'You're not dead until I TELL you you're dead!'

Advantages: Curiously enjoyable
Disadvantages: Some dodgy acting and editing, too long

...A brief explanation. I have a stack of free DVDs that came with newspapers, and as we're having a clear out, I decided to go through them, watching them all and then reviewing them. Despite my mood dropping after looking through the films on offer, I was perked by the first one I watched: Hitchcock's Speelbound, dealing with the human psyche. This was the second. I had heard of The Wild Geese before, but had never really bothered to find out much about it. As it was a free DVD from the paper, there are no extras on it at all. In fact, all you get is the film, and putting the disc in the DVD player, the film started immediately without me having to do anything. At the start, we are treated to an opening credit sequence of Joan Armatrading singing the title theme tune as the outline of Africa appears on an otherwise black screen...

pmcds 07.04.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Wild Geese (DVD)

What a noisy book!

Advantages: great book
Disadvantages: none

...all the animals are going to sleep at the end of the day. I think that it is quite clever the way the animal poems are ordered in the book. It starts with that early morning riser - the rooster - and at the end it features the nocturnal fox and owl. This is quite interesting for discussing different animal habits. Each animal has its own page (or sometimes a double page) which has an extremely cute or humourous picture with just a small amount of text that makes it very accessible for early readers. Each poem contains just a couple of ideas that really pick up on key features of the animal. One of our favourites (just to give you a taste) is the short poem about Geese which goes: We waddle around in the paddock And make such a din when we talk That we sound like a bunch of old ladies Who gossip and cackle and squawk. I think this...

kingfisher111 22.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of Cock-a-doodle-doo! Farmyard Hullabaloo! - Giles Andreae

Mucky Duck? No! It's A Goose.

Advantages: Funny story and pictures
Disadvantages: none

...***Background*** Caroline Jayne Church is well known for writing children's books but has also illustrated a great many for other author's too, including Ian Whybrow's Wobble Bear and Michaela Morgan's Dear Bunny, both of which I have already reviewed. This book is all her own work and it tells a funny story about what it is like to be different. ***The Story*** The story begins, "Down on the farm lived a gaggle of geese. They were shiny and clean. Even their beaks gleamed. All the geese, that is, except one." We are then introduced to Pond Goose who is always mucky. The other geese are ashamed of him but soon realise that the fox never sees Pond Goose at night because he is always so dirty and dark, whilst their white feathers show up in the moonlight. All the geese decide to get muddy too and they are very...

belfin 08.11.2006 · Read review
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Review of Pond Goose - Caroline Jayne Church

There's a goose loose...

Advantages: nice story
Disadvantages: n/a

.... It is quite a quick paced book and I found that very little happened in it to excite me. Perhaps it is because I dislike geese that I did not take to this very well. Either way, I was not overly impressed! This makes it ideal for younger children as it is so basic. It is aimed at children aged 8 to 13, and personally I feel that it is a great age to target. The text is quite a nice size so they will not have to strain their eyes when reading it, and the simple language makes it straight forward and to the point. It makes a nice light read for the adult reader too as there is very little thinking involved. If you wish to buy this book it will cost you £5.99 in shops such as WHSmith and Waterstones, but if you go to Amazon.co.uk you can get it for around 1p, plus the £1.21 postage and packaging. That, I personally feel, is not a bad price...

Amy69 28.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of Goose on the Loose - Animal Ark 14 - Lucy Daniels

Poetry for Brownies Writing Badge

Advantages: All her own work
Disadvantages: She is only 8!!

...for the sails, Sails full of wind, Sails full of wind. The Estuary Tall white swing bridge, Swimming searchin seal, Red marker posts, Green marker posts, Fast flowing water, The tide is going out, Keep to the right, Keep to the right, On coming boat, Keep to the right. The Reeds Swans snapping at the seaweed, Diving for dinner, the Grebe, Signets squeaking for mum, Geese honking for fun! Heron the great grey plane, Reeds, reeds always the same?...

numberthree 01.09.2003 · Read review
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Review of Poetry

Jamie Roquai

Advantages: Some cool songs
Disadvantages: Some didjeridus

...Jamiroquai may be remembered for Jay K's love of Denise and fast cars, and big houses with geese. But i hope they might also be remembered for their music. Which is really pretty darn good - Cosmic Girl and Virtual insanity are great tracks, with reallly good base and drums and JK's cool lyrics. There are 2 pants tracks on the album - the didjerido ones - i think Jay had a friend in need and all he could do was play the didjeridoo. The rest of the album is good. There's yer usual upbeat Jamie , and there are also some nice slow ones - You Are my love, Spend A Lifetime, etc.. There is also an interesting take on Reggae - Drifting Along. It is good. It's very good. and you will enjoy it . Just maybe not as much as you thought you would have done....

WrexhamAFC 24.07.2000 · Read review
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Review of Travelling Without Moving - Jamiroquai

A 'Splashing' Story!

Advantages: fun to read
Disadvantages: none

...With such hot and wilting weather that we are having these days, I can't think of a better book to read with your child than 'The Pig in the Pond'. It is written by Martin Waddell who is one of our favourite children's authors and has written such wonderful books as 'Owl Babies' and 'Snow Bears'. In this book he is ably partnered by the illustrator Jill Barton. 'The Pig in the Pond' is a lovely picture book that tells a sweet but simple story about what happened on a very hot and dry day. It all takes place on Farmer Neligan's farm when he goes off to town one day. Neligan's pig is feeling the heat and is very envious of the ducks and the geese coolly swimming about in Neligan's pond. The pig does not go in the pond though because of course pigs can't swim. However, as the afternoon grows hotter, the pig becomes more and more desperate...

kingfisher111 02.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Pig in the Pond - Martin Waddell & Jill Barton

A new order in the world of Mung.

Advantages: Kedigree is healthy
Disadvantages: May Z may get your geese and put them into Mung Bean Salad boxes.

...Adventures of Mung Beans May Z was an unscruplous and inventive killer, she would kill geese in a quick and effiecient way. Firstly she would remove the beak before taking off the legs in order to fit them into her Mung Bean Salad boxes. Geese were starting to run scarce though, swine were now extinct and Donkeys had grown wiser ove rthe years since Freak Outs decline. May Z had to be stealthier than she once was, pulling out all the stops in the art Goose slaying. Geese also had a few tricks up their sleeves, with the help of the Nut thief clan they created huge barriers worldwide. May Z was to clever though, she would use her enormous strenght and aggility to out smart the pesky geese, eventually they would all end up in Mubg Bean Salad boxes waited to be distributed into the Human world of Geese Korma curry eatibng...

StantonStan 27.03.2005 · Read review
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Review of Everything that starts with P ...

I can count!

Advantages: Lovely way to start to count
Disadvantages: None

...Count On Goz by Steve Weatherill A great way for very young children to be introduced to counting up to 5 and to learn about number formation. Children do tend to enjoy lift the flap books, so it's almost certainly going to be a winner. Many children will already be familiar with Goz, the appealing yellow gosling. This time, we meet Goz in the early morning, near the river when everything is quiet. A little yellow goose is bottoms up... "Who's this?" Lift the flap and we find that it is who most children guess it is, Goz. He has just been for a swim, and is now unable to find the other geese. So starts his search... Along the way, he meets a cow, sheep, cats and dogs before finally coming across the geese. Each time he meets a new animal, the story follows the same format. We see the head of the animal and on the top...

danielalong 23.07.2008 · Read review
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Review of Count on Goz - Steve Weatherill

A Silly Goose Story!

Advantages: great story and illustrations
Disadvantages: none

...When my youngest daughter was two and a half, she received her latest 'Book Start' pack which all children receive from the government in an attempt to encourage early reading. One of the books she received was 'Silly Suzy Goose' by Petr Horacek, and it soon proved to be one of her firm favourites! As well as this it is also enjoyed by my elder four year old daughter. In this book the main character is Suzy Goose who doesn't like the fact that she is exacly like all the other geese around her and wishes she could be something different. She goes through a whole list of animals thinking what she would be able to do if she were that animal. For example, she thinks that is she was a giraffe she could stretch up high, or if she was an elephant she could splish and splash, along with many other animals doing lots of things. On every page...

kingfisher111 15.04.2008 · Read review
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Review of Silly Suzy Goose - Petr Horacek