It Could Have Been Grace Kelly

Advantages: one of Hitchcock's most intriguing films
Disadvantages: some of the scenes are blatantly faked

...Marnie is one of my favourite Hitchcock movies. It stars the beautiful Tippi Hedren as Marnie Edgar and the gorgeous Sean Connery as Mark Rutland, with support from Diane Baker as Lil and Louise Latham as Bernice Edgar, and was released in 1964. The script was written by Jay Presson Allen and the book (of the same name) from which it was inspired was written by Winston Graham. Alan Napier appears as Mark's father (remember him? He was Alfred in the original TV series of Batman!) The film runs for 130 minutes and is certified 15 due to some adult and violent scenes. The original (and extremely atmospheric) music for the film was by Bernard Herrmann. PLOT = Marnie is a compulsive thief moving from company to company working in clerical roles and biding her time till she can access company safes and steal money. With a large...

anonymili 19.08.2006 (27.08.2006) · Read review
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Review of Marnie (DVD)

Sean Connery when young and HOT!

Advantages: A much under-estimated psychological thriller
Disadvantages: Quite slow-moving

...Introduction Being a fan of crime/thriller/psychological dramas, Alfred Hitchcock films have always appealed to me and I now have quite a collection. This is not one of the most famous of Alfred Hitchcock's films, but I believe it has been under-estimated and should be better-known than it is. The film was first released in 1964. The director Alfred Hitchcock was born in Leytonstowe, England and died in 1980. His film-making career began in 1919, and by 1926 had made his name in the industry with the silent film, The Lodger. He moved to Hollywood in 1940, and afterwards directed a string of films for which he is most remembered, including To Catch a Thief, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, Psycho and The Birds. His final film was family plot in 1976. The plot Marnie (played by Tippi Hedren) is a serial burglar who moves from job...

sunmeilan 15.09.2005 · Read review
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Review of Marnie (DVD)

The Noisy Farm - cock a doodle doo!

Advantages: Beautiful illustrations compliment the book.
Disadvantages: Quite wordy for young readers.

...I first saw this book at a friends house and I absolutely loved it. So I purchased a copy from a local bookshop for £2.99. Paperback - 32 pages First published in 2005 ISBN - 0747571341 RRP - £5.99 Publisher Bloomsbury Children?s Books. Author Marni McGee Marnie McGee grew up in North Carolina. She went to Agnes Scott College and then the University of North Carolina where she graduated with Highest Honours in English. She married in 1966 and then moved to England. She began writing for her own children in 1974 and became a full time writer for children in 1994. She got her inspiration for The Noisy Farm from her grandfather and uses onomatopoeic to introduce small children to the life and sounds associated with a farm. Illustrator Leonie Shearing Leonie Shearing was born in 1972. She went to Anglia Polytechnic University to study...

colliedog2 01.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Noisy Farm - Marni McGee, Leonie Shearing

Sweet Dreams Little One!

Advantages: A lovely bedtime story
Disadvantages: Makes me sleepy too!

...Sleepy me by Marni McGee Here is another book I bought from The Book People, part of a pack of 10 books for 9.99! A bargain indeed, considering each book retails alone for around a fiver! The Story This is basically just a really good little bedtime rhyming story. Simplistic and lovable in every way, I think it is aimed more at very young children perhaps under 3's? It starts off with one little short sentence over a double spread page?."Sleepy Cat" then next page "Sleepy Mouse" then "Sleepy Sounds Inside The House" it goes on to describe other little sleepy things as daddy takes the small child in the pictures to bed, going up the stairs, sitting in the chair getting kiss from mum etc The pictures do more to tell the story than the words in this book and if your child is not tired then they will be able to look at them...

missy0303 14.07.2006 · Read review
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Review of Sleepy Me - Sam Williams, Marni McGee

A sleepy read for bedtime!

Advantages: great story book
Disadvantages: none!

...Sleepy Me' is a very simple but effective picture story book written by Marni McGee and illustrated by Sam Williams. I love to read this book with my little girls at bedtime as it is a very good way of calming them down and getting them ready to go to sleep! There are very few words but these accompany some very expressive pictures which help to move the story along. The book starts by seeing a picture of a cat curled up sleeping with just the words 'Sleepy Cat'. Then we see a 'Sleepy Mouse'. The story and the pictures continue by telling of and showing lots of different sleepy things, both animate and inanimate. For example there is a 'sleepy chair', 'sleepy tree' and 'sleepy star' to name but a few. Intertwined with these we meet a sleepy child carried in his daddy's arms up to his sleepy bedroom, where sleepy mum comes in...

kingfisher111 05.12.2006 · Read review
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Review of Sleepy Me - Sam Williams, Marni McGee

SLEEP INDUCING BOOK

Advantages: Get's the most untired child gently off to sleep
Disadvantages: makes you want to go to sleep too

...Written by Marni McGee Illustrations by Sam Williams Published by Macmillian Children's Books 40 Pages Ages - Baby to Pre-school Priced at £4.99 @ Waterstones This book is about a young curly headed toddler who is becoming more and more sleepy, as the day comes to a close, their father picks them up and begins to carry them off to bed, as he does so the book takes you through a lullaby that has been made into a story book. It has lovely family scenes, for example, the mum who is pregnant standing against a doorframe admiring her child as he is taken off to bed. It is one of those books that you will remember forever, it is very repetitive of the word 'sleepy' and the sentences have been made to rhyme, ther are very few words per page making it an easy lullaby/story to recite. It is a book that you know your...

allyoxley 14.07.2006 · Read review
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Review of Sleepy Me - Sam Williams, Marni McGee

A Sweet Read!

Advantages: Very well written, believable, enjoyable
Disadvantages: None for me

...Every year, Marnie and her 12 friends meet for the annual meeting of The Cookie Club which happens on the first Monday of December every year without fail. The friends have been there for each other through a lot of ups and downs, and that's not about the change any time soon. During the meeting, lots of secrets are revealed that shock the friends to the core. Marnie is waiting to hear from her pregnant daughter Sky about whether the baby is viable, Charlene is still struggling to get over the death of her son Luke, Tracey is hiding a huge secret from all but a few of her friends, Jeannie and Ruth are still enemies over the discovery of another friend's betrayal that has torn their friendship apart, and Rosie has to decide which is more important - her marriage or her need for children. Together the friends help each other get through...

mummy2harry 30.12.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Cookie Club - Ann Pearlman

Four very different women. One awfully charming man.

Advantages: From each character's perspective, funny and honest
Disadvantages: Didn't find Paddy at all charming, not much from Alicia

..."Everybody remembers where they were the day they heard that Paddy de Courcy was getting married." Lola was in shock - she's his girlfriend and yet she definitely doesn't have a ring on her finger. Grace holds a long ago grudge but that doesn't stop her from wanting to get the inside story on Paddy's engagement. Marnie's first love was the same Mr de Courcy but she still can't seem to forget the past. Alicia, the bride-to-be, is determined to make things work with her one true love. Despite their different reasons, the four women are brought together, connected by a dark secret all surrounding this charming man. ~ My opinion ~ The book is split up into chapters which alternate through the different girls. Each is written in a different style and a different font for each character which makes it much more interesting. Lola...

frankiefromings13 30.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of This Charming Man - Marian Keyes

Marian Keyes always at her best.

Advantages: Easy to read.
Disadvantages: Lola's diary takes a while to get used to.

.... Marnie: Grace's twin sister, happily married to Nick with 2 daughters and a good job. But she isn't the family picture people on the outside see. She dated Paddy in her teens and has never "recovered" from his departure. Spiralling out of control, loosing her Husband, kids and Job...Will things ever get better? Marnie is written in 3rd person, she shares quite an important part to the story along with Lola and Grace. Alicia: The wife to be. She would do anything to get her Paddy! Written in first person, however Alicia plays a much smaller role to the book only learning about her at the beginning and the very end, the story concentrates on the 3 first characters. Each character has a section at a time, all with different writing fonts and styles. As you read the book you meet several different characters, who at the times all...

supermumtochloe 29.10.2009 (10.11.2009) · Read review
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Review of This Charming Man - Marian Keyes

A charming man...

Advantages: Very easy to read, excellent story, wonderfully written
Disadvantages: A bit slow to start

...to know her quite well throughout the book. As we first meet her in Lola?s chapter and it?s from Lola?s point of view as Grace as a journalist, I didn?t like her much at first. Once I started reading Grace?s narration (which is also in first person) I grew to like her much more, which shows that a different point of view can change an opinion quite easily. That?s one of the reasons why I love books that are written from different perspectives as I think it gives the story greater depth and I enjoy them more. ~ Marnie ~ Marnie is Grace?s twin sister and we first meet her in Grace?s first chapter. Marnie?s part of the story is written in third person and I found it very readable. I read her first section in one sitting and it was 60 pages or so. As her story goes on throughout the book I felt a number of emotions surrounding the events...

bluejules 05.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of This Charming Man - Marian Keyes