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The Nutcracker (With CD) - Stephanie Spinner
by broxi3781
I bought this last year, in a vain attempt to interest my sons in the story of the Nutcracker, which was always one of my favourites. I even have a wooden nutcracker doll, a cherished family heirloom on my shelf. I realise of course the story is more for girls, but it does have evil mice, soldiers and cannons, so I decided to ... try.
This book is very much a traditional retelling of the Nutcracker story, and would be the perfect accompaniment to the ballet for a child. The illustrations are also very traditional, with old fashioned dress, a beautiful Christmas tree, and of course the nutcracker soldier and his men. The pictures have a lovely warm fire lit glow to them, and clearly display emotion and character.
The Nutcracker Ballet is based on the story "The Nutcracker and the King of Mice" by written in 1816 E.T.A. Hoffman. The story was later adapted by Alexandre Dumas Père, choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, and set to music by none other Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, to become the immortal Nutcracker Ballet. I can't imagine there is anyone who has not heard of this story, so I will keep my plot summary brief.
Clara is given a wonderful gift by her Uncle, Herr Drosselmeyer, a wooden nutcracker soldier, but in a fit of jealous anger, her brother Fritz breaks it. Her uncle carefully bandages the nutcracker, and a bed is made for the wounded soldier to recover in, but that night, Clara feels she must go down to check on him. Clara tiptoes downstairs and finds herself drawn into a world of enchantment in which the nutcracker comes to life and a battle takes place between the swarms of mice, led by a wicked mouse king. I will refrain from giving spoilers here, as if you know the story they are not necessary, and if you do not, you really must read or watch this for yourself, but after the battle Clara will journey to another enchanted land, with snow fairies, a sugar plum fairy and various dancers before her night of enchantment comes to an end.
I believe this a beautiful book, and I know I would have truly treasured this as a child. I think it would be the perfect gift for a child who has been to see the ballet, or even after watching it on television. I would also strongly recommend this for a teacher to read to a class. Unfortunately, while I loved this my sons did not. I'm afraid they found this too "girly", and while they didn't mind the battle between the nutcracker and the mice, the rest of the story just could not hold their interest. They did do far better with a Berenstain Bear's version of the story. I can not find it in my heart to rate this story down for this reason though, my sons were just not the right audience for the book, and I'm sure it would be enjoyed much more in a household with wee girls.
I would very much like to do this as a book only review. I simply do not feel capable of reviewing music properly, but as a cd is included, I feel I must make mention of it, especially as the cd was a deciding factor for me in purchasing this book. I do not normally listen to classical music and I am afraid I very ignorant of this subject. However, I have always loved the music to Peter and the Wolf, and The Nutcracker. Now being completely ignorant of the subject, I expected that one orchestra would sound the same as any other. I do not have the knowledge of this to describe it properly, but I can say I did not find this version as enjoyable as other versions. Perhaps I am being unfair, but to my untrained ears, I could only describe this as somewhat flat and lifeless. I will not rate down on this, as I do not feel qualified to make a fair assessment of the piece but I did not enjoy as much as other versions. The music on this cd was recorded by Utah Symphony Orchestra. I believe the version I prefer is done by the London Philharmonic. That is not to say this cd is awful, it is certainly an enjoyable bit of background music for Christmas - it just is not quite what I was expecting.
I believe I paid arounf £3.00 for this, but this type of thing does tend to increase in price near the holidays. Currently this will cost you 4.89 used from Amazon or £8.49 new, including delivery. I do recommend the book. I found it lovely, but I would really prefer another cd.
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Little Monster's Book of Numbers - Frances Thomas
by angelboouk
Produced by : Bloomsbury Children's Books
Author : Frances Thomas
Illustrations : Mike Collins
Released : 2006
ISBN : 978-0747575368
Price : from 1p new on Amazon UK.
~Little Monster's Book of Numbers~
Book of Numbers is a 10page, hardboard book aimed at babies. The purpose of the book is ... to initiate counting and this book covers up to number 10. It is based around what a "little monster" who ventures outside to see what he can count.
There is another book in this collection which is based around opposites (night and day etc).
~Our Thoughts~
My son has always enjoyed a book and I enjoyed reading books with him. He received this book in a baby pack I'm sure and it is noted that "Bookstart" trust this book. This is a very basic book that has a lot to give in the short 10 pages that it has.
The book is reasonably small though chunky and a young baby would struggle to comfortably hold it. Boo can literally throw it about now but when he was a baby, we would cuddle up and read it together. The board aspect of the book appealed to my son as a baby and he has the corner of the back page knawed at! It is easy to look through and can be wiped clean.
~Learning My Numbers~
Now I will point out that Boo is a smart boy. We taught numbers in various ways when he was a baby and now at 3 and a half, he can count to 20 without stopping. As a baby, I read this book to him and helped him point to the different things and I would count as he couldn't speak. As soon as he could speak, there was no stopping him and he copied me each time.
The book is illustrated well though I do not have a clue what type of animal that "little monster" actually is. He is cute in a child like sort of way but I think he looks weird! The book is colourful without being too bright and each number pattern or picture, simply has one line of big writing to accompany it. Although you could just flick through and read the words, it is more educational to take time with each page and count all the pictures. Boo occasionally brings this one over to read and comments that he wants to count again. All good fun!
Most of the pictures in this book will appeal to children. Even as a baby, my son was engrossed in what he could see. The scenes on each page are very basic and feature the little monster in (mainly) and outdoor environment. The scenes include :
"Ten red apples in the apple tree" - easy to spot and count
"Eight silver planes go off in space" - Boos favourite page featuring a night time scene, stars and moons
There are ants, balloons, lady birds etc - all colourful but some look a tad small and this does increase the level of concentration from your baby or toddler to find them. The double pages have rhyming words such as "fun and run" and this adds to the book and makes the basic language a bit more fun in my opinion. My sons favourite part of the book is the number one "so many things, but there's only one me!" - very cute!
~Conclusion~
This is a small but helpful book to introduce your child to numbers. This combined with counting other things with our son has allowed his number skills to develop from a very young age and we are very proud of him for this. It is cheap to buy, sturdy and fun yet educational at the same time - so highly recommended from Boo.
Thanks for reading x
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Jack's Tractor - Thomas Taylor
by mrsgladwin
I have to admit, our two year old son has far too many books. I'm a bookworm and my mum has worked in a library for over 30 years so him not being a lover of books just wasn't an option! Luckily he takes after me, rather than my husband who's idea of reading a book is looking at the comic strip in the paper. Anyway, as I say he has a lot ... of books, he has four shelves full of them. We try to read a new one each night but despite how exciting we try and make other books, he still requests Jack's Tractor before he goes to sleep (or "Jack's tatta" as he calls it). It's his favourite by far and has become part of our bedtime routine.
It was my mum who bought this book, purely I think because our son's name is Jack. The story is about a little boy who who goes on an adventure on his tractor, travelling through various places and picking up noisy creatures on the way.
This book is great for reading out loud - it's rhythmic and each little verse on each page rhymes. Think Slinky Malinky or Hairy McClairy and you wouldn't be far off (if you've never read these that comment will mean nothing...sorry!) Because it rhymes it's more memorable so at the end of each verse my son fills in the word, making the book interactive.
There are 32 pages but only four rhyming lines on each page so it doesn't become boring. My son can often get a bit restless if a story goes on for too long.
On each page Jack visits a new location and meets new noisy animals and creatures. The use of the noises of each animal help make the book more entertaining - our little one loves adding his own "heeee haaaaw" for the donkey and "sqwaaaaaark!" for the parrot. It's not just animals that Jack meets, he also meets a "ticklesaur". This is our son's favourite page! He giggles before we have even read about the ticklesaur saying "tickle pickle", as he knows he's going to get a tickle himself!
The first half of the book is noisy, and the pictures are bold and eye catching which is great for capturing little ones' attention. Half way through the book Jack decides it is time to go home as it is getting dark but realises he does not know the way. Luckily a little mouse comes to the rescue and directs them home. The mouse explains -
"Listen now that night has come you mustn't make such noise, it's bedtime now we need our sleep, yes, even little boys!". This is my favourite line in the book!
The second half of the book is more subdued and the animals no longer make a riot, and instead are sleepy and quiet. We often read this half of the book in a whisper and it's great for winding down our excitable little one.
This book is great for little boys, it's noisy, chaotic and adventurous - everything our son loves! I do consider it to be more of a book aimed at boys due to phrases such as "just the sort of noisy sound that pleases little boys" and the above quote about needing sleep.
This is by far our son's favourite book and to be honest, I really don't mind because I enjoy reading it to him! It could be a lot worse, there are ome truly tedious kids books out there!
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