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Danny Dingle’s Fantastic Finds, The Metal Mobile – review and competition

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We were asked to review this book from Boolino and also tell you about a fantastic give away.

To stand a chance of winning one of 500 copies of Danny Dingle’s Fantastic Finds by Angie Lake, all you have to do its register here. http://www.dannydingles-fantastic-finds.co.uk/ If you are not one of the lucky ones everyone who registers gets a free mega activity pack to download!!

But don’t rush off just yet, let me tell you about the book.

 First Impressions

This book is simply fun from the start, the lovely bright blue tactile cover and the blue bleed onto the edges of the pages is simply stunning. The line illustrations take me back to the fun of traditional comics that I enjoyed as a child. The book is lightweight paper back and perfect for fitting into a school bag or travel bag.

The Story

It begins by telling you not to read it, don’t turn the page or the book will explode. Will you believe it? Curiosity will prevail, right from the start. 
Danny Dingle is young school boy who wants to be an inventor. He shares his experiments with his friend Percy and pet Super Dog. His Dad is also very helpful to the dismay of his long suffering mum!
Danny also has a hero in the form of Metal Face and wants to be his future assistant, he’ll do anything to go and see his new movie, but can he get an A in science at school?

The story covers Danny’s school life, his experiments, and the school soap box race. It has no chapters but there is not huge amounts of text on each page and it’s easy to read.

The Illustrations

I love the comic like illustrations, along with the text they really bring the book to life and make this funny story even more fun to read.

The Blurb

Because we all like to read the blurb on the back…

Meet Danny Dingle, aka Experimental Face (ha ha) – super-secret spy and future assistant tothe greatest superhero EVER, Metal Face!

Danny and Percy know they have to pull out all the stops to beat Danny’s arch-enemy, Gareth Trumpshaw, who’s an evil genius, with an evil genius dad.
(They are also big fat cheaters!)

Can Dad;s special brew of super-fizzy cola save the day? Or will it be down to Superdog to come to the rescue yet again?

The Verdict

The book is aimed at early readers 7-8 yrs. However, all my kids loved it (Ages 6 to 11) and even though it seems to be more aimed at boys, the girls loved it just as much as their brother. It was a real page turner and they all found it funny, We will definitely be looking out for the next book.

If you don’t win a copy of the book in the fabulous give away above you can purchase it at Boolino, recommended price is £6.99 but you can currently save 30% and get it for £4.89
Disclosure: As a Boolino Blogger I received a copy of this book in return for my review. All thoughts and opinions of myself and my children are our own.

Night Terror Torte and Competition

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I’m currently running a competition where you could win one of three copies of the Hoxton Street Monster Supplies Cookbook. fill in you details in the Rafflecopter widget below for your chance of winning.

Here is my first recipe from the book, Night Terror Torte.

hoxton street monster supplies recipe book

The instructions say..”Be sure to think truly appalling thoughts as you make this torte –  you will find that the screams of your victims will have an extra edge of misery if you do.”


Well, I didn’t really have appalling thoughts but I did make it while in a lot of pain, so hopefully some of my victims felt the benefit…*insert evil cackle*

Actually, as you can see from this recipe, the torte is incredibly delicious and I would definitely make it again.

Night Terror Torte

Ingredients, serves 8 monsters:

200g caster sugar
4 tbs water
2 oranges, thinly sliced
475g sweet shortcrust pastry
100g butter, soft
100g ground almonds
2 eggs, lightly beaten
100g of dark chocolate

Method:

  • Put half the sugar and the measured water in a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.
  • Add the orange slices and cook over a low heat for 30 minutes until the oranges are tender and most of the syrup has evaporated. let cool.
  • Roll out the pasty on a lightly floured surface until a little larger than a greased 9 1/2 inch fluted loose-bottomed tart tin.
  • line the tin with the pasty and chill for 15 minutes
  • Line the tart with nonstick baking paper, add baking beans and place on a baking sheet.
  • bake in  a preheated oven, 190C gas mark 5 for 10 minutes
  • Remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5 minutes until golden and crisp.
  • Reduce the oven temperature to 180C, gas mark 4
  • Beat together the butter and the remaining sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy.
  • Add the ground almonds, then gradually beat in the eggs until smooth. Set Aside
  • Reserve 10 of the best orange slices, then drain and chop the rest.
  • Stir the chocolate into the almond mixture, then mix in the chopped oranges.
  • Spread into the tart case, arrange the reserved orange slices on top and bake for 30 minutes.
  • Let cool for 30 minutes before removing from the tin.
Slice and Enjoy!

The Hoxton Street Monster Supplies Cookbook comes from the Hoxten Street Shop found in East London (unsurprisingly on Hoxton Street) and is the purveyor off all kinds of everyday items for the living, dead and undead. Due to a curse all profits got to The Ministry of  Stories, a creative writing and mentoring charity for young humans. At the shop you will such goodies as Earwax Cubes, Salt Made From Tears of Anger or Banshee Balls as well as the fabulous cookbook.
So if you are looking to treat that monster in your life, you now know where to go.


So let’s get on with the competition. 

The question can be found in the Rafflecopter Gadget and you can answer in the comments. If you answer in the comments you do not have to fill in the gadget but it will give you more entries into the competion.
Rules: 
UK only, sorry
Please make sure you leave me your e-mail for contacting the winners
Winners will be chosen at random
The rafflecopter gadget will appear on other posts but you only need to fill it in once
No prize alternative will be offered
Prizes will be sent out by Hoxton Street Monster Supplies
Raisiebay will not be responsible for unreceived prizes
Prizes must be claimed within 28 days after the close of the competition.
Competition will close on November 29th 2016
All entries will be checked

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Win an Apple iPad Mini 4 – 16GB Wi-Fi with JCT600

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It’s almost time for the summer holidays and recently I was invited to work with JCT600 to produce the Ultimate Guide to Surviving Those Long Car Journeys When Travelling With Kids.

Along with three other blogger mum’s I provided my tips along with some stories of journey’s which hadn’t quite gone to plan. 
It’s a great read if you are planning your holiday journey. Maybe you’ve already thought about how to entertain the kids on long journeys. I believe entertainment is very important, whether it’s music, colouring books, games or DVDs. JCT 600 are offering the chance to win something that is bound to keep any child entertained on a journey, an Apple iPad Mini 4 -16GB WiFi.
To enter this fab competition all you have to do is sumbit your details below and follow JCT on Twitter, for a bonus entry visit the JCT600 Facebook page and to get an additional three bonus entries, simply leave a comment with your top tips below.

The competition closes at midnight on Thursday 30th June and a winner will be selected at random.

Good Luck and happy road-tripping.

(NB. Please note that Raisie Bay has been chosen as a host for this competition only. I will not responsible for providing the prize or choosing the winner. This competition will also be hosted on other blogs that appeared in the above article.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Barbie Colour Change Bag – review and competition

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When we were asked to review a Barbie Colour Change bag, Boo was really excited. The parcel arrived shortly and she couldn’t wait to open it.

She spent about half hour checking it out and said it was brilliant, but she then lost interest. The Little Man, however, has played for hours with it. Having two older sisters he is no stranger to playing with girl’s toys. This bag had lots of appeal for him, particularly as it changed colour.

Boo demonstrates how the bag matches her top

The bag is aimed at children aged over three, but I think maybe it loses appeal for children as they reach seven and older and Boo has just turned seven.

Made of hard plastic the bag has a small wrist strap and a little longer hand strap, which could possibly fit over the shoulder of a small child. It has a little clasp on the top made of tiny shoes and it opens by pressing a button which is quite simple for little hands. The bag is quite small inside because it has the colour change mechanism and a battery pack in there. You wouldn’t be able to fit much more inside and when you open it things tend to pop out. Some might say what is the point of a bag that you can’t carry anything in, well, many ladies have a bag purely for a fashion accessory.

The bag comes with some little accessories which you can clip on to the bag to decorate it. It also comes with a little bag especially for Barbie. The Little man had lots of fun putting the accessories on and changing them off again.

The bag changes colour to match your outfit. It supposedly has over a hundred different colours. The Little Man had lots of fun trying out the colour changing, but not as much fun as OH who went around the entire living room matching the colours he could find….but please don’t tell him I told you that!

The colour sensor is at the back of the bag and you put this against a colour and the white part of the bag changes colour to match. It doesn’t seem to like brown or black though.

The bag requires three AAA batteries which are supplied. The recommended retail price is £29.99

I’m pretty sure this is going to be on the wish list of many little girls this Christmas. If you think you know someone who would like one then I’m giving you the chance to win one in my competition. Just fill in the Rafflecopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway







Terms and Conditions:

  • This giveaway is open to UK residents only.
  • Three winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter and announced on this page
  • The winners will be contacted by e-mail within 3 days of the competition ending, they will have 10 days to respond.
  • No collected details will be passed on to any third party by RaisieBay
  • The company reserves the right to substitute the prize fo one of a similar type/value
  • Competitions starts on 13/10/14 and ends 10/11/14 at midnight

Disclaimer, I was given a Barbie Colour Change bag for the purpose of this review and one to give away. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sid’s Show Live – Win tickets!!

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This competition is now closed

Sid Sloane from CBeebies is soon to be touring with his fabulous new stage show, Sid’s Show. The show will be crammed with songs, games and magic as Sid embarks on a journey to find his favourite socks and shoes. Sid will travel to the bottom of the sea, the jungle and outer space in his quest that will delight children aged over 3 years.
Find out more about the show by following Sid Sloane on Twitter 
and liking the facebook page 
The tour dates, starting 28th October 2012 and finishing 30th June 2013 can be found on the site http://www.sidsloane.org/

We have on offer a family ticket, comprising four tickets in either of the following combinations: 2 Adults and 2 children, or 1 Adult and 3 children, to any single performance on the tour (winner to decide – subject to availability). NB. The October dates are not included as part of the competition. Please find general competition Terms and Conditions copied below.

For your chance to win just answer this simple question in the comments:
‘What has Sid lost?’

Winner will be announced on 31st october 2012.
Good Luck!

Competition
Terms & Conditions:

1. This competition is
open to residents of the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Republic of
Ireland aged 18 years or over, except for those associated with the production
company, their families or anyone else associated with this competition.

2.
All information detailing how to enter this competition forms part of these
terms and conditions.
3.
All entries must be received by the advertised closing time date.
4.
One entrant shall win a family ticket comprising of either: 2 Adults & 2
Children or 1 Adult & 3 Children to a single performance on the UK Tour

5. The winner may be required to take part in publicity.
6. All prizes
are non-transferable and there are no cash alternatives. The prize is subject
to availability.
7. Events may occur that render the competition itself or
the awarding of the prizes impossible due to reasons beyond the control of the
Promoter, and accordingly the Promoter may at its absolute discretion vary or
amend the promotion and the entrant agrees that no liability shall attach to the
Promoter as a result thereof.
8. Raisie Bay  is responsible for the first part of the promotion, which is the
publication and adjudication of the competition. All other facilities connected
with the provision of the prize are the responsibility of the Promoter.
9.
English law applies and the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts shall
prevail.
10. The October 2012
performances are not included as part of this competition.


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