If You're Happy and You Know It (Aussie Edition) by P Crumble

Rating: 5 out of 5
Format: Paper back
Publisher: Schoolastic Australia
Language: English
ISBN: 174169891X
Age Range: 2-5

This review is nice and easy as the book really reviews it's self. You remember the childhood song "if you're happy and you know it"? Yes? well that is basically this book except it has an Australian twist.

This book uses Australian animals and different actions which makes it fun and interesting for kids (and adults) to read. My little guy loves doing the noises and recognises from the pictures what he is supposed to do, he often is making the noises as soon as I turn the page. When reading the story you cant help but sing the tune.


My sons favourite part is :

"If you're a Tassie Devil and you know it, let out a growl.
If you're a Tassie Devil and you know it, let out a growl.
If you're a Tassie Devil and you know it then your really should just show it,
If you're a Tassie Devil and you know it then let out a growl!"

The illustrations are bright and colourful. Big cartoon happy animals doing the actions in the book.


There is also a CD that comes with the book which can make a fun change for keeping the book fresh for the kids.


This book is just so much fun and your toddler will LOVE it. I would be very surprised if your toddler (and your self) did not like this book. It certainly is a favourite in our house.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Rating: 5 out of 5
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 791 KB
Publisher: Penguin (July 23, 2009)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B002RI97LG

I recently got to read the book shortly after watching the movie. I did this deliberately because I NEVER like a movie based on a book if I watch it after having read the book. As there are plenty of The Help book reviews around I thought I would do a comparison between the book and movie.

The movie adaptation over all to be quite good. The actors were well cast and the script kept the essence of each of the main characters. It was pleasing to see that Octavia Spencer won the best supporting actress Oscar for her role as Minny. She absolutely nailed Minny I felt. As is to be expected the movie does leave out some details or skims over events. In one case it kept the essence of a couple of scenes but merged them in to one. I cried in some parts of the film and felt the movie delivered the message of the film effectively and beautifully.

However the book naturally is much better. So much better. It delivers the story with so much more ompf. There is more depth and back ground to the characters and the world they live in. You get a greater sense of what a dangerous thing writing this book was. You were swept along with the characters and completely invested in them.

Celia Foote has a greater role in the book and is not so ditzy as portrayed in the movie. I must admit after reading her character's story in the book and her interaction with Minny things in the movie made more sense. I also had more compassion and admiration for Celia in the book then I did in the movie. The book version of Celia was one of my favorite characters, the movie version was cute but didn't drive home the same message or evoke the same feelings.

My biggest love of the book was that it didn't get bogged down in the racial tension that was surrounding the characters at the time. It really focused on the relationships and the weird love/hate dynamic and the weird views between the white folk and the African American help. On the one hand you had white adults who wouldn't let the help use their toilets due to fear of disease, yet had no problems with them changing their babies nappies. The help could clean (and thus touch) the dishes but were not allowed to eat off them.

The book also had a strong focus on the absolute love and devotion the children and the help have for each other. Some of the most beautiful moment were with Aibileen and the child she cared for. The mantra she would say to Mae Mobley "You is kind. You is smart. You is important" is a beautiful thing for everyone to remember.

The movie focused a little to much on the book writing side of the story for my liking. Which while I was watching the film was fine, but after reading the book annoyed me a little. The movie did touch on the relationships but for me was not as powerful as the book.

Overall the book is the winner hands down, so you really need to separate the movie to the book. They are different almost different entities. I enjoyed both but for different reasons. But I am glad I watched the movie first otherwise I would have hated it. I would not hesitate to recommend either the book or movie though.

I read this as part of the book reading club The Orange Prize Project, where readers commit to read at least one book nominated for the Orange Prize For Fiction in the months of January or July (mainly during these two months but others read all year round).

If you would like to read some of my reviews for other Orange Prize for Fiction books please click on the links below to my previous reviews:

• The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
• Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
• The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

Songs For February 2012

February was a bit of a rubbish month for me for a lot of reasons. Glad to see the back of it to be honest. Let me know if you have problems viewing any of the videos.

Simple Plan - Summer Paradise.
I notice on youtibe this has Australia in brackets so I don't know if it means the video is just of their Aussie tour or it's just an Aussie release so far. Anyway this is such a fun relaxing tune.



Foo Fighters - These Days
I really like this song at the moment.
 


B.O.B ft Hayley Williams - Aeroplanes
A lovely song that I really love. I did listen a bit to this song this month.
 


Kelly Clarkson - What Doesn't Kill You.
I love Kelly Clarkson she rocks, I dont think there is a song of hers I hate. But this song is a bit fitting for this month and wanted to finish this post with a more upbeat song.

Movie Reviews: February 2012

A slow month this month but never mind. I will have to rethink the images side of this post since blogger updated its lay out I cant seem to get them to do what I used to before. To be honest it's annoying me to fiddle with them. Anyway on to the reviews.


Hugo - C
For me I just didn't get this movie, I had a "am I watching the same movie as everyone else" moment. To be fair I was pretty tired and not in the mood,  so it was probably all just the wrong time to watch this film for me. Hubby enjoyed it and a good friend of mine did too, but me I found it very meh. I did like the cinematography though it was spectacular, and I loved the history of the movie industry when it introduced to the story.

This Means War - B+

A silly romantic comedy with an actiony edge to it. There are no surprises here script wise and the acting to be honest is nothing outstanding. I actually enjoyed Chelsea Handler's character (and acting) a lot. I saw the ending coming from about half way through but meh I enjoyed it she was very funny as the best friend. It's cute and silly and if you check your brain at the door you will enjoy it (if you like this sort of thing).

Ghost Story (Harry Dresden Book 13) by Jim Butcher

Rating: 4 out of 5
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 793 KB
Print Length: 497 pages
ISBN: 1841497614
Publisher: Hachette Digital (July 28, 2011)
Sold by: Hachette Book Group
Language: English
ASIN: B0057MLQWW

 Ghost Story is the latest instalment in the Harry Dresden series. In the last book Changes we were left with a cliff hanger ending. Which will make this review very short and vague as I do not want to spoil it for people who have not yet read Changes. But the events from Changes impact directly on this book.

I loved the development of Harry, Molly, Karrin, and Butters. Good or bad all the main characters in Harry’s life have been deeply effected by the events in Changes. The time between Changes and Ghost Story (Ghost Story is set 6 months after Changes) has seen some major changes with the main characters, and most of those changes are bad. In all honesty the only character who seemed to be improved was Butters, but he was not involved in the final smack down of Changes so that maybe why. I really liked Butters in this book (I have liked him in the other books as well), he really seems to have come into his own. The strength of this book I feel is the character development.

The usual Harry Dresden story elements are all there and are enjoyable but the focus of this book is Harry and him having a serious self reflection. While this was happening it didn’t feel forced or a gimmick, it blended well with the story and will hopefully provide a new direction for the series. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and if you like the series you will no doubt already have this in your to be read book pile.

No LOL Cat review today (sorry) but found this clip of Jim Butcher reading an excerpt from the first chapter. Enjoy!

Goddess Girls: Athena the Brain (Book 1) by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams

Rating 4 out 5 (for under 10 girls)
Rating 3 out 5 (for everyone else)
Reading Age: 8-10
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Aladdin; Original edition (April 6, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 141698271X
ISBN-13: 978-1416982715

"Athena thought she was a regular human girl until she receives a letter from her father, Zeus the king of the gods (and principal of Mount Olympus Academy). Zeus requests that Athena come attend MOA and, hoping her eccentricities will fit in better with the other god boys and goddess girls than they do with mortals, she happily accepts. While at school, Athena quickly makes friends--and enemies--with the other god boys and goddess girls and learns how to adjust to life as a goddess."

This story is set in ancient Greece when the gods were children in school. This story follows Athena as she starts her life at the god school and adjusts to this world. I loved the characters, they were fun and  captured their essences really well.

The book is really well researched and the Greek mythology is woven into the stories and personalities. For instance Athena is brainy, Aphrodite is beautiful and obsessed with boys, and Pandora is obsessed with gossip. Their school personalities reflect their adult persona's. The story of Helen of Troy is also woven into this book in a fun and quirky way.

The story is a quick, and an easy light read (for an avid reader). I knocked it over in about an hour while sitting on the plane flying off to my Christmas holidays. It really is just a cute story that is fun and light.

My only quibble was the ending. It just seemed to stop with a few things left unresolved. I sat there flicking the last pages thinking “is that it?” But as this is a series of books (with each book following a different goddess) perhaps the stories flow into each other?

Young girls (roughly 8-10) will probably love this series and relate to it best. It is also a great introduction to the Greek Gods and Goddesses. If I get my hands on other books in the series I will definitely give it a read.

1Q84 Contest Winner

Firstly a big thank you to all who entered my first ever competition. I was thrilled with the response. Now on to the important business.

**insert drum roll**

The winner is.......

Harvey from Book Dilettante.

Congratulations Harvey! you should receive your copy of 1Q84 in the next week or two (depending on international shipping). I hope you enjoy the book.

Again a huge thank you to all who entered and a big thank you to Random House Australia for providing me with the copy to give away.