Tag: reading

Posted in reading

Wonderbly Personalised Book Review

Posted on by Amy

Ellie loves reading, it’s one of her favourite things to do. She reads fluently too with so much expression but her favourite books are the kind where she feels like she is really in the story. That’s where personalised books are amazing because she can find her name or a character that looks just like her while getting stuck in to the story.

Wonderbly is an online book company specialising in personalised books for children. They have a wide range of books in three age categories: 0-3 years, 3-6 years and 6+ years allowing you to easily choose a book suitable for the child the book is for. There is a book suitable to gift for any occasion too!

We have been very fortunate to have been sent their “Princess You The Great” book to review.

These stories are built around your child; giving them the fun and excitement of seeing their own name built in to the story.

Getting started is really simple.

Just choose a book, write in your child’s name, and pick the character drawing that looks the most like them.

I LOVE the different choices of customisation you get with the Wonderbly books. You don’t just choose Boy or Girl, you can choose characters with the same hair and skin colour of your child, this gives them the feeling that they are really in the story!

The website is extremely easy to use and navigate, the hardest part is choosing which book to personalise. There is the option of changing the colour of the cover (some colour options have an additional fee) and then a choice of softcover, hardback or premium hardback layflat. The hardback is a popular choice for any child book to keep them safer in little hands!

Before I finalised our book I created my own dedication which would be printed on the first page. I’ve done this for every personalised book we own, I think it will be a lovely memory for when Ellie is older.

Princess Ellie The Great

A little princess or prince has been invited to the palace to celebrate someone special – but who could it be? On their way they’ll meet lots of magical creatures who need their help and learn what makes a true champion.

A story about a strong, brave girl who just so happens to be a Princess. What more could a little girl want in a story whose main character looks just like the girl reading it. I love that the story teaches young girls they can be both a princess and a brave warrior able to overcome anything they desire! Within the story the main character learns the power of kindness, creativity, courage and determination – all qualities I want Ellie to have as she grows up – by befriending and helping the magical creatures they meet.

Each page is beautifully illustrated on thick high-quality paper and sourced from sustainable forests (making them good for the planet too!)

Our new Wonderbly book is an amazing addition to our Wonderbly Collection and we all love reading them. They are fun and make reading a bedtime story together even more special.

These are books I know we will treasure forever!

Do you own any Wonderbly books? I’d love to know what books others would recommend!

DISCLOSURE – WE WERE KINDLY GIFTED THE PRODUCT TO REVIEW HOWEVER AS ALWAYS ALL THOUGHTS, OPINIONS AND PHOTOGRAPHS ARE MY OWN.

Posted in Gifted, product review

Books2Door – Review

Posted on by Amy

Does anyone else’s child love stories? Whenever we are out and she sees a book she has to have one and Mummy can’t say no because I love that she loves books but WOW! Aren’t they expensive!
I’m so glad to introduce Books2Door who offer a fantastic range of babies, children and young adult books in one place! We recently received our collaboration book order and I couldn’t wait to share with you what we got!

As you probably know Ellie is an amazing storyteller, she is dramatic and full of expression; this has developed through her love of stories. I have been trying to move her on when we are reading together and pointing out simple CVC words to sound out and blend. She’s been trying really hard with this during lockdown so I knew I wanted books that would help her develop her reading so decided to look in the 5-7 years age range.

Ten Little Bookworms – £1.00



Ellie loves the “ten little” stories and we have used them to teach her subtraction and number skills too. When i saw this little book I knew she’d love it. It’s from the 2019 World Book Day range so isn’t a long story, perfect for filling time between activities or routine. This is the story of ten little borkworms and page by page one has gone astray. Ellie loved the illustrations and remembering how many bookworms would be left.

Where’s The Unicorn: a Magical Search and Find book – £4.49


These search and find books keep Ellie entertained for hours so when I saw there was a unicorn search and find book I got a little bit excited. Everyone loves unicorns right? Ellie definitely does. In this “where’s wally” style book there are 7 different coloured unicorns to find in 17 different locations. There is so much to find that children of all ages will love this book!

Ladybird Tales My Once Upon A Time Library – £27.99

I have always wanted Ellie to enjoy the classics as well as the many amazing modern-day stories and retells in the world. This 24 book set is complete with all the classics; Beauty and The Beast, Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk and so many more! Did you know Ladybird has been publishing fairy tales for over 45 years? They are the perfect addition to any child’s bookshelf or library! I can’t wait to read these to Ellie and eventually listen to her read them herself.

Books2Door has over 7000 reviews on Trustpilot and currently have free shipping for orders over £30! You won’t be disappointed in the range of books they offer – the bargain section is pretty stocked up too!

Posted in Gifted, parenting, product review, reading

Wonderbly Personalised Childrens Books – Review

Posted on by Amy

I often wondered whether Ellie would lose the passion she has for stories as she grows up or whether it will continue to bloom. It seems quite clear to me that as she’s getting older she still loves to listen to stories, she particularly loves ones with unicorns, cheeky characters and most of all books with her name in.

We have recently been given the opportunity to review two books which have been gifted to us by Wonderbly; “I Love Daddy This Much” and “The Little Girl Who Lost Her Name”

For those who don’t know; Wonderbly is a publishing company specialising in personalised children’s books for all ages. These books make your child the star of their own story. You can even personalise the illustration to look similar to your child too!

The process of making your Wonderbly book couldn’t be simpler. The website is well designed and easy to navigate. You can search for books by age, bestsellers or you can browse through them all! There are so many wonderful titles to choose from.
First of all you need to decide on the name, the gender and the features of the main character.

You can then personalise some of the books even further:

Once you’ve chosen the format (paperback, hardback etc), the recipient and the cover colour (available on specific books) you can then dedicate your book. This appears on the inside of the book.

“I Love Daddy This Much” is THE perfect Father’s Day gift for both Dad and baby/child! It’s a beautiful story all about how much Daddy is loved, who wouldn’t love this as a gift? They also do I Love You/Mummy/Grandma/Grandad This Much too!
Ellie has loved reading this with her Dad and giving him lots of cuddles when she does. She has even started repeating some of the phrases to him when she tells him she loves him. For Ellie, she was so excited to see a girl with ginger hair the same as her and her Daddy and then to see her name written across the pages was great too.

“The Little Girl Who Lost Her Name” is another wonderful story using Ellie’s name throughout the book. Ellie has just started recognising her name and is now able to write her first name without any visual support which is amazing as she is now able to recognise her name in stories too. She gets very excited when she sees it written on the page. This story helps the character follow a trail to find the letters of her name and links them to different animals. Each story is completely individual, Ellie’s story won’t be the same as Jason’s story as they would meet completely different animals.

You can find all the Wonderbly titles at their website: http://www.wonderbly.com/uk
You can also follow them for news, shares and the odd competition too!
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Disclosure: I was gifted these two books in exchange for an honest review by Wonderbly. All views, opinions and images are my own.

Posted in Gifted, Mum Blogger, mummy blog, parenting, product review

The Golden Key (gifted)

Posted on by Amy

It is no secret that I LOVE books, specifically children’s books. I haven’t sat down and read an adult book in years, which bothers me terribly at times but I just find reading with Ellie brings me more joy than if I was reading on my own.

Her love of stories is far bigger than mine, she is always asking to read, sits and demands 10 books at bedtime some nights and usually finds some to read during the day too. I love that she loves to read, I never say no because I work with plenty of children who don’t enjoy reading and choose not to. I don’t want that for Ellie. I want her to develop a storytellers imagination, to divulge herself in to a story that she just can’t put down. I want her to enjoy reading as much as I used to (Jacqueline Wilson being one of my favourite authors growing up!) and I can’t wait to share all the classics with her as she grows.

I literally jumped for joy when I received an email from Bang On Books asking if I would consider collaborating with them and reviewing one of their personalised books. It has been a dream of mine to develop my blog and social media enough to be able to share items that I love and this is DEFINITELY a book we both love!

The process of making the personalised book was so easy. Bang On Books has a bright, colourful and user-friendly website that guides you through the process of creating your own personalised book. You can add a photo, choose what the character looks like and write a personalised message for the inside.

3 simple steps to creating the a book your little one will love!

I chose The Golden Key as Ellie loves sea creatures and adventurous stories, I could have chosen Unicorn Oo which seemed a bit more girly however I was drawn to The Golden Key because the picture on the website showed a girl character rather than a boy (very well done!!) and I quickly remembered it didn’t matter which seemed more girly but what mattered is which Ellie would enjoy more.

I was surprised at how quickly the book was processed and posted out, it seemed to take only a few days from ordering (late night shopping is THE best!) to it being delivered and I got a little giddy when I realised what was waiting for us on the doorstep.

The Golden Key (written and illustrated by Hannah Walton) is beautifully illustrated and colourful. Each page gives you something to look out for (Ellie’s favourite is finding the “naughty ocapus” hiding. She asks to read “Ellie’s book” at least once a day since it arrived. She loves seeing her own face turn in to the character of Ellie and I love that we have a book that captures her at 2 years old and we have already made memories of her imagining herself on a swashbuckling adventure with Sailor and his crew!

The Golden Key is a lovely story based on a protagonist character being kind and brave enough to help Sailor find his lost golden key. It has pesky pirates, adventures on a turtle and a GIANT octopus who in Ellie’s view is very naughty. I find that Ellie’s attention span is small (she is only 2 and a bit) and long stories can be a bit tedious to read at times and at 44 pages long I assumed this would be the case for The Golden Key but the story and the fact that she is the main character keeps her attention right to the very last page, she loves it!

You can follow them on social media and order via the website linked below.
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Disclosure: I was gifted The Golden Key in exchange for an honest review. All views and opinions are my own.

Posted in baby loss, baby loss awareness, grief, life after loss, motherhood, mothering a rainbow, mummy blog, parenting, parenting after loss, rainbow baby, reading, telford, Uncategorized, world book day

World Book Day

Posted on by Amy

“If you are ever going to get anywhere in life you have to read a lot of books.” Roald Dahl

It’s never too early to build a love for reading. World Book Day might almost be over but we continue to give Ellie the best start in life and a love for books is one of the greatest things we can pass on to her. We are lucky in that Ellie already loves books and has from a very early age. She has always enjoyed looking at the pictures and already turns the pages herself. Even before she was born we had a collection of books ready and waiting to be read (another reality of life after baby loss!) and I couldn’t wait to sit with my children and read to them before bed.  Continue reading “World Book Day” →