Alrightgames: My Little Pony – Tails of Equestria – Melody of the Waves

My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria – Melody of the Waves

2019 / Roleplaying game adventure / 2+ players

*****

Maybe even better than the Halloween one, this (relatively) free-roaming adventure on the high (and musical) seas required less advance preparation while also encouraging improvisation as we sailed between various islands and dealt with other diversions according to a five-year-old's whims. We're both players and games masters at this point.

She was also fully on board with the musical aspect, an authentic touch that I hadn't realised had been lacking in previous adventures.

Babyliography CXCII

Zanna Davidson and Nuno Alexandre Vieira, Fairy Unicorns: Wind Charm

2017 / Paperback / 112 pages

***

Completing the 672-page chapter book series, slightly out of sync. Onward to 672 pages of Fairy Ponies.

Tony Mitton and Diana Mayo, Snow Ghost

2020 / Library book / 32 pages

**

The ghost wasn't scary. A shame, really, it would have livened things up.

Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara and Rebecca Gibbon, Little People, Big Dreams: Kylie Minogue

2024 / Library book / 32 pages

**

An illness always keeps her interested.

Penny Dale, Dinosaur Dig!

2011 / School book / 32 pages

**

Historically accurate documentary. The combo of dinos and construction equipment was a bit boy for her taste, so I mainly focused on the weird spellings of numbers.

Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara and Juliana Vido, Little People, Big Dreams: Harry Houdini

2022 / Library book / 32 pages

**

Lacking singers, I suggested this from the other junior biographies for possibly being more dramatic, but it managed to avoid it.

Babyliography CXCI

Raina Telgemeier and Ann M. Martin, The Baby-Sitters Club: Claudia and Mean Janine

2020 / Library book / 192 pages

**

No fascinating diseases this time, and she doesn't have a sibling to be jealous of.

Peter Bently and Ben Cort, The Shark in the Dark

2009 / Library book / 32 pages

**

Not the fun peep-through one, just a rip-off of Swimmy. She knew what was going on.

Dana Simpson, Unicorn Bowling: Another Phoebe and Her Unicorn Adventure

2016 (collected 2019) / Paperback / 176 pages

***

Whether it's the lure of other comics or the repetition that she's also started to notice, we're getting through this one more slowly than usual. I may have stocked up excessively, but those buy 3 get 1 free offers seemed like a good idea in the summer.

Ben Clanton, Narwhalicorn and Jelly

2022 / Library book / 72 pages

***

It took seven books to go full unicorn bait, which is impressive restraint. The frivolity even has a nice message this time.

Natasha Paul, Collins Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds: Nip It! Dig It!

2021 / School book / 16 pages

**

Some quite strangely named bunnies, but helpful for learning various combinations of similar letters, at least.

Babyliography CXC

Allan Ahlberg and Tony Ross, Happy Families: Miss Dirt the Dustman's Daughter

1996 / School book / 24 pages

**

Gambling on the lottery is a safer bet than investment, kids.

Raina Telgemeier and Ann M. Martin, The Baby-Sitters Club: The Truth About Stacey

2020 / Library book / 192 pages

***

The library didn't have any other Baby-Sitters Little Sister (sic), so she jumped the age gap for a story about diabetes and home-based start-up rivalry. She prefers hanging out with older kids anyway.

Caroline Green and Lucy Barnard, Collins Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds: Mick Digs

2022 / School book /16 pages

*

Useful tongue-twisting phrases that no one would ever say.

Unknown, Peppa Pig: Peppa's Fairy Tale

2019 / Library book / 32 pages

**

Peppa gets a look-in when she's feeling nostalgic for the bygone days of 2022.

Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara and Jade Orlando, Little People, Big Dreams: Beyoncé

2024 / Library book / 32 pages

***

She grabbed one at random and it was probably one of the more relatable. Sorry, Madame Curie.

Babyliography CLXXXIX

Kelly Thompson and Brianne Drouhard, Mega Princess

2016-17 (collected 2017) / Library book / 128 pages

****

Her first superhero comic, I suppose, but still comfortably in the childhood fantasy realm. She doesn't even mind too much that Jerk Pony isn't Jerk Unicorn.

Sue Hendra, Oliver's Wood

1996 / School book / 32 pages

*

Don't stay up late, because there are only scary, antisocial creatures, or something like that.

Catherine Ipcizade, Cycles of Nature: Phases of the Moon

2020 / Library book / 24 pages

***

The Moon's a part of our lives again now it rises before bedtime, so she wanted to learn more. She was inspired to take notes.

Charlotte Raby and Camilla Galindo, Collins Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds: A Cat, a Kid, a Dog

2022 / School book / 16 pages

*

She's moved up to reading level 2. Twice the thrice-weekly fun.

Dana Simpson, Phoebe and Her Unicorn in Unicorn Theater

2018 / Paperback / 152 pages

****

The second (final?) full-length graphic novel in the series makes a sustained examination of the characters' feelings in a way that isn't really possible in syndicated newspaper funnies. Back to those now.

Babyliography CLXXXVIII

Zanna Davidson and Nuno Alexandre Vieira, Fairy Unicorns: Cloud Castle

2017 / Paperback / 112 pages

***

We got almost two chapters before ominous forebodings of magical cataclysm this time. Aimee had been enjoying the midsummer serenity, but alas, it was never meant to be in a magical unicorn story.

Sam Harper and Chris Jevons, 101 Spooky Bums

2020 / Library book / 32 pages

*

Why?

Dana Simpson, Unicorn of Many Hats: Another Phoebe and Her Unicorn Adventure

2015-16 (collected 2018) / Paperback / 176 pages

***

Back to the daily strip and jokes have started repeating themselves already.

John Bottomley and Lee Cosgrove, What If My Snot Glowed in the Dark?

2024 / Library book / 32 pages

**

Genuinely educational filth. Also covers poo, sick and all that good stuff.

Katy Farina and Ann M. Martin, Baby-Sitters Little Sister: Karen's Roller Skates

2020 / Library book / 144 pages

***

Less fantastical and more soapy than Phoebe, but the useful roller skating safety tips excuse the apostrophe.

Story: Nostos

This fusion of various sci-fi elements (but mainly Red Dwarf's 'Timeslides' and Farscape) spontaneously combusted in my mind when making morning coffee, so I thought I'd better get it down.

Alrightreads: Various

Various, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Prophecy and Change

2003 / Audiobook / 448 pages

****

It's slightly bizarre that I didn't get around to this 10th anniversary anthology celebrating one of my favourite series until the other side of the 30th, but I was always lazy with the expanded universe. It satisfied the spec, filling some gaps interestingly if not necessarily.

Faves: Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels' 'The Orb of Opportunity' (Nog story), Heather Jarman's 'The Devil You Know' (Dax story), Andrew J. Robinson's 'The Calling' (Garak story)

Various, Strange Tales

2003 / Audiobook / 295 pages

***

Experience tonal whiplash as extreme autocannibalism leads into dull romance. Something for everyone, but not a lot for the individual.

Faves: Anne-Sylvie Salzman's 'Meannanaich,' Adam Dafy's 'The Self-Eater,' Nina Allan's 'Terminus'

Various, Unexplainable Happenings: Chilling True Stories, Volumes 1–5

2023 / Ebook/audiobooks / 639 pages

****

Mostly explainable, most probably made up, but it's nice to get a set that isn't just recycled Reddit content, though each individual volume's stingily slim.

Various, Hell Season

2003 / Ebook / 166 pages

**

It hadn't clicked what guro meant when I checked out what I imagined to be a more standard horror manga, but once I realised what was going on, I had to see how far these freaks would push it. Pretty far, it turns out. I hope they're on some kind of government list.

Various, Creepypasta Collection

Collected 2013-15 / Ebook/Audiobook

***

Some kid's poorly-organised compilation of favourited short "creepy" stories, veering from tame children's ghost stories and urban legends to depraved necro incest gore, seemingly with a few hilariously inept originals mixed in too. Rarely any good, but always entertaining.

Faves: 'Gateway of the Mind,' 'Dead Bart,' 'Autopilot'

Alrightreads: TV XIX

Blaine Pardoe and artists, Star Trek: The Next Generation – First Year Sourcebook

1989 / Ebook / 64 pages

**

No productive excuses this time, just drawn by trashy nostalgia. A charming time capsule of retconned references and false assumptions in places, less so when singling out Geordi as "racially black" and thirsting over Tasha Yar.

Paul Simpson, Farscape: The Illustrated Season 4 Companion

2003 / Ebook / 160 pages

***

Not the funnest year to recap, even before the cancellation gloom.

Rockne S. O'Bannon, Farscape: Horizons

2003 / Ebook / 8 pages

**

Skips over any aborted/truncated fifth season plans and goes straight to the Babylon 5 ending, with a liberal dollop of spiritual schmaltz to make the bereaved fans feel better.

Todd Downing, Gavin Downing and Steve Hartley, Red Dwarf A.I. Screen Extra Bits Book

2003 / Ebook / 24 pages

**

These supplementary races, scenarios and items are fairly incompatible with our non-sci-fi-comedy RPG of choice, but I noted down the reminder that we could do a 'Bodyswap' story.

Marc Guggenheim and Oleg Chudakov, Star Trek: The Motion Picture – Echoes

2023 / Ecomics / 136 pages

**

It's nice to get some appreciation for an obscure era, just a shame it's more of the same old parallel universe stuff that was old even at that time.

Alrightgames: My Little Pony – Tails of Equestria – One Good Turn Deserves Another

My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria – One Good Turn Deserves Another

2017 / Roleplaying game mini-adventure / 2+ players

**

This school assembly style parable would slide easily into most wilderness gaps in stories, but we used it as a warm-up exercise en route to our call to adventure. I tried to present the scenario of the stubborn, ungrateful mare as objectively as possible, and she went for the friendship option that yielded rewards. She's seen the show.

Alrightgames: Carcassonne – Hero at the Crossroads & Baba Yaga

Carcassonne: Hero at the Crossroads & Baba Yaga

2012 / Tile placement board game mini expansion / 2-6 players

**

A "semi-official" printable expansion (which seems to mean "licensed, but Russian"), Baba Yaga's hut functioning as a sort of inverted cloister is a nice idea, now that we've crossed the magic threshold, but it's a shame the crossroads doesn't do anything special. Ultimately, neither tile proved interesting enough to permanently paste over the more useful Scrabble-style blanks. This was the point where I realised I have enough Carcassonne.

Alrightgames: Carcassonne – Castles

Carcassonne: Bridges, Castles and Bazaars

2010 / Tile placement board game partial expansion / 2-6 players

**

The only appealing part of an otherwise negative-interest expansion set, the pop-out castle tokens were also more amenable to pirating than the usual thick card stock tiles, so we didn't have to miss out on this optional rule for making a two-tile city more attractive, if not much more interesting.

Alrightgames: Forbidden Island

Forbidden Island

2010 / Cooperative board game / 2-4 players

****

This widely-recommended family-friendly cooperative game was going to end up on the shelf eventually, but it got there a little prematurely when I spotted it for under £10. Still a few years shy of the target age, she got bored as expected, though earlier than hoped, just when the incrementally-rising flood water was getting exciting, but unlucky cards and inexperience would have spelled a soggy defeat anyway.

Hopefully it'll be something we can enjoy together one day (even if it'll still be mainly for me), but for now, the creepy chaos of Atmosfear is her big-kid game of choice.

Alrightgames: Knightmare of Equestria

Knightmare of Equestria

2024 / Roleplaying challenge game / 2+ players

**

You won't find this amateur unauthorised RPG mashup in the shops, or even typed up neatly in a PDF, as it was all scribbled down on a notepad per tradition as my daughter's 5th birthday book. Along with supplementary printed templates to better visualise the perilous honeycomb paths and Corridor of Blades. That's one way to traumatise them into learning their left and right.

With no playtesting or proofreading, it was a little less smooth than I'd imagined, but I left space on the rule pages for inevitable troubleshooting. Keep arriving in the same damned place? Roll again. A descriptive Eyeshield passage is inappropriately scary, even though you wrote it and knew who you were writing it for? Improvise.

Oh well, the notebook's still mostly empty for drawing in, so it wasn't a completely duff present.

Alrightgames: Twister

Twister

1966 / Physical skill game / 2-4 players

***

She's used to ill-advised stretching from her ballet class, so this poses little challenge, until she has to stretch all the way from red to green. That's probably why the box says 6+. Though I notice it's missing an upper age limit, probably somewhere around 32.

Alrightgames: Rainbow Knights

Rainbow Knights

2018 / Speed card game / 2-6 players

**

Screen-free Snake, bought for a cheap, unicorn-featuring birthday stuffer. Overlaying transparent cards is a novelty, but we're not into competitive games, she can just let the unicorn out for a leisurely flyabout now and then. She made me be the goblin.

Babyliography CLXXXVII

Ben Clanton, Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea

2016 / Library book / 64 pages

****

Another fun early-reader comic series we'll pursue, even if she favours the harder Phoebe and her conventional land unicorn.

Dana Simpson, Phoebe and Her Unicorn in The Magic Storm

2017 / Paperback / 160 pages

****

A break from the perpetual soap for a full-on self-contained graphic novel adventure. This change-up was a hit, as we got through it in a day.

Malachy Doyle and Andrew Whitson, Molly and the Dolphins

2022 / Library book / 36 pages

**

Pretty irresponsible, but since we don't live on the coast with access to boats, it won't do any harm.

Ben Clanton, A Super Scary Narwhalloween

2023 / Library book / 80 pages

**

Not one of the scarier seasonal books out there, and quite a step down from the funny first book, though we did skip to book 8.

Heather Amery and Stephen Cartwright, Usborne Farmyard Tales: The Grumpy Goat

1990 (updated 2017) / Library book / 32 pages

***

She was typically bored by these in the past, but school's toughened her up to tedious non-unicorn literature.

Babyliography CLXXXVI

Various, Read with Oxford: Stage 1 – Phonics – Sam's Backpack and Other Stories

2020 / Library book / 96 pages

**

So it looks like she can read now. Good job.

Sarah Rice and Anna Kazimi, Collins Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds: Sit Sit

2019 / School book / 16 pages

**

Don't worry, she's continuing to read her ongoing unicorn books and comics daily too, it's not all work.

Jessica Courtney-Tickle, The Story Orchestra: Peter and the Wolf

2024 / Library book / 24 pages

***

Nicely fills the gap in the market for non-toddler, non-franchise sound books.

Josephine Southon and Paul Moran, Where's the Baby Unicorn?: An Enchanting Search Book

2024 / Library book / 48 pages

***

She prefers OG Wally to the unicorn rip-offs, but it's some novelty.

Barbara Jean Hicks and Brittney Lee, Disney Learning: Adventures in Reading – Level 1 – Disney Frozen – Meet Anna

2015 / Library book / 32 pages

*

She's got a collection of these boring things already, but it's more appealing than Ben & Lad.