I’ve recently been thoroughly enjoying redoing the Usborne Puzzle Adventure series with my son (just turned 6). He’s at the age where he can do some of the puzzles by himself and most of the others with a little help, which make them a great joint activity. A child a little older could do them independently. For those unfamiliar with them, they are stories where on most pages you have to solve a puzzle to proceed, the puzzles typically comprising…
Having at long last watched Jurassic Park III and been pleasantly surprised, I now feel able to give an informed opinion about their relative quality, from best to worst. 1. Jurassic Park. The original and still the best. The special effects have aged tremendously well for a film that’s nearly 30 years old, the characters are brilliant and the combination of wonder, terror and pacing is still unmatched. 2. Jurassic World. A surprisingly effect restart to the series, hitting all…
One of Gerald Durrell’s less well-known books, I first read this myself as a child and have recently read it to my own son, aged five. It was an amazing hit – we read the whole book (95 pages) in under 24 hours – and deservedly so: it’s full of Durrell’s trade-mark charm, description and humour, with added adventure. The plot follows three children who accompany their great-uncle back to the Mezozoic era to track a pair of villains who…