This month Carlton Kids have sent us Disney/Pixar Toy Story: Woody's Augmented Reality Adventure Book for review. It's aimed at children of all ages 3+ and my boys still enjoy Toy Story despite being 9 and 10, plus we all wanted a sneak peek of the new characters from Toy Story 4, especially Forky!


The Augmented Reality is created via your phone or tablet camera and a free app. which you'll have to download from Play Store or Apple before you start. It's not huge and only took a few seconds.

The app. is ready to go instantly and very intuitive, with good, clear instructions on screen to get you started. There are very few options, so you can find everything easily and it's even ideal for very young children or technophobes.

Next Month Carlton Books release Space Race by Ben Hubbard. A fascinating fact book with augmented reality, which tells the story of man's obsession to reach the stars, from the very first satellite launch up to the present day. We've been sent a copy to review and Carlton Books have kindly offered a copy for one of my UK readers...


Space Race is supported by a free app. which you can download on Android or IOS and you need it to really get the most from the book, although there is still plenty to see and learn without using a screen.

My last book review and giveaway in this year's Christmas Present Giveaways is a fantastic bundle of 4 STEM Activity Books which have been sent to us from Carlton Kids Books to review.

Suitable for young readers and future Scientists and Engineers aged 6+, this is a set of books which will stretch your child in interesting and engaging ways, while they complete puzzles and pictures, spot the odd one out, answer questions and a host of other fun activities...


STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and maths, and these subjects are vital for children who will be entering the job market in 10-20 years time. Each of the 4 books is a large format glossy paperback with 64 full colour pages and over 40 STEM activities crammed inside.

Today's book review and giveaway has been sent to us by Carlton Kids Books. A bundle of 3 books for the sports fans amongst you, with World Football Records, Neymar: The Ultimate Fan Book and the sporting gamer's Who's Who - eSports Superstars.

This afternoon's Christmas Present giveaway and review is a brilliant non-fiction book which has been sent to us from Carlton Kids Books to review. Suitable for any reader aged 6+, Amazing Optical Illusions is a book which challenges you to look at the world very differently! Especially when our eyes deceive us...


This is a fairly thick book in a large format and the illustrations are really big, so even I don't have to squint to see all of the effects. Inside the book are 96 pages with over 80 optical illusions - enough to satisfy anyone.


Each optical illusion is explained so that the reader understands what is happening and often exactly why it happens. This is a puzzle book with the answers on every page and there is a really varied assortment of different optical illusions and ways to trick our eyes, our brains, or both.

In the Summer we were sent 2 new Minecraft STEM Challenge books from Carlton Books - Build A City and Build A Theme Park. Both books contain all of the plans and techniques that a player needs to complete some really complex and beautiful building projects within the game of Minecraft.


Each of the Minecraft STEM Challenge books follows the same format, with explanations of basics behind building and how to create special or tricky shapes and objects, followed by a selection of themed builds.

The Gloriumptious Worlds Of Roald Dahl is a truly gorgeous book which was released to celebrate what would have been Roald Dahl's 100th birthday. Sent to us by Carlton Books to review back in August 2016, it's still one of my favourite books of all-time and I'm delighted that Carlton Books have offered a copy for one of my readers in my Christmas Present Giveaways.


Suitable for readers of any age, this is a book which looks more deeply into Roald Dahl's stories and recreates some of the items which appear, guesses and elaborates on backstory and takes 'comments' from witnesses and participants. It also includes some of Roald Dahl's original notes.


Pages are crammed full of new illustrations by Roald Dahl's long-time collaborator, Quentin Blake, and you can't help but feel it's exactly as Roald would have wanted it.

My youngest 2 boys have never really been impressed by vehicles, which is the opposite of my 2 oldest, who were complete petrol-heads. They'd have loved Ultimate Cars, which has been sent to us by Carlton Books and I have a copy to give away to one of my readers in my Christmas Present Giveaways...


Ultimate Cars: The World's Most Amazing Speed Machines isn't just about speed. It starts with the history of the motor vehicle and it's manufacture, and the rest of the book is split into 5 sections - Performance Cars, Iconic Cars, Crazy Cars, Racing Cars and Future Cars.

Fortnite Battle Royale is a very popular game here and has been played by most of us at some point, although I can't say I've had more than a try! The talk of the playground, what every player aims for is to be the final character left on the map from the 100 who start.

Carlton's Fortnite Battle Royale Ultimate Winner's Guide is released on 1st November and is designed to give you hints, skills and tips to help you stay safe from the storm and earn the coveted title of Winner. We've been sent a copy to review and it's my youngest son who has taken a good look at this one...


Fortnite has age guidance of 12+ and my younger children do play under my supervision. Full of illustrations and simple to follow diagrams and instructions, Fortnite Battle Royale Ultimate Winner's Guide is a full colour guidebook. My son sat and flipped through for ages before he settled on what to read first...

This month's review for Carlton Books is a pair of books unlike any we've ever covered before - and they are a real hit! We've been sent 2 new Minecraft STEM Challenge books - Build A City and Build A Theme Park. These are exactly as they sound, books which will show your child how to complete some really complex projects within the game of Minecraft.


My boys love science and challenges, and STEM activities are something I actively encourage. Minecraft has been popular in our household since it was very first released and my eldest son played it. Since then all of our children have played, and as it's our policy that we should understand what they're up to online, we've also had a go.


I showed my 8 and 9 year old boys the books and they both chose one, then swapped, so were both excited by both books. I've never seen them both get into a project so quickly, and within minutes they had both chosen and made a good start on a project build.

The Totally Wild Fact-Packed, Fold-Out Animal Atlas by Jen Green is exactly what you'd hope. A big book with large scale colour pages full of all of the different animals you can encounter wherever you are on the globe.


Inside there are global maps and many larger scale maps for great chunks of the world, plus absolutely loads of information for each. Photographs and text support illustrations and although this is a fact book, the language used is modern and relaxed, so it doesn't feel like an educational book. Obviously it still has plenty to teach almost anyone...

Carlton Kids children's books are bright, colourful and full of information, and To The Moon And Back is no exception. This is a beautiful book crammed with facts about space and everything in it. What's different is that this a papercraft book and has 25 different cut-out and press-out projects for your child to create.


Susie Brooks' papercraft projects are incredibly varied in type and trickiness, and over the 80 pages there really is something ideal for anyone. All of the pages are designed to pull out easily, without ruining the book.

Carlton Books (now Wellbeck Publishing) make some lovely books for children and The Totally Amazing Fact-Packed Fold-Out Atlas Of The World is no exception. Genuinely full of information and big, bold illustrations, there's enough here to satisfy any young future explorer.


The book starts with a world map showing continents and The World At A Glance. The perfect introduction to our planet, neatly laid out and with text in manageable boxes. The book format is full colour in a large 24cm x 28cm with a really glossy cover and fold-out pages throughout.

When your child first learns to read it's easy to become excited about all of the books you can share with them, but some children take longer than others to become confident readers. It can easily be a couple of years before you move from books which are mainly illustration with a few words on each page, through to big books with pages entirely full of text.

While one of my younger boys leapt off into the world of books, his younger brother just hasn't had that confidence. I've put together a few ideas for anyone who wants to encourage their children through this stage and build their skills and speed without making reading become a chore.

Probably the most famous shipwreck tale of all time, the story of the Titanic is fascinating to adults and children alike. The Story Of Titanic For Children by Joe Fullman is an excellent factual book which my 9 year old has poured over since it arrived.


This is a beautiful book and it's full of gorgeous illustrations and photographs. It is honest, but doesn't glorify or overplay any of the tragedies which happened when the Titanic sank. It is full of fascinating details and facts, as well as personal accounts and even sketches drawn by survivors.

Maze Hop Time Travel by Anna Brett is another very different sort of book for children aged around 7+. Including 48 mazes which connect from page to page, joining the characters George and his dog Milly, you weave your way through time from prehistory and dinosaurs to the present day and even beyond, with space tourism in the future.


This is a lovely large format book which has 64 pages, most of which are split into 2 halves, each with a maze that connects to the one with the following time period. The pages are not in the correct order, it's up to the reader to find the maze which connects. This is also a genuine history book and the illustrations and text give an insight into each period in a way that is very accessible to all readers.

iExplore books are a series of books with an associated app. which brings them to life via Augmented Reality using a smartphone or tablet. iExplore Bugs by Hannah Wilson is fresh off the press at Carlton Kids Books and we've been sent a copy to review.


iExplore Bugs is an excellent quality hardback full colour book. 32 pages full of everything your average child could ever possibly need to know about the most fantastic and exotic bugs alive, including the Goliath Bird-Eating Spider and Queen Alexandra's Birdwing Butterfly.

One of the best things about any new season is all the new releases, and this Spring Carlton Books have loads of really interesting books for children. We've been sent 3 of the best to take a look at. They're a really eclectic mix taken from 3 different book ranges - and one of my readers can win all 3 for themselves.

Books are a brilliant gift. They can be precious for many different reasons, and true treasures that we can all hold and own. They can be epics with a real sense of achievement when you have read them, or a few paragraphs long. Books don't have to be expensive or huge to make you laugh, cry, or feel nostalgic, and there is something for everyone, whatever age.


I love to buy books as gifts, and I find they can be especially good for the older males in your family. I liked the sound of all of these books myself, but I've chosen them with 3 of my (not quite so) young men in mind, so this the Carlton (Mainly) Men's Book Bundle Giveaway...


For my partner I've chosen Peter And Dan Snow's Treasures Of British History (rrp £30, currently £21). This is a gorgeous large format, hardbacked book in slipcase which, over 112 pages, examines British History via 50 of our most important documents.

Released this week is the Pirate Ship Sticker Book. Written by Jim Pipe and Claire Sipi, and illustrated by Maria Taylor, it has all you could ever need to know about pirate life in the 18th century, with added stickers!


Recommended for children aged around 6+, the 48 page paperback book takes you on a trip aboard The Scurvy Dog with Captain Skull and his pirate crew. Your child can read all about what life was like for those on the ship, above and below decks. No gruesome detail is spared, and there are stickers to use to complete the images.