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.

The Atlas Obscura Explorer's Guide for the World's Most Adventurous Kid was released this month by Workman Publishing. Produced by the team behind the incredibly popular Times Best Seller Atlas Obscura, their children's Explorer's Guide edition is a really beautiful book which showcases 100 of the most exciting and unusual places on our Earth. Be an explorer at home and discover the world's treasures...


The authors, Dylan Thuras and Rosemary Mosco, highlight lesser known and hidden places which children are unlikely to have heard of or read about previously. My 10 year old is a voracious fact-collector, but he has found a host of new places, customs and incidents described here - it really is very carefully researched and very different.


The illustrations by Joy Ang are bright and colourful, clearly depicting the description alongside and bringing a realism to the accounts. It's an unusual move not to have photographs, but it works and in many cases is more beautiful than the real thing, bringing a certain calm to the Self-Mummifying Monks of Japan and the Everlasting Lightning Storm in Venezuela.

My first Christmas Present Giveaway is Snot It, which has been sent to us by KD Games to review. Suitable for 2 to 4 players aged 6+, this is a very funny family game which really made us laugh and is not quite as disgusting as I expected!


Inside the box are 4 pairs of special glasses with noses, 4 sticky snots, 1 spinner, 30 boogers and a booger bowl which has a timer in the base. No batteries required, the box and plastic packaging is easy to open, plus you can store everything in the box afterwards - Christmas morning friendly.


Initial set up takes only 5 minutes to construct the glasses and insert the snots. The snots are made from that gooey-feeling, sticky sort of rubbery plastic and one end is poked into the bottom of the fake nose.