As I mentioned recently, my two-year-old daughter is completely obsessed with The Highway Rat at the moment. The animated version – which was on BBC1 over Christmas – has really captured her imagination. Indeed, she regularly recounts favourite moments in the same intonation as the voice talent! She was very happy, then, when a review …
Amelie’s favourite thing at the moment is The Highway Rat. She was already familiar with the excellent book but it’s fair to say that the brilliant TV adaptation at Christmas has piqued her interest. As a result, it’s the first story she has at bedtime every night and she demands to watch the animation at …
So 2017 is almost over. It’s difficult to work out whether it’s been slightly better than 2016 or just a continuation of a new, depressing norm. That’s how things seem to be in the bigger picture anyway. Closer to home, I’ve had a mixed bag. Losing my Grandma, although she’d had an amazing innings, was …
With our local library under threat of closure, I’ve been helping out with the fight to keep it open lately. As a result, the whole family experienced a first at the weekend. Our first protest march! I’m slightly ashamed that, despite coming from a family with a proud history of protesting – indeed, my Mum …
I have to admit that I really enjoyed writing my recent literary criticism of Dear Zoo. To my surprise, however, this self-indulgent act of whimsy was really well received. So much so, people have actually asked to write more of the same. So it seems that this may be the start of a series. The …
I was dismayed to learn recently that our local library is under threat of closure. In fact, East Sussex could soon lose a quarter of its libraries as a result of council plans. A consultation is underway. Meanwhile, local residents are being urged to write to their councillors to voice their opposition to the plans. …
One of Amelie’s favourite books at the moment is Dear Zoo. It’s an enduring classic, I have to admit. She enjoys the story and it’s nice reading it again after Dylan and Xander grew out of it. In fact, it’s one of the few books she hasn’t damaged, which is a sign of great esteem. …
One of the films I’m hoping to watch this summer is Spider-Man: Homecoming. I’ve enjoyed all the incarnations of everyone’s favourite web-slinger and am looking forward to seeing how the new Spidey compares. Dylan and Xander are big fans too. Indeed, Dylan’s main topic at school this term has been ‘heroes’. As a result, some of his …
Although we do our best to teach Dylan and Xander about sexism, they both come out with some utter nonsense at times. For example, I’ve heard the line “That’s a girl’s colour” far too much. Similarly, I’ve had to point out to them on several occasions recently that women can be doctors. They seem to …
Xander got a book of fairy tales for Christmas. As he’s so obsessed with anything screen related, we were somewhat surprised when he asked for it. We were happy that he did, of course, and have been reading them regularly since. I’d forgotten how fire and brimstone some of them are. In the compendium we got …