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 his writing often makes me feel like a child again, 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 ...
Advantages: Fantastic funny poetry to encourage children to read Disadvantages: Your child will constantly read it out to you
This is a witty, crazy poetry book that covers many things children find hysterical. This book has been used over and over again by me in my role as class teacher in primary schools (particularly for 7+ age group) and is always the book that children request.
It has to be said the most funniest and popular poem is the one which supplied the book's name: The Day I Fell Down the Toilet! Here's a little taster of the 10-verse poem:
The day I fell down the toilet
Is a day I'll never forget,
One moment I was in comfort
The next I was helpless and wet?
One wave goodbye to the bathroom
And I was lost in the sewer,
Travelling tunnels and caverns
On a raft made out of manure.
You get the gist of the level in which the poem stoops to!
*** WRITING STYLE ***
There is a variety of poetry styles included in this book. Poems ...
Dragon Magic is a cute tale that transports children to a magical world of castles and dragons. It tells the story of a small girl called Jess and her blacksmith father, Big John, who rely on their dragon's breath to soften the iron that they use to make things. Problems start when Big John is making a new gate for the king but Huff, their dragon, has run out of puff. Soon some dragon eggs are found and before long a new baby called Puff hatches. She soon becomes part of the family and sets to work helping to make the gate. However, the king is worried that the gate won't be finished and he has spied strangers heading towards the city. It is a race against time especially when Puff shows signs of becoming ill. What else could possibly go wrong?
My daughter really enjoyed this story and kept getting excited about what would happen next ...
