28/03/2015 by jo

Cinderella & Frozen Fever

Yesterday the new Cinderella film opened in cinemas, and before it is the new Frozen short, Frozen Fever. With H being the obsessive she is about all things Frozen I took her as it was the last day of term and I felt like we needed a treat.

Cinderella and Frozen Fever were released in cinemas yesterday, March 27th. I snapped up tickets as a treat for H and I so, what do you need to know? Well, firstly, I’ve decided to try and simplify film reviews on Mum Friendly, and try to waffle less. This is my first attempt, after discussions in the Mum Friendly Facebook Group. We’re using a traffic light system.

Frozen Fever

It’s short. You can buy the new song ‘Perfect Day’ from iTunes which takes up the bulk of the short. We bought it beforehand and didn’t really have a context, but once you watch it you don’t really get it out of your head. It’s Anna’s birthday and Elsa wants to make it a perfect day as she has never been able to celebrate her birthday. She has help from Kristoff and Sven, and it’s a really nice little in-between before Frozen 2 happens in the future. It has plenty of funny parts, and H was laughing out loud in her seat. The entire cinema went silent once it started too!

Green lights all the way, certificate U. Slight grump at the idea that there’ll be new Frozen ephemera including little snowpeople which Elsa creates when she sneezes! (snowgies?!) and of course new dresses… sigh!

Cinderella.

The story of Ella, whose mother and father die, who is treated badly by her new stepmother and stepsisters – and you know the rest, it’s the traditional Cinderella story in film, beautifully updated and told.

Deaths – three. H ‘got’ what was going on, and didn’t seem too sad about it. I’d say this is amber depending on how sensitive your child is – you may need to explain beforehand.

Story – wonderful, really wonderful. The filming really makes the movie – and the views of the land and castle reminded me of Arundelle (Frozen) – the settings of both made me realise how well they compliment each other. The story is easy to follow, not scary and a delight. A lot of the film is narrated by Helena Bonham Carter, and H was transfixed as the coach and horses were transformed to take Cinderella to the ball. The Ugly Sisters are no longer ugly, they’ve just ugly personalities for the film and it is no longer mentioned. The only song which features throughout is ‘Lavender’s Blue’, the old traditional folk song and nursery rhyme.

Top Tip – stay for the end credits and you’ll hear a version of ‘A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes’ towards the end. I can see ‘Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo’ is on the soundtrack, which makes me wonder if that followed it – we left the cinema, so I can’t say.

Cinderella is a green light (just be prepared with the deaths), certificate U. The only thing I would say is both films with trailers came in at two hours – a lot of younger children were getting twitchy, so be prepared for a long sit down!

20/03/2015 by jo

T-Rex Terror – A Dino Supersaurus Story!

As part of our Parragon Book Buddies we get sent a new book every month – I started out having cookery books which were fab, but found that there’s one true bookworm in our house – H. She gets through 200 page paperback books in a couple of days, and loves to read. I was excited when Parragon offered us ‘T-Rex Terror – The Supersaurus Legend Begins’ from their Dino Supersaurus range, as H has recently had dinosaurs as a topic at school and it’s something she enjoys to read about.

T-Rex Terror – The Supersaurus Legend is set out like a comic strip which makes it really appealing and fun to read – and in case you didn’t know, a Supersaurus is a cross between a dinosaur and a superhero. The book has already become one of H’s favourites.

New Dino City is a dinotropolis in dino-danger! The tyrant tyrannosaur T-Rex and his army of ninja raptors are trying to take over the city – and there’s only one thing which can stop them – The Supersaurs!

I really like that the front of the book lists the Supersaurs (and the Sinistaurs) so if you’re new to the series like we are, you get an idea of the main characters. One of H’s best friends loves the Dino Supersaurus series (and dressed as one for World Book Day) – so I know some book swapping will happen soon.

The story itself is fun, H enjoyed it and at £5.99 it’s reasonably priced too. You can buy T-Rex Terror from all good bookstores and Amazon too.

15/03/2015 by jo

The Great Extendable Colouring Book by b small

The Great Extendable Colouring Book is a fabulous idea – a book which the pages fold out so there’s enough space for more than one person to colour in. Read on to find out what we think.

The Great Extendable Colouring Book by b small books was sent to us way too long ago – and it’s fabulous. You see, H loves colouring in, but more often than not the book doesn’t stretch enough we can both colour in. Not so with the Great Extendable Colouring Book, as each page folds out so you get two extra sides of A4 of each picture – which leaves more than enough space for two of you to colour in at the same time.

So H and I have been doing that. She loves colouring in, although I’ve found she tends to rush sometimes. I feel she learns by watching other people, so I’ve been taking my time – and what actually happened was us sitting in silence both concentrating on our respective areas of the picture, but we were having fun!

The Great Extendable Colouring Book comes with seven scenes, Safari, Under the Sea, In the Jungle, In Space, Fashion Show, Sports in the Sun and Arty Street Party.

I’ve found that pencils are the nicest way of colouring – I like crayons and felt tips, but felt like it suited these books more – and it was also a good way of showing H how to use two colours on one thing (two different shades of brown on a tree trunk for example).

Each page has a small ‘can you spot’ type activity on it, and most importantly is fun! The Great Extendable Colouring Book costs £9.99 and is available from all good bookstores and Amazon.co.uk

We were sent a copy of the book for the purpose of review. All opinions are our own.

05/03/201505/03/2015 by jo

Blue Peter Book Awards 2015 Winners!

Today is a very exciting day for Blue Peter fans – the Blue Peter Book Awards 2015 winners have just been announced in a special Newsround early morning bulletin!

The Blue Peter Book Awards 2015 Winners are presented with their badges tonight on CBBC at 5.20pm – and H is extremely excited! She got ‘The Spy Who Loved School Dinners’ for Christmas after it grabbing her attention by being nominated late last year. In fact, she didn’t stop asking for it – the storyline appealed to her sense of humour.

Think of the Blue Peter Book Awards as being like the Richard and Judy Book Club – but for under tens with the much-sought after Blue Peter badge as a prize. A whole new world of reading opened up to H when she heard about the books, and the last few weeks on Blue Peter have led up to the big day- the results! So who has won?

Well we’re super excited, here’s the official press release with the winners announcement.

Two teachers, who have written funny and silly books, are top of their class as they win Best Book with Facts and Best Story in the Blue Peter Book Awards 2015, voted for by hundreds of schoolchildren.

Pamela Butchart, who teaches philosophy at secondary school, won Best Story with her latest title The Spy Who Loved School Dinners, which was illustrated by Thomas Flintham. (hurrah!!!)

Andy Seed, a former primary teacher and deputy head for 17 years, won Best Book with Facts with The Silly Book of Side-Splitting Stuff, illustrated by Scott Garrett.

Both were delighted to be crowned this year’s winners and viewers will be able to see them
receive their awards on Blue Peter tonight from Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2013-2015 Malorie Blackman, as the show celebrates its 15th anniversary of the prize.

Pamela, who did a book-signing for The Spy Who Loved School Dinners on her wedding day, exclaimed: ‘WOW! Is this real-life?! I’m shocked and utterly over-the-moon about winning this fantastic award! It means the world to me that children voted for my book! Thank you.’

Andy, who grew up watching Blue Peter, said: ‘To win a Blue Peter Book Award is a proper thrill not just because it revives all those happy childhood memories but because the show
today does a truly significant job in raising the profile of books and reading at a time when
this is needed more than ever. To win any award is a delight but to win the Blue Peter Book
Award sets my spine tingling like nothing else.’

The illustrators of the books also expressed their excitement about winning the prize. Thomas Flintham said: ‘Hooray! What fantastic news! It was exciting enough just to be nominated but to have won has forced me to do a little dance!’

Scott Garrett said: ‘I was so excited to hear that we’d won the Blue Peter Book Award! Blue
Peter was a big part of my early years. We’ve all grown up with it and to be part of it AND get an award is something very special to me – I can’t wait to get my badge! Illustrators don’t get inundated with awards, so I’m over the moon to have been awarded this one. Here’s to books!’

A panel of judges including Tom Gates author Liz Pichon, Rastamouse creator Michael de
Souza, The Bookseller journalist Anna James, and non-voting chair of judges, Blue Peter
editor Ewan Vinnicombe, selected the shortlist from publishers’ submissions.

These were then read and voted on by more than 200 children from ten schools across the UK to decide the winners in each category. The winners were announced on a special World Book Day morning bulletin of Newsround.

Pupils at Perry Wood Nursery and Primary School in Worcester said it was an ‘honour’ and
‘exciting as only ten schools in the whole of England can choose the winners of the Blue Peter Book Awards.’

The enormously popular Blue Peter Book Awards are managed by reading charity Booktrust, which works with schools to get more children reading for pleasure. The Awards celebrate the best authors, most creative illustrators and the greatest reads for children.

Ewan Vinnicombe, Editor, Blue Peter said: ‘It’s fantastic that in our 15th year of the Blue Peter Book Awards we have given 200 children across the UK the chance to vote for their favourite books. Pamela and Thomas, Andy and Scott should be really proud and Blue Peter will continue to promote children’s books and our viewers’ love of reading.’

So I had a little chat with H – and you can watch it too!

28/02/201501/01/2019 by jo

Home : Boov Pop! App Review

If you have been to the cinema lately you may have seen a trailer for the new Dreamworks film. Home. In short, some aliens called Boov come to earth hide from their enemies, to make it their new home. Home : Boov Pop! is based on the animation, and we were given an early preview.

Home : Boov Pop has been developed and published by Behaviour Interactive and is exclusively available in the App Store now. An Android version is set to follow soon.

The game has in-app purchases, something you’re warned about immediately, which I appreciated as they’re often hidden away. I’ve had a play with H, we tried to load it up on her 1st Gen iPad, but it won’t work – so it’s on my mini. The game is free, so you wouldn’t be out of pocket, mind and it doesn’t take up a lot of space.

Each level has coloured balloons you have to pop, and you’re set a target on each level. Combinations of balloons can help improve your score, and you aren’t limited to a grid – if you can make a circle, go for it. You may find obstacles along the way to make it a bit trickier.

I’ve been playing ‘Frozen – Free Fall’ for the last year, which follows a similar path – and the fact I’ve played for so long makes me think that Home : Boov Pop will be one we’ll be using a long time too. There are obstacles in the way, rainbow balloons so you can change colour, and most importantly of all, things which H wants to play (she wasn’t keen on the Frozen game).

The animation ‘Home’ is based on the book ‘The True Meaning of Smekday’ which we don’t own, though reading about it I think it’s around H’s reading level and we’ll be investigating further.

We’ve only had a short preview on Home : Boov Pop, so we’re not very high level-wise, it’s straightforward, fun, colourful and full of praise at the end of each level.

I remember from the Home trailer how they travel around the world, and from pictures I’ve seen the game has elements of this in there – right now I’d say give it a go! It’s free, disable the add-on’s and enjoy!

Home’s Official Website – it’s out in cinemas from March 27th 2015.

We were provided with a code which gave us a one-day preview of the game. All opinions are our own.

08/02/2015 by jo

Introducing Glitterbelle!

Glitterbelle is a princess, and she has a set of books that Parragon have just made available. We’ve been sent two of them, and H took to them immediately.

Glitterbelle is a sparkly glittery princess, and H loved the books straight away – while Glitterbelle isn’t too girly and has some attitude, she does a lot of normal stuff. We were sent ‘Glitterbelle Me and You’ which for a five year old is possibly the best thing ever – it’s a diary with fields that need to be filled in. For H there are all kinds of things, wishes, dreams, what you want to be when you grow up, secrets, best friends, loves, favourites and more. Every night when we get in from school she sneaks into a corner with a pencil and fills in things in her Glitterbelle book – which is top secret! We’ve been told we may be allowed to see what she’s written, but it’s a diary and I’m being very good and respecting her privacy.

In turn, she’s been writing things down in each section. Okay, I had to have a little peep just to make sure she had, but also to see exactly what is asked in there. She loves that it’s ‘her’ little book of secrets where she can write what she wants, and I love how it’s adding to her creative side.

The other book we received was Glitterbelle Dazzling Dress Up, which is lots of stickers you can decorate and dress up Glitterbelle and her friends with – again, perfect for H when she wants to get creative. There are also 30 nail stickers included which are saved for half term.

Parragon has a Glitterbelle mini-site, as well as a free e-book you can download when you enter a code from the main story books. While I’m not a fan of girly princess things, this sits nicely in between – normal things that appeal to young girls without being too princessy.

The Glitterbelle books are targeted at 5-8 year olds. The mini site can be found here.

We received both copies for the purpose of review. All opinions are our own.

01/02/201526/03/2018 by jo

Peppa Pig The Golden Boots Review

This morning, H and I travelled to Leicester Square, stood in the cold and then walked the pink carpet outside the Odeon – as it was the official premiere of the Peppa Pig special which is showing at most cinemas this half term – including the new 15 minute episode – here’s our review of The Golden Boots!

I’m not going to give much away – but I think it helps knowing what to expect when you go to the cinema – you see, you’re getting almost an hour of Peppa fun, featuring classic episodes, and of course the 15 minute long extended special, The Golden Boots.

The first thing you’re aware of, Peppa Pig has been going for ten years now – I’m assuming this is a one-off to commemorate this, bringing all the old favourites back. But how do they extend a five minute episode into three times its length without becoming boring? Peppa’s charm is the short episodes, easy chunks to follow especially for a preschooler.

The Golden Boots starts with a song – one about splashing in muddy puddles, set to the Peppa theme – so already you’re onto a winner. The Milkshake presenters devise a little dance to it afterwards, and encourage you to join in – and it does feature a couple of times in the episode. Peppa and her friends leave their wellies outside when they go in to have a drink – and Mrs Duck comes along and steals them.

Then the fun starts – once they work out what has happened, they need them back – it’s the Muddy Puddle jumping competition, and Peppa can’t take part without her Golden Boots – even though Suzy Sheep says they’re yellow.

They try to find the boots which take them over several places, land, sea, the moon, to try and get them back in time for the competition. Will they make it? Well, let’s face it, as a parent who has probably seen most Peppa episodes, there hasn’t been one with a sad ending yet…

The episode features all your favourite Peppa characters, and flew by. The applause afterwards confirmed it – a hit with all the kids there (and us adults too, okay?).

As a parent watching my child watching the Peppa episode, she laughed along, enjoyed herself and had fun – and I know we’re probably at the older age range now for this. Rewind back to when she was two, and this is the kind of thing I’d have made sure we went to see at the cinema as a first experience – at an hour it isn’t too long, there are older episodes in there (The Fire Engine, Baby Alexander, Whistling, Snowy Mountain and The Queen) with plenty of in-between chat from the Milkshake presenters. Plus of course, it’s Peppa; plenty of familiarity there.

The Golden Boots is exclusive to cinema’s over the February half term – week commencing the 14th February 2015. Odeon are offering children’s prices for all tickets too – good, as it’s so short!

30/01/2015 by jo

Peppa Pig – The Golden Boots

PEPPA PIG SPECIAL EPISODE PREMIERES IN CINEMAS NATIONWIDE FEBRUARY 2015

Join Peppa and her friends for a unique cinema experience when brand new and first ever 15 minute special episode ‘The Golden Boots’ debuts on the big screen!

For the first time ever, Peppa Pig is heading onto the big screen nationwide for a whole hour of Peppa fun! Guaranteed to entertain the whole family throughout February half term, fans can have an exclusive look at the first ever 15 minute special ‘The Golden Boots’ in addition to 5 favourite ‘Peppasodes’ and a whole host of entertainment from the Milkshake! presenters.

For an exclusive sneak peak, click here for the brand new trailer.

In the brand new ‘The Golden Boots’ episode, young fans can watch Peppa on her quest across land, sea, and even into space to find her missing golden boots before the big Puddle Jump Competition.

Exclusive to cinemas, this experience will only be available during the February half term, from 14th February.

COME ALONG and WEAR YOUR BOOTS for PUDDLES OF GOLDEN PEPPA FUN!

We’re going on Sunday to the premiere – and will be reviewing it too! Stay tuned…

17/01/201501/01/2019 by Karen

Nonabox – November

Review
baby, Bottle, chocolate, comforter, eating, Ella's Kitchen, Gumigem, jewellery, Lindor, Mumkind, Nonabox, nutritional bar, sleeptot, teething, yoomi
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Receiving my November Nonabox delivery definitely helped to get me in the mood for December. I was also very happy to see some lovely sweet relief in there, this is great because up until then it had most definitely been one of those days!

Inside this months Nonabox:

Gumigem – Jewellery. O is already showing signs of teething so I’m getting my army of products at the ready. This necklace is great as it looks like a normal item of jewellery and means that I can have something permanently to hand for him. The necklace comes in a variety of colours and designs.

Lindor – Milk Chocolate Truffles. Always a favourite with me. It was only a small box so the chocolates were gone fast (oops!). But a very nice treat.

Mumkind – Nutritional Bar. This is a nutritionally balanced bar for pregnant woman and mums. It was very tasty, it reminded me of a cereal bar, and didn’t feel too naughty.

Sleepytot – Baby Comforter. This item has been an absolute godsend! O has just started to show an interest in his dummy but gets frustrated when it falls out of his mouth. With the Sleepytot rabbit comforter he now has more control. He loves snuggling against the rabbit and can now take the dummy in and out of his mouth as he pleases. It is now his favourite toy!

Yoomi – 5oz Bottle. This is a bottle and warmer in one. It is a great idea but such a shame that the warmer needs to be purchased separately so I was unable to give it a whizz!

Ella’s Kitchen – Spinach, Apple and Swedes. It was great to receive a different flavour of these to try out.

Once again, there was a nice balance to this box and a good mix of old favourites and products that I’d never heard of. As mentioned above I was especially delighted with the Sleepytot rabbit and have already been recommending it! I worked out the approximate value of the box to be around £38. Nonabox is £24.95 a month, including delivery.

I was sent a selection of products for the purpose of review – all opinions are my own and honest.

14/01/201517/01/2015 by jo

Collage Canvas

I’m a big fan of canvas prints – we have several which sit on our walls, and are a great reminder of happy times. We had an opportunity to review a Collage Canvas, and given we spent over two weeks in Australia in the summer (their winter, which is nothing like our winter), I had so many pictures to choose from so knew I’d be happy with the result.

Collage Canvas have a good selection of frames you can choose from, and an easy website to navigate. I chose the type of canvas and size, then the design of the collage. Shaun’s mum and dad live out in the bush near Toodyay in Western Australia, but we have rubbish cameras – how would pictures of things we took come out was my biggest problem – could I capture what I love about Western Australia as well as making sure my favourite photos were on there?

I chose the pictures – and decided for a cross design, with four larger photos in each corner. I kept those for family related things (a group shot, H at Kings Park, Shaun and H at sunset by the Indian Ocean, all of us on the Duyfken) with the smaller images being shots which reminded me of nice things – across the centre were bush flowers, gum nuts, the trees and some wattle. The upper parts of the cross were a grass tree, the big wheel at Fremantle, all of us in Kings Park in front of a baobab tree, plus H by the Kings Park sign.

The colours worked well. Shaun isn’t keen on me getting more pictures for the wall, but having a collage to remind us of our brilliant time was a great compromise.

Once I’d uploaded the pictures I was able to swap the pictures around and edit them to make sure the right parts of the photo were on there. Once I’d finished the collage canvas was ready to order. You can also link your Facebook and Instagram accounts to add pictures.

The collage canvas was delivered really quickly, right before Christmas too. It now lives in our little alcove where we can see it all the time – and it’s a great reminder of our summer (their winter, sigh). I’d never thought about a collage canvas before, but it makes perfect sense when you have lots of photos you want to create one memory with. I made sure the pictures were mirrored around the edges and the border between photos was a black-grey colour – and I’m delighted with the result!

Collage Canvas offer many different types of canvas, and I would definitely recommend them. I’m already planning my next one – after all, we went to North Yorkshire for October half term and I have a lot of photos which need to live somewhere!

Collage Canvas website is here

We were provided with a Collage Canvas for the purpose of review. All opinions are our own.

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