It’s time for a #BabyGarnetTakeover! #BabyGarnet reviews #TheLongestWhaleSong by Jacqueline Wilson (@FansofJWilson @RHKidsUK) #childrensbook #review #JacquelineWilson

I am absolutely delighted to be welcoming my little girl, Baby Garnet (who will be turning 9 next month!), back to TWG! It’s been a hot minute since Baby Garnet was last seen on TWG, several years in fact! That said, she is very excited to be back and reviewing a book from an author that has swiftly become one of her favourites. I hope you will all give TBG (The Baby Garnet) a very warm welcome!

A tender and gentle story that will captivate readers of 8+ from bestselling author Jacqueline Wilson.

Ella’s mum’s in a deep coma having just had a new baby. That means Ella has to live with Jack, her hopeless stepfather and cope with her tiny newborn brother, as well as worrying about Mum. The only thing that’s going right is her school project. It’s all about whales and how they sing out to each other to attract a mate – sometimes for hours. Maybe a whale song could reach Mum, wherever she is, and bring her back to Ella and baby Samson. Surely it’s worth a try?

TBG’s thoughts.

Hello everyone, my name is Eva. As TWG said, I am delighted to be back just like all of you guys are excited to have me back (I hope!). I was six when you last heard from me and now I’m nearly nine. I have some great news to be sharing with you; I’m going to be here every once a month. Hope to see all of you every month with a brand new review and more fun with me, TBG. Now that is all out of the way, lets get on with the review!

‘The Longest Whale Song’ is a very delicate book with very heavy parts that are hard to swallow. Even though I have not been reading Wilson’s books for a long time, this one was one of my favourites as it was a type of book that you wanted more of and, even though your head might hurt from reading quickly, you would still read the next chapter and you would NOT regret it.

Ella’s mum is in a coma after having her baby, Samson. Even though Ella might hate her stepdad because he gives her a hard time, she ends up having to forgive him, move on, and try to remember that her mum is very poorly, which means that Ella may end up having to live with Jack forever on her own with her new brother. At times, Jack sounds a little insecure, he is able to have a laugh and a joke but in him deep down, that sometimes never comes out. I personally, thought Jack was funny at times. Ella was more insecure as she seemed to want her biological dad then her stepfather, which made Ella and Jack’s relationship complicated and more tainted than ever before her mum married him.

Ella was very interested in her school project for whales as it helped to make her forget about the fact that her mum was fighting for that little piece of thread to keep her alive. Ella has two problems in school – one is she has to get picked up by Jack and not her biological dad, and two, she has classmates that tease her for having fun with the school project more than anyone else does, and that makes her miserable.

As Ella’s new brother, Samson, is just a baby, he definitely has a mind of his own and gets angry with his dad, Jack, whilst Ella has a strong bond with Samson and he never gets angry with her when she feeds him. I quite liked Samson, having a mind of his own is a good thing in babies as when they grow up, they are more confident in themselves to get their life together. Everything revolved around the hospital visits to see her mum and read her all of the things she wrote in her school project about whales and see if her mum wakes up, but nothing happened.

What did I like about the book you ask, well, I did really like the family dynamic with Ella having to suck it up and get along with Jack, even when she didn’t really want to, yet she had to or the family would start to fade if her mum did die and the family would start tainting slowly. As of Jack, he tends to get aggressive which I find funny when he makes a step too far and ends up get bitten on the backside if you will. He acts like he is allergic to confrontation even though he makes drama himself, and it ends up ten times worse than what it should have been in the first place. Samson was very confused as to why everybody was scared, pacing the stairs like their mum is trying to kill them and set them a punishment to death row (as much as a baby can!). Samson saw no different and probably thought that his mum was Ella, but Ella was Samson’s sister of course.

Buy now from Amazon.

#BabyGarnetTakeOver!! Check out the review of #PirateNellsTaleToTell by Eva, aged 7! @docherty_helen @ TDIllustration @midaspr @amberachoudhary @sourcebooks

Nell is finally a pirate!

And she has her trusty Pirate’s Almanac to help her sail the seas, even if the mean, greedy and ignorant Captain Gnash doesn’t like books on his ship. But when the journey gets rough and the captain is in trouble, it’s Nell and all her pirate knowledge that saves the day and leads them to the greatest buried treasure of all.

Hugest of thanks to Amber and Midas PR for inviting us to take part in the blog tour for such a fab little children’s book. Even though I know that I am perfectly capable of reviewing this myself (can i just add that it is a super fun, catchy read for all pirate children out there!), I decided to enlist the help of my own mini pirate; Baby Garnet, also known as Eva, my 7 year old daughter. Not only has she read the book word for word herself, she has also written her review all by herself too.

I really do think that both children and adults alike will be hooked on Nell’s adventure and the wonderful colourful pictures that the book contains. I’ll now hand my blog over to the Baby Garnet and I hope you enjoy reading her review as much as we enjoyed reading about Pirate Nell.



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Hi it is Eva here! I am doing a tour for this book ‘Pirate Nell’s Tale To Tell’ by Helen Docherty and Thomas Docherty which they are also the author and illustrator of the ‘Snatchabook‘ (I have not read that yet so I would love to have a try and see if I like it). It is also a storybook adventure.

What I liked about the book is Nell – I think she is nice. What I didn’t like was Captain Gnash because he curled his lip at Nell. Gnash was not impressed about Nell’s almanac which I do not know what it is, but it is part of the book. I am not being rude about the book at all, I just don’t know what it is because I have not heard of almanac. Please say what it is if you know what it is. The publisher of the book is sourcebookskids (www.sourcebookskids.com)

Did you lot know that Nell always wanted to be part of the pirate crew? She was also full of hope! Please say if you lot got a copy of the book. I know it is a strange time right now, so I hope the book keeps you happy like it does for me. A big thank you to Helen Docherty and Thomas Docherty for making ‘Pirate Nell’s Tale To Tell’, because it probably cheered us up a lot – I mean a lot! The book is for ages 4 and up, and was dedicated to Ruth, Rose and Kathie, and also for librarians everywhere.

I hope all of you lot loved my review and are keeping safe.

Lots of love the Baby Garnet.


Buy now from Amazon

#BabyGarnet takes over #TheWritingGarnet with a review of #TheDinosaurWhoPoopedTheBed by @TomFletcher and @DougiePoynter @PenguinUKBooks #childrensbooks

Good afternoon everyone!! I have special visitor on the blog today. Some of you may have already read one or two of her reviews before, but if not, let me give you a little bit of background information on this ‘special visitor’.

The mystery guest today is a teeny, tiny SIX years old and I happen to know her extremely well as I gave birth to her. How nice am I! Whilst some of you may know of her as ‘Eva’, ‘Belley’ and goodness knows what else I end up calling her, some of you may know her as……..

#BabyGarnet!!

That’s right folks! Baby Garnet is stepping into the hot seat this afternoon (aka my chair!), to bring you a review of a book from one of her all time favourite series; ‘The Dinosaur Who Pooped….The Bed!’, written by Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter, illustrated by Garry Parsons. I hope you will make her feel welcome (not too welcome though as I do want my chair back please and thank you!!!!). So, without further ado, I…..reluctantly….give my chair over to the one, the only, Baby Garnet!!!

(Sorry, here is some information about the book first!)

Danny and Dinosaur want to watch telly but Mum won’t let them until they’ve tidied their room.

So Danny thinks of a plan to make all the mess go away – he gets Dino to eat it all up!

But just when they think they can get away with it, there’s a rumble in Dino’s tummy – another EXPLOSIVE adventure is about to begin!

What does BabyGarnet think?

Hi baby garnet here! It was funny when the dinosaur pooped the bed haha, sorry about that I got carried away. I love Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter. I met Tom Fletcher about Christmas time, is that awesome?

I loved it when the dinosaur pooped everything (and don’t forget my is Eva). I loved that the dinosaur thought the bed was a burger! Well it’s funny isn’t it! I love it! I found that cleaning funny – why did they need to do that Tom Fletcher? Why? Give me an answer thank you haha.

I loved that the dinosaur had to poo!

‘the dinosaur pooped more than ever before all the mess they had cleared was now back on the floor,
shoes, pants, and teddies and soldiers and socks with smelly poo lumps filling Danny’s toy box’
(quoted from page 22)

1 more thing I am reviewing another one of Tom Fletcher’s books, I will be doing ‘A Dinosaur that Pooped a Princess’ on Wednesday next week. Hope you can see it! Oh, and Tom Fletcher you need to see it because it is your book. Ok Tom? Ok bye! ‘See’ you on Wednesday!
Love,
Baby Garnet

Buy now from Amazon.

Note from The Writing Garnet:

I hope you all enjoyed Baby Garnet’s little review! All being well she will be reviewing her next book on Wednesday next week but, should that be delayed, there will be another review from BabyGarnet as soon as humanly possible. If you enjoyed her hilarity, the purchase link is above for you to click!

#HomeAloneHarry, not if #BabyGarnet and #TWG have anything to do with it! @RaRaResources

Many thanks to RaRaResources for the tour invite, and to the author and creative team behind ‘Home Alone Harry’, for the ARC. Baby Garnet is teaming up with TWG today for a review of this wooftastic book!

Harry is a mischievous young dog, adored by his family, Dad and Mum, Maisie (8) and Max (5). When the family leave him on his own he creates chaos. Dad demands, “That bad dog must go!” Alone and sad in bed that evening, Max asks, “Can anyone help?” How will the Thunkies respond to his call?

What do Baby Garnet and TWG think?

If a book has dogs or any form of animal in it, Baby Garnet will love it! ‘Home Alone Harry’ is an easy to follow, educational yet entertaining read which teaches child (and adults), how a dogs personality works when they’re not thinking about their tummies.

A lot of households have a dog, but do owners REALLY know what makes a dog tick when they’re left on their own? We have a dog ourselves and leaving him at home on his own for the very first time was difficult, especially seeing as he paid us back with cheekiness whenever we got home!

I thought that this book was a brilliant way of showing children that having a pet isnt all cuddles and snuggles, it can also be a lot of hard work and sometimes even frustrating. Also, despite the obvious learning curve for both animal and human alike, the delivery of the book was positively enforced and showed that, even if things weren’t going well at first, with the correct ideas and a lot of patience, it wouldn’t take long for happiness to follow all around.

Here is what the Baby Garnet thought:

DOGGIES!!!!! Harry is just like my Barney boy, just a different colour. Barney gets sad too when hes not with us and I miss him. I want Harry to be real so i can give him hugs too! The pictures are awesome and the story was fun.

It’s safe to say that Baby Garnet and I, thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Harry and his family! I also have to agree about the illustrations – they are such fun and really make the story pop.

‘Home Alone Harry’ is an ideal book to read for a bonding time with your child. With easy to follow passages and colourful pictures, this story will entertain both children and adults alike, whilst also highlighting the fact that good things come to those who wait.

Buy now.

#TWGReviews ft #BabyGarnet – ‘Izzy’s Magical Football Adventure by Emma Larkin @emmalarkinbooks @RaRaResources

Pardon the late review, but this evening I am delighted to be sharing my blog with someone a lot of you may already know; Baby Garnet aka my little girl, Eva. Many thanks to Emma Larkin for sending a copy of the book to review, and thank you to Rachel for asking us to be involved in the tour. Here is what TWG and BG think:

Izzy is a seven-year-old girl who lives in Ireland and loves all sport, especially Gaelic Football. Izzy plays football with her brothers on a regular basis in their back garden and dreams of playing for her county in the All Ireland Ladies Football Final in Croke Park when she is older.One day, Izzy puts on her great grandmother’s bracelet, which is made of old All Ireland medals that her great grandmother won a long time ago, and something unexpected and magical happens, which may make Izzy’s Croke Park dream a reality sooner than she expected…………….

What does TWG and BG think?

Izzy is just like most children; she wants to win at everything. Baby Garnet definitely agreed with Izzy’s way of thinking there, let me tell you!

The thing with that, as us parents know, is that when a child is determined to win at every game, they end up becoming very mad if they lose. (Baby Garnet is nodding her head here). Even though trying to make a child understand that it isnt all about winning, is no mean feat, it can be a little bit frustrating having to tell them that they cant win everytime. So, the fact that this book has a moral of the story to highlight winning and losing, is absolutely brilliant.

Not only that, the fact that the story is centred around football, something which a lot of children can get excited about, means that many children who read this book will end up being able to relate to it in one way or another.

I’m getting shouted at now as Baby Garnet wants to say something;

I really enjoyed the story, even if I am like Izzy and always want to win at things, mumma does tell me that it’s more important to try than win. Also, the colours of the pictures were pretty cool.

I think we both enjoyed Izzy’s story, and I thought the magical element was ingenious and definitely something to get children talking.

Buy now.

#BlogTour! #Review – Jay Jay and His Island Adventure by Sue Wickstead (@JayJayBus) @RaRaResources

Many thanks to RaRaResources for the blog tour invite for Jay Jay and His Island Adventure, and thank you to the author for the ARC. Here is my review:

Jay-Jay the Supersonic Bus is not an ordinary bus taking you on a journey. He is a Playbus. Find out what happens when he is invited to an island where the children have never seen a double-decker bus – and certainly not one full of toys!

Behind the story:

‘Jay-Jay and his Island Adventure’, was originally written for a Scottish book bus.

‘Play,Talk, Read’ was the project which visited remote areas if Scotland to encourage reading in the very young. It was a great success and the bus even visited the Shetland Islands travelling on a very small ferry.

The children had never seen a double-decker on their island before and certainly not one to play on.

However, the Scottish project was too busy with referendums and with the book ready and edited I changed the name of the bus from Benji, sending Jay-Jay instead.

The island on the cover of the book was based on a piece of mainland Spain which I have visited many times.

Cap D’Or is the promentory near to a little village of Moraira.

The villagers in Moraira invited me to read this book in their library and local schools.

The people in this little village were surprised to find that Jay-Jay was a real bus.

(Jay-Jay may not have got to Spain in reality but in my imagination he did and now all of the books are in the local library in both Teulada and Moraira.)

What does TWG think?

The idea of a play bus which takes books to children, is definitely a magnificent idea – Jay Jay is no exception.

My daughter was giggling at the fact that Jay Jay had hurt his ‘bottom’, despite trying to work out where a bus’ bottom was! She was so enthralled by the different activities on the bus, including digging for treasure in the sandpit. It really made the whole island adventure theme come alive.

From an adult point of view, I am delighted that the story was enjoyed by my little girl as she is a huge bus fan. However I would have liked the story to contain more details around what the children got up to, what books they read etc, as I felt that we read more about Jay Jay travelling to and from the island, than the actual play bus activities themselves.

All in all, Jay Jay and His Island Adventure is a colourful and fun read which gives children the gift of books.

Buy now.

About the author.

I am a teacher and an author and have currently written six children’s picture books with a bus theme.
For over 20 years, alongside my teaching career, I worked with a Children’s Charity, The Bewbush Playbus Association, which led me to write a photographic history book about it.

I soon found that many children had never been on a bus before, let alone a ‘Playbus’ and they wanted to know more. I decided to write a fictional tale about the bus, his number plate JJK261 gave him his name.

‘Jay-Jay the Supersonic Bus,’ came out in print in 2014. It is the story behind the original bus and is his journey from a scrap-yard to being changed into a playbus for children to play in. From Fact to fiction the bus journey continued.

This story has now been followed by five more picture books.

I also undertake events and author bookings and love to share the story. There are also a few more stories in the writing process, with links to real events and buses.

The story has been read in many schools in the south-East of England, where I teach as a cover teacher, it is always well received and certainly different.

Website

#BlogTour! #Review – Monty and the Ocean Rescue; A Plastic Disaster by M.T.Sanders (@montydogge). (Illus: Zoe Saunders)

Another children’s book for you all today. Many thanks to a fellow blogger who made me aware of the blog tour, and thank you to the author for the ARC. Here is my review of a puptastic book:

Monty, Cookie and the spangles are back at the beach for the fifth book in this series of childrens books.

When Cookie sees a splash in the water her newfoundland instinct to rescue takes over and she immediately heads out to help. When she returns the dogs get a huge surprise as they hear a desperate plea.

What follows is an adventure that could turn out to be their biggest and most difficult so far.

This is a gentle introduction for children about the issues of plastic pollution in our oceans and even features Sir David Attenborough.

What does TWG think?

This may look like a cute and fluffy read, but it’s one which packs a punch and a half with it’s very important message; ocean waste.

Now Monty and his friends may end up making you go ‘awwwww!!!!’, I mean, how could you not? But don’t let their cuteness deter you from what the author is trying to teach his little readers.

With rhyming words, snappy sentences, and beautiful illustrations, ‘Monty and the Ocean Rescue’ tells the story of some sea creatures who end up finding themselves stuck due to rubbish being dumped in the ocean. To some people, a little bit of litter here and there isn’t ‘a big deal’. Try telling that to tortoises who end up with straws being stuck up their noses. Try telling that to whales who end up being trapped at the bottom of the ocean thanks to plastic bags or rope. Try telling that to all of the other innocent sea animals whose lives are being cut short because us humans use their homes as our bin.

Imagine if someone came into your home and started dumping their rubbish all around your house – would you like it? Would you deem it to be acceptable? The chances are, no, you would not. So why do we do it to their home?

As adults, we are well aware of the devastation which plastics can cause, so teaching the younger generation is a very important step, once which is explained in a clear manner within this book.

I read this to my little girl yesterday. Shes five and absolutely ADORES dogs. Yes, her attention was on the illustrations and hearing about what the pooches were up to more than anything, yet it certainly caught her attention when she noticed that several of her beloved animal friends were stuck. She didn’t like it at all. She was worried that the whale was hurt and, even though she didn’t quite understand just how the animal may not have survived, she still understood that it was wrong to put rubbish anywhere else except in a bin.

I loved the rhyming words and the ease of which the important information hit home in a child friendly manner. Monty and Cookie were such fun and i think that the author has written such a lovely, lovely read. I highly recommend, especially as my little girl has now said that she wants the other books in the series for her birthday!

Buy now.

Signed copies can be purchased here:

About the author.

MT Sanders is a writer, blogger and author of the childrens book Monty and the Ocean Rescue.

An accidental career began after he took early retirement and began writing stories on social media about his five dogs. Life according to Monty Dogge soon attracted a huge following and led to invites to blog live from Crufts and other high-profile events.

In 2017 and 2018 Vuelio placed it in the top ten UK pet blogs and the still growing readership encouraged MT to write a book. I’m not a Pandacow was the debut children’s book released in 2017 and this has been quickly followed by four more to date.
MT and Monty spend the major part of their time touring schools across the country bringing the tales to life as children get to meet the star of the books.

The latest book is a real passion project for the author who is a huge supporter of conservation projects and a champion for animal welfare. It goes without saying that MT was delighted to receive a handwritten message of good luck from no other than Sir David Attenborough who features in the book.

#LoveReadingBookBuzz! #GuestReview of #JasperSpaceDog by @HilsRobinson, from Eva, aka #BabyGarnet aged 5. @lovereadingkids @jasper_space

It gives me great pleasure to welcome properly, for the first time ever, a guest reviewer to TWG! Now, some of you may already know of this person, and most of you won’t. However, I am absolutely positive that this won’t be the first time that you’ll see this person guest reviewing on my blog! So, without further ado, I am proud as punch to welcome my guest reviewer, my daughter Eva, aged 5, who will be reviewing ‘Jasper Space Dog’ by Hilary Robinson. Huge thanks to LoveReadingKids for the book buzz invite and ARC.

Jasper – Space Dog is the first in a series of hilarious stories about the ambitions of Charlie Tanner and his dog, Jasper. Released to mark the 50th anniversary of the moon landings, the story cleverly weaves facts about space missions with hilarious ideas about space. In their quest, Jasper and Charlie consult space experts to see if Jasper might make history too. Several considerations regarding the design and layout of Jasper Space Dog have been made including the use of dyslexie font and cream paper stock to assist those who may find some aspects of reading challenging.

Guest review – what does #BabyGarnet, Eva, think?

Jasper is too funny. the part about a cow jumping over the moon and the hot dogs made me really laugh. I liked how a man got called a superhero – I like superheroes. I liked the pictures of the doggy. the things about the man walking on the moon was interesting. I didn’t want the book to end. I loved it all, mostly the parrot and the dog, Jasper. I am looking forward to reading more books about Charlie and Jasper.

A little note from TWG.

To be perfectly honest, Eva has said it all really, but I just wanted to add my own thoughts on the book. I actually read ‘Jasper Space Dog’ before Eva’s bed time, saying that we would read a couple of chapters, not the entire book. Did that happen? Did it heck! She was so engrossed (and so was I), in the story, that she ended up staying up past her bedtime just so that we could finish reading. I thought it was absolutely brilliant – such a brilliantly written, humorous book which puts such a fun spin on learning. The addition of Neil Armstrong and the information about Apollo II was very well incorporated into the story, and at times Eva asked me if I was joking about someone walking on the moon. I am so looking forward to reading more about Charlie and Jasper’s adventures – I think we have now found a firm favourite bedtime story….especially seeing as I am currently reading it for the second time in two days.

Fabulous book!

Love,

TWG

(aged 29 and 4 months) – that won’t make sense unless you have read the book ;).

Purchase ‘Jasper Space Dog’ from Amazon now!

About the author.

Hilary Robinson is an award-winning radio producer and author of over 50 picture books. Awards include the 2016 Historical Young Quills Award for ‘Flo of the Somme.’ Radio credits include Private Peaceful for BBC Radio 2 and her series for Barry Humphries Forgotten Musical Masterpieces was listed as one of the top 30 artistic triumphs of 2016 by the Telegraph. Extracts from her book ‘A Song For Will and the Lost Gardeners of Heligan’ were read on BBC Radio 4.

About the Illustrator

Lewis James was supported by the Prince’s Trust through the Enterprise programme. Following the successful launch of his business, he continued his involvement with the Prince’s Trust as young ambassador. Lewis is mentored through Strauss House Productions by illustrator and branding expert, Mandy Stanley.