The Triumph of Love - Geoffrey Hill

Advantages: A moving, compelling and evocative personal account of a true hero.
Disadvantages: None

...INTRODUCTION We owe an immense debt of gratitude to the service men and women who have sacrificed so much to defend our freedoms, none more so than to the brave “Few*” of the Royal Air Force (RAF) who defended our skies against the sustained waves of bombers that the Luftwaffe hurled at English cities during the Battle of Britain in the autumn of 1940. (*the phrase comes from a Winston Churchill's speech made on 20th August 1940, when he said "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few ".) Geoffrey Wellum was one of those men, patrolling the blue skies in his Spitfire with his fellow pilots of 92 Squadron at the tender age of 19, an age where for many of us, the most important decision revolved around which pub to go to with our mates on a Friday night. He left school, at 17, to join the RAF two... Read review

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Advantages: funny and gentle
Disadvantages: slight

...After doing even tiny bit of research I realised that I must be the only person out there who ever read "Tim the Tiny Horse" having never heard of the author. Thus, I have to take another reviewer's word that it's "typical Harry Hill" and will make an attempt at reviewing Tim as a stand-alone. I am happy to say that it acquits itself well. Tim is a horse, blue and so tiny that he lives in matchbox with a tic-tac box for a conservatory. A single Hoola-Hoop makes his lunch (he prefers barbecue beef flavour) and a fly (called Fly) is his best friend. Tim doesn't do much - apart from a few not very successful attempts at making it big in the media he seems to spend his days watching television and socialising with Fly. The book contains several short morality tales featuring Tim; each of them is a few pages long, with a little text... Read review

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Advantages: A moving and beautifully illustrated children's story.
Disadvantages: The use of the word "damned" in a book for 4-6 year olds!

...with a child or group of children. The pictures are great to point at and to spot all the different things going on in St. Ives. There are lovely pictures of the town decorated for Christmas ~ the snow glistens, the lights glow and there are shadows cast by the moon between the Fisherman’s cottages. This glowing festive scene contrasts with the snowy, cold hill that the cat must return to, and also to the sunny brightness that we saw in the summer months! The words compliment the pictures well too ~ when Foreman describes the ice cream in summer and the fish and chips I could almost smell them! The text is also quite easy to understand; the words are simple and will cause no problems for slightly older children who want to read it for themselves. The only minor quibble is that the cat uses the word “damned” to describe the barking dog. It... Read review

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