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The Rocky Road to Ruin
8.0
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Justice will be swirled by amateur sleuth Riley Rhodes in the first in Meri Allen's brand-new...
Necessary Lies
10.0
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Bestselling author Diane Chamberlain delivers a breakout book about a small southern town fifty...
ClareR (5784 KP) rated Amy and Lan in Books
Dec 7, 2022
I was really looking forward to reading Amy and Lan after having read and really enjoyed Sadie Jones’ previous book The Snakes. I now realise that I have more books by the author to read (a 2023 challenge, perhaps?!), because if Amy and Lan and The Snakes are anything to go by, I’ll love them.
Amy and Lan have what appears to be the perfect childhood. They live on a small farm with their families and friends, and are striving for self-sufficiency. The children are left to run free, playing with axes, climbing on haystacks, and playing in woodland. There’s the odd bit of helping on the farm as well. It’s idyllic, and I loved reading about it.
The only “Spanners” in the works are their parents. The problem with living and working in such close proximity is that old saying “familiarity breeds contempt”. Well, in this case, it breeds contempt, dissatisfaction and marital strife. The children probably come off worse when their parents start to argue. And their lives begin to change.
This is such a touching, funny, emotional book - Amy and Lan’s relationship especially. But relationships change, especially when little girls and boys grow up, and Lan describes these changes so well.
This doesn’t read like a children’s book, even thought the main characters are children. They are in an adults world that impacts on them to a life-changing extent.
Highly recommended.
Amy and Lan have what appears to be the perfect childhood. They live on a small farm with their families and friends, and are striving for self-sufficiency. The children are left to run free, playing with axes, climbing on haystacks, and playing in woodland. There’s the odd bit of helping on the farm as well. It’s idyllic, and I loved reading about it.
The only “Spanners” in the works are their parents. The problem with living and working in such close proximity is that old saying “familiarity breeds contempt”. Well, in this case, it breeds contempt, dissatisfaction and marital strife. The children probably come off worse when their parents start to argue. And their lives begin to change.
This is such a touching, funny, emotional book - Amy and Lan’s relationship especially. But relationships change, especially when little girls and boys grow up, and Lan describes these changes so well.
This doesn’t read like a children’s book, even thought the main characters are children. They are in an adults world that impacts on them to a life-changing extent.
Highly recommended.
Darren (1599 KP) rated Nanny McPhee Returns (2010) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
Story: Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang starts as we meet mother Isabel (Gyllenhaal) who is trying to run the family home and raise her three children, while her husband is away at war, adding to her pressure is her brother-in-law Phil (Ifans) that is looking to get money and two cousins added to the family that are used to the luxury life.
When Isabel starts struggling, she gets the call from Nanny McPhee (Thompson) who offers to help put the children back in line with her magic. The children must learn to work together to help the farm stay in the right hands.
Thoughts on Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
Characters – Nanny McPhee is the magical nanny that comes to family’s when they are in need of support, she has come to this family in their time of need to help teach them how to be together in one of the most difficult times in their lives, the war, she brings her rules like before as she looks to bring the best out in the people. Isabel is the mother of the three that is trying to run and farm and work, her husband is at war, with the uncertainty of whether he will be returning. She doesn’t want help, but must accept it to keep the pressures of her life away from her children. Phil is the brother-in-law to Isabel, he has created his own gambling debts and wants the farm to clear the debts, he will do anything to get what he needs. Mrs Docherty is the boss of Isabel and family friend, she isn’t quite all there which makes her character come off funnier than she should. The children do come from different worlds which does see them clash in the time of conflict.
Performances – Emma Thompson does continue to enjoy playing this role which she handles with ease. Maggie Gyllenhaal gets to play the role well through the film, which shows us just how difficult a position her character is in. Rhys Ifans does everything you would imagine in the comedy role in the film, while Maggie Smith also adds plenty of comedy through the film.
Story – The story here follows a mother that takes over the family farm with her husband away at war, with money running low and the stress of life getting to her, that gets help from Nanny McPhee. The story here easily becomes a much more serious one because we are dealing with children that are being separated from their parents during war, where they don’t know if their family will be together once the war is over. This story does have a very different tone to the first one, one that does feel real, even though it does seem slightly stranger for Nanny McPhee to be here, this time around. The story here is more entertaining than the original which is always a good thing.
Comedy/Fantasy – The comedy in the film does hit better than the first film, most of it comes from the arguments which feel funnier, the fantasy in the film does work too, which ends up blending with the comedy involved.
Settings – The film is mostly set within one farm which does show us just how much trouble the family will be facing in their time of need.
Special Effects – The effects here are the biggest step back sadly because we can see the CGI moments looking completely out of place.
Scene of the Movie – Connection.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The CGI.
Final Thoughts – This is a great sequel that does have a strong story to cover up the weaker CGI being used in the film.
Overall: Wonderful sequel.
When Isabel starts struggling, she gets the call from Nanny McPhee (Thompson) who offers to help put the children back in line with her magic. The children must learn to work together to help the farm stay in the right hands.
Thoughts on Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
Characters – Nanny McPhee is the magical nanny that comes to family’s when they are in need of support, she has come to this family in their time of need to help teach them how to be together in one of the most difficult times in their lives, the war, she brings her rules like before as she looks to bring the best out in the people. Isabel is the mother of the three that is trying to run and farm and work, her husband is at war, with the uncertainty of whether he will be returning. She doesn’t want help, but must accept it to keep the pressures of her life away from her children. Phil is the brother-in-law to Isabel, he has created his own gambling debts and wants the farm to clear the debts, he will do anything to get what he needs. Mrs Docherty is the boss of Isabel and family friend, she isn’t quite all there which makes her character come off funnier than she should. The children do come from different worlds which does see them clash in the time of conflict.
Performances – Emma Thompson does continue to enjoy playing this role which she handles with ease. Maggie Gyllenhaal gets to play the role well through the film, which shows us just how difficult a position her character is in. Rhys Ifans does everything you would imagine in the comedy role in the film, while Maggie Smith also adds plenty of comedy through the film.
Story – The story here follows a mother that takes over the family farm with her husband away at war, with money running low and the stress of life getting to her, that gets help from Nanny McPhee. The story here easily becomes a much more serious one because we are dealing with children that are being separated from their parents during war, where they don’t know if their family will be together once the war is over. This story does have a very different tone to the first one, one that does feel real, even though it does seem slightly stranger for Nanny McPhee to be here, this time around. The story here is more entertaining than the original which is always a good thing.
Comedy/Fantasy – The comedy in the film does hit better than the first film, most of it comes from the arguments which feel funnier, the fantasy in the film does work too, which ends up blending with the comedy involved.
Settings – The film is mostly set within one farm which does show us just how much trouble the family will be facing in their time of need.
Special Effects – The effects here are the biggest step back sadly because we can see the CGI moments looking completely out of place.
Scene of the Movie – Connection.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The CGI.
Final Thoughts – This is a great sequel that does have a strong story to cover up the weaker CGI being used in the film.
Overall: Wonderful sequel.
Laura (6 KP) rated The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019) in Movies
Jun 11, 2019
Good for a kids film
After seeing the secret Life of pets, I felt I needed to then see the second one. We opted for the new odeon luxe that has opened. I feel that this may have contributed to an increased score. The storyline was good, no prolonged intro which was great for the kids. Some scary moments which my daughter wasn't too impressed with but every movie needs its ups and downs! Some excellent humour and some excellent correlation to real life (fox in the farm, cone of shame). Overall, something just didn't hit the spot to say it was fantastic, however overall a good film
Nicole Hadley (380 KP) rated Where Is My Coat? Farm Animals in Books
Jun 18, 2018
Where Is My Coat? Farm Animals by Anita Bijsterbosch is a cute board book for very young children who like to play fun and simple guessing games with pictures of cozy-colored animals at play. It is a a pleasant and easy read.
Animal shapes are shown and you are asked what they are. It is very interactive. Kids will need to use their visual skills to figure out what type of animal is depicted. The illustrations are super cute and the colors draw you in. This is a good book to use for teaching animals to small children.
I received this ARC from Clavis Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Animal shapes are shown and you are asked what they are. It is very interactive. Kids will need to use their visual skills to figure out what type of animal is depicted. The illustrations are super cute and the colors draw you in. This is a good book to use for teaching animals to small children.
I received this ARC from Clavis Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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