Babyliography CCXVIII

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, The Gruffalo's Child

2004 / School book / 32 pages

**

The Prince Caspian of overrated picture books.

 

Roger Hargreaves, Little Miss Splendid

1981 / Library book / 30 pages (a couple ripped out)

*

Posh sod is exempt from learning lessons.

Jamie Smart, Looshkin: The Adventures of the Maddest Cat in the World

2018 / Library book / 64 pages

***

Going back to the start of a series usually means it makes more sense.

Helen Dineen, Collins Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds: Dogs That Help

2022 / School book / 16 pages

***

Ramping up to Phase 4, she had a crack at reading a page in her mind and unlocked a new permanent skill. Good dogs!

Michael Rosen, Smacking My Lips

1995 / Paperback / 60 pages

***

Like Dr Seuss, I failed to get the appeal of this frivolous children's poet until reading it aloud to someone in single figures. Fingers crossed we come across the hall of lost things in real life to get her doll's accessories back.

Babyliography CCXVII

Jan Burchett, Sara Vogler and Anastasiya Kanavaliuk, Collins Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds: Too Much Soap

2022 / School book / 16 pages

**

She wants to read as well as Savannah does, so we're reading her phonics books three times a week as instructed all along rather than getting them out of the way for unicorns. This was an atmospheric journey, so I didn't mind taking it again.

Susanna Davidson, Mike Gordon and Carl Gordon, The Frog Prince

2012 / School book / 24 pages

**

A few tweaks, but I squashed the theory going around Reception that the frog dies before metamorphosing.

Roger Hargreaves, Little Miss Shy

1981 / Library book / 32 pages

*

Another 'flawed' personality pressured into conforming. We discussed why this wasn't good.

Catherine Casey and Lee Teng, Collins Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds: Food on the Farm

2021 / School book / 16 pages

**

The non-fiction ones are our favourites, even when they're inaccurate about the colour of beetroot.

Various, Oxford Reading Tree: Level 3 – Traditional Tales – Chicken Licken and Other Stories

2013 / Library book / 80 pages

***

Some dumb changes for the sake of it, but she zipped through them.

Aimee's art review

Albrecht Altdorfer, The Battle of Alexander at Issus (1529)

"I like this one. All the people, the message in the sky and the sun and the moon, it's very detailed. It's my favourite one."

Tsuguhara Foujita, Girl in the Park (1957)

"I like this one because it's bright and detailed."

Sam Francis, Around the Blues (1962)

"I don't like that one, it's rubbish."

Agnolo Bronzino, An Allegory of Venus and Cupid (1545)

"This is rude, because they're naked. There's a bottom there, a bottom there, there's even a willy. It's rude. I like it!"

Josef Albers, Homage to the Square (1964)

"The best thing about it is nothing. The worst thing about it is that it's just totally yellow. That's the worst one."

More songs by Aimee

The artist's second EP of song lyrics and stock photo selections following her 2024 debut.

I'll Always Have Your Back

You have to always remember

That I'll have your back

Forever

But didn't you know

That I'm sticking together with you

Some day we might be apart

But I don't think we will

Because we're together

I'll always have your back

No matter what

Because we're together

Forever

But didn't you know

That I'm sticking together with you

Forever

I'll always have your back

No matter what

Because we're together

Forever

Didn't you know

That we're sticking together

I'll always have your back

No matter what

Because we're together

Forever

Together Forever

How I shine

Shine though it's dark

You and me

You and me

That's a good reason why you love me

That's a good reason why you make me smile

And that is what I did with you

That is the reason why I have long hair like you

That is the reason I have black hair

Ohh ohh

Look at me, look at you, we're together now

Together all of us

We're all together, forever

Always be together, no matter what

I know we're together forever

You never worry about me being apart

I'll never forget you're me, you're in my heart

You were the reason that you made me fly in my dreams

The Money Song

[A half-hour financial epic improvised live at the playground and on the walk home, only a few fragments were recorded for posterity]

The money so-o-ong

Mo-o-o-o, mo-ney

Mo-o-o-o, mo-ney

Mo-o-o-on, ey-ey

Mo-o-o-on, ey-ey

You can do a painting job

You did the painting really well

And you get paid

You get the money today

Money, it's easy to get

You plant the crop

You plant the potatoes

You plant anything

Or you can do a different job

Like in the cafe

Be a babysitter

Whatever

And you'll get money, money

You'll get lots of money

Right in your day

You can get a coin

Put it in the locker, if you have one

My friend always has something in common

So let's pray for the day and shine bright with each other

So we can see the money, the mone-e-e-ey

Gloves Endless Song

[Scene: Wearing a pair of gloves on a hot summer day]

I'm definitely not taking my gloves off

Even though it's hot

I've got a secret, in my head...

Fine.

[Takes the gloves off]

Alrightreads: Comixxxxxxxxxxx

Mike W. Barr, Peter David and artists, Star Trek Graphic Novel Collection: All Those Years Ago

1985-88 (collected 2020) / Ecomics / 118 pages

***

Three vintage DC annuals filling in some landmark historical blanks with commendable respect for canon, if less compelling plots.

Kris Straub, The Chainsawsuit Initiative

2011 / Ebook / 64 pages

**

I don't get it.

Various, Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror: Heebie-Jeebie Hullabaloo

1995-97 (collected 1999) / Ecomics / 144 pages

***

Even more authentic than the main series, and early enough to have free reign for parody before they presumably worked through absolutely everything.

Walter Simonson and Sal Buscema, The Mighty Thor, Vol. 3

1985-86 (collected 2013) / Ecomics / 264 pages

***

A bit of a comedown from the epic confrontation as our overpowered hero deals with various nuisances. I'm so used to it now that it's not even amusing any more, but since I'm over half way through, I might as well stick it out.

Joceline Fenton and Chrystin Garland, Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems

2016 / Ecomics / 128 pages

***

More on-model than the earlier comics, this is basically an episode, and it's fine. Includes an extensive gallery of misleading covers.

Alrightreads: Further scoops from the bottomless Rhys Hughes well

Rhys Hughes, Eyelidiad

1996 / Ebook/audiobook / 138 pages

****

Borderline classic of Gothic surrealism.

Rhys Hughes, The Crystal Cosmos

2007 / Ebook / 80 pages

*****

Inverse rationalism taken to its illogical conclusion.

Rhys Hughes, The Abnormalities of Stringent Strange

2013 / Ebook/audiobook / 205 pages

***

Hirsute pulp fun with some impressively deranged sci-fi concepts.

Rhys Hughes, The Million Word Storybook: Male Edition

1993–2015 (collected 2015) / Ebook

*****

After filtering out the crossover tales of the Female Edition and other collections I've read previously, there were only 11 new stories to get around to. There's not a significant difference between the two versions, which both give you more Rhys Hughes than most people strictly need, unless you're me.

Rhys Hughes, The Rhys Hughes Fantastic MEGAPACK

1995–19 (collected 2019) / Ebook / 319 pages

*****

A good selection for a possibly unauthorised best-of, with a few newer ones I hadn't read.

Alrightreads: Gamesmaster V

Various, My Little Pony Roleplaying Game: Dark Skies Over Equestria

2023 / Ebook / 168 pages

****

Some entertaining adventures with less engaging padding in-between, like an old Doctor Who serial, but easily abridged to taste.

Andrew Peregrine, My Little Pony Roleplaying Game: Nightmare Moon Campaign

2023 / Ebook / 4 pages

***

A decent outline for an unrealised campaign book, though riffing on existing concepts (even before they were specific episodes and comic stories). It's probably a bit scary for me to try my hand at expanding, so that gets me off the hook.

John Kennedy, My Little Pony Roleplaying Game: Great Cake Mistake / Sundae Mystery

2023 / Ebooks / 82 pages

***

These convention-oriented scenarios are more inviting than the standard introductory adventures, and we might try one or the other, though I wonder how much actual play these got, coming about a decade late for the brony craze.

Ryan Costello, Andrew Popowich and Mary Bellamy, My Little Pony Roleplaying Game: In a Jam

2024 / Ebook / 40 pages

**

Lower key than the equivalent second adventure from Tails of Equestria, MLP RPG players are spoiled for food-festival-themed escapades, if they like them apples. The montage challenge is a fun idea, at least.

Various, Sword & Sorcery: Relics & Rituals Core Rulebook

2001 / Ebook / 224 pages

****

An abundance of ideas for spells, items and other specific magical strangeness to supplement the single-page spellbook in our roleplaying system. 'Core' is right, this'll get a lot of digital nosing.

Alrightgames: Adventures on a Single Page – The Archmage's Thermal Baths (Adapted)

Adventures on a Single Page: The Archmage's Thermal Baths (Adapted)

2020 / Roleplaying game adventure / 2+ players

***

Another substituted quickie, taking out the baddies and ponied up as Flim & Flam's inadequately-researched mountain wellness resort (I was disappointed once again at recurring characters not being included in the Tails of Equestria standees pack in favour of random OCs). I didn't know what we were going to do with the dragon egg we'd be left with at the end, but after incubating in my mind for a few weeks, the ending emerged, which also solved the problem of my own pony character being underdeveloped and boring. Weredragon, bitches!

Alrightgames: Adventures on a Single Page – Wizard Tower for Sale (Adapted)

Adventures on a Single Page: Wizard Tower for Sale (Adapted)

2021 / Roleplaying game adventure / 2+ players

***

Ponied up with no fuss to replace a duller sub-module in our ongoing Changeling campaign, it offered the chance to catch up with the accident-prone unicorn mage from our first outing and was just some fun time-warping craziness generally. The player was in such a hurry to ascend the floors that we missed the overpowered Wand of Silence sitting in a desk that could have been useful in our inevitable forthcoming confrontation. I did try to hint.

Alrightgames: My Little Pony RPG – The Balance of Harmony (Adapted)

My Little Pony Roleplaying Game: Dark Skies Over Equestria – The Balance of Harmony (Adapted)

2023 / Roleplaying game adventure / 2-6 players

***

A more roleplay-intensive chapter was welcome after the previous one was a bit dicey, but the scenarios themselves could have been more interesting than mostly mundane domestic problems, especially since they're so loosely related to the theme and open to interpretation that they could have been anything. We only worked through a few, replacing the rest with imported modules and improv to advance our personal stories.

She had the most fun in between quests as we returned to Ponyville to demand our share of broth. We don't save the world for free.