There's never been a better time to take up a new hobby, or get better at one that you've brushed with in the past.

Lydia Crook is our new champion and in "I Can't Draw" she aims to show you the unrivalled pleasure of what it feels like when you begin to learn a new skill.

With a set of simple exercises, and a gentle encouragement to draw directly in the book yourself, these 60 easy-to-tackle lessons are absolutely perfect if you're suffering from cabin fever and don't quite know what to do with your little ones during the long easter hols (and potentially even longer home-schooling new life we're all adopting to).

For both my daughter and I, daily drawing is something that already happens but it's been fun working through this book too, to take on challenges outside our comfort zone and explore new ways of using art materials and making marks.

Let's take a wee peek inside, shall we then?

Drawing with dots, more dotty fun than you can imagine!

Time to unleash your imagination and skill up!



Sum this book up in a sentence: A life saver for bored kids, or even parents who want to try brushing up their drawing skills in a fab little set of 60 exercises that are tons of fun to do.

"I Can't Draw" by Lydia Crook is out now, published by Ivy Press (kindly supplied for review). 

Here's a question to pose to you as parents - do you think your kids are nice?

"What do you mean, of course my kids are nice!" you'll instantly respond, but would your kids be able to engage with a book that is chock full of 80 ways to expand their horizons and perhaps make them even nicer? Not only nicer but wonderful well-rounded little people who think of others before themselves?

That's the idea behind Bernadette Russell's new book "Be the Change - Make it Happen" which is full to the brim with brilliant ideas and activities that really would make an amazing impact on your little ones, and their community and neighbourhood too if you embrace some of the more large-scale ideas here.

If you've ever seen the movie "Pay it Forward" you'll understand the philosophy. Performing even the smallest act of kindness or putting someone else's wishes or needs ahead of your own CAN make a huge difference. As the book's byline says, big or small, these ideas are thought-provoking and most importantly hugely fun ways to give your kids something else to focus on other than the screen of their tablet or phone, or whatever junk is on telly.

Making a difference starts here, right on the very first page with positive messages of encouragement

One of the things we've always tried to do with Charlotte is instil in her a strong sense of right and wrong, but also a strong sense of caring about others. She also builds on this in school and at Brownies, and I know it probably sounds like some middle class hippy hogwash, but it makes a difference in the person she's becoming. She has tantrums and bad days just like anyone else but there are times when you can see how empathic and caring she can be (particularly in the way she looks after Mum when I'm not around).

A great idea for a treasure hunt and a funny face competitoon, to benefit local charities or good causes!

The book contains a really good mix of stuff that's realistically achievable, and other ideas that could take quite a bit of preparation and planning. Most important though is that it sets you thinking about the sort of person you are as well as the sort of person you'd like your kids to be as they grow up.

Worth the entry fee alone purely for this page. This needs turning into a poster and tacking up around every school!

With mindfulness and well being at the top of many parents' list of things to change about 2016, here's a fantastic book to really get you off to a flying start.

Charlotte's favourite bit: Making a top ten list of her favourite things in the whole world and reading it out.

Daddy's favourite bit: A hugely admirable book full of brilliant ideas and ways to help your local community, and help your child become a bit more caring and empathic. How could we not love a book like that?

(Kindly sent to us for review by Ivy Press)

"Be The Change - Make It Happen"

Written by Bernadette Russell

Illustrated by David Broadbent

Published by Ivy Press

Publication Date (Softcover): 1st February 2016

There's just one sleep to go until the big day and there's still plenty of time to go out and grab a fantastic activity book that's designed to chronicle your fab new year in a really cool and innovative way.

"A Year in my Life: Be Creative Every Day" features 365 awesome creativity prompts for doodlers, daydreamers and artistic folk of any age.

We've been dipping into the book by Lucy Menzies with illustrations by Tilly, and we're thoroughly impressed.

A whole year of amazing projects to tackle that should definitely inspire and amaze.

So let's take a closer look at just some of the ideas inside. Step right this way...

Don't worry if you're no good at drawing, doodles will be just as cool!

The book positively encourages you to tackle any of the activities in any order you like but the more organised amongst you might just want to start at numero uno and work your way right through the book to Number 365.

We love that the book is injected with a good dose of whacky humour but a lot of the subjects are quite thought provoking too...

You ARE amazing! Believe in yourself!

There's quite a lot of talk about mindfulness for children at the moment, and this book is certainly a really valuable aid to taking you out of the moment, and letting you delve into your imagination. Make room for it in your busy schedule and it'll be an awesome (and quite hilarious) read come the end of your year.

Charlotte's favourite bit: Coming up with a new name for a day of the week (Burpsday)

Daddy's favourite bit: A hugely inspirational little activity prompt and doodle book that I am seriously considering kidnapping if 'madam' doesn't get to it first!

(Kindly sent to us for review by GMC / Ivy Press)

"A Year in my Life: Be Creative Every Day!"

Written by Lucy Menzies

Illustrated by Tilly

Published by Ivy Press

Publication Date: 4th January 2016

 Nothing says "Christmas" like a fantastic set of 'makes' and these two fantastic books should inspire you to get out your colouring pencils, scissors and glue sticks and get cracking with some truly brilliant "Paper Play"...

We've seen quite a few fashion design books for children but this one really is something quite special. Let's tread the catwalks with "My Fashion Label: Design your Own collection" by Wendy Ward and Robyn Neild...

Forget Wally, have fun finding the illustrious Bard hidden amongst scenes from his most popular plays. An awesome historical and fun book, here's "Where's Will?"

How does your brain work? How does your brain control your body and relay information from your eyes and ears? A fascinating look at the science of thinking and feeling in "Brain Twisters"

The sun is out, the sky is blue, there's not a cloud to spoil the view so what better time to break our "Christmas Reviews 2015" duck with a fabulous paper-making activity book from a legend in crafting!

Ivy Press's fantastic range of children's activity books continues to impress our socks off with this mathemagical and absorbing activity book for budding artists, just remember, "This Is Not A Maths Book"!

"Ancient Egypt in 30 Seconds by Kath Senker and Jacqueline Williamson (Ivy Press)

We're always on the lookout for new and engaging Non Fiction books and we were delighted to be contacted by Ivy Press who have a stunning new range of children's non fiction books, under the "30 Seconds" range.

Don't be put off by the name, the fantastic range of books covering topics as diverse as the human body, Ancient Egypt and even the oceans deep is designed to break substantial topics up into bite-sized pieces so that children will readily engage with and absorb a whole caboodle of interesting facts and figures based around each subject.

We took a look at two books in the range, the first (as you can see from the header image) visits a topic we absolutely can't get enough of.

"Ancient Egypt in 30 Seconds" is utterly brilliant, a summary roundup of the amazingly rich history of Egypt, detailing just about everything you can think of from what it was like to live in Egyptian times, the royal lineage of Egypt and the Pharaohs (both male and female) who ruled the lands.

Each bite-sized chunk of Egyptian history is thoroughly well presented...

Our favourite section of the book. Did you know there were female Pharaohs? You do now!

...with exquisite detail crammed into every page spread, guaranteed to turn you into a budding Egyptologist in no time at all.

We also took a look at "Oceans in 30 seconds"...

Oceans in 30 seconds by Jen Green, Wesley Robins and Dr Diva Amon (Ivy Press)

This book visits the oceans showing us the rich and diverse ecosystems in, under and on our oceans deep. Again, each page spread divides the subjects into easy to master chunks...

Our ever-changing coastlines, affected by the currents and the weather as the planet's climate changes

This book is utterly essential for young eco-warriors who want to find out more about our oceans, why they're so important to us, and the huge changes that are happening as our climate warms up. Children will quickly learn why coastlines are eroding and ocean levels are rising - as well as seeing the impact that these changes has on life that relies on the ocean daily (including us, of course!)

These are just two in a gigantic range of fascinating and innovative titles from Ivy Press (do check out their website for more). The books cover a vast range of ages (yep, including us adults). They're really gorgeously presented and would be ideal for home and school as subjects are tackled in a kid-friendly (but definitely not dumbed down) way.

(Ancient Egypt in 30 seconds and Oceans in 30 seconds kindly sent to us for review by Ivy Press).