks The final two activities are: ~ Wrapping ideas ~ Easter tags ΔΔΔ Style and Format ΔΔΔ With the exception of the Easter tags at the very back of the book, ...
...chocolate nests to a full Easter cake! Not being an exceptionally good baker, even as an adult I haven't attempted the Easter cake or Easter fruit bread - the amount of energy involved and the results don't really appeal to me or the under 7s that I have used lots of the baking activities with! I find that young children prefer quick, easy to make individual cakes that they can decorate with mini eggs, hundreds and thousands etc.. The chirpy chick ... Read review

Advantages: Some fun stories
Disadvantages: I'd read most of them in other collections

I've long been a fan of Neil Gaiman, as he is one of those writers who can mix the fantastical with the real and make it feel somehow natural. His writing has a kind of credibility that means when Neil Gaiman tells you something unbelievable, you start keeping half an eye out for it, just in case. I've read most of Gaiman's novels and short story collections, but had never dipped into the writing he aims at a slightly younger audience. Given that ...
...I wasn't anticipating any major difference in his writing for the different audience, particularly in a collection of short stories. That is exactly what I got, as "M is for Magic" is a collection of stories specially selected for the audience, but not written specifically for the audience. Indeed, of the eleven stories contained within, I had read eight of them previously, as four stories are featured from each of his previous collections aimed ... Read review