Babyliography CCXXXV

Keiichi Arawi, Nichijou, Volume 1: My Ordinary Life

2006 (collected 2016) / Library book / 200 pages

***

She was eager for more back-to-front manga, and this quirky soap looked to be one of the tamer titles in the library's teenage section. Until that one girl stated fantasising about blowing her schoolmates' brains out one by one, but at least it's not coloured in.

Rob Alcraft, Collins Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds: Wild Homes

2021 / School book / 24 pages

***

The process of desensitising kids to scary nature continues. She didn't like the massive spider.

Naoko Takeuchi, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: Naoko Takeuchi Collection, Vol. 3

1993-94 (2022 edition) / Paperback / 300 pages

****

We've downgraded to the smaller, cheaper editions, but she got them in a nice boxset (with a second to follow, if she continues reading) with bonus postcards, so she's happy.

Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara and Ryoko Ichikawa, Little People, Big Dreams: Yayoi Kusama

2025 / Library book / 32 pages

***

She read the whole book to me, pretending she was leading an assembly.

Britta Teckentrup, A Happy Place

2023 / Library book / 32 pages

***

A drowsy bedtime story she read to herself at 7:00 AM before school.

Babyliography CCXXXIV

Unknown, Eye Twisters: The Science and Magic of Optical Illusions

2025 / Library book / 96 pages

***

A nice, if repetitive assortment of headache-inducing patterns and art. She isn't scared of ol' fruit-face any more.

Kate Scott and Ashley Stewart, Collins Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds: Let's Pretend!

2019 / School book / 24 pages

**

She's doing well with her reading, apart from repeatedly calling Dev "Dave" like some kind of Trigger.

Various, The Powerpuff Girls Classics, Vol 2: Power Up

2000-01 (published 2013) / Paperback / 140 pages

****

As delightfully silly as the cartoon, but we get to take our time savouring it. It's a shame this was the only comic volume I could find that wasn't crazily expensive.

Dana Simpson, Unicorn for a Day: Another Phoebe and Her Unicorn Adventure

Collected 2023 / Paperback / 176 pages

***

I may have overreacted to this volume breaking the pattern of the spine art if it was actually being clever and that is Phoebe after all, but I'm not going to give it credit when it flagrantly reprints some strips from as recently as the previous book.

Catherine Baker and Elissambura, Collins Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds: Iris's Wild Ride

2020 / School book / 24 pages

*

Today's sound is 'I,' so naturally they made it an alpaca.

Alrightreads: TV XXIV

Ilaria Vescovo, Star Trek: Baby's First Klingon Words

2022 / Ebook / 20 pages

**

A novelty item for babyish adults or parents so desperate to hook their toddler on a favourite franchise that they'll educate them in a useless fictional language, non-existent planets, curses and the names of specific weapons. There's life to waste on that stuff later.

Timothy J. Lee, Doctor Who: A Companion – An Unofficial Guide to 50 Years of T.V.'s Most Iconic Show!

2013 / Audiobook / 424 pages

***

The type of low-effort blog-as-book that's just the sort of thing I feel like sometimes.

Thomas Ligotti and Brandon Trenz, Crampton: The X-Files Screenplay

1998 / Ebook / 41 pages

****

This would have made a memorably eerie episode at the series' peak, after the extensive revisions needed to make it fit into the semi-plausible X-Files world.

Dafydd ab Hugh, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Fallen Heroes

1994 / Audiobook / 282 pages

****

Would have made a memorable time travel disaster puzzle episode, until it was made redundant by 'Visionary.'

Jacqueline Rayner, Doctor Who: EarthWorld

2001 / Audiobook / 252 pages

***

One of many books that wouldn't have crossed my path if the free audiobook hadn't been sitting there, I don't know where I'm dropping in, but the historically inaccurate killer theme park was crazy enough to keep my interest.

Alrightgames: Choose Your Own Adventure – The Warlock and the Unicorn

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Warlock and the Unicorn

2023 / Adventure gamebook / 1 player

**

The belated sequel to at least one of the endings of the surprisingly dark classic. We persevered, despite characters trying to persuade us to pack it in and go and play something else at various points. It's not difficult to work out where you are along the branching map on the back cover, but I let the six year old enjoy the often doomed journey.

Alrightgames: Takenoko

Takenoko

2011 / Board game / 2-4 players

****

Swapped into Ticket to Ride's place just in time to be a more appealing "family" Christmas game (i.e. for Daddy), this comical panda/horticulture simulator looks quite delightful, but a cute theme and miniatures only hold the six year old's interest for a few rounds at present. I hope we'll have some good memories growing up with it anyway – especially once the expansion babies come along.

Alrightgames: Tinderblox

Tinderblox

2020 / Stacking game / 2-6 players

***

I don't think we've had a stacking game since Bugs Building, but constructing this 8-bit/Minecraft fire to plan with tweezers (sometimes forced to use our less dominant hand) is considerably fiddlier.

A fun time filler, though even the low end of the suggested playing time seems optimistic.

Alrightgames: Dos

Dos

2018 / Card game / 2-4 players

*

The daughter loves a bit of Uno, so seeing that there was a sequel for about dos pounds was a no-brainer birthday present. In that I didn't think to check out reviews like I normally do until I'd already bought it and learned how terrible it supposedly was. So it skipped her birthday to avoid disappointment and ended up being more safely cushioned in a Christmas budget games bundle with other tat.

We've played it uno times. Stripped of all the cards that make Uno fun (replaced with maths!!!), we had to play a few rounds of Uno afterwards to get rid of the taste. She won't let us get rid of it though.

Alrightgames: What Next?

What Next?

2021 / Narrative/dexterity game / 1-4 players

***

A selection of choose-your-own-adventure stories enhanced with bits and bobs was an appealing idea, but in practice it feels more like overcomplication, and the tasks are very repetitive, so we might sell this on before bothering with them all. It's at least a step up from Usborne Puzzle Adventures.

Alrightgames: Muse – Dice Tower 2018 Kickstarter Promo Pack

Muse: Dice Tower 2018 Kickstarter Promo Pack

2018 / Card game mini expansion / 2-12 players

**

A few extra options at an acceptable discount that made them just about worth getting. Mixed in from the start, we wouldn't know if we had one, but they're getting their use. They should have included more in the first place, but they're easy enough to make up and there's still plenty of space in the box if we want to add our own.

Alrightgames: Muse

Muse

2017 / Card game / 2-12 players

****

Essentially Dixit or Stella for teams, though its cooperative two-player variant was more appealing for our needs. It doesn't spark imagination quite so much, but its restrictive instructions still encourage the six year old to think outside the box – like giving me the three-letter clue "agn" that baffled me until I finally realised it was an abbreviated "dragon." Nice one!

Already having surplus Dixit cards, this was easy to DIY at first by writing down the Inspiration cards and rolling dice to choose, but then we upgraded to the proper game at Christmas, whose purpose-built cards proved a greater challenge.