Book Buddy Review: Doodle and Draw Spots, Stripes and Squiggles

"Doodle and Draw Spots, Stripes and Squiggles" couldn't have arrived at a better time for us. My daughter is obsessed with colouring books and drawing. Her output is pretty phenomenal & I'm running out of wall space to display her artwork. I've had to resort to storing her creations in folders dotted around the house...

"Doodle and Draw Spots, Stripes and Squiggles" taps into everything my daughter loves. The bold drawings appeal to her imagination. But this book is more than just a colouring book, it invites children to create their own patterns and 'complete' the work the illustrators have started for them. I love the way it inspires creativity and my daughter has enjoyed drawing a crowd of football fans, decorated a collection of gloves and brightened up the shells of a group of tortoises. Magoo is learning about patterns and 3-D shapes at school, so this book also ties in nicely with her curriculum.

The illustrations by Bella Bee and Mike Garton are endearing, clear and engaging. I would say this book is better suited to a child who has pretty good pen control, so either on the cusp of starting school or in already in reception. Although as someone in my late 30s, I could easily sit down and happily colour in one or two of these pages.

I think colouring books appeal to many ages & almost everyone loves them. In fact colouring books are having something of a moment in the spotlight (although advocates would say they never went out of fashion). Colouring has been reported to help adults cope with stress and practice 'mindfulness'. I think it also has beneficial affects on children too. Colouring books like "Doodle and Draw Spots, Stripes and Squiggles" help to reduce screen-time, foster creativity and help develop fine motor skills.

As a budding illustrator herself, Magoo's felt tip of choice are Crayola Pip-Squeaks. She uses them nearly everyday and they are still going strong. Crayola Pip-Squeaks are great for little hands and pack a colourful punch.

We really love this coloring book from Parragon and would recommend it for ages four and upwards. Perfect for a rainy day, long car journey or just as a way of relaxing before bedtime. I've got my fingers crossed that Parragon will bring out a sequel soon...

Disclaimer: A free copy of this book was sent to me as part of the Book Buddies Review program. All views are my own.

I'm linking up with My Best Post of the Week #MBPW over on Britmums, Let Kids be Kids over on letkidsbekids.co.uk, Brilliant Blog Posts over on honestmum.com

Baking with children: Monkey Muffins

This Summer I've been volunteering at my local library, helping out with the Creepy House Summer Reading Challenge. One of the perks of helping out in the children's section of the library is I get to see loads & loads of lovely books for young readers. Ever on the look-out for things to occupy my daughter through the Summer holidays, I gravitated towards the non-fiction section and in particular the cookery books. I love an activity where you can eat the end results! I spotted The Baking Book by Jane Bull and thought we'd give it a whirl.

It's packed with yummy recipes and great illustrations. My three year old daughter just loved flicking through the book again and again looking at the bright photos and lovely food. We decided on making Monkey Bread, but we chose to make the muffin versions rather that the loaf. Apart from making chocolate rice crispie cakes, this was our first attempt at 'proper' baking...we put on aprons and everything! Thanks to 'I can cook' on Ceebies, my daughter is taking more interest in how food is prepared and likes to get stuck in. Once we'd sung a loud rendition of the 'wash your hands' song...altogether now "roll up your sleeves, give your hands a wash, with slippy dippy soap, splish slapsh splosh"...we started on the Monkey Muffins.
We measured flour and butter and made it into crumbly breadcrumbs

Then we added sugar and sultanas and gave it a good mix...

Then we cracked some eggs, which require lots and lots of concentration..

Now the fun bit, whisking the eggs...

After adding the eggs and some honey to the dry ingredients, we got to mush some bananas up..

Everything had a last big stir...

Then we got our muffin cases and spooned the sweet-smelling mixture out...


The muffins went in the oven for 15 minutes. Once they were cool enough we scoffed one each. They were delicious, a resounding success! They last for about a week in an airtight container...except ours were eaten before the week was up!