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.

We worked with GB Posters back in September and they sent us an amazing bundle of goodies. They sell hundreds of different posters and loads of branded merchandise including keyrings, mugs, glasses, button badges, hip flasks, plus brilliant low cost, lightweight poster frames.

This is exactly the type of gift I regularly buy at Christmas and I'm delighted that GB Posters are offering a gift box of your choice for one of my readers in this year's Christmas Present Giveaways.


The range at GB Posters is huge, there's an A-Z on the website and you'll find something for anyone. We reviewed a bundle of GB Posters items which suited our family. Posters are 4 for the price of 3, and generally £4.99 each - the same price I paid 30 years ago in HMV and Athena...


We chose Fallout, Playstation and Skyrim merchandise for the gamers, and posters for everyone, including the human skeleton, the world, Star Wars blueprints and a ginormous Periodic Table 2018.

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.

Trumping Trudy is a family game which is suitable for 2-4 players age 4+. It's been sent to us by KA Games for review and they are offering one of my readers their own copy in my Christmas Present Giveaways.

Lively and another one which is a little bit rude, it really wasn't as horrible as I'd anticipated. Pull the cow's tail and she might laugh at you or moo, what you don't want is for her to pass gas...


Inside the box is everything you need except for 2 x AA batteries (not included), with not too much plastic packaging and a sturdy box. Initial assembly takes just a couple of minutes to put together the cow and spinner, so relatively Christmas-morning friendly, but your Trudy will not fit back in the box for storage without disassembly - which it's not really designed for.

We've been sent the Absolutely Everything Bundle to review. Published by What On Earth? Books. Absolutely Everything!: A History of Earth, Dinosaurs, Rulers, Robots and Other Things Too Numerous to Mention really is a huge book full of the history of everything, starting with the Earth itself. A big thick hardback full of information, diagrams, photos and illustrations, it's the sort of beautiful and fascinating book that anyone can pick up and spend a quality hour with...




Suitable for readers of any age around 9+ and written by Chris Lloyd, who created the brilliant Timeline Wallbooks, Absolutely Everything!: A History of Earth, Dinosaurs, Rulers, Robots and Other Things Too Numerous to Mention takes us on an epic journey from the creation of the universe 13.8 billion years ago, right through to the modern world, computing, equality, war and peace...

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.

Pull My Finger is one of the ultimate 'Dad jokes' and I don't think there's a parent alive who hasn't either said it or tutted at it! We've been sent a copy of the game to review, and it is exactly as you might suspect - you pull the character's finger and wait to see if he produces a fart.

It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but is suitable for 2 or more players aged 4+ and I think the younger members of your family might just find it highly amusing....


Inside the box is everything you'd need, including a spare backside in case you burst yours (there's a phrase I never thought I'd type). Included are the monkey himself, who is called Mr Buster, 1 monkey tail, 2 monkey butts, 1 monkey base, 1 spinner.

This Christmas Present Giveaway has been sent to us by publishing co-operative New Internationalist. Don't Call Me Princess! is one of the funniest and cleverest storybooks I have ever read. Award-winning cartoonist Kate Evans' first children’s book takes a good look at 6 of our favourite fairytales and shows us exactly why being the princess wasn't such a great deal... I love this book.


Suitable for independent readers aged around 6+, but a good short read for humans of any age, this is a book which rips apart The Princess and the Pea, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel and The Little Mermaid. And it does it beautifully.

I didn't think I'd be working with Thomas again, our boys have all grown out of him now, but I'm a strong believer that children should learn all kinds of skills from story books without even realising it. Stay Safe With Thomas is a partnership between Network Rail, Mattel and Thomas & Friends, who have created a book which teaches children how they should behave around trains and railway lines.


This is the first time Network Rail has partnered with children's entertainment company Mattel, and the first time Mattel has published a Thomas the Tank Engine book with a rail safety theme.
In the past 5 years, the number of young people taking risks on railway lines has risen by 80%, so safety messages need to reach younger children before they are allowed to play unsupervised and put themselves in danger.