"THERE WAS SOMETHING odd about the tour guide. She was tall, with long hair, and she seemed to know a lot about Chinese history - as she should, working in a museum. But as Steven Lee listened to her, he couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't quite what she seemed."

I never did enjoy school trips when I was younger, but for Steven, his school trip to 'The New China Heritage Museum' would change his life forever when he decides to act on his hero like tendencies and follow the unnerving screams from a museum door and an intriguing tour guide named Jumanne acting very out of character. Steven follows the screams down a creepy staircase to an underground cave filled with mysterious pools,

Here he sees a man floating above the pools who is addressed by three scientists as Maxwell. The underground pools contain powers connected to the Chinese zodiac and Maxwell and his army 'The Vanguard' are attempting to consume the powers of all 12 zodiac signs. Had Steven stumbled on this place by chance? or had fate brought him there? and was there anything behind the nickname his grandad had given him growing up "little Tiger".

While saving the Museum tour guide (who he finds out is actually named Jasmine). he unexpectedly consumes the power of the Tiger giving him increased strength and the reflexes and agility of the wild cat. Steven manages to escape the capture set in motion by Maxwell and his army and his world is completely turned around when he joins Jasmine and Zodiac expert Carlos in attempting to stop the vanguard, an evil organisation desperate for the powers of the zodiac.

Growing up with Stan Lee's amazing stories over the years I have connected with so many of his characters. I'm a super hero fan through and through and his amazing writing style, taking people with super human powers who can scale buildings, lift tanks and fly around in iron suits while having to deal with all the real life issues that we all deal with makes him stand out well above the rest. His latest venture 'The Zodiac Legacy - CONVERGENCE' continues this moreish style of writing that gets me hooked every time. I'm only half way through the book but I'm eager to read more and that's the kind of book I want to be reading. As with any book, if it doesn't grab my full attention in at least 5 pages then the book isn't getting read.

If the excitement of a new Stan Lee book isn't excitement enough, it's only signed by the man himself isn't it!!! aaaaggggggghhhhhh!!!! Geek overload!

Convergence, written by Stan Lee and Stuart Moore with art by Andie Tong is the first book in The Zodiac Legacy series and i cant wait to get stuck into the next installment.

 

"Miracles can happen, even to those who are small, flammable, and dressed all in black."

Its a family tradition on Christmas eve before bed to read a new Christmas themed book together as a family, which tomorrow we will be enjoying together on our Christmas eve. Tonight though it would have felt wrong to not have read a festive book, despite the fact that Seth wasn't with us. So tonight, as we tucked Opeie up in bed we read my second favourite Christmas story.

THE LUMP OF COAL by Lemony Snicket isn't your average Christmas story, there are no happy elves and a clear lack of the usual cheer. The story though is beautifully written and is everything you want in a festive story, leaving you feeling all warm inside.

 the lump of coal wants nothing more than to be an artist and spend his days creating abstract art. If that's not possible though he would settle for helping out on a Barbeque, cooking vegetables and meat. This story is set in winter though and a good BBQ is hard to come by. Sadly the people that cross his path end up being quite rude and attempt to shatter his dreams until he has a chance meeting with a pharmacy hired Santa clause handing out coupons, who sends him on a new path.

 A present in the stocking of an naughty child doesn't sound like the best place for an artistic piece of coal to live out his days but that chance meeting sets him on the path to happiness and the Lump of coal fulfills all of his wildest dreams. The lump of coal has a great message and is a brimming with some of the magic which surrounds this exciting time of year.

Our bed time story added a little extra excitement for Opeie and we're all looking forward to the big day. Merry Christmas all.

"Whoops!" the aliens gasped. "Oh dear!" But their pants-tracker was BLEEPING. How could underpants be here?

Our ever expanding dinosaur book collection is getting pretty big at the moment and Opeie cant get enough of all the dino facts we read about. Before getting in to the factual side of his mesozoic learning adventure there was Dinosaurs love underpants. Opeie would walk in to any of our local libraries, make a beeline for the children's sections and start thumbing his way through looking for entertaining dinosaur related stories.

Recently it has been all factual dinosaur books that have been taking up his reading time but when we were offered the chance to review the new book from the fun pants collection Opeie jumped at the chance. Aliens Love Dinopants follows the same crazy path as the other titles before it. This time aliens are catapulted to a distant land untouched by humans, luckily the trusty pants tracker finds that there are underpants near by. They are greeted though by not only a pile of huge pants but a group of angry pants loving dinosaurs that had eluded the human race and were living a peaceful life hidden away. I did have to google and see if it was based on a true story but sadly no.

Opeie found the book very entertaining and it was lovely reading out in the sunshine staring down at a peaceful valley, we talked about how we could image the dinosaurs living there munching on all the lovely plants (and wearing their undies of course!). We're both looking forward to the next installment  of pants fun.

A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts it will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”

Ever since seth first began to confidently read for himself and like many of us before him, he has been captivated by the books of Roald Dahl. For me as a child I was hooked on charlie and the chocolate factory and the witches. These timeless stories are everything that a child wants when reading, intrigue, adventure and all manner of gross things happening. Its not just the stories that hooked me in when I was younger, The illustrations by Quentin Blake still to this day have me buying other books he has illustrated solely on how these books made me feel as a child.

For Seth it has always been The Twits and me and Mrs M enjoyed every minute of reading with him and hearing the story again. Roald Dahl's stories are amazing and extremely stimulating for a young mind but there is something really special about being able to reread the books with your own children knowing that they will most likely feel just like you did as you went from page to page.

As you can imagine when we were asked to take part in Roald Dahl day we jumped at the chance and we were excited to hear that there were two new editions of this well loved book 'The Twits' coming out. For the smelly Twit lovers out there, a copy that comes with a selection of scratch and sniff stickers, we were not sure what to expect, but the revolting stench that comes from these stickers after you glide your nails across them is definitely worthy of Mr Twits cheese and sardine filled beard, yuck.

For the more hairy Twit fans out there a hard back book with Mr Twits rough facial fuzz protruding from the cover. Either of these books would be an amazing edition to any child's library as it would be a shame to grow up not having the chance to immerse yourself in one of Dahl's books, that have entertained so many children for such a long time. I cant wait for it to be Opeie's turn to be introduced to these books although he did listen in on many of Seths reading sessions and as expected was very entertained by the grossness. 

I really hope that these new editions spur on some updated versions of the witches or Matilda, although I think we have all of Roald Dahl's books in our ever expanding children's library.

Roald Dahl day is on Sunday 13th of September so get making some stinky beards, giant craft peaches or golden tickets to use on some chocolate fuelled adventure and celebrate the amazing work of stories that will entertain generation after generation.

Now it's time for us to dust off Seth's world book day costume from last year so that Mrs Twit can get ready for his big day.

"There are two kinds of light - the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures."

It's been 6 months since we moved in to our new home and although we are completely settled now we didn't have a single light shade up in the house! Well until this week anyhow. You would think lampshades would be something that would get sorted as soon as we moved in but we didn't take any of the ones from the previous house and just hadn't spotted any that had taken out fancy.

It was starting to get to the point where it was annoying us so we went looking for some lighting accessories to cover the bulbs and perk the rooms up a little. Mrs M spotted some odd looking shades while we were out shopping one afternoon and although i couldn't stand the look of them I went along with it and we brought them to try (they were returned the following day, I don't know what she was thinking??).

I was hoping to find something quite simple that was very 'US' but nothing was getting my attention.

If you have been reading the blog for a while then you will be aware that I love recycling old books and I'm always picking up extra copies of the picture books we love for future craft ideas. As reading is such a big thing with our house we wanted to incorporate the stories and illustrators we love as much as we could in to our home. While we were out at Ikea last week we spotted some really simple shades that you velcro to a frame and we knew they would look great lined with pages from our favorite books. 

Oliver Jeffers has now dominated the two lights in our hall and the extra copies of 'The amazing book eating boy' and 'The great paper caper' I had found a while back worked out great because of the amazing illustrations and colours he uses. For the boys room it had to be Dr Seuss as the books are really important to me and we have had some great times together reading them. I asked Opeie which book he would like me to use and he asked for Green eggs and ham, great choice I thought.

We love the way they look so much that I think that these illustrations will be popping up throughout the house now in various ways and we still need to add shades to other rooms. Its amazing that some old books and some double sided sticky tape can transform a room this much. Adding these decorations to our home just shows even more the importance of books and the impact they have on us as a family.

 

"IT ALL BEGAN when Floyd got his kite stuck in A TREE. He tried pulling and swinging but it WOULDN'T COME UNSTUCK"

I love how a child's imagination can take an insignificant task and instantly turn it in to a fun mini activity. I'd love to be able to think like Opeie for a day he is so much fun to be around. This afternoon while I was starting lunch Opeie wandered in and asked if he could help, so I found him a big tray and handed him a big piece of broccoli and a plastic knife so that he could chop it up for me.

Within about 30 seconds he was getting pretty hacked off with the knife not cutting through the broccoli (safety first though right?) but then he randomly started laughing. He's got a really infections laugh and it grabs my attention straight away, usually because its something really fun (he's got a great imagination).

Opeie was holding the broccoli laughing and said 'look daddy it's like the book 'stuck'". Well that was it, the food came off the hob and we went looking for things to get stuck in Opeie's broccoli tree.

We went straight to the LEGO and Opeie knew exactly what he was looking for, a boat, a bicycle, a ladder and a fireman. We couldn't find a whale so that was replaced with a shark, a deer and a polar bear. Opeie threw item after item up his broccoli tree...

I had soon forgotten all about lunch and i was dragged in to Opeie's exciting world where he just comes up with something and instantly puts it in to action. I eventually had to go back to my mundane task but Opeie was more than happy stuffing things in to his Broccoli tree giggling to himself. It looks amazing to be 3, i wish i could remember anything from my childhood back then.

"A library is the delivery room for the birth of ideas, a place where history comes to life."

Yesterday we had planned to go out for some scooting fun with our friend Lucie (from MageeandMagoo) and the kids. We were really looking forward to it as we had not been out on them for a week or so. Surprise Surprise the weather had other ideas though and about an hour before we were supposed to meet, the heavens opened and it thrashed it down so that ruined our plans to get the Microscooters out. At least the snails were having a great time...

Lucie Suggested that we meet at the library which i thought was a great idea as shamefully i had never taken Opeie before. Until now we had picked up most of our books from charity shops, Amazon or eBay and the boys go through a lot. We arranged which one to meet at and i didn't even know it was there despite Opeie going to his dance class a while back in the same building (Mrs M says i walk around with my head in the clouds). Opeie was pretty chuffed when we arrived and he got his own special card for taking out books.

I don't know why i hadn't taken Opeie before, there were so many great books to choose from and the fact that you can take out 16 at a time is great. A large pile of books quickly formed and Opeie was pretty excited about being there which was great, hes a bit of a bookworm and we plough through piles every week so our new use of the library is going to work out perfectly.

 Lucie and the children soon joined us and Opeie got even more excited. It was a great place for us to chat and catch up while the children picked the books they wanted to read and we managed to find some great new books that i probably wouldn't have found elsewhere. It was great to see some Miffy and Dr Seuss books too but no need to take them home as we have them all haha.

Opeie made it his mission to hunt for every Fox related book in the childrens section and managed to fing a fair few which i thought was great. He's got even more in to the whole fox thing recently which is so cute and we definitely have enough pictures now for our next foxy installment so stay tuned.

 We took full advantage of the 16 books limit that we could take out and now have plenty to keep us occupied until.. well probably tomorrow knowing Opeie. With books so easy to buy these days i think the Library probably gets a bit of a rough deal. The supermarkets these days have a great selection so id not had any reason to go but yesterdays trip made me realise again that there is so much available and at no cost. I used to love going to the library myself when i was younger and hopefully it will be something Opeie will see as exciting over the coming weeks.

The little boy who lost his name... Gifts from the pirates review

It seems really difficult to find tasteful personalised gifts for children, which is why when it comes to the boys we tend to create our own. It seems that most products on the market that i have seen are just generic items with a child's name stuck on there. For  the past year i have been working on two personal books for the boys but finding the time to complete them is annoyingly difficult. I love the boys having things that are personal to them, i have nothing from my childhood due to a difficult relationship with my family. So when i was asked a few weeks back if i would be interested in reviewing a book that would be made specifically for the boys i jumped at the chance. Who honestly is going to say no to that.

The little boy who lost his name (also the little girl who lost her name) has been created by a group of dads and is a book aimed at 2-6 year olds. It's a fully personalised adventure based soley around your child's name. Each book starts and ends the same but the adventure inside depends on the letters in your child's name. If the thought of a personal book for the boys wasn't enough the other thing that sold it for me was the illustrations. It's usually the reason i agree to review children's books.

We had only read a few pages when Opeie realised that the letters were spelling his name which was great for a three year old especially because he still doesn't understand which letter is which despite knowing his alphabet for quite some time.I love how the animals and characters you meet along the way find items that are the shape of your letters.

The books have become a firm favourite with the boys and have made their way to the list of books that are always asked for when we go to bed or have our reading session on the trampoline in the sunshine. the quality of the book is exceptional, in fact i don't think we own another book with such a nice finish. Its the sort of book that as children get older you want to pack away safely to bring out years down the line. Its a really nice item to keep and ours will be cherished for years to come.

The book itself is a little more expensive than most children's books but then you are paying for a custom book that is created for your own most loved creations so it is worth every penny. A 15% discount code has kindly been sent to us too, use AWESOMEDADS15 at the checkout.

I think I'm definitely going to be buying these for peoples birthdays. A great idea, perfectly executed by a group of devoted dads, i love it.

"Trolls have exceptionally good eyesight in the dark and can see nearly everything - even tiny insects crawling on the ground - but all Walter could see was the river and the arched bridge above him."

We've not reviewed a book for a while so i jumped at the chance to review 'Its Walter under the bridge' by Dion Child and Graeme Bowen based solely on the fact i liked the illustration on the cover. What I loved about this book was the personal aspects of it. Real life locations and a real life character, with personal photos makes this children's story a magical read. 

The book follows Walter the troll, obviously he's not the real life character (but the boys don't need to know that). A happy character who is loved by everyone he meets and is friends to all of the local animals. He lives under a bridge and has a modest home where he is content. That is until three unfriendly trolls  turn up and bully him until he leaves. The story is great but I had an issue with this. I don't like bullies but walking away at the first sign of trouble leaving friends behind did not seem like a good life lesson, I'm just hoping there is a sequel to rectify this. 

The story then follows Walter as he searches for a new bridge to live under. The book is very well written and both Opeie and Seth were hooked from start to finish. Walter eventually meets Charlie (the real life character) a dog that lives near Witney bridge, the two become friends and I'm sure you can guess what happens. 

The story is great but it left the boys asking 'but what happened to the bad trolls', my favourite part of the book was the illustrations and I thought the colouring page and 'flip flap learning activity' was a really nice touch. There are pages in the book that show you the ideas for the illustrations using photos, Seth found this very interesting and asked if we could take photos and draw them which we will do very soon.

Again the personal feel to the story really made it a joy to read and made me think of the bridge just down the road from us, so we wrapped up (because its freezing out at the moment) and took a trip to read the book under our bridge just like Walter.