Order early??

Ordered the HSM Annual 3wks ago along with some other items and was told the other items would be dispatched straight away but the HSM Annual would not be sent until at least 1st December,be aware of this delay if you are getting it for someones birthday as theres a chance of it not arriving on time if not ordered early enough.This needs to be bared in mind for Xmas too.
Good price,shame about long wait on delivery.

Absorbing yet inplausible

I found it hard to believe that a child of Bruno's age could be so unaware of what was taking place in Nazi Germany. He seemed to have never noticed Jews wearing the Stars of David on the streets, nor even to have heard the word Jew until he hears it from Shmuel. He meets Adolf Hitler and is underwhelmed by him. Given that his father is a high-ranking official in the Nazi regime this seems unlikely and it somewhat undermined the book's credibility for me.

Also the fact that he befriends Shmuel for over a year is a farce. Any one who has studied the Holocaust knows that Jewish children were killed as soon as they entered the concentration camps.

Nevertheless, it is an absorbing book to read. The ending brutal. Throughout the book you know that this story cannot end happily and you are steeling yourself for various outcomes. Having said that, I didn't see the one that came... and it hit me hard!!

This is a quick and easy book to read, but I don't think I will forget it easily.

No storyline or substance

I bought this purely based on the strong reviews here. Thought it would be an amusing book for my 3 year old niece. Unfortunately I can't agree with the positive ratings at all - there is no storyline and so little content, it was over before it really started! I agree the illustrations are quite cute so a small toddler might enjoy looking at the pictures but I think you would have to make up your own story to make it funny or interesting. Even the rhyming phrases are quite weak. I also bought another book called Room on the Broom which is so much better.

nice quite a young read really

I bought this for my 14 year old niece, who LOVES Top Gear, and I'm a bit disappointed. The book's very colourful, but it's full of word searches and `mazes', so really is far too young for anyone over the age of 8 or 9. I've just seen the Big Book of Top Gear, which is really funny, and I'm going to get that for her instead.

Success

My 4 yr old daughter BEGGED me for this after someone brought into her school. She cries and laughs every time and loves the details in the pictures. Can't think of a book that has ever captured her imagination so much. She is very worried when I prepare the fire....

Amazing

This book was AMAZING!!
Icouldn't put it down

100% reccomened read!!!

Gripping but not from the first page

I adore this series and have been waiting for Necropolis with bated breath. Was I disappointed? Ultimately, no. It was an exciting read. But I found the beginning slow, unlike Nightrise, where we were pitched straight into the action. I was frustrated with the reacapping of the previous stories (new readers can go read the other books if they want to know what happened!) But once the story got going it was fabulous - as brilliant as all vintage Horowitz. Let's have the next book soon please!

even good for adults..

My teenage daughter spent an entire weekend reading books 1 - 3 in the Twilight series so I thought I'd better try the first one. I really enjoyed it - good, pacey writing, not just aimed at teenagers. Some bits were quite funny too. A good read.

Hmmmm

Well
The first putdownable Pratchett for me
Took me a few sessions to get through this one (usally one session of about 8hrs for a new TP book)
Nice idea but just not up to usual standard imo
Really hope that this isn't the end for TP and that Unseen Academicals (or whatever the next Discworld book is called)see's a return to form.

best books i have read in ages

my daughter told me about these books, she bought the first one and I read it after her then I was hooked. Have read all four now and could not put them down. I would recommend them to any one of any age

A Classic

Not only is this book fun for young hands, as it's perfectly sized and sturdy, it is also educational. Neither the young boy I got this for or his older brother would put this down for days. It went in the car, to nursery and even to bed

Classic Beano Fun

This is for my 9 year old son for Christmas (I'm very organised this year!) I've read it just in case. Classic!

The worst book of the saga

'Twilight' was bad (in my opinion). 'New Moon' was okay at best, but had promise. 'Eclipse' is awful.

The story kicks off with our two protagonists reunited, but there is a substantial loss on Bella's side. She and her best friend, Jacob, are no longer in speaking terms due to certain events in 'New Moon'. Jacob's letter was a good, humorous touch, and probably the only highlight in this book.

If you found Bella annoying even a little bit in the two previous books, you won't be able to stand her in this one. She moans and bitches about her father not letting her see Edward as often as she'd like and treats both Edward and Jacob like crap (though admittedly, seeing her do something that is the equivalent of giving the Cullens the finger was gratifying).

Edward is just plain scary in this one. It would've been a great story if Meyer intended to write about a psychopath who wants to control every single aspect of his girlfriend's life because 'he wants to protect her', but we're supposed to find this endearing and loving. Instead, it comes off as scary and awkward to read.

The only welcome change is the fact that the plot appears throughout the book this time around. Finally, we get better pacing and I guess it was marginally interesting, but the book suffers so much from other weaknesses that the plot just doesn't save it.

It's a shame, really, because 'New Moon' showed that Meyer really tried to do better and she showed promise, but 'Eclipse' is pure garbage.

Good book.

Another great book by JW, I got this the day it came out, and read it in two days. Very addicting and quite sad at times! Although some of the chracters seem like some in other books, I noticed there were some spelling mistakes too, but otherwise, good book and worth the read.

A great gift for any Dr Who fan!

My son aged 10 is heavily into Dr Who and was dying to get this annual. He was impressed by this new one and found it both interesting and entertaining. Although a cheap gift he rated it above some of the PS2 games he was given!!! Would recommend this annual for any Dr Who fan.

Ill keep it short

Ok so theres enough people on here having big long rants pointing out all the flaws of the characters and plot so ill keep this short and maybe not so sweet.
I discovered the twilight series after book three was released so i read the first three and fell in love with the characters. I was awaiting the third book was such excitment and i was so disapointed.
The author seemed to have given up. I have read another of her recent books - Host - and it was amazing so what went wrong here?
I was actually heart broken to see how badly the series was ended.

Brings back childhood memories

I love this book! I remember it from when I was a kid, (more than 30 years ago!) I have been searching for it for ages for my 3 year old son who loves books, and he loves it too. Not sure if it has changed over the years, but it's very much the same as I remember it to be.

Brilliant Book, A MUST BUY

"He has terrible tusks, and terrible claws, and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws... He has knobbily knees and turned-out toes, and a poisounous wart at the end of his nose. His eyes are orange, his tongue is black; He has purple prickles all over his back... He's the Gruffalo! Gruffalo! Gruffalo!"

How many times must I have read this book to the 1-2 year olds in the nursery I work at 100 , 200 times.

I've found the 1 year olds, right up to 4 years old love this story.

This book is really easy to read with a flowing rhythm to the words and great rhymes. Repetitive for the children, which they love, but retaining interest for the reader too.

Its so good I've just gone out and brought this book plus The Gruffalo Child for my just turning 3 year old nephew, I think he will love it too.

I can't sing this book's praises enough

THIS IS A MUST BUY for children aged 2 or upwards

The Gruffalo's Child
Night Monkey, Day Monkey (Book & CD)
Nanny McPhee [2005]
Spot's Treasure Hunt: Lift-the-flap Picture Book (Spot)Baby Busy Books: Colourful Chameleon (Baby Busy Books)
Over The Hedge [2006]
Madagascar [2005]