School Holiday Fun: The Book Party (with free printables)

Any excuse for a party, I say, and School Holidays is reason enough.
It's become a bit of a habit, throwing an impromptu party-for-no-reason when school is out; a chance to gather friends, and kids-of-friends, eat food and drink coffee. We've had themeless parties-for-no-reason, a Lego party, garden parties and last school holidays, Book Club: Kids Edition.
This led me naturally to the idea of throwing a Book-themed party this time. Invite the kids to dress up, and the mums to bring book-themed food. What could be simpler, right?

I have to admit, I had fun coming up with the ideas, and was pleasantly surprised how fun and easy this theme was. It might be that I went a little overboard...? (No, surely not, Simoney! that doesn't sound like you at all, did I hear you say...)


The Book Party Decor was super easy. I used what I have plenty of,  i.e. books of all shapes and sizes. My best bit of inspiration was trying out the idea of books as bunting. I tied up some strands of (strong) string, hung up a range of small books and VOILA! Book bunting...






For the table, I laid out thin paper-backed picture books and covered them with a $2 white plastic tablecover. Too easy, and cute.

The food was the fun part. To make sure that nobody missed the book-association, I made little labels...

The labels were made ahead of time: black paper stuck onto old business cards, with a mini picture of the relevant book stuck on it. I wrote the food's title with chalk and then sprayed each one with hairpsray, so the chalk didn't smudge. (Mini Book cover printable is at the bottom of this post)







But what you really want to see is the food, right??!

MR HAPPY COOKIES (from Mr Men books): plain packet biscuits topped with circles of rolled out yellow fondant; the face drawn on with chocolate squeeze-tube icing.
TRUFFULA TREES CUPCAKES (from The Lorax): a squirt of green buttercream on a choclate cupcake, topped with a wafer tube and a ball of candy floss (held in with a toothpick)
OREO SPIDERS (from Charlotte's Web): Oreo cookies split in half, with slivers of licorice poked in for legs; the Oreo gets sandwiched back together and squirty tube icing eyes applied
CHEESE TOUCH CHEESE N CRACKERS (from Diary of a Wimpy Kid): cheese and crackers!
MAX'S JELLY BOATS (from Where the Wild Things Are): blueberry jelly set in cups; a mandarin segment spiked through with a toothpick and a paper triangle.
CATERPILLAR GRAPE SKEWERS (from The Very Hungry Caterpillar): green and red grapes, on a skewer
SCRAMBLED SNAKE (from The Gruffalo): Home Brand Sour Worms
RINGS (from Lord of the Rings): Burger Rings! (could also use Cheezels)
EDMUNDS TURKISH DELIGHT (from The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe): Turkish Delight. From a packet.

[books and christmas lights provided a cute background for the food on my hutch dresser]

There were so many bookish food ideas, most of them so simple (and I've always wanted to try making these Truffula cupcakes). I collected all the ideas I found on a Pinterest Board if you need more inspiration...

To drink we had NIGHTLOCK BERRY PUNCH (from The Hunger Games) and LASHINGS OF GINGERBEER (from Famous Five; grab the free printable labels below).

There were no book games or activities (though I did briefly consider a Book Quiz); this is not a birthday party after all. It's a chance for the mummies to get together and drink coffee while the kids rampage through the house with their friends on a rainy day, where they might otherwise be stuck inside, bored.

Can you figure out who they are dressed up as???

So at out school holiday book party we ate book themed food, drank book themed drink, and hung out with our friends while the rain fell and the wind blew. It was loud. It was crazy. It was messy.

But it was so much better than being stuck inside on our own.

Have you ever thrown an impromptu party? You should try it sometime. It's fun.

FREE BOOK PARTY PRINTABLES
If you want to host your own Book Party, here are my printables to help you get started...
[Right click to save images to your computer then print, trim and use. Both are set up on an A4 page]

[mini book labels]

["lashings of gingerbeer" Famous Five soda bottle labels]

• More parties here on my Party Index Page

What to Watch on Rainy Days in Your PJs (movie ideas)

We've been watching movies for so long it's getting hard to find new ones to watch, it seems. Thankfully  Fatso keep us supplied so when the school holidays come around, and it's a long wet winter week, we can slob about in our PJs and watch DVDs by the fire.

Here a few of the movies we've been watching (and enjoying) in our PJs lately...

RATING GUIDE:

***** Outstanding, Highly recommended

**** Very good, enjoyable, Recommended.

*** OK, decent, but not memorable

** Barely OK, could do better.

* A bomb. Avoid at all costs.

"Little Kid Watchability" is based on children aged 3-6 years. Movies with PG are more suited to older, not-so-sensitive children. Some (M) movies may be suitable for older children if they are clean (no bad language or sexual content) and just contain fight scenes, e.g. Amazing Spiderman, The Hobbit etc. I personally find that when you mute the sound (the forboding music) scenes lose their scariness, so we hit mute when the tension builds too high. Having older children as well as a younger one sometimes we have to push the boat out a little to find something everyone can enjoy. Parental judgement and guidance is always required!

......................

THE LEGO MOVIE (PG) *****

We have watched this one over and over these holidays. It's a new release and so is a welcome addition to our holiday viewing. This movie was an instant favourite when we first saw it at the cinema; the humour and storyline cleverness is AWESOME. In fact "everything is awesome" about this movie. There is some great voice talent (including Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman) and the message which comes through the story is also fab. It's not just funny, it's also MEANINGFUL. "You are special" "You can do amazing things if you believe you can". I love this movie. the kids love this movie. We'll be watching this one again and again during these rainy school holidays I'm sure.

LITTLE KID WATCHABILITY: This is a (PG) but only the most sensitive kids would find anything worrisome about it. It's LEGO after all.
SCARY BITS: Very sensitive littlies might get upset when Emmett is captured by Lord Business?!
GROWNUP WATCHABILITY: Very watchable, very enjoyable, even on repeat.

THE HOBBIT: DESOLATION OF SMAUG (M) ****

We took Dash (age 11.5) to watch this at the cinema when it came out and it was fabulous. When Fatso sent the DVD to us for the holidays we knew where the scary bits were so we played film editor and hit "mute" or "Fast Forward" in the darker bits when we watched it with the other kids. This movie is a bit darker than the first one, but still very clean (no bad language or sexual content) and with a fast trigger finger, it was made suitable for a whole-family movie night. Everyone enjoyed this movie and it has been watched a few times now these holidays. We eagerly await the final instalment at Christmas time!

LITTLE KID WATCHABILITY: Not recommended for younger kids; but if you have a little brother and a fast trigger finger on the remote, you can easily "edit" this movie for the whole family.
SCARY BITS: Lots of fight scenes, a few chase scenes, there's a pretty wicked dragon and the orcs are of course very ugly. You know your kids and whether this would disturb them... or not. (The dragon is not scary, just cool, IMHO)
GROWNUP WATCHABILITY: This grown-up has watched it (and enjoyed it) several times. But then I'm a LOTR/Hobbit fan from way back and so are our kids. Each to their own.

THOR (M) ***

The Marvel movies (with the exception of Iron Man who is a bit of a womaniser) are all very clean in terms of language and sexual content. We've watched and enjoyed the Avengers so I thought we'd give "Thor" a go and it was... fine. What you'd expect from a superhero movie, action, fighting, goodies and baddies; no sex, no swearing just lots of non-gory fighting. This movie is the back story of Thor and how he came to earth, his conflict with his brother Loki and how he became worthy of his hammer. I've given it a three stars because we enjoyed it, it's a decent watch, but nothing to rave about. If you're like us and running out of ideas for movies to watch with your kids cos you've seen so many over the years... you could give this one a go.

LITTLE KID WATCHABILITY: Boys would love this movie. Lots of action. Best for school age. Don't show this to your preschooler!
SCARY BITS: The "Ice Giants" (an alien race) are pretty weird-looking; there's a fight between "the destroyer" and Thor near the end which is pretty full on and a whole town gets smashed to bits. But not scary for kids who like fight scenes.
GROWNUP WATCHABILITY:  Ahhh it's fine. No complaints here. I'm gonna order number two... and Captain America as well, just for fun. These movies are clean and action packed after all.

 SOME MORE OF OUR MOVIE REVIEWS 

Arthur and the Invisibles

Awesome Animal Movies

Bedtime Stories

Despicable Me vs. Megamind

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Family Movie faves: Oldies but Goodies

Gulliver's Travels

How to Train Your Dragon

Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy

Mirror Mirror

Movie Duds to Avoid

Movie Marathon: 80's Classics

Mr Popper's Penguins

Peter Pan

Rio

Rise of the Guardians

Space Jam

Tangled

The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl

The Adventures of Tintin

The Amazing Spiderman

The Avengers

The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey

The Lorax

The Muppets

The Pacifier

The Princess Bride

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

The Zookeeper

Shrek Movie Marathon

Star Wars Movies (Episodes I-VI)

Titanic

Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Narnia III)

Wreck-It Ralph

(For more movie reviews and theme night ideas, click the TV)

If you haven't tried Fatso Online DVD rental before, check out my post about why I love it. 

Then click the box above and use the magic code FAMILY45 to get a Month's Free Trial 

on the Super Plan (worth $28.99).

What are your favourite family movies? We're desperate for some more recommendations...

Enjoy the holidays!

♥

A Beautiful Brunch (with a Blog Buddy) *and recipes*

Such a glorious combination: good friends + good food.
There's nothing I like better than hosting a friend (or two), whether it's for coffee, dinner... or brunch.

This weekend a lovely blog friend of mine, Deb (she of the magical hug-giving quilts) made a pilgrimage to Auckland to escape the -2oC temperatures of Christchurch. (We northern softies have been shivering in our ugg boots at our frosty 11oC mornings, but Deb felt her spine un-thaw for the first time in months, when she landed here, apparently).

[Photo by Deb]

Anyhoo, she was here, she had a free morning and she wanted to meet up.
Problem.
I am on my own with three kids while hubby gads about in TinselTown. I could only imagine the stress of dragging that noisy lot to a civilised cafe and asking them to "sssssshhhhh!!" for long enough so we could have a meaningful conversation. Pigs might sooner fly.

So I did the only thing I could do: I invited her here for brunch, to my at-home cafe.
(There was a thought - briefly - of the kids playing barrista/waiter/waitress but I realised the potential for mess and mayhem in enough time to ditch that plan).

Isn't it nice to be able to welcome friends onto your own space? Show them another slice of who you are? Turn the blog-photos into a 3D animated live set?

(Give yourself motivation to vacuum...?)

I made Deb a two-course brunch. The table looked pretty set with my mix-n-match china plates, a pretty vintage tablecloth, and some blooms from a flowering tree in a little milk bottle. Deb arrived just as I was writing the "menu" on the blackboard...

Omelette with ham and cheese followed by waffles with berries and maple syrup. Plus orange juice and real (nespresso) coffee. Better than any cafe, I reckon.

Sure the waffles are from a packet in the freezer and the juice isn't hand-squeezed, but I made the berry sauce myself and whipped up the omelette while Deb and I chatted. (It's so easy; recipe below)

Deb is a very special person who I have got to know through blogging. This is only the third time I've met her in real life (and the first time we barely exchanged three words) but her kindness has touched my life on a number of occasions. Her generosity of spirit and the words of wisdom she has shared with me have made such a difference; probably far more than she knows. We share a number of similar parenting challenges but she's a little further down the road than I am. I glean so much from talking with her - practical advice, but also that rarest of treasures: hope.

So it was a privilege to sit with my friend in my windowseat, to host her in my home and to serve her up a yummy brunch. Way better than going to a cafe, IMHO. (Plus nobody asked us to leave when the kids started wrestling, which is always a bonus).

Deb blogs at Works in Progress and writes beautifully and honestly, as well as always having amazing quilts and crafty projects on the go and being a full time student (She is well known for her amazing "quilt hugs" - one of which is residing in my lounge, after I received it when I was in hospital last year).

Easy Peasy Whip-it-up-in-a-jiffy Omelette

INGREDIENTS
6 eggs
a splash of low-fat milk
grated mozzarella cheese
shaved diced ham
garlic butter/margarine
salt and pepper to taste
chopped mushrooms (optional)

• Preheat the oven on "grill"
• Whisk the eggs together with the milk, salt and pepper
• In a large frypan, melt the garlic butter on high until sizzling, then reduce heat to medium and pour in eggs
• Sprinkle over diced ham (mushrooms if you have them) and grated cheese
• Allow to cook through until beginning to set then move the frypan under the grill to cook the top
• When golden and bubbling on top remove from the oven and serve on toast with chutney on the side

SERVES 4-5*

*(if you are happy to generously share some with your kids because you know there are also waffles on the menu and that way they will not complain and will leave you in peace to talk to your friend)

Berry Topping for Waffles

INGREDS
approximately a cup of frozen mixed berries
the juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon of sugar
a dash of water

Put all ingredients in a small saucepan on a low-medium heat and simmer, stirring occasionally until softened and combined. Serve on waffles - the frozen kind are just fine.

FOR PERFECT FROZEN WAFFLES (that would cost heaps in a Cafe):
Toast your frozen waffles on number 2. Any more than that they will be too dark, bitter and burnt.
When popped, drizzle over maple syrup, then top with berries and a puff of squirty cream.

Yum Yum Yum.
Enjoy!

[Photo by Deb]

More of my favourite easy peasy recipes HERE

Staggering to the End of Term...

The sun is shining now, but earlier this morning you'd think Mrs Washalot was up heaven's Faraway Tree emptying her washbucket (the rain was pouring down).

Last day of term couldn't come soon enough for me.
This has been an epic week round these parts. It's been our School's performance week, which the classes have all worked towards for months. Concerts have been held Tuesday (Seniors), Wednesday (Middle school) and Thursday (Juniors) with four (count-em FOUR) performances each day: A dress rehearsal, a matinee and two evening performances.
Suffice it to say the kids are knackered. And ropey.

[I took Miss fab to see the musical "Annie" last week; it was fab. But very wet.]

Along with the high emotion and pumping adrenaline of stage debuts we also have the usual daily after school juggling act, plus yesterday Daddy flew out to America.

My yesterday went like this...

7.40am drop Dash at the bus; 8:15am get to school/work;
9am locate class (workmen in our classroom; everything's topsy turvy; no desks, no chairs, no books); do the best you can
11am finish work (and dash about madly looking for lost umbrella);
11.30am host bookclub lunch; 2pm wave goodbye to guests,
2.15pm help hubby repack suitcase; 2.30pm race to mall to buy leggings for Fab's next performance;
3pm pick up kids from school; 3.10pm pick up hubby and take him to the airport
4.27pm drive through McD's and pick up dinner; eat burger while negotiating rush-hour traffic
5pm get Scrag to his classroom for first evening performance; watch said performance
6.30pm stand in queue for coffee
*fire alarm goes off* *see barefoot, coatless kids in costumes lining up on a freezing cold winter's night* *race to classroom to find Scrag's gumboots and jacket* *snuggle kids on the netball courts to help them stay warm til the all-clear sounds* 
7pm line up again for coffee; 7.30pm Scrag's second performance is done so grab him and his buddy who needs dropped off; locate umbrellas (which are lost again)drop off buddy
8pm pick up Dash from his friend's house where he waited after training; finally head home and chase the kids into bed
8.20pm sit rubbing the back of a totally wired and exhausted six-year-old who just had the biggest day of his life
9pm collapse on the couch and thank God tomorrow is the last day of school

[Mother-daughter "date" night out at Annie, bonding in the rain, cos we forgot our umbrella]

I have a plan to survive the school holidays with Daddy out of the country.
(You have to have a plan if you want to stay sane, especially in winter)
The biggest thing that gets to me about school holidays (and family life) is when the kids start fighting, when they never stop niggling, harassing each other and squabbling.

I heard somewhere about the effectiveness of having a group goal to help unite the kids as a team and get them working together.

Here's the plan:
You let them know you are looking for "cooperation" "kindness" "helpfulness" etc and when you see it a marble goes in the jar. They can also nominate each other for a marble (if they see someone being awesome, but you miss it).
When the jar is full they all get to enjoy a group treat of some kind (e.g. an outing to the movies etc).
The more kindness/helpfulness we see, the more marbles go in the jar, the faster we get to go to the movies.
You get the idea?

[The clever marble rocket; turn the dial to release a marble into either side]

I've resurrected this cool marble rocket (made by my friend Meg's clever hubby, which I *ahem* borrowed a while ago. (Meg, were you wondering where that rocket got to? Um, it's still here.)

We'll fill up our rocket with marbles earned from being helpful (to me) and kind (to each other).
The kinder and more helpful we are the sooner we get to go to the movies.

It's gotta work, right?

[I made this invite on my phone using a free app called "Phonto" while sitting at cheerleading]

I'm also planning to host a "Book Party" in the first week of the holidays. We are inviting our friends to come dressed as their favourite book character, and bring book-themed food. It'll be fun and probably pretty crazy. But you know I love a party.

[Book Party Food ideas; some from Pinterest and a few of my own]

For the rest of the time, I anticipate plenty of PJ days, book snuggle sleepovers and party prep crafting sessions. Maybe a spot of op-shopping and/or a Masterchef cooking day. Perhaps some ice skating if the marble jar is really going well... and loads of movie nights.

One thing's for sure, we'll be chillin out and enjoying not having to rush off anywhere.

How do you plan to spend the school holidays?

What was I THINKING???!

You know how when you've had a bump on the head you get a bit addle-brained?
Well, that's been me lately: fuzzy-headed, slow-witted, easily confused - even more than usual. Which is saying a lot.

So when it came to Miss Fab's upcoming birthday sleepover it should be easy to see how I nearly landed myself in a whole world of pain.

It started off with a nice simple plan and a nice simple list of six school friends to invite.
Then came the drama and playground politics - which if anyone has a pre-teen girl, you'll know what I'm talking about. (The kind of schoolgirl drama that makes you lie awake at night in mortal terror of the imminent teenage years).

It begins like this: "Lulu* didn't invite me to her sleepover! I can't believe she invited Bessie and didn't invite me! I've known her way longer! If she didn't invite me, then that's it, I'm not inviting her either..."

It continues like this: Mum tries to convince the birthday girl to be the bigger person and invite Lulu anyway (they've been friends for years, she's friends with Lulu's mum, plus she's a nice quiet girl) but it's a hard sell. Birthday girl has two other friends she NEEDS to invite. Girls who invited her to their parties (we'll call them Ethel and Doris).

Finally mum says, "Look, if you invite Lulu to your sleepover even though she didn't invite you to hers, you can have an extra person on the list, and your other two friends can both come too."
Birthday girl is satisfied. She finds the grace to be a bigger person after all.

But all of a sudden the guest list has grown by two extra bodies. At a SLEEPOVER.
Anyone who has ever had a bunch of girls for a sleepover will know that is no small thing. Every extra giggling gertie makes a contribution to the noise level and pushes out the hour of sleep exponentially.

The final straw is when you sit down at the computer to print out the invitations, your guest list already bulging, your head already beginning to pound in anticipation...
At this point the emotional blackmail begins.
"Muuuuum, Susie* sits at our table and if I invite everyone else from our table and not her she's going to feel real bad. Don't you think? Can you imagine how she'll feel if she's the ONLY ONE not coming...?"

In a moment of weakness you cave. OK Susie can come. The guest list is now sitting intimidatingly at TEN.
You try to calculate in your head how this will work. The chances of anyone getting any sleep at any time looks mighty slim.
To make matters worse, the Daddy of the family will be out of town with big brother. Mum will have no backup, no help, no sheriff with the big boomy voice to stalk in and enforce quietness.

Ten girls. Sleeping over.
Mum feels physically ill.
It simply can't be done.

So this morning Mum gathered up her courage and faced down her daughter, knowing there would be tears, slammed doors and protestations of "It's not fair! but you SAID!"

Sorry Lulu (who hadn't yet been told) but we're going to have to cut back. Ruthless numbers policy must return. Lulu must leave the list after all. It's only fair. We just don't have the mental capacity to be bigger people this time.
Doris had not been informed of her inclusion on the list either, so she is culled as well, never knowing how close she came to being invited to a night of endless giggling mayhem.
And finally, Susie (that straw which broke the camel's back) is also culled. Now she's not the only one from the table not coming, she's in good company. They'll all get over it.

Sorry girls, I wish we could invite you all. If it was a regular party, not a sleepover, I'd make room for you all, somehow. As it stands, my fragile mental health would not survive ten girls at a sleepover. Without a doubt hubby would return to find me in a fetal position, hiding under the table, rocking.

We are now back to six guests, plus the birthday girl. It might be almost manageable.
The sick sense of dread has abated. I can now get on with party prep without feel a sense of impending doom.

Because really, TEN girls for a sleepover? Who would do that? What on earth was I thinking?


* Not their real names
.........................

Have you ever had the guest list dilemma/drama?

Mrs Readalot's Latest List of Books Worth Reading

First of all, let me just say that Mrs Readalot has read a bunch of books lately, but not all of them are worth recommending - or even mentioning. Some of those books are simply forgettable, others are difficult to remember. Either way they do not rate a place here on this list of Books Worth Reading.

We shall begin with a book (or rather "series of books") which piqued Mrs R's interest after she saw the movie trailer...

Here we have the Divergent series, by Veronica Roth, which has been made into an action packed movie (it's well worth seeing and/or taking your tween/teen to. Loads of action, an interesting plot, very clean and suitable for older kids who can handle fight scenes; Mrs R took Dash to it and he thoroughly enjoyed it, as did she. Dash will begin reading Divergent once he finishes Mockingjay, Book Three of the Hunger Games series).

"I wanted to read this book/series after I saw the movie trailer; the concept of the story really appealed to me and I had heard it compared to The Hunger Games, which I loved. Apparently "Tris" (Divergent's protagonist) will give Katniss a run for her money. Divergent is the new dystopian adventure with a strong female lead.
All true, indeed, at least as far as both series are dystopian YA novels with strong female lead characters, but there the similarity ends. The Divergent world is intriguing but nothing like the world of the Hunger Games; it's a place where people are categorised by their dominant characteristic and organised into "factions" (Dauntless/fearless; Abnegation/service; Candor/honesty; Erudite/knowledge and Amity/kindness). At age sixteen, each person undergoes an aptitude test to determine which of these factions whey will belong to for the rest of their lives. Our hero, Tris, has grown up in Abnegation, but her test results are inconclusive. She is "divergent", with aptitude for three factions, which for some reason makes her dangerous to those in control.

As the story unfolds throughout the three books we learn more about the reason for this society's strange system; it's not what you'd think.
I enjoyed this series all the way through (though I did get a little annoyed with Tris's internal dialogue at times)... but the ending? I hated the ending. At the end of Book Three I wanted to hunt down the author and slap her silly. What was she thinking???!!
I won't tell you why her ending left me annoyed and irritated because I hate spoilers and you really should read it for yourself because in spite of the annoying twist at the end the book did carry me on an adventure. It was original, the characters were believable, there was loads of action and plenty of nail-biting, page-turning moments. Just don't say I didn't warn you if/when you read this series about the less-than satisfactory last-minute twist. (Come back here and tell me what you thought). 
All in all, a worthwhile read, but in my humble opinion it doesn't come close to the awesomeness of the Hunger Games (and I reckon Katniss could take down Tris any day)."

MRS READALOT GIVES THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ♥♥♥♥♥

[Source]

Next we have Silver Linings Playbook, another book with a movie version (which Mrs Readalot loved). Mrs R had heard loads of people raving about the book ("it's even better than the film - and I LOVED the film" etc) so when she skipped the country for a week in Fiji, where she just knew there would be loads of reading-by-the-pool-time, she was desperate to get hold of this book. Eventually a kind friend came to the rescue and lent her her Kindle, which was loaded with dozens of books, including Silver Linings Playbook. Yippee!

"I started reading this on the plane, and I was instantly hooked. It helped that I could imagine the delicious Bradley Cooper as Pat, and the divine Jennifer Lawrence as Tiffany. Those two are perfect for each other. So in my head, Bradley and Jennifer played out this story; a messed up obsessive guy (Pat) who has been in some kind of mental institution finally gets out and tries to return to life.

The book differs quite a bit from the movie, it has to be said. The crazy bet made by Pat's dad doesn't feature in the book at all; and we never get to meet Pat's wife either. I guess the book didn't need the extra drama and action, whereas the movie director might have felt more excitement was required.

Right, back to the book. I loved Pat's "voice". My favourite books are the ones written in first-person. I feel like I get to know the characters better; I feel like I'm really inside the story because I'm inside their head. In this book, being inside Pat's head is an interesting experience. At first you have no clue what is going on, because Pat is in denial. He has no idea how long he's been "inside"; he doesn't know why he was there or why his wife left. Everything he does is with an aim to win her back. Poor Pat. I liked pat a lot.

There are a few choice words, but not heaps (for those who hate books full of profanity) and they do only feature where appropriate to the story.

So should you read this book? Yes. It's gritty, it's hopeful and it's funny/sad, just like the movie. Definitely glad I got to read this.

MRS READALOT GIVES SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK: ♥♥♥♥♥

Finally we have Winter of the World by Ken Follett (no movie version this time). Mrs R stumbled over this one on her friend's Kindle while in Fiji. She had read a couple of Ken's earlier books (Pillars of the Earth, World Without End) and mistakenly thought this was a continuation of that series, only to discover that she had landed slap-bang in the middle of a whole new series altogether. And what a series!

"One of my favourite eras for historical fiction is World War II, and after a moment of confusion at finding myself not in medieval England building cathedrals, but in Nazi Germany 1933, I was quickly drawn into this massive epic novel.
I thought I knew a lot about WWII and the Nazis, but oh boy, I learnt a few new things reading this book! Ken researches his books meticulously and tells the story through the eyes of various different families who are up close and personal with history in various corners of the world: Russia, Germany, England and the USA. In this book I learnt about the British Fascist movement (and how close they came to gaining dominance), the Nazi euthanasia programme, the Russian nuclear programme and Pearl Harbour, among many other things. What can I say? I loved it. And then I realised it was a series. Now I'm on the hunt for Book One, Fall of Giants (World War I and the Russian Revolution) to be followed by Book three, Edge of Eternity (due to be released in September 2014). Ah Ken, thanks for continuing my education about world history in such an enjoyable fashion. I love your work."

MRS READALOT GIVES WINTER OF THE WORLD: ♥♥♥♥♥

...................

Just one more little thing - a bonus tidbit for you.
I've been wanting my kids to read the Narnia books for themselves, like, forever, but have yet to persuade them to give those classic books a try (my absolute favourites growing up) so I decided to take matters into my own hands and start reading aloud to them on a regular basis.
I mean, I read a story to Scrag every night, but once the big kids could read for themselves I'd stopped reading to them. But guess what? They may be able to read chapter books themselves, but I have been surprised how much my big kids enjoy being read to. Reading a story aloud is an awesome way to finish the day.
It settles everyone down and is a wonderful way to calm down over-stimulated brains; plus it's so cosy next to the fire cuddled up on the couch on a rainy winter's night.

We began with The Silver Chair, as the kids have seen all the Narnia movies and The Silver Chair is the next part of the story. Having seen the movies they can imagine the characters and the setting, so that eases them right into imagining the story in their mind's eye. I've always particularly liked this book; there are giants, enchantments, a mystery and a dangerous quest - all the best elements for a great story.
The kids are loving it and really look forward to story time. We finally finished the first book on Saturday night, and now they are keen to move on to the next instalment, "The Last Battle".
After that, we'll try The Magicians Nephew; oh I just LOVE C.S. Lewis. Great stories for reading aloud.

More book reviews on Mrs Readalot's BookClub Page