Advantages: sweet rattle
Disadvantages: none

...Zebras, I've noticed play a fairly big part in little boys clothing. Before Scarlett was born we didn't know her gender so we brought some gender neutral clothes and some reduced blue sleep suits and vests, which featured zebras in various designs. Little girls are bunnies whilst little boys are zebras. Whilst looking round for Christmas presents for our little one we found this cute little zebra rattle. The zebra has blue and light blue stripes, small children must get a strange idea about animals! It has a smiley face and a playgro logo on the middle of it. It has a velvety, soft texture to it. Attached to the main body of the zebra is a clear plastic ring, with half of the ring showing and the other half in the zebra body. In the ring are six fairly large balls of the following colours, green,purple. Red, blue, orange and yellow... Read review

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Advantages: A good story with no horrors
Disadvantages: Cannot put it down

...This is one of the best books in the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series as far as I am concerned. There are more detailed episodes with the charming mechanic Mr JLB Matekoni, including his accidentally successful attempt at being a detective. There is also the worrying episode about the fidelity of Mma Ramotswe. The apprentices are, as usual, causing grief - especially Charlie who leaves his apprenticeship to become a taxi driver - but does he succeed? Talking of this, there is the fraught episoce where Mma Makutsi (97% at the Botswana Secretarial College) resigns. Will she stay at home until her planned wedding to the improbably named Phuti Radiphuti? Alongside this is the possibility that the agency will become involved with murder in the Mochudo hospital. A thoroughly good read that has me eager to go and buy the next... Read review

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Advantages: funny, heartwarming, fantastic characters
Disadvantages: a little "scrappy" in places

...I'm already a fan of the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, so it's no surprise that I like the 8th addition to the family - The Good Husband of Zebra Drive. As usual, there are superb characters with a decent narrative holding them together and a lot of humour; pretty much what I've come to expect from Alexander McCall Smith. In fact, the only criticism I have is that the narrative isn't quite as good as some of the other books in the series and it's a bit "scrappy" in places, not flowing quite as well as it should. This isn't my favourite novel in the series, but it's certainly an entertaining and worthwhile read. Alexander McCall Smith also writes the 44 Scotland Street series (incidentally, my favourite of his works) and a series featuring philosopher Isabel Dalhousie, among others. He is a Scottish author and those two series... Read review

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Advantages: Plenty - like not getting run over
Disadvantages: They're useless if you don't bother to use them!

...children were no more than 5 inches from the side of the car. I'm convinced the passenger side mirror (where I was sitting), brushed her clothing as we drew to a stop beside her. As you can imagine, my boyfriend, who was driving, was a little shocked and I had shouted, rather loudly, through the open window, for her to 'watch out.' She pushed her children around the rear of the car without a single thought and carried on walking (into the path of another car, I might add). At this point, my boyfriend leant out of the window and shouted at her that there was a zebra crossing 10 steps up the road and was she unable to use it? I could not hear her response, but I was fully able to hear her scream 'P*** Off!' very loudly at him as we continued to drive. I cannot stress how much I feel that such language in front of young children is totally... Read review

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Advantages: Enjoyable action, good cast, some amusing lines.
Disadvantages: Never really surprises, some poor sets and effects.

...Legrand (THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, LE MANS) is adequate but not overly memorable with perhaps the exception of the main title theme. Overall this is a film I enjoyed, there is not really any doubt where it is heading but it’s an enjoyable journey with a few tense moments, some clever lines with a pleasing and satisfactory outcome. DVD Technical Details (Region 2) Ratio: Widescreen 2.35:1 Anamorphic. Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital, 2.0 Dolby Surround Languages: English, French and Italian Subtiles: English, French, Italian, Dutch and Arabic Run Time: 143 minutes. DVD Extras Vintage Making-of Featurette “The Man Who Makes the Difference” – showing the work of John M. Stephens, second unit cinematographer. Trailer Gallery – Posters and trailers for “Bad Day at Black Rock”, “Giant” and “Ice Station Zebra”... Read review

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Advantages: A durable, washable and versatile toy
Disadvantages: A bit opinionated and vain.

...Well, hello there! Scoot the Zebra here, I just thought I’d have a go at writing one of these Ciao op thingies. Everyone seems to be at it these days (writing I mean, tee hee, you naughty people). The Mistress is upstairs tap, tapping away on the computer til all hours, the oldest poppet is learning to write her name and even the two younger darlings are scribbling on every available surface! So, I thought to myself, how better to get one over on that snooty rocking horse in the front room, than to write an opinion on myself!! Such a worthy subject and so very interesting too, I’ll tell the world and earn a few useful pennies into the bargain. Anyway, I managed to persuade one of those dippy Barbie dolls to climb up onto the bookshelf and grab a pencil and piece of paper, honestly you’d have thought I was asking her... Read review

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Advantages: safety
Disadvantages: when an accident does occur

...on Friday the 29 th February I did as I always do and picked my kids up from school, it was around 2pm and we were going to the local library to renew our books. The weather was`nt the greatest , it was dull and wet but nothing new in Belfast, arriving at the zebra crossing a bus stopped to let us cross the road, (the bus was on the right hand side of us) form the left there was traffic coming towards us at quite a speed, so I waited till they had stoppped before attempting to cross the road. The traffic on the left did stop and the bus had stopped , so myself and kids slowly stepped onto the zebra crossing, needless to say we were all holding hands. I checked the traffic at the other side of the bus and it had also stopped. So it was safe to cross the road or so I thought, we walked about two more steps and the next thing I... Read review

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Advantages: Nice!
Disadvantages: Too nice for some

...corruption, and the ravages of disease. I rather think those critics missed the point. In fact McCall Smith does acknowledge those devastating situations in his books - Mma Makutsi lost her brother to an AIDS-related illness in an earlier novel, for example - but he chooses not to allow them to overshadow the main theme of his stories, preferring instead to focus on the positive and optimistic side of human nature. Invariably there's a moral or two to be learned from his stories, but there's no preaching here; it's all done rather more subtly than that, so subtly in fact, that it's likely to pass over the heads of those most in need of a lesson in humility, the cynics themselves. Themes coming through clearly in The Good Husband of Zebra Drive include the importance of friendship and trust; the need to respect the feelings of those close... Read review

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Advantages: Its a talking animal movie!
Disadvantages: its a talking animal movie

...An abandoned zebra grows up believing he is a racehorse, and, with the help of his barnyard friends and a teenage girl, sets out to achieve his dream of racing against the other racehorses. I have no children and like to believe that I am an Adult, but sometimes kids films are just better! This isn't Shrek and the humour isn't adult, dont be fooled that this is animated, just because of the film case. The animals are real! The story is a basic one and although largly based around the zebra who wants to be a racehorse, is a story of a father daughter relationship following the death of the wife/mother in a riding accident. The baby Zebra is lost by the circus and found by an expert horse trainer and named 'stripes' by his teenage daughter. Stripes admires the racehorses and believes that he too is a racehorse and can race... Read review

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Advantages: Absorbing, Easy to Read, An Original, Page Turner
Disadvantages: Character and Thematic Depth a little shallow

...Some people may read this novel and find it boring as it does not have the intensity of modern day novels, however, i really enjoyed this book simply for that reason, that it is not like modern day novels. it does not focus on the hype, the violence and the sex that alot of novels do. Sure, sometimes these aspects are great when incorporated well into modern day novels, however, author Alistair MacLean manages to depict a taut thriller which entertains, mystifies and keeps the reader guessing till the very end. Ice Station Zebra refers to a British meteorological outpost which is located near the edge of the polar ice cap. In the middle of winter a fire breaks out at the station and the only hopes the scientists have rest with an american nuclear submarine called dolphin as it is the only thing capable of reaching them. What they do... Read review

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