Ally Aldridge Books, Review

Best books for a baby

Here are the books I have bought for my little girl and why I think they are great for babies.

Best books for babies

Tactile Book

I ordered this one from Amazon. She loves the crinkle sound and looking at herself in the mirror. I went with this one as the Black & White high contrast pictures have been specially designed to be stimulating for babies. It also has a strap to make it easier to attach to a buggy.

Bath book

I ordered mine from The Works. Babies dribble a lot, are sick and want to put everything in their mouths. These books are wipe clean. I choose this one as I liked the three detachable characters that can be used for matching games.

When she is older I will let her take it in the bath.

Wooden Book

I picked this up from Lidl during a baby event. Being wooden makes it really robust. She has thrown it and chewed it and it still looks perfect.

Not suitable for babies

I did buy these for my son and was sad when they got ruined. However, these do help encourage speaking so as long as you don’t leave your baby alone exploring the books, you should be okay.

Picture books

At this age you should take care with picture books as although they may love it they have a tendency to grab things and love scrunching up and tearing paper.

If you go down this route, look out for nursery rhyme collections like those by Miles Kelly as babies love hearing the repetitive sounds and it can encourage talking.

Board books

Board books might look sturdy but they are made of cardboard. If you leave a baby unattended with one, they’ll chew the corners into a pulp and the picture will peel off.

If you go down this route, look out for stories that rhyme like those by Julia Donaldson.

Touch and feel books

Another good choice is tactile books like the “That’s Not My” line. These books are also useful for developing a child’s vocabulary of descriptive words.

Other touch and feel books will enable them to feel different textures and learn about a topic. The picture below is one about farm animals.

Would you recommend these?

I hope you found my suggestions useful. I would love to hear what books you have loved sharing with a baby too.

Ally Aldridge Books, Review

Book Review: Who runs the world by Virginia Bergolt

Author: Virginia Bergin

Who Runs The World

At Felixstowe Book Festival, I treated myself to this book following Virginia’s talk about how she wrote it.

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What is the book about?

An airborne disease infects all the males in the world but women are immune. Males are kept safe in sanctuaries as soon as they are born. The rest of the world is run by women. Only the elderly remember life with males.

Virginia wrote this book imagining what the word would be like if men were not part of the world. First she had to decide how to make this world possible and then how this impact would change life as we know it.

How it starts

Fourteen year old River finds an XY (what boys are called) unconscious in the road. She takes him home to her family.

The middle

The family decide to keep the boy and help him heal. It is a miracle he has survived outside the sanctuaries. The laws require he be reported and returned or killed if to sick. The family have to keep him hidden.

Adapting to life with a boy is the main focus. River needs to be aware of her nudity. The boy, Mason, has different mannerisms and customs – like a foreigner in her world.

How it ends

River has an obsession with planes and one of her favourites arrives at a nearby town. She goes to the hanger but it is being kept locked up.

River manages to get in by offering to help refuel the plane. Whilst there she sees a man and helps him escape but things turn nasty and she ends up killing him with a rock. There hasn’t been any murders in years so when Mason takes the blame, everyone believes him.

River then helps Mason find his mum because if they can there is a way around the law. River and Mason then leave to find his mum. When they do, she accepts him and as a result keeps him safe. C

What did I think

The book really made me think about how our genders do play a part in our identity and how others perceive us. I found the world Virginia created was cleverly thought out.

The book started by throwing us right into the action. It was written in first person POV enabling me to feel her distrust and fear of the boy.

Virginia’s writing was really strong and vivid. I would definitely be interested in reading more by this author.

I met Virginia at Felixstowe Book Festival. You can read all about it by clicking here.

I preferred this to The Gender Game by Bella Forrest which is about the world divide between men and women. You can read my review here.

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Have you read any of Virginia’s books or have any recommendations for my reading list?

      

Ally Aldridge Books, Review

Learning through art with Arty Mouse

I discovered Arty Mouse last year at Felixstowe Book Festival (2027) and been a fan ever since. I was pleased to see them in attendance again this year and again offering amazing deals on their brilliant books. Click here to see my post on their event.

Here are a couple of reviews on the titles I’ve brought and used with my son:

Play Clay

This book is box shaped and inside is a plastic tray with all the bits you need to complete the pages. There is plasticine and cardboard cut out shapes (for example eyes, legs, hat). You then use the plasticine and shapes to complete the image and can draw with a wipe clean pen. Each page has a prompt, I.e a birthday cake that needs so many candles. This encourages counting as well as being creative.

My son had really enjoyed this book and it is easy enough to follow that he can do it independently on his own. When finished all the parts tidy away inside the book, ready for another day.

The only issue we’ve had is we lost some of the cardboard shapes so at the event I suggested they sell add on or replacement packs to increase the longevity of their reusable product.

Printing

This book is another box shaped one and inside is a plastic tray with all the bits you need to complete the pages. There is a stamp and foam shapes. You then use them stamp the shapes to complete the image and can draw with a wipe clean pen. Each page has a prompt, I.e a Loch Ness monster with missing humps. This encourages them to think about the shapes around them and how they make pictures.

My son loves this book too and on the last page he enjoy the freedom to make his own stamp picture. He is confident to use this without supervision due to clear easy to follow instructions.

My only suggestion to Arty Mouse would be to enable add on packs to collect more shapes and maybe even different colour ink pads.

I love how easy it is to tidy away, store and it’s a whole activity in one. Sometimes the plastic tray gets in the way of pressing down on pages on the left, so it might be nice to be able to remove the tray and reattach it afterwards.

Flash Cards (Numbers)

These are classic flash cards and store neatly in a box with the pen and cloth for wiping the cards clean when you are finished.

The cards have the familiar Arty Mouse characters. One side has the number for children to trace and can be found within the numeric picture. The other side has the number written as a word to practice writing. This is a great set to practice hand coordination with a pen and is really good quality.

At the FBF event, Noah had fun using their Words pack. The image below shows him using the pack -ignore the cat scratch on his face, he learnt a valuable lesson about not getting in the cats space that morning too.

Sticker Doodles

This was a book I bought at this years FBF and as soon as we got home Noah was straight into it.

I was a little hesitant about buying this book as it’s not reusable like the others. This book encourages children to draw in it with the wipe clean pen and at the back is a selection of sticker shapes that children can use to finish the pictures on the pages.

Noah has enjoyed playing with this book and has only torn one sticker – they do sometimes need a little help getting them off the pages.

Here’s a little video of Noah using the sticker book as soon as we got home.

They also had a book for cutting that I almost bought Noah as he is very into scissors at the moment. Maybe, I’ll get that next time…

My thoughts…

I also bought two more of the box sets but put them away for Noah’s birthday or Christmas. The box style books do make beautiful gifts.

All the titles I have bought have been of a high quality and the characters are appealing to preschool and early years children.

I hope they attend future FBF, as I would go to their stand. I also would be interested in buying more from their range. I am a fan, especially of the titles that can be reused.

*****

Have you tried any of the Arty Mouse titles?  Do you know any similar books that I should check out – I’d love to hear your recommendations.

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Ally Aldridge Books, Festival, Review, Writing

Felixstowe Book Festival is nearly here!

Next weekend is… FELIXSTOWE BOOK FESTIVAL!

I can’t wait!

I have bought a ticket to an event and plan on attending some of the free activities. I will attempt to fit in as much as I can.

I love that each year the festival gets bigger and the events get better. Here is a flashback at my posts on previous years to give you an idea of what to expect:

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Alwyn Hamilton talked about her book Rebel of the Sands being traditionally published and gave great insight into the process and what to expect. She talked enthusiastically about her novel and gave some teasers of what is coming soon. I think everyone bought a copy.

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Top That Publishing gave an amazing talk on the picture book publishing industry and truly demonstrated their breadth of knowledge. I still have my PowerPoint slides from the event.

Top That Publishing also ran a free Arty Mouse event which my son loved.  Children were encouraged to try out their interactive activity books – I ended up buying two (review coming soon).

This year

I am confident it will be another amazing year as there really is something for everyone and I promise to share with you what I get up to this year.

Are you going or wish you were going? Let me know which book festivals you recommend.

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Ally Aldridge Books, Review

Blind Tiger by Rachel Vincent

Author: Rachel Vincent

Blind Tiger

This is the second book in The Wildcat series. Please click here to read my review of the first book “Lion’s Share”.

This title can be read as a stand-alone title so you don’t need to read the previous book in this series, however, if you do, it will help you understand the ‘shifter’ world.  This is my review.

What is the book about?

This book is about Robyn, the first known case of a female surviving scratch fever and her adapting to the shifter world.  Robyn is feeling like a bit of a prisoner at the home she cannot leave during her training and sees an opportunity to escape.

Titus is a stray Alpha, seeking recognition for his pride by the council. This will enable strays to travel more freely around America as currently they cannot enter certain territories.

Skip to ”What did I think” to avoid spoilers.

How it starts

Discovering his stow away, Titus knows this is not going to bode well for his struggle to gain recognition for his pride.  He informs the council and agrees to return Robyn in 2 weeks.  He promises to keep her safe whilst in his care.

The middle

A newly infected stray is brought to Titus’ home.  They wait for the stray to shift so they can get the scent of the person that infected the stray which is a crime, punishable by death unless it happened as self defense.

When the stray shifts, the scent smells like Titus.  Titus cannot deny the damming evidence. He steps down as Alpha as he knows the council will not accept a pride run by a law breaker. He appoints a new alpha and decides to take off to give the new alpha some space to rule.

Robyn sense that Titus didn’t do it but it doesn’t make sense why the new stray has his scent.  Robyn insists he must take her with him – as he swore to the council he would protect her.  Titus confides in her that he is worried that his brother has been infected and is responsible for the new stray.

Titus and Abby then take off to find his brother, Justus and reveal who actually is responsible for this mess. Whilst working together things get hot between the two even thought there are a lot of political barriers as to why they can’t be together.

How it ends

When Abby & Titus finally catch up with Justus they discover the scent of the infected is Titus’ best friend who he has left in charge of the pride. His now ex-friend has been manipulating everything to get Titus exiled and to take over the pride as the new Alpha. He tries to kill Titus with a gun but Abby is in cat form and rips out his throat. During the investigation Justus accidentally killed people as he didn’t know what he was doing & Abby killed the ex-friend before he could stand trial for his crimes. The council set their punishments and Titus will lose them both. At the last minute they discover a loop hole in the laws and Abby & Justus join the Stray pride instead of going back to the council for punishment.

What did I think

This title wasn’t as steamy as the first.  Robyn is attracted to Titus (and vice versa) but she isn’t interested in being used to boost his position in the shifter world by being his dam.

The book is very much about the two discovering clues and uncovering what really happened and locating Justus.

The ending is was very satisfying. I felt everything was resolved and there was a decent amount of action throughout.

I would recommend and I look forward to reading more of Rachel Vincent’s books.

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Ally Aldridge Books, Review

Pop-up books

Here, I share my collection of pop-up books and what makes them unique and special.

The hardest thing about pop-up books is that they do tend to be a little fragile and because they are very exciting this can cause children to damage them unintentionally.  In addition, some younger children may not have the skills to operate the pop-ups without causing damage which can be upsetting.

You will have to judge when your child is ready for them and may need to supervise the books. For example, only share them at special occasions or as a reward rather than leaving them out for you child to explore alone.

Some of these books are aimed at children specifically and are more hardy. Others are designed to show off the artwork of the author or the beauty of pop-up books.

The Tickle Book  and The Bedtime Book

  • Author:  Ian Whybrow
  • Illustrator:  Axel Scheffler

Tickle Monster and co

These books are designed especially for young children.  They have a rhyming story line that they’ll enjoy listening to.  The book has tabs to pull to cause parts of the story to move or pop-up.  With ‘The Tickle Book’ I tend to tickle my son every time the tickle monster pops up.  ‘The Bedtime’ book is probably better for bedtime as there is no tickling.

Snowman and the snowdog

Father Christmas bought this book for my son so it is no surprise that it is magical.  The first part of the book is a normal picture book following the classic story of The Snowman and the Snowdog.  However, when you reach the last page you are in for a surprise.

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The book has a sensor that causes built in lights to switch on and cause the stars in the sky to twinkle and a scene of London at night to pop up.  It is a beautiful ending and my son loves London so he points out the famous sights from the scene.

How to Find Flower Fairies

  • Author:  Cicely Mary Barker

Flower Fairies

This pop up book is written as a collection of discoveries about faeries. The pages are very elaborate scenes that pop up and have notes and journals entries about the faeries.  The front cover and camera on the last page has a holographic image that moves.  It truly is a beautiful book about faeries with so much thought and detail gone into every page.  However, I wouldn’t recommend this be shared with young children.

I’ve created a little clip on Instagram to show how clever and beautiful this book is as seeing is believing…

Goblins

  • Author/Illustrator:  Brian Froud

This tatty old book was produced in 1983 by my favourite artist.  I fell in love with his work which inspired the film Labyrinth (his son was cast as the baby kidnapped by the goblin king).

It is a first edition and I bought it second hand. I probably paid too much for it considering that some of the tags are very fragile but I am so pleased to have a copy.  I do share this with my son on his birthday or if he has been really good and he loves it.  Sadly, he tore the goblins nose on the last page to see the goblins underneath.

There isn’t much of a story but each page has so much detail and the artwork is amazing.  My son loves the last page where you can turn the book upside down to discover more goblins due to how they are drawn – it is genius.  I’ve checked many times to see if this book has been re-released but it hasn’t.

*****

Have you read any of these?  Is there a pop-up book that you think I need to add to my collection – I’d love to hear your recommendations.

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Ally Aldridge Books, Review

Book Review: Lion’s Share

Author: Rachel Vincent

Lion’s Share

The Wildcat series is by one of my favourite authors, Rachel Vincent. I fell in love with The Shifter series years ago and have since sought something equally as good.

If you haven’t read The Shifter series, I highly recommend it. The first book in the series is ‘Stray’.

Lion’s Share

This is the first book in the Wild cat series.

What is the book about?

The series is a spin off from the shifter series. It has two MCs; Abby (tabby) and Jace (an acting Alpha). The werecat world has their own laws to ensure that the prides all cooperate. As tabby shifters (girl werecats) are rare, they are highly valued and protected. However, this makes life very difficult for the girls who are constantly watched by enforcers (werecats trained to protect tabby’s and enforce the law) and cannot do a lot due to their safety. Abby is very fortunate that she has been allowed to attend university (Faythe is the only tabby ever to be granted this privilege).

Skip to ”What did I think” to avoid spoilers.

How it starts

Due to a number of shifter deaths in the territory, Jace has reason to believe a group are hunting them. Jace decides to bring Abby back to the ranch for Christmas for her safety. Especially as the hunters came after Abby and her university friends in the past, killing all but her roommate. When Abby learns the council are meeting about the hunters she accepts Jace’s offer to join his enforcers even though the offer made was a compliment when she’d defended herself against hunters. Jace has to honour his word and she becomes the newest enforcer on his force.

The middle

Abby is engaged to Brian. Brian is a safe choice and she only accepted his proposal to stop the other werecats hitting on her. Sadly, they have no chemistry. The more time she spends with Jace, the more she realises she is with the wrong man and breaks off the engagement. Things get physical and steamy between the pair. Abby keeps sabotaging the missions, to the point where she has broken so many laws she is to be sent back to her family. Abby doesn’t want to go and runs away. Jace and his guys then figure out what she’s been up to… Who she is protecting.

How it ends

Abby’s roommate, Robyn, was infected by a stray when the hunters attacked them. Never has a woman survived scratch fever. Abby knows that the council would want to test Robyn and enforce their laws and world on her. Abby kept Robyn a secret to protect her from all that. Jace and his enforcers help Abby fight the hunter and save her roommate. They then have to stand trial before the council. Jace takes full responsibility for Abby’s crimes as her Alpha – he is banished to the free territory. Abby defects (quits all prides) and takes off with Jace. The free zone is very dangerous due to there being no laws but fortunately Jace has contacts as he was working with Titus to get the free zone recognised with rights. Titus takes them in.

What did I think

Read it! It is quite a steamy novel and the chemistry between the pair is sizzling. I’ve already bought the next book in the series.

The only thing I found strange is the girl on the cover is not Abby. Abby is described as a redhead with curly hair and the cover girl has sleek brown hair. The next book in the series is about the roommate, Robyn who better fits the description. I wonder if they’ve used the same model for the whole series to give a uniformed look.

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Ally Aldridge Books, Review, Uncategorized

My Top 5 Board Books

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This review is based on board books I bought for my son. I have borrowed similar books from the library but these are my own.

Board books have thick cardboard pages throughout making them very hardy.  Don’t give them to a teething baby because they can turn the cardboard to pulp! These books are great to enable your little one to build confidence in books and turning the pages.

Guess How Much I Love You

Author:  Sam McBratney

Illustrator:  Anita Jeram

This story is a classic and an excellent bedtime read. Little hare is coming up with ways to express how much he/she loves big hare. Big hare keeps coming up with something bigger. It’s where the saying ”I love you to the moon… And back” comes from.

No Matter What

Author:  Debi Gliori

If you’ve had a tough day with your little one, this is a great story about how ’no matter what’ you always love them. It’s also ideal for parents that can’t always be with their child as the last page has a beautiful message about wherever you are, you still love them.

Peace At Last

Author:  Jill Murphy

This story follows Mr Bear trying to get to sleep but everywhere is noisy. My son loved the different sounds in the story and joined in with the repetitive ”Oh no, I can’t stand THIS!”

The Snail and the Whale/Room on the Broom (box set)

Author:  Julia Donaldson

Illustrator:  Axel Scheffler

This set contains two Julia Donaldson books and would make a great gift for a child.  Her stories have a great rhyme which children enjoy hearing and a good story.

This book follows a snail that tours the world with a whale.  There are some beautiful images illustrating how vast the world is and the different climates of different countries.  When the whale gets beached, the snail saves the day – teaching that no matter how small you are, you can make a difference.

This story follows a witch that keeps dropping her things from her broom.  As she hunts for her belongings she makes new friends who join her on the broom. These friends save her when she gets into trouble with a dragon who’d like to eat her with chips. She then makes a truly magnificent broom to accommodate them all.

*****

Have you read any of these?  Is there a board book that you think I need to add to my collection – I’d love to hear your recommendations.

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Ally Aldridge Books, Review

Book Review: The Gender Game by Bella Forrest

Author: Bella Forrest

The Gender Game

My reading goal

For Christmas 2017, I got a Kindle and set myself the goal of reading 12 books this year – that doesn’t sound like much to some people but I have really struggled in recent years to make time for myself to read.  I’m lucky if I get to read one book a year.

Still, I am ashamed at how long it took me to get through this book.  Although, in my defense, I spent a lot of January exploring my new Kindle and was easily distracted by games.  I also downloaded a few books to get me started and was reading them all simultaneously whilst I figured out which one to go with…  I didn’t end up finishing Gender Game until 31 March 2018.

What is the book about?

The book is set in a world divided by the sexes. Matrus is ruled by women. Patrus is ruled by men.

Skip to ‘What I think’ if you don’t want any spoilers.

https://youtu.be/XsSZDrF9pg4

How it starts

The MC, VIOLET, is a strong feisty character. From the start she is keen to get her brother back but trying to save him got her sentenced to a working house for criminals. She ends up murdering another inmate – now she will be executed for her crime. But, the queen of Matrus makes Violet a deal. Violet is to go and live in Patrus as a wife to a man she’s never met and assist is stealing an egg.

The middle

As you can guess, Violet has no choice but to take the offer. LEE, her now Patrus husband, is a very private man and only tells Violet what she needs to know. He introduces her to VICTOR, a sexy rugged cage fighter, who they will frame for the crime of the stolen egg. Violet is encouraged to spend time with Victor and ends up falling for him.

How it ends

This puts Violet in a difficult situation when they steal the egg and she flies off with Lee and frames Victor. When they take the egg back to Matrus, Victor kills the queen and takes off with the egg. Violet fights him and he falls from the motorbike-plane (he built in his garage). The book ends with Violet flying off with the egg.

What did I think

The book was alright. I gave it a generous four stars on Good Reads.

I liked the concept. The contrasting counties was interesting. I enjoyed the heated tension between Violet and Victor – a steamy romance will always keep me hooked.

I didn’t like how it ended though. It felt unfinished and was definitely left open for the other titles in the series.

Violet was no better off than she started. She still had no idea where her brother was or how to get him back – he could be long dead. She had lost, Victor, the only man she loved. I didn’t find it believable how she killed her husband. She ended up with the golden egg but we never found out why it is so important. Plus, she will likely be blamed for the assignation of the Queen.

I’m not sure if I’ll read the rest of this series as Violet isn’t a character I connect with – she’s quick to violence and killing with little remorse. It wasn’t a bad read, I enjoyed most of it. There’s just other books I’d rather be reading. I would be interested in reading more by Bella as I do her enjoy her writing style (good pace, strong characters and excellent world building).