You are here: Home / Archives for For Kids

Just Right – Birdie Black and Rosalind Beardsaw

grey dots
December 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

No gift I buy a child is complete without a book, it’s a compulsion! I have always loved the idea of buying a Christmas themed book to go with Christmas gifts. Especially for my children, something I can curl up and read with them on Christmas night. Unless I have pulled them out early to read it in the lead up to Christmas that is.

Just Right is a beautiful Christmas book written by Birdie Black and illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw, perfect to curl up with and read to your children Christmas night.

just right

A story that teaches about the joy of Christmas being in the giving and it’s not the size and expense of the present but the love and thought that’s gone into it. A heartwarming tale of one roll of red Christmassy cloth and how many different presents it can make, how many brands of Christmas joy it can bring.

The illustrations are bright and eye-catching but just in case that’s not enough to enthrall the younger reader there are some cute little animals that will be sure to amuse. And, in my house, the snow and the forest.

There is enough repetition that by the end of the book the kids can read along with you but it’s still fresh enough to keep their attention.

Just Right is published by Nosy Crow in London, a fabulous new independent publisher of children’s books. It has an RRP of $22.99 and is available from all good bookstores. The ISBN is 978-0-85763-030-8 and the book is recommended for 3+.

Filed Under: **VIEW ALL GIFTS**, Books, For Kids, For Toddlers Tagged With: , , , ,

LUSH Stardust

grey dots
December 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I am surrounded by the heavenly, very pink, scent of bubble gum at the moment and I think I just found the ultimate gift completer for girls everywhere. The one I have in mind is a Miss 8 but this would be perfect for girls of all ages.

If you know a girly girl that likes a little pampering, a princess that loves to be pretty in pink then this is a gift worth checking out. I am so glad I found it because I was fast running out of ideas.

The Stardust Gift from Lush comes packaged in a pretty pink box -  covered in stars of course – and made from recycled paper, and filled with a biodegradable filler. Not even any need to wrap and you can’t ask for much more than that.

Lift the lid and be carried away on waves of fragrant bubble gum, inside the box you will find 7 glorious girly products for pampering and prettiness.

lush stardust

The colours are vibrant, the scents are intoxicating and the shapes are eye catching. My very first thought was about how much that would make a little girls day. The more I thought about it, the more I could think of some big girls who would be just as excited.

The Stardust Gift contains:

Space Girl Bath Ballistic – a fruity fragranced fizzy bath bomb shaped like saturn that will leave skin soft and scented all day.

Candy Mountain Bubble Bar – vanilla and fairy floss solidified into a bar of bubble bath. Now that’s innovative.

60g Angel’s Delight Soap – a soap containing orange and tangerine oil for a fabulous fruity fragrance in a Chrismtassy star shape. And it is cut from a multicoloured block so you will never know what colour you are going to get.

100g Magic Wand Re-usable Bubble Bar – another solid bubble bath, fairy floss favoured, but this one is on a stick so you can cast your spells in the bath and have hours of enjoyment from your magic wand as it makes new bubbles the more you wave it.

110 Snow Fairy Shower Gel – Fairy floss pink and smelling like bubble gum this shower gel is a girls best friend. But for that added hint of excitement you can shake it up and feel the benefit of the purple glitter.

Shimmy Shimmy Glitter Bar – this glitter infused bar needs simply to be smoothed over skin to cause an all over sparkle. A great way to get glittery without the mess.

25g Bubblegum Lip Scrub – Innovatively awesome! This one may end up in my handbag. An exfoliator for your lips that smells and tastes great. Rub a small amount of lip scrub across your lips  and then lick off the excess. It tastes great and leaves your lips feeling very soft.

The contents are very pretty, very pink and very appealing. I can just see someone’s reaction now; but if the pink factor is not going to be the one that sways you there are more reasons to buy gifts with LUSH this Christmas.

Lush pride themselves on their environmental policy and doing all they can to ensure that at every stage of their production the ingredients and packaging are sustainable, their processes are as efficient and environmentally friendly as possible. They are against animal testing and put suppliers through a rigorous screening process to ensure that they subscribe to the same philosophies.

All the products in this pack are vegan! Lush work hard to ensure their products can be fresh, organic and free of preservatives. I think I am going to try these out on my little person with the sensitive skin.

The Stardust is available online and in stores across the country for an RRP of $55.95. For your nearest stockist call: 1300 5874 28

You can check out the Stardust Gift and the entire Christmas range at: www.lush.com.au

Filed Under: **VIEW ALL GIFTS**, For Her, For Kids, For Teens, Skincare Tagged With: , ,

Charlie and Lola Books – Lauren Child

grey dots
December 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The Charlie and Lola books by Lauren Child are a favourite among toddlers and parents alike. I never get tired of reading these to my son and he loves when the invisible “Soren Lorensen” gets a mention.

There are three books which I will recommend for Christmas, and each celebrates the 10 year anniversary of the original Charlie and Lola with a free wall frieze included inside.

“I Am Too Absolutely Small for School” is about Lola getting nervous about swapping life at home for school, and it shares some common concerns little ones may have.

toosmallschool

This is a really good choice for those who are starting school in 2012, and in the end it all works out for Lola and she has a great time and even makes a new friend.

In “I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato“, big brother Charlie is trying to encourage his little sister who is a fussy eater, to try a tomato (among other things).

nevertomato

Most parents have gone through this at some point, and the dinner table can sometimes be a stressful occasion. This is a fun look at the way children view food.

Lastly is “I am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed“, which has Charlie helping Lola go to bed. She fights it every step but you will be happy to know that eventually she goes to sleep!

notsleepybed

These books are relevant to both children and parents, and help to spread a positive message and give them a little “nudge” in the right direction. Beautifully illustrated, these books will be the perfect bedtime companions.

Filed Under: **VIEW ALL GIFTS**, Books, For Kids, For Toddlers

The Wiggles Night Lights

grey dots
December 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you have young children you would have heard every excuse in the book for getting out of going to sleep. “Mum, I need a drink”, “Muuuummm, I’m hungry”, “Mummy, I need to go to the toilet”.

While I don’t have a solution for those little dramas, I have two Christmas gift ideas that will solve one nighttime problem and that is “Mum, it’s too dark.”

wiggles

Tee-Zed have released a new range of nightlights, and there will be no complaints because they feature The Wiggles. Luckily for us, they are completely silent and don’t sing about mashed bananas (parents get enough of that during the day), and they give a little bit of light without being too bright.

There is a battery operated nightlight which can be hung on the wall and turns on with the push of a button. This features The Wiggles driving a car and Dorothy the Dinosaur on a bicycle.

www.Tee-Zed.com.au

The second light is your traditional neon light which plugs into your power outlet. This is handy because you don’t have to worry about changing batteries.

Nightlights give your child a sleeping safety net, and could mean the difference between a restless sleep and a peaceful one. For those a little older that need to use the bathroom during the night, it will prevent them falling over their feet.

For more information visit www.Tee-Zed.com.au or call (02) 9386 4000 or in New Zealand, call (09) 274 8788

Filed Under: **VIEW ALL GIFTS**, For Kids, For Toddlers Tagged With: , , , ,

Where’s Asterix

grey dots
December 6, 2011 By 1 Comment

It’s a very good thing I like to do a little research before I put pen to paper because I was very almost going to make a silly comment and embarrass myself. I was going to say, being a child of the 80′s I am familiar with – though I never actually read any myself – Asterix. He was all the rage with the boys my age. It actually turns out that Asterix was created in 1959! Therefore he would be familiar to a lot more people than I ever would have thought.

I had the new Asterix book in a bag next to my computer, just waiting for when I would have the time to write this. Hubby walked past earlier and spotted it in the bag “Ooh Asterix, cool!” I had to laugh, even a grown man who does not read got excited at the tiniest glimpse of Asterix.

wheres asterix

This Christmas then, it is safe to say, that every man you know would gain at least a little excitement at finding Asterix under the Christmas tree.

After the initial excitement at finding Asterix in their stocking this Christmas the boys will find that the excitement doesn’t end there. They can continue searching for Asterix in the pages of Where’s Asterix.

Think Where’s Wally combined with the distant past. The year is 50 B.C. and Gaul has been almost entirely taken over by the Romans, except for the small village home to Asterix. Your mission, if you think you’re man enough, is to scour the twelve action packed scenes inside this book to discover the hiding place of Asterix and various other characters in his entourage.

Asterix cartoons are cute yet still manly in that they are set in violent times – where it was all about clubs and swords so they are depicted here in very non-confronting violent times.

This book is bright and colourful, amusing and entertaining and sure to test the powers of observation. I predict it would be a hit with a demographic older than you would probably expect, until you get to the point where the eyesight is failing maybe, as well as with younger people. Males of all ages would get caught up in the fact that it’s Asterix I think.

Available where you get your books for an RRP of $24.99

The recommendation for this book is 9-12 year olds which sounds about right to me – but I still stand by what I said. I think this would be a hit with a much older crowd too – all the boys that remember growing up with Asterix.

Filed Under: **VIEW ALL GIFTS**, Books, For Him, For Kids, For Teens Tagged With: , , , , ,

Rose – Holly Webb

grey dots
November 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In this technological age it seems that most of the children I know, of a certain age anyway, have some wonderful electronic gadget on their Christmas wish list. It doesn’t change the fact that my deep love of reading, and of books, makes me unable to complete a gift without a book.

Part of my logic is that the book will help even the scales, drag them away from the gadgetry for a while – that’s my hope anyway!

Trying to get something age appropriate and still engaging can be a little difficult, especially if that child is not your own.

rose

Here then is a great option for the girls in your life, ages ranging from 7-13 depending on how sensitive your child is and their reading level. It is a book to be read by the young reader but there are some quite big words in there that may require some help. Set in a Victorian era some of the language may be a little difficult.

Rose is an orphan whose only dream has been to grow up and get out of the orphanage, gaining employment as a maid in a big house. She arrives at Mr Fountain’s to find herself surrounded by sparkling magic, and soon realises she is a little magical too.

Orphans begin to mysteriously disappear and Rose is put to the test to try and rescue them before it’s too late. The back of the book indicates that this is for 9+ but that would really depend on your child’s competency and their sensitivity, as well as what you are comfortable letting them read.

Rose is not all fairies and  unicorns as you might expect from a book for this age group. There is magic, alchemy, glamours and talking cats. There is also some dark magic contained in these pages and some scenes that may be a little much for younger or more sensitive readers. I wanted to check it out before I said anything, so I flicked to the end of the book and read the chapters that caused some concern.

There are scenes near the end of the book where the pieces come together about the disappearances and they can be a little disturbing for sensitive readers.  I don’t think the villain is a vampire but shares some vampiric traits, there is bloodletting. There is nothing really graphic or detailed and I have no issues with allowing my Miss Almost 8 to read it. I think if your children have watched Coraline they should be OK.

Rose is the first in a series of novels about Rose and is available where you get all your good books. ISBN is 978-1-40830-447-1 and RRP is $16.99.

 

Filed Under: **VIEW ALL GIFTS**, Books, For Kids Tagged With: ,

Cabbage Patch Kids ABC Play With Me

grey dots
November 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Cabbage Patch dolls have made a comeback, I remember dragging mine around everywhere when I was a little girl, and they are now more interactive.

The ABC Play With Me doll has that same cute look you know and love (there’s nothing creepy about these dolls) with the ability to sing, and even play the kazoo!

ABC_PlayWithMe

For ages 2+, these Cabbage Patch Dolls are pre-schooler friendly because they can cuddle and play with them while learning to sing their ABCs. In addition to playing the kazoo and singing, these dolls will babble, giggle when snuggled and slurp their fruit and vegetable “juice”.

One of the most exciting aspects of getting a new Cabbage Patch doll for Christmas is the birth certificate – finding out your new friend’s name and birthday – and I am pleased to say that this version comes with one too.

ABC_PlayWithMe

The Cabbage Patch Kids ABC Play With Me is one of those “must have” Christmas gifts this year, and Santa will be delivering these to little girls everywhere on December 25th.

Included in the box with the toy is a kazoo and special drink box with straw. Please note if you test this in store it is set to “Try Me” mode and she will do more when you take her home and switch to “On”. Batteries are also included.

RRP: $64.95

Filed Under: **VIEW ALL GIFTS**, For Kids, For Toddlers, Toys Tagged With: , , ,

Razor Junior 3 – Wheeler Scooter

grey dots
October 22, 2011 By 2 Comments

Scooters aren’t a new invention but they have come back in style and will be big on Santa’s list of must haves this year. Razor is a company who have been making scooters for over ten years and have a design to suit every scooter enthusiast.

For a child of 3+ there is the Razor Junior which is not only fun but with three wheels it helps to build their confidence as they master the art of balancing and steering without having to go straight for the trickier two wheeled version.

Razor Jr 3 Wheeler Blue Open

There are three height adjustment settings for the handle and the scooter folds up so it won’t take up much space for storage.

The wheels light up and flash which will add to the fun factor and this is a good quality little ride on that will encourage them to play outside and get active.

The Junior isn’t just for boys as it comes in both pink or blue and has an RRP of $49.99. Make sure you accessorise them with all the proper safety gear and purchase a Razor helmet to go with it.

Razor Jr 3 Wheeler Girl mr

This will be a much loved favourite and is definitely going to be a best seller for Christmas 2011.

For great scooter tips and tricks, join the Razor Crew at www.razoraus.com.au. The site features exclusive news on Razor, cool games, DIY designs, downloads and heaps more.

For customer enquiries or more stockist information please contact Funtastic’s free-call Customer Care Line on 1800 244 543.

Filed Under: **VIEW ALL GIFTS**, For Kids, For Toddlers, Toys Tagged With: , , , ,

The Keepers 2: City of Lies – Lian Tanner

grey dots
October 13, 2011 By 1 Comment

Gift giving is a time when I try to encourage one of my passions in my children and all of the other children in my family. It is a time when there is a barrage of new clothes and new toys so I try to steer away from that when I go shopping.

It should come as no surprise that I am a lover of books and I want to foster that love in the children that I love, well in all children actually.  This is why no gift from me is complete without a book.

City of Lies is the newly released second part of The Keepers trilogy, a fabulous story of danger and adventure by Lian Tanner.

the keepers

This series has been written for children in the 8-12 age bracket and is an adventurous fantasy. This is a book for the child in your life who has no fear and a good grasp on what’s right and wrong as well as what’s real and what isn’t.

Not a book for all young readers as the blurb on the back states that lead character Goldie Rush is a thief and a liar and they are following child-stealers to rescue Bonnie, who has been kidnapped.

I’m sure some of you are feeling a little sceptical right now but the way I see it is that it can be really difficult to get children involved with books, and a struggle to to convince them to read.

Lian Tanner has written a series that is sure to engage them because Goldie’s adventures are fraught with danger and creatures direct from Tanner’s imagination. The Keepers is a fantasy tale that will transport them to another world and keep them guessing.

The first book in the series, Museum of Thieves, was quite highly awarded as you can see from the list below.

Winner, 2010 Aurealis Awards – Children’s Fiction
Notable Book, 2011 Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year – Younger Readers
Shortlisted, 2011 Speech Pathology Australia’s Book of the Year – Upper Primary
Shortlisted, 2011 Indie Book Award – Children’s

If that is anything to go by I’m sure that City of Lies is going to be a pleasant surprise for any spirited child. I know exactly where this one is going and I’m sure it will be loved. My dilemma at the moment is whether or not I read it first.

City of Lies by Lian Tanner has an RRP of $22.99 and is available where you get your books.

Filed Under: **VIEW ALL GIFTS**, Books, For Kids Tagged With: , ,

Oh My Giddy Aunt

grey dots
October 10, 2011 By 4 Comments
It wouldn’t be Christmas without one of our favourite online stores, Oh My Giddy Aunt! Chief Giddy Aunt, Nikki, has been a friend to Beauty and Lace for years now and the store is one I have personally shopped at and have fallen in love with time and time again.

After having a chat with the whimsical Nikki (who I honestly wish was MY aunt), we have come up with some gift ideas for Christmas 2011. These are just some of the beautiful pieces from Oh My Giddy Aunt but we couldn’t list them all so pop on over and see the entire range for yourself.

First, we have the Inori Range – it’s stainless steel jewellery which looks like platinum but is much stronger and durable. It is also ideal for those with skin sensitivities and doesn’t bend or break. The contemporary stainless steel pendants can be engraved and will be a keepsake that will be cherished forever.

giddy aunt
Next we have the Mother’s Rings. While all my friends are getting their children’s names tattooed on their body, these rings are a less painful way to be reminded of your loved ones whenever you look at them. These custom made rings are set with up to ten birthstones, each stone represents a cherished loved one. A gorgeous gift for mums this year!

oh my giddy aunt
Laser Engraved Rings and Bangles are always a personal gesture, and are especially suitable for younger teenage girls.  Oh My Giddy Aunt give you a range of different design and print options making Christmas 2011 easy!

oh my giddy aunt
The Photo Balls Lockets are 9 carrot yellow gold and are more of an investment piece, but one that can be handed down through the generations. The locket opens and four photographs can be stored inside. These heirloom pieces have that olden day glamour, but will be cherished throughout the lucky recipient’s life. Also available in sterling silver!!

oh my giddy aunt
And last but not least are the My Little Pearls, pearls for your little princess. Made from real freshwater pearls, this is something really special and they are made in small sizes especially for young girls. Each pearl is individually knotted so if one does happen to come off it can easily be saved.

oh my giddy aunt
For these beautiful gift ideas and more, please visit www.ohmygiddyaunt.com.au
Filed Under: **VIEW ALL GIFTS**, For Her, For Kids, For Teens, Jewellery Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
« Older Posts