It's a rare day that the entire family can pick up a book and be taken away into an amazing world of imagination and adventure, but The Gloriumptious Worlds Of Roald Dahl has that quality. Full of nostalgia and magic, this is a scrapbook of stories, characters and creations from 15 of Roald Dahl's best loved children's books, and I am delighted to have a copy to give away to one of my readers.


My full review of The Gloriumptious Worlds Of Roald Dahl is here, and we love it. Everyone in my house, from age 6 to 45 has been spotted grinning at the pages. This is a book full of all the interesting bits and pieces you didn't consider or see when you read Roald Dahl's books - tickets and receipts, posters and letters, adverts and information galore.

Roald Dahl would have been 100 this September and one of the new releases to commemorate is a fascinating book celebrating his classic and timeless children's stories. The Gloriumptious World Of Roald Dahl from Carlton Books is illustrated by Mr Dahl's long-time collaborator Quentin Blake and brought together by the children's author Stella Caldwell, and it really is an absolute treasure.


This is not a collection of Roald Dahl's stories, it's an accompaniment, and although it will mean a lot more once you know each of the tales featured, you could enjoy it in it's own right. The Gloriumptious Worlds is crammed with imagined backstory, comments and quotes, and fantastic oddities and items that set the scene for the stories.

Meccano have recently raised their game immensely, including expanding with the amazing Tech range of award-winning programmable Meccanoids. Brand new for this Autumn are 3 smaller models, the Micronoids, and we are lucky enough to be among the very first people to try one out. We've been sent Basher to review...


Basher has 139 pieces and is really quite a technical build, so is recommended for age 8+. The packaging is a mix of the simple and the annoying, but minimal and mainly recyclable.


Inside the box you have the robot head, a bag of angled joining pieces, a bag of nuts, bolts and washers, 3 bags of plastic parts, multi-purpose Meccano screwdriver and spanner, and the instruction booklet. Helpfully there is also a card with the number to ring in case of any issue or problem.

Back in the olden days, when no-one in our house had exams, and schools were allowed to appreciate the value of time away with your family, I took my older children to festivals each year. My younger boys haven't been quite so lucky, but they're not novices. As well as the music, the performances and the sheer spectacle, it also introduced your children to a wide variety of foods which they may not be so keen or likely to experience at home.


It was at Glastonbury where I discovered that frozen yogurt or ice cream is the best way to get liquid and sugar into a 4 year old who is hot and over tired - plus they'll sleep when their tummy is full of milky goodness (long overdue thank you for that Yeo Valley). It may also have been at Glastonbury I discovered this trick also works someone who is incredibly hung over....


Festival food has changed so much over the past 30 years that it has become unrecognisable from the greasy soggy chips I was eternally grateful for at Glastonbury in the 90's. Vegetarians have choice, and meat-eaters are not left torn between the eternal Hot Dog or Burger? Widespread use of  diesel generators and portable fridges and freezers has turned it around completely. Never again is there any excuse to accept a slightly mouldy sandwich, however many lemonades I drink beforehand...

Beets BLU are well known for their innovative gadgets which make use of Bluetooth connections to connect to your phone or tablet. We've previously reviewed a keyfob which alerts you to where you have left your keys, and we've now been sent their Digital Bathroom Scale with Body Composition to review.


Well packaged and with clear, simple instructions, it really is a complete doddle to set up. The quick-start basically involves downloading the app to your device, putting the batteries (included) into the scale, and stepping on.

Asterix: The Mansions Of The Gods will be coming to a cinema near you in 2D and 3D from 19th August, and we've been lucky enough to have a sneak preview screening. A computer animated adventure movie with a voice cast that includes an amazing array of popular UK comedians from different genres, it promised big things and hasn't disappointed.


My partner and I grew up reading Asterix books, but in recent years they haven't seemed so popular, and my young boys didn't know the stories at all. They do now! The cast really bring all of the characters to life and this is one of the funniest films we've watched this year.

The deadpan Jim Broadbent as Julius Caesar and Greg Davis and The Centurion work really well against Jack Whitehall as Asterix and Nick Frost as Obelix. There is slapstick humour throughout, and this is an innocent movie, no-one dies or suffers horrific injuries, they're more likely to be attacked by a fish for singing too loud.

The Folio Society have been producing gorgeous editions of timeless classic literature for almost 70 years. We were given the opportunity to review, and I chose a relatively modern book which has been read and enjoyed by almost our whole family, The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams.


As soon as your book arrives, you know this is something special. The quality is often shown in the detail, and the packaging really delighted me, I love this box!

Drumond Park are releasing some new games this Autumn, and we've been sent an advance copy of one of them, Stoopido, to review. Released on 29th August, Stoopido is a family game for 2-4 players aged 8+, and quite rightly describes itself as 'the game of 1000 silly faces'.


When you open the box you have an entire dressing up box full of mask parts and it does take a little putting together, so allow 10 minutes before you start.

Gobbit is a family card game which takes the mechanism of 'Snap' and moves it on in increasingly complicated steps. Suitable for 2-8 Players aged 6+, it's ridiculously simple and familiar, and quite addictive. Gameplay can be quick and a full game can be over in 15 minutes.


Unusually the packaging really is just that, and when you open the box you first find a Gobbit player certificate and a rubber wristband - you are allowed to challenge anyone wearing a wristband to a game of Gobbit. I'm not sure how often that would happen ordinarily, but there are tournaments being held in stores across the UK which you are allowed to enter...

Water is one of life's essentials, but it's also pretty amazing and has some unique properties. This book might not touch on all of those, but it's a great introduction to something we all take for granted. Suitable for young independent readers, but best for reading together, Water - My First Discoveries by Pierre-Marie Valat is not only full of information, it has a really interesting format...


The My First Discoveries books are a hardback spiral bound series, with around 24 stiff card pages and 6 transparent acetates. Designed for children aged around 4-8, Water is a more intelligent and 'grown up' board book.