Callum Park Equestrian Centre

Advantages: Friendly, dedicated staff. Excellent choice of horses.
Disadvantages: The price (but that is the same everywhere).

...I have been having riding lessons at Callum Park for the last two years. I am sure that I have challenged some of the instructors, as I am in my 50s and had not ridden for 30-odd years! Everyone is helpful and the instructors are willing to let you progress at your own pace (helpful when you have had a fall and lost confidence for a while). Although a bit pricey, the horses are rested for two days each week, and never work for more than four hours on any of the other days. I have found that there are still many riding establishments that are prepared to work their horses every day - you might pay a little less for your lesson, but what about the welfare of the horse? My daughter also has lessons at Callum Park and has made good progress. Hacks are available in the Summer months, and there is an indoor school and two large outdoor...

Medley321 09.04.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Callum Park Riding Centre

Callum and his Nanna work with Take along Thomas

Advantages: So easy to use, pick up, join and play for hours.
Disadvantages: Very adictive to grandparents, both price wise and play.

...TAKE ALONG THOMAS, review by Nanna and Callum We have a grandson of two and a half, who just loves Thomas the Tank Engine, so as first time grandparents we do what we can. Take along Thomas is his bestest toy. The track, (we have two kinds, the old and new) fits together very well and is durable to with stand little hands as well as old ones. The selection of trains, engines and accessories is a joy to look at in the shop and to buy. These connect by a small magnet built in to the train engine, carriage and tender which will not come away, as hard as you try, (which we did) so is safe for little fingers. We started out with Thomas himself, then progressed to adding more trains and more track. Callum use to bring it to Nana's but now it is too big to move. We managed to get the Dragon train which has been discontinued in this...

bostonianbeer 21.10.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Deluxe Take Along Thomas

Nought and Crosses - A tale of Forbidden Love

Advantages: Realistic, Powerful, Amazing
Disadvantages: There really are none!

...I don't even remember what caused me to purchase this book. Maybe it was the unique cover illustration or the fact that it was written by Malorie Blackman. Whatever it was, I bought it and began reading, and boy was I glad it was this book I chose to buy. Noughts and Crosses centres around Sephy and Callum. Sephy is a cross, a rich dark-coloured citizen and Callum is a nought, a lighter-coloured poor citizen. Sephy and Callum love eachother dearly but their surroundings make it impossible for them to be together. In their racist world, a nought and a cross can't fall in love. Not ever. With everyone against them, can they survive for themselves and for eachother? Can they truly be with eachother?? Against everything??? It is definately worth checking out!...

badgal101 21.04.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Noughts And Crosses - Malorie Blackman

Noughts and Crosses

Advantages: gripping storyline and you won't want to put it down!
Disadvantages: time!

...Well, I don't particuarlly enjoy reading, but I don't dislike it, however if I have the house to myself I love to have a nice warm bubble bath then pick up a good book! I picked up this book the other day in Waterstones for around £5.99, although it was in the junior - young adult section I have heard nothing but good reviews about it! The storyline is about racism and the way that blacks used to be inferior to the whites, but this time it is reversed in this revoloutionary book! Noughts and crosses gives you much of the information you need to know to understand the book, the blacks which are the dominant and powerful race are the crosses, while the whites which are little anad controlled by the crosses are the noughts. But this story focuses on the life of two young people named Sephy and Callum, Sephu being a cross and Callum...

2me_to_you2 09.10.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Noughts And Crosses - Malorie Blackman

Innocence versus experience

Advantages: Clear plotline; interesting ideas; involving characters
Disadvantages: Will make you sad

...This is a fascinating story which rewrites history and encourages us to question racist attitudes by showing the damage they can wreak across a society and for individuals. The very brief chapters alternate between Sephy (a Cross) and Callum (a Nought)'s perspectives as they attempt to sustain their friendship in a racially divided community. The twist is that Sephy is black and Callum is white: Blackman's novel assumes that if African-American men had intruded into Caucasian territory in the same way that Caucasians intruded into African-American territory then the injustices meted out would have been identical to our current history. The noughts in this tale have only recently been freed from slavery and are still treated as second class citizens. One of the key events early on in the book is the attempted integration of Noughts...

brokenangelkisses 03.08.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Noughts And Crosses - Malorie Blackman

A guide for dummies

Advantages: Amazing gripping plot
Disadvantages: I didn't see any

...Well that?s what I told my mum i was reading. I was recommended this book by a friend. Although it is a children's book it's not suitable for little kids as it has quite a bit of violence and sex in it. The story is tolled from the point of view of different characters. Mainly Sephy and Callum. The book is set in the world opposite of what it was 100 years ago. Where white people are the second class and black people are masters. I find it extremely irritating when somebody tells me the plot. so my advice just read a book. Callum's mother Meggie works for Jasmine - Sephy's mum. Sephy is rich, Callum is not. Sephy is black, Callum - white. Two opposites play together and become close friends, until... Meggie gets fired. Too bad - Callum is not wanted in Hadley's house anymore. Sephy and Callum still see each other. Then there...

Olgita2 21.02.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Noughts And Crosses - Malorie Blackman

My very first Thomas the tank engine set

Advantages: Very sturdy unbreakable toys., Quite inexpensive., Easy to clean.
Disadvantages: none that i can think of

...Before my son Callum's first birthday, he is now 2 1/2 years old, we bought him the My First Thomas range of toys. These are chunky plastic engines and carriages etc. They are unbreakable, Callum throws them so hard sometimes and also they have been stood on and not broken too! The prices start at £4.99 and i think they are well worth every penny, seeing as he still has them all in working order. My son has all the main engines, Thomas Edward, Henry, Gordon,James and Percy and also he has Toby the tram engine and Harold the helicopter as well as a troublesome truck, Annie and Clarabel (Thomas's Carriages) an express coach, Bertie the Bus and a lorry. There is such a good range and you can even get a nice plastic track for Thomas and his friends to go along. You can obtain all these toys from mothercare, Toys R us, Tesco...

princesssoapy 03.07.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Tomy Thomas the Tank Engine

Wonderful compelling story with so much to offer

Advantages: Cannot be put down, deep and meaningful
Disadvantages: Leaves you in tears for days

...Noughts and Crosses deals with many deep issues, most importantly racial prejudice and discrimination. However it also deals with so much more, from terrorist actions and politics to parental misguidance. The story tells about the racial barriers between the black people (Crosses) who are superior, and the white people (noughts) who are inferior, who were slaves and segregated. The story is done tastefully and thoughtfully, gently leading into these ideas. The story focuses on Sephy (a Cross) and Callum (a nought). As children, they are best friends, not caring that they are different. A they grow up, they are discouraged by both sets of parents to see each other before being outright banned from such. They slowly fall in love, but face problems as Callum passes an entrance test to a Cross school (the goverment have finally allowed...

CharleneC 07.01.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Noughts And Crosses - Malorie Blackman

It don't matter if you're black or white.

Advantages: Compelling, inventive and un-put-downable
Disadvantages: None

...their skin and are considered unworthy. Noughts cannot attend the same schools as Crosses, they undertake menial low-paid employment, they are discriminated against openly and this discrimination is encouraged by the government. I found this racial reversal fascinating and I think it is an ingenious idea. The book is told from two perspectives, teenagers Callum and Sephy. Sephy is a cross, the daughter of one of the most powerful men in the country. Callum is a nought, a nothing, a nobody?. Callum and Sephy have known each other for years because Callum's mother was employed as a cleaner in their house. They think of each other as best friends and gradually these feelings grow?. Noughts and Crosses explores the illicit teenage romance between Callum and Sephy in a world where they simply cannot be together and as such it...

nickyturnill 21.12.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Noughts And Crosses - Malorie Blackman

Racial problems in an inverted Britain

Advantages: Excellent, hard-to-put-down reading
Disadvantages: None!

..."Noughts and Crosses" by Malorie Blackman was a very interesting read. Published by Doubleday in 2001, it looks at racism, prejudice and terrorism in a world that is similar to 21st century England, but people with black skin (Crosses) are dominant over people with white skin (noughts). The first in a series of four, Noughts and Crosses has two different classes of characters. One group are the noughts, who are white, and are treated by Crosses as inferior. Crosses have more money, better education and better healthcare than noughts, and are the ruling class in society. Callum McGregor is a nought. Sephy Hadley is a Cross, and she is the daughter or the Deputy Prime Minister. Callum and Sephy have been friends for many years, but pressure grows on their relationship due to the prejudice between noughts and Crosses. The story is told...

liamsingh 24.02.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Noughts And Crosses - Malorie Blackman