Author Archives: Tracy Baines

Party Popteenies by Spinmaster – Review

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I’m certain that this will the ‘must ‘have toy for autumn and the top of many Christmas lists this year.  Party Popteenies are the latest addition to the collectables range of toys from Spinmaster. Many little girls will already be familiar with the LOL collectables and Party Popteenies will no doubt  be one of the covetable toys this year. Popteenies are little dolls contained within a pop-up container, similar to the traditional party poppers that are essential to any New Year’s party.

 

Party Popteenies Double Surprise Popper

The pack contains two party poppers – one with a doll the other with an animal. Each party popper is sealed in plastic which is easily opened by a tear strip. The doll or animal is released from the platform by pulling out a small cardboard tab and then twisting.

It takes a few twists before it pops and parents will be relieved that the confetti and streamers that burst out are larger than normal and easily picked up. The base of each party popper opens to reveal a small parcel with a handbag, glass or similar item that would be found at parties.  The accessories are very tiny – so not suitable for under 3s.

RRP £9.99  Available on Amazon and in toyshops 

 

Party Popteenies Poptastic Party Playset

Bright and colourful the party play set was a hit from the start and offered plenty of play value. Easily assembled with a little help from an adult to pop the parts into place, it takes seconds to set up and is ready to go.

A glitter ball and balloons shine over a spinning dance floor that comes complete with a centrepiece cake. Hiding inside is one of the Popteenies ready to burst out and make the party swing. There’s a balcony overlooking the dance floor that has interchangeable backdrops for the party photo and a lift that takes the party girls up and down.

The set includes a party table and other small accessories – and a ‘special guest’. Our little testers had lots of fun with this and played with it for hours. This one gets a thumbs up from me.

RRP £24.99 Available on Amazon and in toyshops

 

Little Splashers by Hape – Review

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How many parents – and grandparents  – look forward to that time when you can dunk the little ones in the bath and know that bed time is just around the corner. It’s a lovely time of the day, for many reasons, but bath toys are always a welcome addition along with the bubbles. I’m already a huge fan of Hape products but the new Little Splashers range is wonderful. First of all, no scissors or screwdrivers needed to prise these colourful creatures from the packaging. A mere second to peel away the sticker and the package pops open with a little pressure in the right place – an added bonus. I loathe packaging.

The toys themselves appear larger that others I’ve come across and perfect for little hands. We tested the cheery red octopus, the green puffer fish, a crab and a starfish. Two sea creatures in each pack.

They quickly fill with water and squirt from different places – the starfish from every point, the octopus from every arm. Our little testers had lots of fun whether they were empty or full of water. The fish and star fish have suckers which means they can stick on the side of the bath so there were lots of different opportunities for play.

Far and above the kids enjoyment I really rated the addition of removable pieces that allowed me to empty out all of the water and properly dry the inside of the toys. So much more hygienic. A really lovely addition to bath time.

 

Hape Teddy and Friends Bath Squirts, Suitable for 0 months +, £12.49 

Swimming Teddy was the cause of lots of fun and laughter. Smiley Teddy with his swimsuit and rubber ring sped across the bath, powering through the bubbles. A lovely size to hold and easy to use – a few turns of the button on his back sets his legs kicking through the water. Great fun to be had before bedtime.

 

Hape Swimmer Teddy Wind-up Toy, Suitable for 12 months +, £9.99 

 

Nature Fun by Hape – Review

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We’re just loving these great eco friendly HAPE toys made from bamboo, the fastest growing plant in the world. The NATURE FUN range is perfect for tempting the kids outside. We particularly love the FLOWER PRESS DIY KIT aimed at children 5 years and up.

Who doesn’t enjoy kicking through the autumn leaves and taking a handful home to press and keep. With the HAPE FLOWER PRESS KIT kids can use flowers and leaves to create a beautiful art gallery.

The set comprises wooden boards and bamboo sheets in which to capture those precious treasures they’ve found on their treks in nature.

HAPE have extended the play value by including sheets with line drawings of dragons, princesses, hot air balloons and an assortment of other pictures for budding artists to paint and decorate, encouraging their creativity.

A well constructed set, it includes paint and a brush to get kids started. A really lovely gift and a fabulous way to get kids interested in the beauty of the world around them.

HAPE Flower Press Art DIY Kit £11.71 from Amazon

 

Also in the NATURE FUN RANGE is the Hide and Seek periscope.

Made from sustainable bamboo and featuring a handy wrist strap the Hape Persicope is great for young adventurers and explorers. Hide away and peek around corners and over walls without being seen. Great for looking down rabbit holes!

Hape Hide & Seek Periscope £13.98 from Amazon

 

The Original Suffrage Cook Book by Mrs L O Kleber

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The Original Suffrage Cook Book by Mrs L O Kleber

Originally published in 1915 to help raise funds for the campaign for the vote for women, The Original Suffrage Cook Book  is so much more than its title suggests. This new edition includes short biographies of many of the contributors and a new endnote by award-winning writer Cheryl Robson, which places the book both in its historical and contemporary contexts. It is such a fascinating read and the biographies are an inspired addition. One of them is Jack London, author of Call of the Wild. I remember studying the book at school for O level but when I read the short biography I wanted to hunt down a longer version. What a life!

This cookbook was compiled by Mrs Kleber from recipes contributed by leading men and women of the Suffrage movement in the UK and US, including Lady Constance Lytton (aka Jane Warton) who was imprisoned four times for her campaigning, Julia Lathrop the first woman to head a United States federal bureau department, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, author of The Yellow Wallpaper and Herland.

There is a wide range of recipes, many of them very simple, a few tongue in cheek – Pie for a Suffragist’s Doubting Husband for instance –  and all grouped in a simple and organised manner; much as these women would have attempted to change the course of history.

It’s a fabulous historical document of its time but also an interesting cook book to boot, interspersed as it is with line drawings and including letters to the editor – or Editress as she is described  in the contents section of the book.

Recipes aside this is a great gift idea. It’s both practical and fascinating on so many levels and I’ll be trying out more of the recipes over time. A unique way to celebrate the centenary of women getting the vote.

The Original Suffrage Cook Book compiled by Mrs L. O. Kleber
1915 Cook Book to be published for #VOTE100

www.aurorametro.co.uk

PB £12.99
ISBN: 978-1-912430-13-0

A Mother’s Grace by Rosie Goodwin

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A Mother's Grace by Rosie Goodwin

This, the  third novel in the Days of the Week collection by Rosie Goodwin, turns its focus on why Tuesday’s child is full of grace.

A Mother’s Grace  follows the story of Grace Kettle who longs to escape her bullying, controlling father. She becomes devoutly religious and goes off to Wales to take holy orders and become a nun. But there she meets the dashing and devout Father Luke and things don’t go as Grace had hoped. She is forced to make a difficult and life changing decision, one that she will spend the rest of her life seeking forgiveness for.

Some of the characters from the previous two novels in the series make an appearance in this book but you don’t have to have read them to enjoy A Mother’s Grace.

If you love riveting, heart-warming saga then you will not be disappointed. A Mother’s Grace has all the elements of a good page-turning novel and is a ‘curl up in a chair’ read for autumn.

Rosie Goodwin’s books have  sold over a million copies and she has written over thirty novels. She’s been described as the Catherine Cookson for a new generation.

Rosie is also the only author to ever be allowed to follow three of Catherine Cookson’s trilogies with her own sequels.

www.rosiegoodwin.co.uk

Published by Bonnier Zaffre £7.99

Monkey Pop-up Track by Hape

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hape-pop-up-monkey-track

This little track add-on can be used to extend your original Hape train track or can be played with on its own – which it was – and much fun was had by my testers aged 4 and 18 months. The little one loved the monkeys and happily watched them pop up as the banana train triggered the connectors. She gathered them up and they were quickly handed over to grandpa for a repeat performance. Much laughter and delight followed and it was returned to again and again throughout the day.

hape-pop-up-monkey-track

A bright, fun addition to an already well used track set, sturdy and well finished and beautifully designed for little hands.

Another winner from Hape

Not suitable for children under 18 months

Includes 7 pieces

www.hape.com

Strictly Briks: Dream, Create, Grow

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Strictly Briks are Strictly Brilliant. What a fabulous add on to all those building bricks you have in the toybox. Strictly Briks enables children to create multi-storey platforms quickly using the baseplates and Stackers. And we all know how impatient small children are.

The various sets of Strictly Briks allow for plenty of creative play and are a fabulous extension to all of those other branded brick sets that almost all of us have played with at some time or another. Memories of Christmas morning building forts and castles come to mind. Happy Days.

Strictly Briks Trap & Gap™

I was really impressed with the Trap and Gap™ pack – the kids are going to have so much fun with this – Hadley pushing his cars up and down the ramps and Huxley using them as an ark for his animals. Who doesn’t love a trap door! Perfect for wizards and fairy godmothers to appear from.

The Trap and Gap set contains:

Trap and Gap™   Baseplates

Set includes 2 Trap and Gap™ Baseplate 10″ x 10″

2 Stackable Baseplates 10″ x 10″

15 Stackers™

£21.99 at Amazon

Strictly Briks – Brik Tower

The Brik Tower set makes building multi platforms quick and easy. Using the stackers children can soon build a tower – much easier than putting together small bricks to create varying levels on a building. Perfect for castles, garages, houses and any other building your child can imagine.

The Brik Tower set consists of:

12 Baseplates 6″ x 6″ and 80 Stackers™

£24.99 at Amazon

www.strictlybriks.com

Ages 5+

Due to small pieces not suitable for under 3s.

Paisley Shirt by Gail Aldwin

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Flash Fiction is a relatively new but growing phenomena and Gail Aldwin is a master of the craft. Her latest book, ‘Paisley Shirt’ is a fascinating collection of 27 stories that explore many facets of life in the 21st century. They reflect a wide range of emotions and experiences that we may all be familiar with, even if only observed from afar.

The stories may be brief but every word counts, creating vivid images and strong characters with few words. A perfect example is Stone, barely a paragraph but quite perfect in its expression of love. The characters and settings throughout are vividly drawn and the expressive use of language a tell-tale sign of the poet.

If you’re not a lover of poetry then flash fiction may be the perfect alternative for a short but satisfying read. The brevity it offers gives the reader the ability to devour one in spare moments but to be left thinking about them long afterwards.

Paisley Shirt is published by Chapeltown and is available from www.bookdepository.com

 

Gail Aldwin is a prize-winning writer of poetry and short fiction. Chair of the Dorset Writers’ Network, she works with the steering group to support writers across the county. She is a visiting tutor at Arts University Bournemouth and her work can be found online at Ink, Sweat & Tears and Slamchop and in print anthologies including What I Remember (EVB Press, 2015) Dorset Voices (Roving Press, 2012) and The Last Word (Unbound Press, 2012).