Pirates: Dead Men's Tales is written by Anne Rooney and illustrated by Joe Wilson, and is one of the most gorgeous children's books we've ever reviewed. A larger format book beautifully bound with an embossed cover, it feels as special in your hand as it looks.


The illustrations are muted and resemble the illustrations on old maps, together with the off-white pages and textured cover, it gives the illusion of real age and makes it quite unusual.

BrickBox.me run a monthly LEGO and minifigure loot subscription service for children aged 3+. Each month the box has a theme and we've been sent April's LEGO Pirates BrickBox to review.


As soon as my 7 and 8 year old boys saw the front of the box they were very keen to get inside. Funnily enough, I didn't have to explain what it was, they understood this one straight away...


We love Pirates here and as my friends will already know, Ninja Pirates are my all time favourite. It even says it in my Twitter profile... I think BrickBox knew when they sent us this box.. The BrickBox April Box contained 2 great LEGO Ninjago Pirate polybag sets, as well as 3 other smaller pirate minifigure sets.

This post is written by English student Simon Adler. It's personal to him. It's always good to read a worldview which may not be the same as your own, just to see how other people feel. He's keen on his Mum, obviously...

Everyone wants their home to be home sweet home. Home doesn’t become sweet by keeping luxurious things. It becomes sweet by its environment. The environment should be so charming that people automatically get attracted toward it. They shouldn’t be finding peace only outside their home. In this aspect, a mother plays a very important role. No one can deny her huge contribution.

The Nerf N-Strike Elite AccuStrike Series FalconFire Blaster isn't only about the long title and the blaster, this is as much a review of the new AccuStrike darts with a rifled tip to make them the most accurate Nerf dart yet.


There two new AccuStrike blasters. We've been sent the FalconFire Blaster which comes complete with 6 of the new Elite AccuStrike Darts.

Hatchimals from SpinMaster Toys were incredibly popular last Christmas and today sees the launch of their smaller, pocket-money friendly (£1.99) CollEGGtibles. With 70 colourful little Hatchimals CollEGGtibles characters to collect and a surprise inside your egg each time, these are sure to be a huge hit with children aged 5+.


We've been sent two of the blind bags and one 2-pack to review. The blind bags contain an unknown colour of egg, so you have no idea at all who could be inside.


The 2-pack has visible eggs, so you can guess the family groups that the Hatchimal CollEGGtibles will be from by looking at the colour of their speckles, but you still don't know which ones you have.

I gave my child an unfortunate name. When I was pregnant we spent loads of time trying to decide on a name. We'd got other children and so lots of the favourites were already used up. I was actually 37 weeks pregnant when we finally decided on a name.

We didn't know whether we were having a boy or a girl. I had specifically asked not to find out, which got harder as the pregnancy progressed and my baby plotted at 11lbs. They insisted on scans regularly, especially towards the end, just in case I had an instant baby.

I've had 2 instant babies and I'm not trying to show off, but it's definitely the best way to go about it. Sleep through a quick labour, wake up and have a baby. It's more surprising, but less tiresome than the usual way. The hospital didn't really like the idea of an instant 11lb baby without any medical help. Repeatedly scanning me was their way to somehow insure against this...

The scanning did however supply us with some awesome photos... (And at least once the Sonographer did slip up and refer to the baby by gender, but we forgave her.)


By the time came that my hospital bags were packed and sleeping in a lying position was impossible, I really was a bit concerned. I don't like to definitely name my children before I see them, in case it doesn't fit, but I need some ideas. 37 weeks was pushing it really because we had nothing.

When I review a gift website it can be quite tricky to find something appropriate that fits the budget. I was honestly spoilt for choice with GiftsOnline4U and I ended up choosing something I'd otherwise never have found, yet it's perfect...


My partner has long-standing loves of both watches and ships, so this Personalised Bronze Pocket Watch With Sextant Design is spot on. Unbelievably GiftsOnline4U actually stock over 100 different engraved pocket watches - plus another 4,400 personalised gifts for anyone of any age...

My 8 year old loves trying new foods, so was ecstatic to be given the opportunity to review two of Manchester Corn Exchange's restaurants in one day. The boys were to be filmed giving their opinions of the Kids Menus at Mowgli (Indian Street Food) and Byron (Proper Hamburgers).


We started off at Mowgli, where my youngest decided almost immediately that he would disown us and go to sit with our friends from Simslife. Thankfully they didn't mind! He chose the same meal as his brother - the Kids Menu Gunpowder Chicken and Fries. They like curries but they like generally spicy too...

STABILO make great stationery for all members of the family, so when I said we'd be getting a handful of new products to look at, 4 different people here immediately got excited. We've been sent the new STABILO BOSS Original Pastel Highlighters, a beYou! Ballpoint Pen and EASYstart Colouring Pencils.


The STABILO BOSS Original Pastel Highlighters are that very familiar shape and style which we've all used, but now available in pastels! Reliable and long-lasting, they really haven't needed to change since before I was a student.

In a couple of weeks I'll have been with my partner for 11 years. It's a long time but there'll be no celebrations, meals out or cards. It's most likely he won't even know the date is in any way significant.

We aren't married. In fact I've never been married. I was with my older children's Dad for 15 years, but we didn't marry either. When I was young and politically strident I wasn't going to be owned by a man, now I'm older I know that isn't really the case. I'm paid to publish posts such as this one and write about all kinds of daft stuff, but we have a big family, so it's lack of money and general logistics which prevent me now.