Giving Annuals and Yearbooks as gifts: a Christmas tradition

I remember as a child looking forward to receiving an annual book at Christmas. I think my favourites were from Twinkle closely followed by my beloved My Little Pony. I also loved reading my brother's annuals from the Beano and Dandy. Reading about Dennis the Menace and Desperate Dan's exploits became an important part of my Christmas. I'm not sure if my brother was as keen on reading Twinkle...he might have had a sneaky peek when noone was looking.

I bought these Tiger Tim Annuals at a jumble sale a little while ago. One dates from 1924 and the other from 1954. It goes to show that giving Annuals as a gift at Christmas is nothing new.

It's amazing to think that over 90 years ago a child unwrapped the 1924 annual on Christmas Day morning. Because I purchased the two Annuals together at the jumble sale, they may have come from the same house. So there's a possibility the 1924 child grew up and maybe had a child of their own. In a bid to instill a love for Tiger Tim, they may have bought the 1954 Annual for their offspring. When you're a collector of vintage items, you often can't be sure of the back story, but I like to think this scenario could have been a possibility. After all, that's how most Christmas traditions are kept alive, by family members passing them down through the generations.

I think getting an Annual as a gift was seen as a special event for most children. You would see and read things in these books that didn't appear in the weekly comic. There was also something lovely about holding a hard backed version of your favourite comic too.

The 1924 Tiger Tim Annual is still bearing up pretty well, despite its age. I particularly like the colour illustrated plates dotted through the book. This endearing image of three children dressed as rabbits on their way to the Bunnies Ball in the snow is really lovely. I would love to have this as a framed print, but I would never tear a page out of this Annual!

Most of the characters who appear in the Tiger Tim Annual are way before my time. But I'm sure children of that era loved "Peter and Olliboo" and the "Brownie Boys" to name just a couple...I'm sure they were the Peppa Pig or Bob the Builder of their day.

The other thing I love about these vintage annuals is the adverts on the back and inside the book. There is one for Green's cake mix and Green's is still going strong today. There is also a Cadburys Car Race for children to play in the back of the Annual.

There is also an advert for the weekly "Playbox" and "Rainbow" comic books. The publisher obviously needed to engage young readers in Tiger Tim's adventures on a more regular basis.

Finally I love the little letter from Tiger Tim to his readers. I believe that Fleetway House on Farringdon Street in London has been a centre for book and magazine publishing for many decades.

Even in our technology saturated world, you can still buy annuals featuring today's generation of favourite characters. A quick search online reveals that most major retailers have Annuals in stock this year. I have seen Annuals for Peppa Pig, Ben and Holly, Match Football and even Strictly Come Dancing. It goes to show that some Christmas Traditions never go out of date...

This week I'm linking up with:

Share with Me over on www.letstalkmommy.com

Pick 'N' Mix over on mummyandmonkeys.com and www.acornishmum.com

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

Vintage Love: Paddington Book

We took our five year old daughter to see the new Paddington film at the weekend.
I adore Paddington, I've always loved him. His duffle coat, his wellington boots, his obsession with marmalade and his general clumsiness...what's not to like?


One of the best things about having a child of your own is getting to indulge in the things you enjoyed as a kid all over again. So with this in mind I dug out some of my Paddington books to share with my daughter.
The cover image shows Mr Curry leaning over the fence watching Paddington striding off with some plywood and a box of tools. You just know it's not going to end well, Paddington and "do it yourself" do not mix...

This book dating from 1977 is based on the TV series I watched as a child. It was endearingly entertaining and employed stop-motion animation. I was always intrigued as a child by the way Paddington was a 'real' 3-D bear and the other characters were 2-D drawings. Somehow it worked and I can still hear Michael Hordern's distinctive voice bellowing 'bear!' every time Paddington messed up...which was quite often.
The illustrations are by Barry Wilkinson. The pages make up a really beautiful collection of ink and wash drawings featuring lots of bright colours, perfect for children.

The new Paddington film is really rather lovely. The styling is suberb and I fell in love with the Brown's house. I feel inspired to paint a blossom tree on the wall on my stairs after seeing the film. The new Paddington film is about acceptance, family and love...with lots of clumsiness, marmalade and mess along the way.

Book Buddies Review: Around the World We Go!

Around the World We Go!

Written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Christine Tappin

This book couldn't have arrived at a better time for us. We are due to go on our first foreign holiday with our daughter in June. We're off to France for a week & I've been talking to my daughter about other languages & countries. We've been discussing how French people say 'bonjour' for hello & my daughter has been absorbing all this with great interest.

When "Around the World We Go!" arrived delivered from Parragon Books, I was pleased to have a book with which I could continue our discussions about other countries and languages. Very young children need the solid base of home and the family unit and they don't need or want to look much further than that. I think as children get older, they begin to realise there is a world out there to be discovered. My daughter is at the age where she loves to look at maps & books about the world. She is also interested in space, planets and rockets.

"Around the World We Go!" is a charming, easy to read book with beautiful illustrations. My daughter's knowledge of the wider world is growing, but some of the concepts can be hard to grasp, books like "Around the World We Go!" offer a gentle introduction to this subject. The repetition and gentle sing-song nature of the book will appeal to pre-school readers. The concept of difference and similarity between different races and countries across the globe is dealt with in a clear and direct way. It offers a good starting point for discussing these issues further with your child.

My daughter likes looking at images of the Earth, so the page with the globe, a rocket & a satellite is a particular favourite of hers. She created her own copy of that page & she often goes back to the book, lays it out on floor & draws the image of our planet. "Around the World We Go!" has struck a cord with her and often that is the sign of a good illustrated children's book. Her final image has a few extra additions, like Father Christmas & Rudolf (because he flies over the Earth), but her imagination has been fired up by Tappin's wonderful illustrations. Anything that inspires a child to be creative is good news to me!

*Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Parragon Books in order to write the Book Buddies review. All views expressed here are my own.

www.parragon.com