Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens and read by Dominic Cooper

Oliver Twist is a classic story. This is an abridged version of it, and lasts for 1 hour 10 minutes. I play it at night for my 6-year-old daughter as she goes to sleep. Here is her summary of the beginning of the story:

• Oliver's mum rose up from the hospital bed and put her lips on Oliver's forehead and died. Then the hospital person said, "she was a nice looking girl, where did she come from?" and a nurse said, "she came here last night, found lying in the street."
• Then Oliver was taken to a workhouse.
• Then the boys winked at Oliver while his next neighbour nudged him. He was desperate with hunger.
• "Please sir, I want some more."
• The man was a fat healthy man, but he turned pale.
• Then he made about £5 by selling Oliver.

Then her summary of the middle:

• Then when it was morning he decided to run away to London. It took him seven days and seven nights.
• The eighth day Oliver sat on a cold door step. Then a boy who passed him returned and said, "what's your out."
• Then Oliver said, "I've been walking for seven days and seven nights and I'm cold and hungry."
• The boy had manners like a man.
• Then the boy said, "You need grub, and you shall have it."
• Soon, Oliver learnt his new friend was Jack.
• Then Jack said, "I know a man who will give you money for nothing, and never ask for the change." Soon they walked to a shop, or a house that was owned by Fagin.
• Then Fagin asked if Oliver could pick a handkerchief out of his pocket without him feeling it like the other boys could.
• Then Fagin closed his eyes. And then Oliver took the handkerchief without Fagin feeling it and Fagin said, "Did you take it out? Did you take it out?"
• Then Oliver said, "It's here sir," in his hand.
• Then Fagin give Oliver a shilling. Then Oliver went to bed with Jack and the other boys.

After a few listens she liked this, and said it is better than her previous favourite from the series, Bill Nighy Reads The Wonderful Wizard of Oz because she likes the characters like Mr Brownlow and Bill Sykes, and she likes the voices of the characters, like when Fagin says, "Where is Oliver?"

(I got this Audio CD through Amazon Vine. It is listed HERE.)

The Kids Only Cookbook by Sue Quinn

I got this for my almost 7-year-old daughter. She did some cookery classes at an after-school club and this is a continuation of that. She read the intro to me. It says "the book is aimed at children aged 8-12, but those younger and older than this will also have lots to enjoy". So she falls into the "lots to enjoy" category.

There are some easy recipes mixed with some harder ones. We've just started with some easy ones like the jam-wich, which is a sandwich with butter and jam which is cut into shapes using a cookie cutter. She read the instructions out then did it with some supervision, and now she makes this on her own. We are moving on now to harder recipes using the difficulty star rating so that we can choose appropriately easy recipes. 

The pictures and layout of the pages are nice and colourful and she likes the title "Kids-Only" which makes the book feel like it really belongs to her and her alone. I can see her using this book over the next few years to make her first steps cooking her own things, before we can pass the book to her younger sister. 

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed HERE.)

What can you spot in Winnie's world? by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul

Korky Paul is a great artist and his pictures in the normal Winnie the Witch books are great as their funny details really add to the enjoyment of the stories. However here the double spread pictures don't work as well. First there are only 12 of them. Second, they are not that detailed as to make finding the items mentioned difficult to find. The busy picture on the front is misleading as most of the images aren't as busy as that, and that isn't even one of the 12 images anyway so you aren't asked to find any items within it. Lastly once the items have been found by your child the first time then they will easily be able to find them again, putting the claim on the front "endless hours of happy hunting" to shame.

When getting this I thought it would be like the Where's Wally series but it isn't a patch on those in my opinion.

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed HERE.)

Mulberry and the Summer Show by Che Golden

This book follows Sam through her fledgling riding career from "her first proper lesson" through to riding in the Summer Show. At first she struggles trying to control a temperamental pony Oscar, and is picked on by Cecilia Jones, the biggest bully on the yard. But then she discovers she can talk with the horses and ponies and they tell her that "if you really want to get your own back on Cecilia Jones, then you have got to do something she can't, do well on a pony she can't ride." 

That pony is Mulberry. "She's the pony Miss Mildew has had to retire from the riding school for injuring so many riders," thanks to her moves - the world famous sliding stop, the stop and spin, the jack knife and the wall of death. Cecilia Jones was never able to ride her.

So Sam agrees to this much to the astonishment of Miss Mildew who runs the school, and Sam's mum and big sister. But Sam knows she has the ability to speak with Mulberry which she hopes will help her. Except Mulberry isn't speaking, and there are only eight weeks to go.

I read this to my 6-year-old daughter over a few bedtimes and she enjoyed it, even though she has never rode a horse. She also enjoyed the free stickers which she is sticking in her room up on the walls.

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed HERE.)

Practice & Learn: Mental Maths (Ages 5-7) by CGP Books

I got this for my 6-year-old who is in Year 2 of school (age 6-7). Whilst working through this it is quite clear that this is the sort of stuff she is learning at school which is good as it means the book is focusing on the correct topics for the age group it says it is catering for, these topics being:

- Adding

- Subtracting

- Number Facts to 10

- Number Facts to 20

- Counting by 1 and 10

- Bigger numbers

- Doubling and Halving

- Multiplying/Dividing by 2

- Multiplying/Dividing by 5

- Multiplying/Dividing by 10

- Two/Five/Ten Times Table

- Problem Solving

The book has an answers section which can be pulled out of the centre so the answers can be checked. This will be useful for parents to check their child's work, but do take it out before you give the book to your child in case they are tempted to cheat (although at this age that is probably not a consideration).

This book is similar to other learning tools that are out there such as the website Mathletics. There are differences though - this book cannot be used again once done. That's ok I suppose seeing as you want your child to progress to the next level anyway, but not so ok if you want another child to also do the same exercises. On the other hand this book does have some exercises which are not available on the likes of Mathletics, like the Race to the Beehive board game at the end.

Overall then: a useful aid to your child's learning, but to be used in conjunction with other teaching.

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed HERE.)

Quantum Drop by Saci Lloyd

This is “kind of a story” that follows Anthony Griffin, a fake name so as to protect his identity, who is the boy next door.

Anthony lives in a world where you might “punch something into your deck,” or people might be “plugged into the Drop” via a visor, or you might push “a hologram chip across the table” instead of a business card.

He lives in the Debtbelt where “once your credit’s gone there’s no way back. You’re toast.” This is because of the Betta. “Short-selling, junking, gold farming, black boxing, risk-rolling – the Betta got a finger in every pie.” Basically “you’ve got to keep sweet with the Betta because they are the power.”

Except Anthony’s girlfriend didn’t keep sweet with them and has ended up dead because of them, and it is eating up at Anthony as he tries to discover what happened, all at the expense of his own future, like his exams which he walks out on. And all he’s got to go on is a voice.

So that is the story right there. And the book is Anthony’s narrative of the story. It took me a while to get into it because of his voice with all it's chattiness – “I mean, why do you think, not for even one second, do I ever, ever shut up?” – leading to diversions about brains evolving from animals etc. But the story is none-the-less gripping once it gets going. 

Older teens should enjoy.

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed HERE.)

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling and read by Alistair McGowan

The Jungle Book is a famous story. This is an abridged version of it, and lasts for 1 hour. I play it at night for my 6-year-old daughter as she goes to sleep. Here are some of things she recalls from the story:

• At the start the wolves found a baby and called him Mowgli.
• Shere Khan wanted to eat him and they said no, but Shere Khan said "I will have him in the end."
• The mother wolf told Mowgli that Shere Khan was coming again to catch him so he had to go to the bushes every day to hide, and when Shere Khan did come the wolves attacked him until he was dead.
• Mowgli had his two friends, Bagheera and Baloo.

She also told me how Mowgli went to the monkey city.

After a few listens she liked this, but from this series she prefers Bill Nighy Reads The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Famous Fiction) which "is a little bit more interesting".

(I got this Audio CD through Amazon Vine. It is available to buy HERE.)

Knight Crusader by Ronald Welch

“Knight Crusader” was originally published in 1954 but has been re-published due to popular demand. It is aimed at 14+ year-olds and this is because of the bloodthirstiness of it, although the book is by no means gory, and nothing that the modern child has not seen already in a video game (the original Assassin’s Creed game being set at the same time as this novel) or movie.

The book takes place at the time of the Third Crusade and features figures such as Richard the Lionheart. It follows Philip d’Aubigny on his journey from “excitable, impulsive, scatter-brained young squire” through to becoming “one of the greatest barons in Outremer,” and finally his coming to Great Britain after longing to after hearing great things of the “green country” where "the trees are everywhere, heavy with leaf, and the valleys are deep and moist."

Outremer is the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem and the Christians and the Turks are fighting for it. It is where Philip is from, being the son of a great knight Sir Hugo. Philip as a 17-year-old becomes a knight himself after proving himself in a duel. Then he is straight into proper battle as “Outremer was in deadly peril; at any moment invasion and total destruction might descend upon the Christian states.”

That battle he partakes in is the battle of Hattin and it is interesting to read the tactics involved and see how they played out during battle, plus the point when the realisation dawns on the Christians that they will lose. 

Being on the losing side Philip is taken as a slave and that ends part 1 of the book. Part 2 has his escape from Damascus and his allegiance to King Richard of England as he takes part in the successful battle of Arsuf. And Part 3 sees his coming to England to inherit the fief of Llanstephan, although he must first oust the current occupant De Braose who will not give it up without a fight.

All-all-all then a book that is interesting for its military tactics, and its historical content as it is based on real life events of the time, the author being well-versed through his career as a history teacher.  

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed for sale HERE.)

Z-squared by Sherrie Cronin

This is a book that I won in a Goodreads First Reads contest.

Z-squared, or zee-squared as this is an American book, is an ambitious novel. It contains the making of time-machines, Maya history, American Civil War history, telepathy, racial hatred, a potted history of American immigration policies and a treasure hunt for ancient artifacts. 

The first thing I noticed about this book is that it is volume three of six. However having read it, and not the previous two books in the series, I would say that it is perfectly stand-alone. It does mention the previous two (x to the power of 0 and y to the power of 1) but there is no need to have read them.

The second thing I noticed is that this started as an eBook and the eBook version has some clickable links to help with the atmosphere of the novel, whereas this one has the links in the annex so that you can have the same experience if you wish, although you would need to cross reference to make sure you picked them up in the correct places, and if the URLs change then tough. Plus these are not necessary for the story, just to add to ambiance.

As for the story it starts off on several strands, each one bursting with action from the get go which really helps you get into the novel straight away. Then the story settles as the strands come together with the main strand being a treasure hunt, and the secondary strand being the stirring up of racial tensions in a school where the main character of the book Alex Zeitman works.

The book flits through time with sections from 1696-1697, 1981, 1993, the main part from 2010-2011 and even a bit from the future at the end so that you know what happens to the main characters.

The 1696-1697 part details how three Mayan boxes were to be protected from generation to generation to keep the greatest of treasure from being discovered until the time was right. Only when all three boxes have been reunited will it be clear what the secret they bear was. That is the basis of the treasure hunt that Alex gets involved in.

The other part of Alex’s story includes the setting up of his school club zee-squared, “a club about considering multiple timelines and their ramifications,” i.e. about doing your bit to make the future timeline better. This is in part in response to a growing movement in the school, a school based in Texas in the south, led by Ms. Johnson and endorsed by the principal, towards the return of white supremacy. This culminates in a re-enactment of the Battle of Cedar Creek, a key battle in the loss of the South in the American Civil War, and how if things had been done differently at that battle then things could now be for the better. Of course Alex sees to it that this movement is put in its place and involves his psychics’ students and their “time machines” to make it so.

The novel is ambitious but is pulled off.

(This book is available on Amazon HERE.)

Nitty Winnie by Laura Owen and Korky Paul

This is an excellent book, even if a little short.

There are four all-new Winnie the Witch stories in here:

• Winnie's Wet Weekend
• Jurassic Winnie
• A Wedding for Winnie
• Nitty Winnie

The first story sees Winnie having a flooded house so she escapes to a beach where she builds a sandcastle and magics herself to live in it. The second story sees Winnie magic her way back to when dinosaurs were around. The third sees Winnie marry off her sister, and the fourth sees Winnie get nits.

All the stories interestingly start with sounds ("Plip! Plop!", "Snip-snap!", "Bing-bong!" and "La-di-tiddly-doo-daa!") and there is a real quirky use of language throughout. Like the alarm clock being called the alarm croc, or Winnie exclaiming "flying fish fingers" or "you look as lovely as a little lamb licking a lolly."

There are also lots of busy, interesting pictures to accompany the text which are just as quirky. However the book is just about 45 minutes in length, but this is probably more to do with the age group this is aimed at (newly confident readers).  

The whole package is perfect for youngsters who have a sense of humour.

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed HERE.)