Ranking the Dead Can Dance albums

Subjecting some of my favourite ethereal background music to scrutiny wasn't an easy task, but I'll never learn which ones are worth listening to if I keep falling asleep to them.

It took several passes through to decide my Top 10 Dead Can Dance Albums & E.P.

Alrightreads: TV XIV

Tony Lee and artists, Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor Archives, Volume 1

2011 (collected 2015) / Ebook / 336 pages / UK

***

Contemporary adventures from the time when I was most immersed in the silly show, reading these is primarily an exercise in nostalgia, and Tony Lee crucially remembers that it's a sitcom. The art's all over the place and a bit uncanny.

Charles L. Grant, The X-Files: Whirlwind

1994 / Audiobook / 288 pages / USA

**

A good premise for an episode or comic story, stretched way beyond the point of interest. The series would inevitably get around to similar themes.

D. G. Chichester, Tracy Tormé and artists, Sliders

1996 / Ecomics / 154 pages / USA

**

Some of the stories would have made better episodes than others, but the comic pandering makes it occasionally unreadable.

Diane Duane, Star Trek: The Wounded Sky

1983 / Audiobook / 255 pages / USA

****

What fans want, but are rarely served by a Star Trek novel: cosmic wonder and adventure achieved through convincing technobabble with a strong grasp of character, though that part shouldn't be hard. It's also notably similar to some future episodes with experimental drives.

Jaime Weinman, Anvils, Mallets & Dynamite: The Unauthorized Biography of Looney Tunes

2021 / Ebook / 375 pages / Canada

****

I preferred Tom and Jerry, but this was an interesting history and analysis of those other violent schedule fillers.

Alrightgames: Make Your Own Marble Run

Zap! Extra: Make Your Own Marble Run

2020 / Construction kit / 1+ players / Australia

**

I was never a dab hand at DIY, and this construction set for 8-year-olds stumped me when I reached the stairs, like an old-school Dalek.

Belatedly reading unsatisfied reviews, I doubt the final product would have worked anyway. Maybe we'll find something in a charity shop.

Alrightgames: Monster Dominoes

Monster Dominoes

2015 / Dominoes game / 2-4 players / UK

***

A clearly irresistible reskinning of Dinosaur Dominoes (also impractically larger), I'm in no position to argue that point with all my repetitive deckbuilders. She discovered Monster Munch shortly after.

Alrightgames: Marbles

Marbles

-3000 BC / Dexterity game / 2+ players / Egypt?

***

With a blank cheque for birthday tat at The Works, all she wanted was a bag of marbles. Don't change.

Learning that there's a proper game was interesting and something to do, since I was foolishly optimistic about my DIY marble run capabilities.

Babyliography LXXXI

Louise Forshaw, Busy Jungle

2021 / Library book / 10 pages / UK

**

Some animals swing and that. She can't get enough of this shit.

Nick Sharratt, Shark in the Park! / Shark in the Dark! / Oh No! Shark in the Snow!

2000/2009/2021 / Library books / 48 pages / UK

***

Fun the first time, but they should really be longer. I suppose that's what all the seasonal and colour-inverted variations are for.

Leigh Hodgkinson, Goldilocks and the Three Potties

2017 / Library book / 32 pages / UK

**

She doesn't need the encouragement or instructions any more, but poo and wee are timeless.

Tony Ross, I Want to Be a Pirate! / I Feel Sick!

2008/15 / Library books / 64 pages / UK

**

The Little Princess finds more things to enthusiastically like or dislike, like she's getting royalties from these books.

Catherine Rayner, Mini and Hardly and the Big Adventure

2021 / Library book / 32 pages / UK

**

Lovely art, let's focus on the positives.

Babyliography LXXX

Pippa Goodhart and Nick Sharratt, You Choose Fairy Tales

2020 / Library book / 32 pages / UK

***

These genre variants are a bit cynically contrived, but she found this one more relatable than most.

Unknown, My Little Pony: Five Minute Story Treasury

2018 / Library book / 64 pages

*

Earlier collections skewed towards the dramatic, so this balances it out with trivial rubbish.

Crockett Johnson, Harold at the North Pole

1958 / Ebook / 48 pages / USA

**

This festive cash-in sequel doesn't add anything, but probably made some kids happy.

Elle D. Risco, Disney Frozen: Anna in Charge

2016 / Ebook / 30 pages

*

Quite long-winded for an easy reader. I know from experience that young fans don't really mind almost unrecognisably generic characterisation when it's got the faces slapped on.

Unknown, Disney Frozen: The Mysterious Treasure

2022 / Ebook / 24 pages

**

A Frozen story for boys, the drawings were quite nice, which kept me going.

Babyliography LXXIX

Leslie Patricelli, Baby Happy Baby Sad

2008 / Ebook / 24 pages / USA

**

It probably is for babies. She preferred Inside Out.

Pat Hutchins, Don't Forget the Bacon!

1976 / Ebook / 32 pages / UK

***

Passing on one from my youth. It was gratifying to see that it was a lot older than I am to excuse some archaic concepts and phrasing.

David McKee, Not Now, Bernard

1980 / Ebook / 32 pages / UK

***

Another literally old-school... classic? It's heavier than your average monster picture book, with its fairly dark events or imaginative roleplay alternative that didn't occur to me at five.

Various, First Time Learning: Reading

2019 / Sticker activity book / 32 pages / UK

***

Completing this set with the most boring one, but a bit of tedium now could help her to be less intimidated later.

Neville Astley, Peppa Pig: Peppa Loves Yoga

2020 / Library book / 16 pages / UK

*

I thought she was bored of these books. She is; we didn't finish it.

Babyliography LXXVIII

Melissa Lagonegro, Elizabeth Tate and Caroline LaVelle Egan, Disney's The Princess and the Frog: Kiss the Frog

2009 / Ebook / 31 pages

**

Economised for reading learners, irritatingly stilted for storytime. Just watch the damn clips.

Jill Murphy, On the Way Home

1982 / Ebook / 32 pages / UK

***

I don't remember if I was read this one, but it had the general nostalgic context. She reckoned the wolf yarn was the most plausible by the end, not the mundane playground confession. Her imagination has been remarked on.

Unknown, Peppa Pig: Lost Glasses / Where's Peppa's Magical Unicorn?

2005-20 / Ebooks / 44 pages / UK

**

They're not even good for flap books. She requests them, of course, but she doesn't seem really satisfied. She can tell.

Genie Espinosa, Alice Luffman, Hannah Cockayne and Kylie Hamley, Follow the Bunny: Finger Mazes

2019 / Ebook / pages / UK

***

It did take her a little while to grasp the maze concept in the other book, so I guess this is the beginner one. It doesn't offer much to adepts.

Leslie Patricelli, No No Yes Yes

2008 / Ebook / 24 pages / USA

**

If she read this before, it was ages ago. She didn't find it especially funny, and it has no other worth.

Babyliography LXXVII

Sorrel Pitts, Ladybird Readers: Peppa Pig – In a Plane / My Little Pony – Pinkie's Pies

2018-21 / Library book / 112 pages / UK

**

I thought I'd struck a limited vein of gold when I spotted these easy-reading TV tie-ins with engaging quizzes at the back, but the plots lose something in the simplification, being fairly light in the first place, and inexplicably Americanized.

Marie-Anne Didierjean, Read It Yourself with Ladybird: The Princess and the Pea

2013 / Library book / 32 pages / France

**

Slightly more substantial than a flap book, but not a substitute for your treasury. The quiz section doesn't look especially challenging for kids who can already read it themselves.

Unknown, Wipe-clean Vehicle Activities

2022 / Activity book / 24 pages / UK

**

I think this is the last one of the set. She was more excited about completing the collection than doing the typically repetitive activities, which this time involved lots of drawing things so they didn't have to.

Various, First Time Learning: Early Maths

2019 / Activity book / 32 pages / UK

***

She did well, but was noticeably more engaged with the reading and writing ones. Chip off the old block!

Steve Metzger and Miki Sakamoto, We're Going on a Leaf Hunt

2008 / Ebook / 32 pages / USA/Japan

**

Bear Hunt turns out to be more public domain than I thought. It was an autumn book.

Babyliography LXXVI

Andrew Davenport, Teletubbies: This Little Teletubby

1999 / Ebook / 24 pages / UK

**

You need to have seen the classic sketch to read it properly. If I were one year old, I assume I would have appreciated the photofit art over drawings.

Diane Muldrow, Teletubbies: Who Spilled the Tubby Custard?

1999 / Ebook / 22 pages / USA

***

The ebook uploader thoughtfully included both the open and closed flaps so we could pretend we were in the library.

Unknown, Our New Baby: Help Your Child Through a New Experience

2007 / Ebook / 12 pages / UK

**

There's no announcement, I just tried to find her a cute book about babies, but didn't really succeed.

Unknown, My Little Pony: Applejack's Busy Day / Rainbow Festival / Pinkie Pie's Secret

2017-20 / Ebooks / 48 pages

**

The cartoon's a bit hard for her to follow, but these board books strip the plots to the bone with variably worthless results.

Unknown, My Little Pony: 123

2016 / Ebook / 14 pages / UK

**

Not the whole loosely rethemed Learning Library this time, just dipping our hooves in to marvel at how barely relevant things could get. On the plus side, it goes up to 12.

Babyliography LXXV

Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul, Winnie's Flying Carpet

2008 / Library book / 26 pages / Australia/UK

**

Meg and Mog with more expressive art.

Dan Taylor, First Stories: Cinderella / The Little Mermaid / Puss in Boots

2016-19 / Library books / 30 pages / UK

**

Slider-jazzed plot summaries. I really hope these aren't any poor sods' main versions.

Sheila Sweeny Higginson, Susan Ring and artists, Disney Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Storybook Collection

2011 / Hardback / 155 pages / USA

**

Just about the worst thing she watches, but any excuse for a longish bedtime book. She currently wants the whole thing every day, which is good, in a way. The sacrifices I make.

Rhiannon Fielding and Chris Chatterton, Ten Minutes to Bed: Little Mermaid / Little Unicorn's Birthday

2019-20 / Library books / 64 pages / UK

***

They've literally mapped out their shared universe of generic fairy tale creatures as a handy guide/warning to parents. The countdown helped with engagement, on my end at least.

Unknown, My Little Pony: The Big Book of Equestria / Magical Friendship Stories

2012-14 / Paperback/hardback / 128 pages / UK

***

Approachable illustrated summaries of generally scarier and more dramatic episodes than average, not quite sure why. Held back for being a bit harder than her Peppa and Dora ones, but she's growing up fast.

Babyliography LXXIV

Isabel Otter and Sophie Ledesma, Touch, Feel and Reveal: Hello, Bee

2022 / Library book / 10 pages / UK/France

**

More library filler. Literal fluff.

Arnold Lobel, Frog and Toad All Year

1976 / Ebook / 64 pages / USA

***

Seasonal churn, but I'm glad she seems to enjoy them.

Eoin McLaughlin and Rob Starling, This Book Is Not a Bedtime Story

2020 / Library book / 32 pages / Ireland/UK

***

An unconvincing fluffy monster tries his best to scare, despite unsupportive mates. She got the joke, maybe she's ready for Garth Marenghi.

Ashley Selby and Joel Selby, Sing and Play: Animal Rhymes

2021 / Library book / 10 pages / USA

**

Inevitably few due to the page count, but a couple of surprising obscurities in there.

Fhiona Galloway, What Do Animals Do All Day?: Tiger

2022 / Library book / 10 pages / UK

**

It's weird to me when these books that dispense actual facts don't combine them with photos or lifelike drawings. White tigers might as well be as mythical as unicorns.

Babyliography LXXIII

Tony Ross, I Don't Want to Wash My Hands

2003 / Library book / 32 pages / UK

**

He's no Roald Dahl, but hopefully it'll do its job and she'll be haunted by thoughts of germs and nasties for life.

Yi-Hsuan Wu, Busy Safari

2021 / Library book / 10 pages / Taiwan

**

Suspense-free animal observation.

Arnold Lobel, Frog and Toad Are Friends

1970 / Ebook / 64 pages / USA

****

Better than The Wind in the Willows. These humdrum amphibian antics made her smile and she kept wanting to wade further.

Jean Claude, Busy Storytime

2021 / Library book / 10 pages / UK

*

Limited examples of some of the other books that exist, though notably not in the Campbell range.

Natascha Rosenberg, First Stories: Little Red Riding Hood

2016 / Library book / 10 pages / Spain

**

She's been growing up with a less sanitised version since she was a year old, but this was mainly something she wanted to read to her doll, who may be more sensitive.