Posts tagged simon and schuster
Snug As A Bug, Octonauts and Mike The Knight Book Reviews
4 months ago
The lovely people from Simon and Schuster Children’s Books have sent us a lovely selection of their latest publications to review. My children seriously love books and so any package we receive from Simon and Schuster is eagerly opened.
Snug As A Bug – Tamsyn Murray and Judi Abbot
“Would you prefer to be snug as a bug rolled up in a rug? Like two cosy bats in thick woolly hats? as hot as three pigs in big purple wigs?…Well that’s what George has to decide for himself on a day out at the park with Mum”
I absolutely love this book and so does MissB. With the recent cold spell of weather we’ve been having it is something that we can really relate to and we have had lots of fun practising our counting together over bedtime stories.
The book is beautifully illustrated and so easy to read. I love books which have rhyming text and this book does it so well. It is everything you want in a children’s book, funny, entertaining, educational, bright and colourful and it really is one of my favourite books at the moment 
There is a link to it on amazon below.
Octonauts and the Undersea Adventure
“Dive into action with the Octonauts as they save some sea creatures from an undersea volcano! When a dangerous volcano threatens to erupt, the Octonauts must evacuate all the sea creatures nearby. But there is one creature that won’t budge – a slow moving, gelatinous Blobfish. Can Captain Barnacles, Kwazii and Peso get the Blobfish to safety before the volcano blows it’s top?”
Something both MissB and MasterB love is seeing books with characters that they recognise from TV. We watch Octonauts on TV most mornings before nursery and it has particular meaning for us as MasterB has to wear eye patches every day so we like Kwazii the Octonaut who also wears an eye patch. MasterB even has his own cuddly Kwazii that we got him for Christmas
This book is based around a tv episode we have already seen. I like the little fact boxes that it has as you go through the book explaining things such as volcanos and blobfish. We particular like blobfish If your children like Octonauts then these books are great little books. Watch out for other books in the Octonauts series also being published in January and February. With our current obsession for sticker books, I will definitely be keeping an eye out for Desert Island Doodle and Sticker Book . I’ve included links to all the new titles on amazon below.
Mike The Knight and The Real Sword
“Mike is desperate for Evie, his fun and free-spirited sister who is a wizard in training, to change his enchanted sword back to a real sword – as a real knight needs a real sword! But when Evie’s spell goes wrong, Mike has to learn to make the best of what he has got.”
Mike the Knight is another popular TV program in this household and so unsurprisingly this book was very well received. MissB loved pointing out all the familiar characters to me. She loves Sparkie and Squirt the two dragons As is always the way with Mike the Knight, there is a lesson to be learnt and doing it right is always the way Any Mike the Knight fan would love this book, along with a couple of other titles being release in January. I particularly like the look of Dragons on the Loose which is a hardback push and pop up book! I’ve included links to all the latest titles on amazon below
No-Bot The Robot With No Bottom and Jack’s Mega Machines: The Dinosaur Digger – Book Reviews
5 months ago
Every time a parcel arrives from the lovely people at Simon and Schuster it brings a smile to my face. We can never have enough books in this house Today I’ve got two of their latest releases to review Unfortunately they won’t be published until January so a little late for Christmas this year but definitely worth keeping an eye out for in the new year
Jack’s Mega Machines – The Dinosaur Digger, Alison Ritchie and Mike Byrne
Jack’s Mega Machines is a fabulous new series of books which sees Jack the mechanic go on amazing adventures. Whenever he drives through the doors of his workshop something special happens. We loved the first book in the series The Rocket Racing Car and this book is his second adventure.
In The Dinosaur Digger, Jack has to fix a digger, but when he takes it for a test drive he is transported into a land of dangerous dinosaurs. Jack is faced with a stampede of baby dinosaurs being chased by a massive T-Rex! Can Jack help the baby dinosaurs and defeat the nasty T-Rex? Well you’ll just have to read it to find out 
All the books in this series come with a vehicle to play with, MissB loves playing along with the real Dinosaur Digger as we tell the story and it really does help to being the story to life
The Dinosaur Digger will be published on the 17th January 2013 with an RRP of £6.99 so keep an eye out for it if your child loves diggers and dinosaurs then it really is the perfect story for them
No-Bot The Robot With No Bottom – Sue Hendra
We are HUGE fans of Sue Hendra in this household, we’ve reviewed a few of her books such as Keith the Cat with The Magic Hat and Norman the Slug with the Silly Shell and now and they are firm favourites with MissB and MasterB. Her latest offering wasn’t a disappointment, in fact I think it’s my favourite book of hers to date
“Bernard the Robot loses his bottom on a park swing, and sets off to find it. Every time he gets close, it disappears again! Bird was using as a nest, but it was too heavy; Bear used it in a drum kit, but it was too tinny; the Squirrels built sand castles with it… and now it looks as if they’re sailing away in it. Will Bernard EVER get his bottom back?”
As always the book is beautifully illustrated and the story is guaranteed to have you and your child laughing, MissB has been marching around the house chanting “No-Bot, No-Bot” for the last couple of days as she finds it hysterical
I can’t recommend any of the Sue Hendra books highly enough, seriously if you’ve never read any of her books then you MUST!
No-Bot The Robot With No Bottom will be published on the 3rd of January 2013 with an RRP of £6.99.
Princess Evie’s Ponies – Diamond The Magic Unicorn, Book Review
7 months ago
When Simon and Schuster sent us one of their latest books, Princess Evie’s Ponies: Diamond the Magic Unicorn to review, they made MissB a very happy little girl. Like her mummy, MissB is already getting a little obsessed with all things pony related (I’m probably fuelling this a little as I can’t wait to get her on a pony )
“Princess Evie is crazy about her ponies. But Princess Evie’s ponies aren’t like any other ponies – oh no! Her ponies are magic ponies and, whenever Princess Evie rides them, she is whisked away on a magical adventure in a faraway land . . .
Princess Evie and Sparkles the kitten, find themselves in a magical world of cloud sprites and unicorns! Evie is invited to take part in the Unicorn Games, but will Evie and Diamond be good enough to win a prize in any of the events?”
Princess Evie’s Ponies is a series of books written by Sarah Kilbride, Diamond The Magic Unicorn is the seventh book in the series. Each book comes with a removable pop-up pony. This was a huge hit with MissB who has been carrying it around with her pretty much constantly since she got it. I did manage to persuade her that she shouldn’t really take it to bed as it would get squashed though
MissB of course loved this book, she now wants a unicorn for herself (good luck in getting one of those for her mummy!). The book is beautifully illustrated and is guaranteed to appeal to any pony mad child. My favourite part of the book is the removable pop up pony – it adds a nice interactive element to the book as MissB sat recreating the scenes with it
You can buy Diamond The Magic Unicorn or any of the other Princess Evie’s Ponies books at all the usual places, they have a RRP of £5.99. As usual I have included a link to them on Amazon below
Jacks Mega Machines: The Rocket Racing Car and How Dinosaurs Really Work! – Book Reviews
8 months ago
The book fairy has visited our house again, this time it’s the lovely people from Simon and Schuster Children’s books who have sent MissB a couple of lovely picture books to review
Jack’s Mega Machines: The Rocket Racing Car – Alison Ritchie & Mike Byrne
Jack’s Mega Machines is an awesome new picture book series, each title will see a thrilling adventure take place in an incredible land. Join Jack as he zooms through space in his super speedy rocket racing car in this first adventure of the series.
“Jack is a mechanic whose workshop is unlike any other, when he drives through its magic doors something special happens, and he has thrilling adventures! This time Jack zooms off to outer space in a rocket racing car. He meets all kinds of aliens when he joins an intergalactic space race. There’s spiky, slimy, spotty ones, tall pointy ones and small blobby ones, but can he help fix their cars? And who will win the race?”
This first book in the series came with a removable rocket car to play with and help to bring the story to life. (Please not when removing it, do take care as naughty Mother Brown ripped a wing off it and it’s now held together with tape ). MissB though this book was fab, she has a thing about aliens and monsters at the moment and she loved being able to zoom the real rocket car around whilst we were reading it to her. The story is simple enough for her to understand and the book is bright, colourful and beautifully illustrated which is always a major factor in keeping MissB interested in them. This one definitely gets a thumbs up from us and I will be keeping an eye out for the rest of the series being released
Jack’s Mega Machines was published on 30th August 2012 and has a RRP of £5.99. I’ve included a link to it on Amazon below
How Dinosaurs Really Work! – Alan Snow
I love this book, it is aimed for around age 4+ so MissB is a little too young to really understand it at the moment but one that I’m sure she will love when she is a little older
“From the author of the bestselling How Santa Really Works, Alan Snow comes this must have book for all dinosaur enthusiasts. Crammed full of interesting dino-facts and bursting with wonderfully detailed illustrations, How Dinosaurs Really Work cleverly covers everything you need to know about these roaring beasts.
With facts, jokes and information-filled drawings on every page, this fantastic new title is guaranteed to raise a laugh and keep children entertained for hours. The perfect choice for all dino-crazy youngsters.”
If you have a dinosaur obsessed toddler then this is definitely one to pop in their christmas stocking, I think it’s fantastic! Factual but funny and the drawings are brilliant. I reckon by next year MissB will really understand this a bit more and get the full benefit of the book!
How Dinosaurs Really Work! was published on 30th August 2012 and has a RRP of £10.99. I’ve included a link to it on Amazon below I’ve also included a link to How Santa Really Works – I’ve not seen a copy of this book yet but I’m considering getting it myself as if it’s like the Dinosaur book it will be great
The Yoga Ogre & Keith The Cat With The Magic Hat – Book Reviews
10 months ago
The ever so lovely people at Simon and Schuster have sent MissB some more beautiful picture books to review. MissB is a little book obsessed nowadays and everytime I produce a new one she is always really excited.
The Yoga Ogre – by Peter Bently & Simon Rickerty
As soon as MissB saw this book she was excited, you see she is a little monster obsessed. She kept telling me the book was upside down bless her as the ogre is standing on his head
“The Yoga Ogre is an utterly bonkers story about Ogden, a greedy orge who realises it is time to do some sport, and decides to take up yoga, with some very comical consequences”
“Ogden the Ogre was worried one night. “My jim-jams have grown far too short and too tight!”
How has my tum got so terribly wide? I only eat twelve meals a day” Ogden sighed.
The people said, “jim-jams too tight and too short? Overweight ogres should take up a sport!”
From MissB’s point of view this book is a silly story of a greedy monster. She loves the bright illustrations and the ryhming text makes reading it to her so much fun. It’s the kind of book that toddlers love! From a parents point of view the theme of healthy eating and exercise are good (although a little beyond MissB’s comprehension at the moment).
You can buy The Yoga Ogre in all the usual book selling places There is a link to it on amazon at the bottom of this post.
Keith The Cat With The Magic Hat – Sue Hendra
We have enjoyed Sue Hendra’s books previously having already had Norman The Slug With The Silly Shell and Barry The Fish With Fingers and The Hairy Scary Monster to review. Both of those were great hits with MissB so we had high expectations of her latest book
As with her previous books, the sparkly cover and bright and beautiful illustrations are instantly attractive to children. The author has a real knack of creating characters which appeal to children. Keith the Cat is not your average cat, he has magical powers…well a magic hat anyway. But what happens when he loses his hat and he really needs some magic to save the day? Well…..you’ll just have to read it and see
MissB loves this book and it’s a frequent choice for her bedtime story. She even took it to nursery with her this week where her carers read it to the rest of her room and they declared it a big hit with all the other children too You can buy Keith The Cat with the Magic Hat in all the usual places, a link to it on amazon is below
The Worst Princess and Other Gorgeous Picture Books Review and Competition
1 year ago
The lovely people at Simon and Schuster have really been spoiling MissB by sending us some gorgeous picture books. We love books in this house and can never have too many. I’m going to share a few more of their lovely books with you here and if you make it through to the end of this post there is a lovely competition for you to win a bundle of all the books mentioned – how lovely is that?
The Worst Princess – Anna Kemp & Sara Ogilvie
“Once upon a time, in a tower near you,
Lived a sad princess; the Princess Sue.
“Some day,” she sighed, “my prince will come,
But I wish he’d move his royal bum.”
“But when Princess Sue’s prince finally does arrive, he’s not quite what she had in mind. He’s surprised to discover that Sue wants to ride horses and battle dragons; he just wants her to wear pretty dresses and stay indoors. Find out how the feisty princess escapes the clutches of her twit of a prince in this funny twist on the traditional princess tale.”
I love this book, let’s face it, in this day and age the traditional role of “princess” is pretty much dead and I’m all for MissB reading the more traditional story books but this one is much more my style. A bit of feminism and a sense of humour. MissB loves the lovely illustrations and the “scary dragon” (she has an obsession with monsters, dragons and dinosaurs at the moment). In fact when I read this book I actually find myself chuckling as this is SOOO what MissB would be like if she were the princess herself
Jump On Board The Animal Train – Naomi Kefford & Lynne Moore
“The giraffes hooves click as he moves,
The elephant’s feet plod down the street,
The tiger’s tail swishes the rail,
The bear’s paws pad on the floor . . .
And they follow us as we go!”
Join one little boy on a fantastic journey to meet the train. He’s joined by bears, elephants, tigers and a whole menagerie of other animals but, when he finally meets the train, there’s an even more exciting surprise in store.
MissB is a huge fan of aminals (as she calls them) of all kinds and so any book which contains them is sure to be a hit. A lovely element of this book is the split pages which reveal the hidden animals as you go along. We had lots of fun trying to search for the animals and guess what they were before turning the flaps. MissB has named the little boy MasterB as he does look a little like her brother so it’s now been renamed MasterB’s animal train bless her.
Norman The Slug With The Silly Shell – Sue Hendra
“Norman is a slug who longs to be a snail – if only he could find a shell!”
Kids will laugh out loud at Norman’s crazy antics as he goes to hilarious lengths to find a shell of his own. But will he be satisfied once he finds one, or will his dreams get bigger and bigger and bigger?
What you can’t tell from the picture above is that the cover of this book is sparkly. I tell you nothing makes a book more appealing than a sparkly cover As soon as MissB saw this book she was bouncing up and down. I absolutely love the illustrations in this book, they are bright, beautiful and fun. The story can’t help but make you laugh and MissB loves us reading it to her before bed. The author obviously knows exactly the silly kind of story that appeals to young children
Barry The Fish With Fingers And The Hairy Scary Monster – Sue Hendra
This is another book by Sue Hendra, the author of Normal The Snail With The Silly Shell. She also has another book called Barry The Fish With Fingers which I haven’t read but I think based on the two books I have read of hers I’ll be adding it to my list of must buys
Yet again the cover is nice and sparkly and the illustrations in the book are beautiful. The number element of them playing hide and seek is always nice to see, we are currently learning numbers and any chance to count with MissB is a boost and of course my little monster obsessed daughter loves the hairy scary monster that they find in the old wreck. You can’t beat books that have silly but simple story lines, lovely illustrations and sparkly covers – they have got it SO right with these
Competition
The lovely people from Simon & Schuster Children’s Books have offered a bundle of ALL of the above books for THREE (yes THREE) my readers to win. Here’s what you need to do to enter:
You can do all of the actions below or just 1 of them but please make sure you leave a separate comment for each action you take or your entries will not be valid & please make sure you leave a way of contacting you either email or twitter, Thank you x
* Leave me a comment telling me you’d like to be entered
* Like Me on Facebook http://facebook.com/kneesupmotherbrown (there is a link on the right sidebar!)
* Follow me on Networked Blogs – see link on the right sidebar!
* Tweet the following “I’d like to win a bundle of picture books from @simonkids_uk and @dawnie_brown in this lovely giveaway at http://wp.me/p2dS23-1f8 “
* Subscribe to the blog via email (form is over on the right sidebar!) – please note if you were previously subscribed to the blog you will need to subscribe again as I lost you all when I transferred to self hosting 
Good luck! UK entries only please. The winner will be drawn by random.org on Sunday 13th May at 8pm x
Erin
Dear kneesupmotherbrown.me
I have visited your site and found it's very useful for us. I think your site is pretty good.
So I'd like to […]
1 week ago
becky
Just have a brand new slow cooker so I will be checking out Chrissies new blog !
2 weeks ago
Sonia
Thanks for including me sis... Just FYI Cath is now at www.wishfulwonderings.co.uk xxx
1 month ago
