Miamoo Huggy Lotion (Baby Cream) - Naturally protects delicate skin

The first thing that leaps out at you is the lime-green sticker on the lid that states "NO parabens, petrochemicals, SLS, synthetic colour/fragrance or PEG's" - that's
Polyethylen Glycols, chemical nasties, not things you use to hang your washing up !

The second thing you notice is the little picture of two cows and the sentence "“hug me mummy, I feel soft and cuddly”. Awww very cute ! That goes nicely with the name of the product - huggy lotion - that sounds so much more snuggly and cuddly than the usual terms body lotion or baby cream.

While we're on the theme of "awww-factor", this would be a good time to explain the company name, Miamoo. Saira Khan, the creator of the whole range - who you might have seen on the first season of The Apprentice where she was a runner-up -named it after her niece Miya, whose nickname is Miyamoo. Nothing to do with cows then !

So what exactly is huggy lotion ? Well, according to the website description, it's "superhero protection for my delicate bits to help keep me extra snuggly”. Love it ! Seriously though, it's "a light non-greasy creamy lotion crammed with sweet almond oil and marshmallow extract to smooth over baby’s skin and leave it perfectly moisturised. The citrus aroma of orange blossom water freshens the skin and grapeseed oil, jojoba oil and Vitamin E leave it soft and conditioned. This is an excellent moisturiser for everyday use – no baby should leave home without it!"

Well, I have to admit, I wasn't all that keen on the smell the first time I smelt it, but that's just a matter of personal taste. Actually, I've just reapplied some to my hand and it smells nicer now - I think I wasn't expecting baby cream to smell as perfumed as this, but it's not bad. It reminds me of an organic face cream I tried a while ago, so I'm not at all surprised that the website says Mums can use it as well as babies. I really can't define what the fragrance is though, so you'll have to try it out for yourselves - sorry ! I wouldn't call it citrus though !

The pump-action dispenser is really handy and makes applying the cream one-handed and without getting it all over the bottle a breeze. It also means you can easily apply however much you need, unlike tubes where you invariably squeeze out way too much each time.

As they say in the write-up on the website, it really does sink into the skin and rub away to nothingness. There is absolutely no greasiness - unlike most creams I've tested, I didn't feel the need to go and wash my hands before typing my review ! -but the skin on my hands felt much smoother, softer, plumper and really well hydrated. Absolutely fabulous for the cold winter months.

As this can be used all over baby's body, including his face, as well as on Mum's skin, it's pretty much the only cream you'll need to buy for the winter months. It actually feels much more luxurious and nourishing than some of the more expensive creams I've tried for myself. I'll definitely be using it on my hands - it's made them feel so smooth and soft, despite them feeling rough and slightly chapped after taking the girls to school in cold wind and drizzle.

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : £8 for 125ml

available in Boots, Waitrose, Ocado and NCT

for more information : http://www.miamoo.co.uk

Baby Nose Clear Aspirator & Room Vapour

I was a bit confused when asked to test a "Brand New Must-Have Baby Product For Combating Congestion" and this arrived, because they've existed here in France for absolutely donkey's years. I had one when Sophie was a baby eight years ago and they certainly weren't a new product then. You can get different types of nasal aspirators - these ones that you suck with your mouth, ones with a squishy bulb at the end to create a vacuum and suck it all out, even electric ones ! But this type are the most popular and commonly-used ones.

Basically, you have a pointy end that you gently shove up baby's nose (not right up there, just at the bottom of the nostril !), attached to a long tube and a mouthpiece that you put in your mouth and suck until you run out of breath. Baby will cry and squeal and wriggle and go into a really big temper tantrum but it will only last a second and, once they've got an unblocked nose, they will feel a lot better. The worst part about babies having colds is that, unlike adults who breathe through their mouths instead and snore through the night, they don't know how to breathe through their mouths so they have great difficulty feeding properly or sleeping. It's more distressing to watch your baby panicking every 30 seconds while feeding because they start suffocating than making them cry for a few seconds while you solve the problem.



Are you now going euurrghhh that's disgusting ? Well wait until you hear the noise it makes when you're sucking bogies out (think NooNoo slurpy noises on the Teletubbies !) and start seeing snotty bits going up the tube !! But console yourself with the thought that it's better out than in and at least you're making baby feel better (even if, red faced and screaming, he doesn't agree with you at the moment !!).

The all-important bit is the filter - whatever you do, don't forget that or you'll be sucking baby-bogies straight up into your mouth and however much you love your little one, that's one experience you really don't want to share !! In the French models I've tried, you just put a plug of cotton wool in, which you then throw away after use (when it's all slimy and bogeyfied !). This model has a filter which sounds like it should work better than a wad of cotton wool but I'm not sure how it will look after being used repeatedly. Looking on the website, you can buy replacement filters for £1.99.

The packaging tells you to wash all the different pieces in warm soapy water after use. I would also add that you should do this straight after use, because once baby-snot has dried, it sticks like glue and you'll have a great job cleaning it out ! (Also, you'll already be feeling a bit squeamish after doing the job, so you might as well finish off the yucky jobs and do the clean-up operation straight away.) One other piece of advice - keep a wetwipe handy when using the aspirator because, at times, you'll suck out an amazingly large (for a baby) bogie that won't go through the hole. You'll need to wipe the tip of the aspirator to get it off and if you use a tissue or a piece of cotton wool, it gets covered in fluff and you have to clean it all off before you can use it again.

"Nasal aspirators are a perfectly natural and safe way of treating nasal congestion in very young babies, without the need for medical referral. Although they are new to the UK, nasal aspirators are widely used throughout Europe and the USA and are considered to be an integral part of natural baby care in those regions." This is certainly true so we've been roadtesting this device for years and can give it a big thumbs-up !

What is new to me is the sister-product, the Baby Nose-Clear Room Vapour. "The Room Vapour is a natural blend of 100% pure and essential gentle oils, including lemon, tea tree and pine oils. The combination of these oils, along with its anti-bacterial properties ensures the Room Vapour eases breathing, by helping to keep the nasal passages clear. Simply add a few drops to a damp towel, put over a radiator or warm bowl of water and the resulting vapour will release into the air, aiding a restful sleep. Alternatively, this product can be used in conjunction with humidifiers and vaporizers."

I was expecting it to smell of Vicks Vapour Rub but it's not quite the same - it actually reminded me more of the new-generation headlice shampoos, which is presumably the tea tree oil. It's not unpleasant but from repeatedly sniffing the bottle to try to work out what it smells of, I am starting to feel a bit headachey so don't overdo it ! As a mum-of-3, I've opened more than my fair share of childproof medicine bottles but I still had a job getting into this one so don't try to do it discreetly in the dark while baby's asleep in his/her cot !

star rating : 5/5 (it's a standard piece of baby kit in any French home and has been for generations !)

Baby nose-clear is available over the counter at £6.99 from large Tesco, Boots and Mothercare stores and some independent pharmacy outlets. 

Baby Nose-Clear Room Vapour is priced at £6.99 and is available at Independent Pharmacies, Waitrose. 

Cheap Cookie Cutters

Cheap Cookie Cutters sounds a bit of an insult - we're used to saying cheap and cheerful, cheap and nasty, cheap and tacky. Cheap doesn't usually have good connotations. But Cheap Cookie Cutters is the name of the company so don't blame me ! As they explain on their website : "Cheap Cookie Cutters is a family-owned business based in Tampa, Florida. CheapCookieCutters.com is owned and operated by Chris Mueller and his girlfriend Karrie Pettit." Now call me a cynic, but when I hear that a company is based on one person, or a couple, alarm bells start ringing in my head, telling me that I'll send my money and never hear from them again ! Well, let me reassure you - they may be a small company but they are very serious and I did get my cookie cutters really quickly, especially as they were coming all the way from the States which usually takes ages.

I was sent the miniature Christmas set to review. The website says : "Looking for a miniature Christmas cookie cutter set? This one is perfect and includes a mini Christmas tree, mini stocking, mini candy cane, and mini angel cookie cutter. They are approximately 2 inches tall. Buy one today." I have to admit, I would have liked a bit more information if I was about to place an order. What are they made of ? Washing instructions ? Anything else I need to know ? Well, in their FAQs, they tell us : "What material are your cookie cutters made from? Most of our cookie cutters are made of tin. Some are aluminum, and some (very few) are plastic." Well, OK, but which ones are these ones that I'm about to buy ?!

Lack of information aside, they deliver exactly what's written on the box (or rather on the website description). You get cheap cookie cutters, they do what they're designed for but you get no fancy trimmings or luxurious packaging. Testing them with the girls, they did the job just fine - and Juliette loved the fact that the Christmas stocking looked like a letter J so she could claim all the stocking-shaped cookies as hers !! They're solid enough for some gentle cookie-making but if you press the sides, you could easily bend them out of shape so don't be too rough ! Basically, they're just like any cheap cookie cutters you could buy in any highstreet store.

What really impressed me on the website, however, was the range of really different, original designs that I've never seen anywhere else. Maybe it's because there is less choice in Europe but I was blown away by the wide range of Disney cutters (I love the Cinderella castle one) and the cartoon character designs would have the girls squealing in delight : Spongebob Squarepants, vintage Sesame Street, Scooby Doo, Hello Kitty, Garfield ... all their favourites are there ! You wouldn't find the patriotic cutters anywhere in Europe to my knowledge (there's a bald eagle, Abraham Lincoln, the Washington Capitol building, ... how cool is that ?!). And it may cost a whopping $129.99 but it would be so cool to own a set of cookie cutters in the shapes of all the US states - you could teach the kids geography as they ate !

Even better than all that is that you could have your own totally unique cutter : "Looking for a custom cookie cutter? Cheap Cookie Cutters can make about any custom cookie cutters that you want. Contact us today for a price quote."

If you love making quirky cookies, you'll find everything you ever dreamed of here. In fact, they should change their name from Cheap Cookie Cutters to Quirky Cookie Cutters !


star rating : 4/5

for more information and to buy online : http://www.cheapcookiecutters.com/

Yazoo Flavoured Milk Drinks

I'm not a huge fan of plain milk - I still have cringeworthy memories of being sick at primary school, right in the plastic box full of animal shapes, after they gave out the little glass bottles of milk with the blue straws (remember them ? ) !! - but flavoured milk goes down better. I love McDonalds strawberry milkshakes, but I know they're full of fat and totally unhealthy (plus they're so thick, they make your cheeks hurt from sucking so hard !) and I love homemade smoothies, which are packed full of goodness but take a while to prepare (and wash up). So I jumped at the chance to try out Yazoo - "the nation’s favourite milk drink".

I always like to check the nutritional information before trying out new products or giving them to the girls, and I was pleasantly surprised when I researched Yazoo. The website tells us : "Yazoo is the nation’s favourite milkshake, and our healthy recipe makes Yazoo an ideal soft drink for all! In fact one 500g bottle of Yazoo gives you 70% of your recommended daily allowance (RDA) of calcium and 95% of your RDA for Vitamin B12!" Even more impressive : ""Yazoo milk drinks make a great idea for a low fat, healthy snack or lunchbox option. Many children's drinks have been banned from schools and lunchboxes but because Yazoo contains fruit juice, no artificial flavourings, sweeteners or preservatives and less than 5% added sugar, your school will be happy for you to pop one in your child's lunchbox and you'll be providing your child with a healthy calcium-kick at the same time."

Looking even more closely at the list of ingredients, there are no nasty surprises. "Yazoo is made with semi-skimmed milk (in fact over 90% of the content in Yazoo is milk!). To get those great Yazoo flavours we use very small amounts of the following ingredients: Chocolate flavour Yazoo gets its chocolatey taste from fat-reduced cocoa powder, plus a little vanilla flavour and caramel to give a rounded taste. Strawberry and banana Yazoo use a combination of fruit juice and natural flavours to make them taste great. Yazoo is a long life milk. This means the milk is heat treated to kill the bacteria that naturally exist in raw milk and keeps Yazoo safe to drink for up to 3 months, even when not stored in the fridge. So you can always keep a bottle of Yazoo handy in your cupboard. When you're ready to drink, simply chill and treat as fresh milk."

OK, so I'm convinced it's healthy but what does it actually taste like ? Well, there are three flavours available - Chocolate, Strawberry and Banana - and Juliette (4) and Sophie (8) helped me taste all of them. My favourite was the chocolate, which did actually taste of chocolate, unlike lots of supposedly chocolatey-flavoured milks that are so watery they just taste of something vaguely cocoa-related that could well be the milk left over in the cereal bowl after eating Cocoa Pops ! Strawberry also got a big thumbs up from us all - it tasted a bit like strawberry yoghurt to me, sweet but not too sickly sweet, very refreshing with a lovely fruity aftertaste. Banana is always a tricky one - I love bananas but I'm not keen on banana-flavoured things like banana yoghurts or sweets - so unsurprisingly, it was my least favourite. It smells and tastes a bit like the foam banana sweets you can buy, so if you like those, you'll love it. For all of us, it was our least favourite - I gave up after a sip, Juliette didn't like it, Sophie drank half and said it was OK but didn't taste as nice as the other ones, which really did taste of chocolate and strawberry whereas the banana one didn't taste like real banana. But when I said we could we could give them to the kids next door, she said no, it's OK, she'd drink them anyway, so they can't have been that bad ! It's all a matter of personal taste though so try them and see what you think !

Texture-wise, they remind me of Actimel, which the girls drink every day for breakfast - not too thick but not too watery either. They quench your thirst without leaving you feeling like you've just eaten a huge bowl of ice cream (like McDonalds milkshakes !) so they won't put you off your dinner if you drink one at morning break. It's a great way of getting calcium and vitamins into your children, and is a much healthier option than a lot of the other sugary options on the kids' drinks market.

I love the variety of packaging options : a value for money 1 litre bottle, 500g bottles, a 300ml ‘on the move’ bottle and now handy packs of 200ml single serve bottles for lunchboxes. So you can pick the best option for you, depending on when and where you want to drink it - that's one less headache for overstretched mums ! The single serve bottles are great - they have a screwtop lid so you don't have to drink it all in one go, there's a foil seal underneath the lid to prevent spillage (but if your child has difficulty removing the foil seal, you could always peel it off in advance and screw the cap back on carefully before putting it in their lunchbox) and, although you can quite easily drink straight from the bottle, they come with a straw attached. Absolutely ideal for popping in kids' lunchboxes.

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : 74p for the 330ml, 85p for 500ml, £1.09 for a 1-litre bottle
4 x 200ml pack rrp £1.35, 6 x 200ml pack rrp £1.99

Shloer Rosé

*** Don't miss my giveaway to win 12 bottles of Shloer right here ! ***

Last year I was pregnant so I couldn't drink at Christmas or New Year. This year I'm breastfeeding - although even if I wasn't, I wouldn't want to take the risk of drinking with a baby to look after, especially as I'm probably such a lightweight now after over a year of zero alcohol that I'd be half cut after the first sip ! But I'm getting really sick of drinking orange juice or diet coke, especially at parties.



Well, I've found my festive tipple and it really looks the business ! In fact, if I pour it in a champagne flute, I bet I'll get reproving looks from all the great aunties who will blame Pierre's every cry on naughty Mummy drinking ! Only I will know that my bubbly drink is totally alcohol-free ... or I might come clean and share it with the kids so they feel all grown-up and special for Christmas dinner.



It may sound like a strange name but the website resolves the mystery : "Shloer is named after a Swiss Professor - Jules Shloer - who created Shloer more than 70 years ago." It's sweet but not overly so and I found it very light and refreshing so it's just the thing to go with all the festive overeating. On the Shloer website, they explain : "Created from a blend of red and white grapes, we have used only the best ingredients to make a sparkling drink which is ideal for all the family. Whether you are entertaining friends and family at home or going to a party, a bottle of Shloer Rosé adds sparkle to every occasion."


As it is so sweet, I was a bit concerned about it being packed with sugar but it contains a surprisingly low 47 kcals per 100ml which is less than pretty much anything else you'll be putting in your mouth over the Christmas period ! Looking at the list of ingredients, it does contain some added sugar but at least it's mainly fructose : Carbonated water, grape juice from concentrate (34%), glucose-fructose syrup, malic acid, citric acid, natural flavourings. Shloer is completely free from preservatives, artificial sweeteners, flavours and colours too, so all in all it's a pretty healthy and natural drink.

The website says : "This Christmas Shloer is sporting a stylish new look, the eye catching bottle will not look out of place on any table during the festive season. Serve over ice for the ideal refreshment to make any Christmas meal sparkle, or if you want to be more adventurous use Shloer to make delicious non alcoholic cocktails ideal for sharing this Christmas." Shloer Rosé joins the existing collection, offering seven fruity flavours : classic Red Grape or White Grape; Rosé; Apple & White Grape; White Grape, Raspberry & Cranberry; White Grape & Elderflower ; White Grape, Mango & Passionfruit, so there is a flavour for everyone. Hmm I might have to give the others a try too.

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : £1.99-£2.29 for 75cl

available from all major supermarkets

for more information : http://www.shloer.co.uk/

Ladybird Books Homework Helpers - Grammar and Punctuation for School

The back of the book tells you that this book is aimed at children aged 5+, whereas the website says 8-12. I'd tend to go with the website as I can't see many 5 year olds getting their heads around pronouns and tenses and commas ! But it does seem about the right level for Sophie, who is 8 but bilingual, with French being her stronger language, so it could possibly appeal to 6 or 7 year olds.

Despite the very educational content, it's quite an enjoyable book to look at - full of colourful pictures and the text is short and easy to understand. There are no offputting, highly complicated grammatical explanations or examples.

Obviously, in a book this size and with a target audience this young, it doesn't go into any great detail but the basics are covered. It does all seem a bit disjointed though, jumping from one unrelated topic to another, but then again, you're not supposed to sit down and read it from cover to cover - it's a book to dip in and out of as needed when you don't understand something in your homework.

As a parent, it's sometimes hard to "dumb-down" your explanations of grammar, maths or science so that young childen can understand. As a teacher, I also know that some parents are unable to help their children with their homework because they dropped out of school so they don't know the answers themselves. This book could be a helpful tool in both of these situations.

I also love the Ladybird book format and the little ladybird on the front, because it makes me all nostalgic, remembering my collection of Janet and John Ladybird books when I was little !

For a very young child or one in great difficulty at school, this is an enjoyable way to approach a few simple elements of grammar and punctuation, but for anyone who has already seen the basics, it doesn't really go far enough.

With a cover price of £1.99, you can't go far wrong though. You could also complete the Homework Helpers collection with the other titles : French for School, Spelling for School, and Times Tables for Schools. I would actually think these titles work better than the Grammar and Punctuation book that I had for review, as the topic is so vast and complicated, it's a virtually impossible task to condense a useful amout of information into a 32-page child-friendly reference guide !

star rating : 3.5/5

RRP : £1.99

Format : Hardback
ISBN : 9781409302254
Size :112 x 170mm
Pages :32
Published :06 Aug 2009
Publisher : Ladybird

Peppa Pig Marvellous Magnet Book

Do your kids love activity books ? Especially the sticker ones ? Well, they'll love this ! It's exactly like the sticker activity books, where you have to find the right stickers to complete the picture, but the beauty of this book is that you can do it over and over again. I always find that the "reuseable" stickers never are, even when they say so on the front of the book, because they rip when you try to move them - so if you've got a very young child, or just a cack-handed one (!), lots of the stickers end up only vaguely in the right general area. This magnet version will allow your child to position them in just the right place, even if this takes several attempts, so it's great for practising fine motor skills and perseverance too.

All little tots seem to love Peppa Pig so they will be instantly enchanted by the colourful pictures of the cartoon characters and also the seven magnets featuring Peppa Pig and all her family and friends. They are easy to attach to the pages and they do stick quite well, unlike some magnets that aren't strong enough to stick to the magnetic pages. The pages are quite chunky like a board book which is great for smaller children. One slightly disappointing and annoying thing is that the very last page on the inside back cover isn't magnetic - the text asks you to put Mummy and Daddy Pig in the picture reading a bedtime story, but you can't actually put them anywhere near the bed. Try explaining this to a 4-year-old who won't take your word for it that the magnets won't stick on this paper because it isn't the same as the other pages !

I love the fact that the magnets come in a handy little plastic compartment on the front of the book so that you can easily keep them with the book and save them getting lost. I would have preferred it to be slightly sturdier though as once the flimsy plastic lid is lost or broken, it will be a pain to keep the magnets with the book. I know you can stick them on the magnetic pages but past attempts to do this haven't been very successful and the magnets end up falling off and getting hoovered up !

The story follows Peppa Pig at a museum, at the park, at the beach, at a birthday party and in bed - all situations most children will be familiar with so you should be able to get them to talk about their own experiences too. As the magnets can be positioned anywhere, you could also encourage your child to make up stories with you, helping them to develop their imagination and vocabulary/story-telling techniques.

For a book that will be used over and over again, the £6.99 price tag seems very reasonable to me. I would have been happy to have a few more pages and pay a bit extra though, as the five double pages don't take long to read and play with.

I know someone who will be over the moon to get this in their Christmas stocking !

star rating : 5/5

RRP : £6.99


Format : Hardback (despite what it says on the website)
ISBN :9781409301769
Size :222 x 275mm
Pages :10
Published :05 Mar 2009
Publisher :Ladybird

AmbiPur Room Fragrances - Winter Sensations

When you think back to really special times, whether that be Christmas, childhood or a special holiday, one of the things that often springs to mind are the smells. Fresh mint reminds me of mint tea and transports me back to Tunisia last year, pear drops remind me of going to the sweetshop with my pocket money as a kid and the smell of sun cream immediately brings to mind lazy days at the beach on the hot sand and paddling with the kids. Smell is also a really important part of the way we feel - estate agents even tell you to put a pot of real coffee on and bake fresh bread to give a house that homely feel when potential buyers are coming for a look round.



As they say on the Ambi Pur website : "Creating a welcoming home and a pleasant place to live is something we all aim to do. We take care to choose furniture, flooring and colours but it’s the finishing touches that sometimes make all the difference. Introducing fragrance into your home is one of the simplest and most effective ways of completing your look and feel and it can really bring your home to life."

What I love about the Ambi Pur ranges are that they have seasonal fragrances. Back in the summer, I was using the light, fresh, floral ranges to bring in a smell of the summer meadows. But now that it's dark and cold outside, it's nice to have something more soothing and warming. The winter sensations range is designed to offer just that : "A collection of indulgent fragrances inspired by the smell of freshly baked cakes, creamy hot drinks and a warm, inviting home. Soft, fresh touches of vanilla and jasmine over a rich sandal and cedarwood base: an invitation to dream of winter evenings snuggled up on the sofa." Hmmm sounds lovely - and definitely an improvement on the current mix of pooey nappies, curdled milk and burnt cheese (the winter months are great for eating all those gooey melted cheese dishes like tartiflette and raclette that the French are famous for, but the cooking smells aren't nice ! )

These Winter Sensations are available either as a candle or as the innovative 3volution plug-in air-freshener. "Ambi Pur 3volution helps you carry on appreciating your great home fragrance – by ensuring you never get used to it. Its three complementary fragrances change every 45 minutes, so you keep enjoying them, again and again and again. Fragrances are also available in a refill pack." It's a system that really works. The changes are subtle but marked enough for your nose to pick up on them again so they don't just blend into the background, as happens with most air fresheners when you get used to the smell and don't even notice it any more. They're strong enough to leave the room smelling gorgeous but not so strong as to be sickly or headachey. You can even try them out in the shop before you buy because there are little scratch-and-sniff bits on the front of the box.

I absolutely loved the 3volution - which is just as well, as it should last for ages. According to the manufacturers, "Ambi Pur 3volution Winter Dream provides continuous fragrance for 90 days (if used on a minimum setting for 12 hours per day). " I was slightly less impressed by the candle because, although it smelt absolutely gorgeous, I didn't think the smell was strong enough. It really looks the business, with the little brown specks in the candle wax suggesting that it contains real vanilla (I haven't checked), but the vanilla scent didn't seem any stronger when it was burning than when you sniffed it unlit. It did make a lovely warm glow in the room though - Christmassy or romantic, depending on your point of view ! - and it didn't make lots of smoke, as some cheaper models do. And as they both use the same fragrance range, you can use both the 3volution and the candle to complement each other and get the best of both worlds.

If you haven't bought a real Christmas tree and you can't be bothered to bake a cake, it's a quick way of getting a yummy, homely-smelling house to welcome everyone in out of the cold. And if you fancy a change, there is an alternative wintry fragrance - "Winter Woodland : A warm and spicy fragrance inspired by memories of winter strolls through pine forests and cosy evenings spent at home with loved ones in front of an open fire". Sounds like the perfect smell to accompany Wham's Last Christmas - now where did I put my Christmas cd ?

star rating :
5/5 for the 3volution
4/5 for the candle

RRP :
Ambi Pur 3volution Winter Dream - Primary unit: £7.99, Perfume Refill: £4.49
Ambi Pur Winter Collection Scented Candles - £2.99

Ambi Pur 3volution Winter Dream is available from all good supermarkets and independent retailers
Ambi Pur Winter Collection scented candles are available from larger Superdrug stores, Savers and other independent retailers

Morris the Mankiest Monster - Giles Andreae

The front cover sets the tone, showing a disgusting but nevertheless cheerful and loveable monster picking his nose ! The opening lines are :
"Morris the mankiest monster
Lives in a house made of dung
It only smells stinky enough when it's damp
So he keeps the walls wet with his tongue" ! Ewww - love it !!

Not convinced yet ? OK, here's another extract :
"He feeds off the snotty green bogies
That lurk up his big hairy nose
And sometimes he nibbles the poisonous mould
Which he scrapes off the ends of his toes" !!! I'm sorry, it appeals right to my sense of humour !

It will have your kids squealing and giggling and going "ewwwww" and "euurggghhh" all the way through and I guarantee they will have you reading it over and over again !

The illustrations are brilliant too - brightly coloured and intricate enough for you to notice extra details every time you read it through. As it's relatively short and written in rhyme, young non-readers will soon pick up at least parts of it and join in as you read along.

Sophie and Juliette both love Dick & Dom and their disgustingly-filthy madcap antics in Da Bungalow - and this book offers the same blend of revolting antics and "rude" words (if you're under 8) ! I used to love Fungus the Bogeyman and Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes and this reminds me a bit of those and has me laughing along with the kids.

I always read the kids a bedtime story, but I admit that it's sometimes a chore. This book makes it really fun for everyone. I'm sure the novelty will eventually wear off but I must admit, at the moment, it's me who keeps suggesting we read this one !!

The question on the back of the book is : "Are you brave enough to open the most revolting children's book of the year ?" Well, it's a resounding YES all round in our house !

star rating : 5/5

RRP : £10.99

Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: David Fickling Books (1 Oct 2009)
ISBN-10: 0385615116
ISBN-13: 978-0385615112
Product Dimensions: 26.6 x 22 x 1 cm

Tinypop - Kids surfing beach towel and CD

"Tinypop - the musical exercise towel for budding surf dudes !" How cool does that sound ?! Well, anything that gets the girls to have fun and get sporty at the same time is a great idea in my books so I was really keen to give it a go.

First of all, I want to point out that the description "musical towel" is a bit misleading - the towel isn't musical, the CD that comes in the box is the only musical bit ! In this day and age of all-singing, all-dancing, highly evolved electronic toys, kids that see the words "musical towel" will probably be expecting something resembling one of those electronic dance mats that you can plug into your games console. Like many of the other toys on offer on the Nubie Modern Kids Boutique website, (who kindly sent me through the towel to review), this goes back to basics and is reminiscent of the old-fashioned toys that actually make you use your imagination to have fun.

So what you actually get is a kids beach towel - 100% cotton and machine washable. If you've ever bought one of the Disney/kids TV character towels, it's exactly that kind of velvety-feel beach towel, not the fluffy cotton bath-towel variety. It's described as a "mini towel" on the website, but it's 60 x 120cm which seems standard size for a kids towel to me. As you can see above, it's printed with a surfboard design and hand and feet prints to show you where to put your hands and feet to become a surfer. There are black and white feet option so it caters for left and right-handed (and footed) mini-surfers, which is a bit confusing for small children but I don't see how they could have got around this problem easily otherwise and it makes it much fairer for left-handed people, who are often sadly overlooked !

The CD contains three tracks - the first "track" is a 6 second ultra-cute child's voice introducing you to the CD (which the girls wanted to listen to over and over because it's so cute !!). Then you have the main Tinypop song followed by the instrumental version, both of which last just over three minutes.

The song gives you instructions to get into the surfing pose, using the hand and feet placements on the towel. "Lie on your towel, Hands by your sides, Left hand on left, Right hand on right". Ummm hang on - let me just explain to my 4-year-old which hand is which ! This is designed for kids aged 3+ so colour-coding instead of left and right would have gone down well ! Right, the next bit is easier : "Paddle your arms, and kick your feet, Hands in position, one two three !" For kiddies who love listening to action songs on CBeebies and and joining in, they'll be in their element. They get to burn off a few calories as it goes along : "Ready steady, switch your feet, Jump around, that's so neat !"

If you imagine a cross between a game of Twister and a let's-pretend type activity, that's a pretty fair description. It's great fun for all kids and does actually serve an educational purpose if you are intending to take your kids surfing. It's endorsed by the British Surfing Association so does offer a serious initiation for tiny tots.

The CD is slightly irritating after the fiftieth time, which is always a sign that the kids will love it ! I was expecting something surfy, either sounding like the Beach Boys or with wind and sea sound effects but you don't get either. It just sounds like a classic CBeebies-type song to me. No complaints from the kids !

A few words of warning, that are obvious but I'll tell you anyway to avoid accidents - I know how it is at Christmas when the kids want to get straight into playing so you don't have time to read the instructions or think safety-first ! The towel is designed for use on sand, carpet or grass - not slippery polished wood or lino floors - and you should also have bare feet.

What I love is that once the novelty has worn off or the kids have got too old to want to play with it any more, you can use it as a towel in the bathroom. Two presents for the price of one !!

There's also a Dads' version coming soon, so Mums, get ready with the camcorder to have a laugh as Dad joins in with the kids. There are sure to be a few You've Been Framed moments to record for posterity !!

star rating : 4/5

RRP : £19.75