parenting

Children’s book review: Lego Ninjago Brickmaster

August 11, 2011 Joanne Mallon 2

Lego Ninjago brickmaster I used to wonder if Lego were trying to do slightly too much with the Ninjago range – it's a construction toy, a trading cards game, a toy spinner, a collectible – and now with the release of Ninjago Brickmaster, it's a book as well.

But what do I know – the range has become enormously popular. Last term it was the toy of choice to smuggle in to school for every small boy I know.

The Brickmaster range from DK is a sort of hybrid – half story book, half Lego building project. The left hand side of the book is a cardboard sleeve containing around 130 Lego bricks, designed to make at least five different models. The right hand side is a combination of the sort of Lego instructions you'll know, but with extra text giving facts about the models and a story involving the escapades of Frakjaw, Skeleton of Fire.

Doctor, doctor, I keep seeing little blue men…

July 17, 2011 Joanne Mallon 5

What's a Smurf? asked Son of Mine. Is is it an animal?

Son, much to learn you have.

Let me take you down to the Build a Bear Workshop and we'll find out for ourselves. Though this cuddly toy emporium is best known for its teddy bears, it's also home to dogs, owls, dinosaurs and for a limited time only – The Smurfs.

I used to work in The Disney Store when I was a student, and when the manager was feeling particularly vicious he would declare it an 'Ears Day' and we would all have to don the Mickey headgear. But that is small potatoes compared to what the staff at Build a Bear have to do:

Dear School…

July 15, 2011 Joanne Mallon 9

  Dear School Thank you for your many letters, notes, emails and texts over the last few weeks. Since I have two children, I get all […]

UPDATED: This bag’s too good for kids

June 22, 2011 Joanne Mallon 5

UPDATE: Check out the bottom of this post for a discount voucher code to save money off a Leather Satchel Company satchel

 

Daughter of Mine is off to Hogwarts soon and she needs a schoolbag. Specifically, she wants a vintage satchel-style bag, just like everyone from Hermione Granger to the cool kids of Brighton seems to have.

When I was at school, it was only the geeky bookworms who had leather satchels. That's still the case, but the crucial difference is – it's a good thing. Geeks have inherited the earth, and it's cool to be a bookworm now.

And so satchels have been featured everywhere from Elle to Vogue to The Guardian. They're very much the 'in bag' of the moment, and definitely not just for schoolkids.

And then The Leather Satchel Company, a Cheshire-based company that's been making satchels since the 1960's, got in touch and sent us a beautifully packaged parcel.

Leather-satchel-parcel-wrapped 

Look at what was inside:

The amazing six layered cake

June 13, 2011 Joanne Mallon 0

You'd be astonished at how many people land on this blog after Googling "coach cakes". I guess they're looking for a recipe to honour their favourite sports professional. And they probably then go away disappointed, because the only real post on the subject is this one relating the theory (so far only proposed by me) that cake can be a useful tool in personal development.

But actually I do have a sideline in cakery. And today, in between two coaching sessions, one and a half blog posts, writing a feature, 1000 words of a book, two loads of washing, a flurry of emails and a ton of phone calls, I made a cake. 

It is Son of Mine's 8th birthday, and he designed this amazing six layered beast:

Six-layer-cake-candles 

Random Reviews: LEGO City Police Boat video review

May 29, 2011 Joanne Mallon 3

The kind people at LEGO sent us a treat – the newest police boat from the City Police range. Here is Son of Mine, ably interviewed by Daughter of Mine, to tell you what he thought of it:

This was a much simpler model to put together than the last Lego set we reviewed, the T-6 Jedi Shuttle. The main body of the boat is already in one piece, so most of the modelling is to be done on the top half.