On the Omnibuses: July

Terry Pratchett, The Gods Trilogy

Small Gods (1992) ****

Daft philosophy and elementary scepticism for kids that doesn't rain on your prayed, since being stubbornly rational in an unambiguously supernatural world would look as foolish as a late period Dana Scully. It'd make a nice overture to the series if you read it first, though also setting a benchmark of maturity that follow-ups would be statistically unlikely to meet.

Various, The World Treasury of Science Fiction

John Varley, The Phantom of Kansas (1976) ****

Masturbatory meteorological murder mystery.

Josef Nesvadba, Captain Nemo's Last Stand (1973) ****

Concise Czech cosmicomedy classic.

Larry Niven, Inconstant Moon (1971) **

Depressing domestic doomsday dallying.

Frederik Pohl, The Gold at the Starbow's End (1971) ***

Idle interstellar insights.

Italo Calvino, A Sign In Space (1968) ***

Cosmicomplex.

Italo Calvino, The Spiral (1968) **

Oh yeah, that's why I abandoned Calvino.

Isaac Asimov, The Dead Past (1956) ***

Chronoscopic conspiracy cock-up.

Annemarie van Ewyck, The Lens (1977) ***

Chick stuff.

Theodore Sturgeon, The Hurkle Is a Happy Beast (1949) **

Weak whimsy.

Ray Bradbury, Zero Hour (1947) ***

Creepy kid countdown.

Shirley Jackson, The Masterpieces of Shirley Jackson

The Lottery and Other Stories (1949) ****

They're not all melancholy scenes of neurotic housewives struggling stoically against the mundane darkness of humanity, but enough of them are.

Faves: 'The Demon Lover,' 'The Renegade,' 'The Lottery.'

Dr. Seuss, A Classic Treasury

Green Eggs and Ham (1960) ***

This face-off between stubbornness and persistence was funnier than the selfish anarchy of the Cat in the Hat, even if the repetition got similarly tedious and was scandalously abridged when reading aloud to a toddler.

Fox in Socks (1965) **

I would've practised the tongue twister and failed to impress my peers if I'd had this as a precocious brat. As it is, I sided with the spoilsport as usual. Shut the fox up.

Arthur C. Clarke, Four Great SF Novels

A Fall of Moondust (1961) ***

Clarke writes a space disaster/rescue movie and does it properly, no matter how boring the result. It turns out more like 24-hour news coverage.

Alrightreads: Art Books III

Hayao Miyazaki, Nobuhiro Watsuki and artists, The Art of My Neighbor Totoro

2005 / Ebook / 173 pages / Japan

****

There's enough background, extracurricular detail and technical commentary to make this more than a load of pretty pastoral-fantastical art, but it's got that going for it too.

Hayao Miyazaki and artists, The Art of Kiki's Delivery Service

2006 / Ebook / 208 pages / Japan

***

Chronological concepts and cels to compare and contrast with commentary, but there's nothing too enlightening this time around. The surrounding chapters are dull technical affairs that might be useful if your dream is to be an animator 30 years ago.

Dave McKean and Neil Gaiman, Dust Covers: The Collected Sandman Covers 1989-1997

1989-97 (collected 1997) / Ebook / 206 pages / UK

****

I'd never thought to bother with what seemed like a reasonable cash-in, but the inclusion of another short Gaiman/McKean tale and running commentary from the author make it a valuable appendix to the greatest story ever told.

Various, The Art of Morrowind

2002 / Paperback / 48 pages / Unknown

***

I forgot I'd had this, because of its lightweight and modest nature as added value to a special edition game bundle, but like the accompanying soundtrack CD, it's a nice supplement to a game I was once immersed in, though never sufficiently obsessed by.

Various, Hubble: A Journey Through Space and Time

2010 / Hardback / 144 pages / Space

****

A greatest hits of desktop backgrounds that's nice to have, even if some like the Ultra Deep Field are best served by a screen (preferably IMAX). Also a nice pictorial supplement when I get around to reading Carl Sagan again.

Alrightgames: Disney Giant Puzzle

Disney Giant Puzzle

2009 / Jigsaw puzzle / Germany

***

I've never been a fan of the Mouse, and there's no artistry to this unlikely crossover event, but it passes the time and she's bound to like at least some of the films by the time she's old enough to join in rather than unproductively commentate and steal the fairy. I'm mainly noting these things down to help her out with the self-indulgent nostalgia when she's 35, it took me ages to track down that Early Learning Centre train jigsaw I had. Still no joy on Noah's Ark.

Alrightgames: The Wizard of Oz – Book & 100 Piece Jigsaw

The Wizard of Oz: Book & 100 Piece Jigsaw

2019 / Jigsaw puzzle / Australia

****

Individually reviewing the jigsaws bought for my daughter several years in advance by well-meaning relatives might seem like a desperate excuse for blog content or to save me from having to read a book this week, but as we wasted no time tackling the preschool puzzle ourselves, I was impressed with its inappropriately sly gameplay. All those sodding trees.

Babyliography IX

Roger Hargreaves, Mr. Men: My Daddy

2017 / Hardback / 32 pages / UK

*

Repurposing a dead author's illustrations to check off laudable attributes that can't possibly all apply to all dads and seem a bit judgemental for a modern publication. Bad luck if you're short.

Dawn Sirett, Sarah Davis and Dave King, Pop-Up Peekaboo!: Playtime

2011 / Pop-up board book / 12 pages / UK

***

The daytime counterpart to her Bedtime book, there's some more interesting overlapping going on and entire characters haven't been edited out by a roughhousing toddler this time, which is always a bonus.

Jane Hissey, Old Bear: A Pop-up Book

1995 / Pop-up hardback / 12 pages / UK

*****

I don't know if I was ever read this story or just absorbed it passively through the early education ether, but it's very nice and this pop-up/slider/wheel adaptation is more impressive than it was required to be, even if she just obsesses over the one page.

Unknown, 123 Train Jigsaw Book

2007 / Jigsaw board book / 18 pages / UK

****

Animals and a choo-choo in a jigsaw seemed like a winning combination, but she couldn't care less. I thought it was clever, anyway. Maybe she'd have preferred the ABC train, since she's always singing that. I'm out of touch already.

Michelle Breen, Enchanting Mermaid Book & Model Set

2014 / Book and model pack / 24 pages / UK

**

Finally, after all the refunds and a return, a gift set arrived as more than just the boring book part, since it's glued in this time. The extras are just some cardboard, admittedly, but she seems to like her first cheapo playset. We might get around to reading the book one of these years.