Tom's treasures of fiction, poetry, literature and more...

For today's blog post I am reviewing Pam Ayres' children's book Hattie the Hare  (2024). Now it is a nice book with beautiful illustrations by Nicola O'Byrne. The colourful and intricate illustrations alone could capture the attention of children. Then we have the story itself. The story is rather special I find, offering information about hares as it goes on. But the facts are not given in a boring, factual manner. The story is fascinating with rhymes that are perfectly created. Ayres is keeping children engaged too by avoiding words too complex for them to comprehend. What makes the story even better is how she has included facts about hares at the back, which provides a learning element for children. It is good to have books that can be educational and that can children can also enjoy. Pam Ayres here has written a great book, which I believe ticks all the right boxes for a book being aimed at children. It is sweet and informative without being likely to create boredo...

Hi all, today's post was going to be a review of a book I recently read however I just found out the author recently used the word 'Woke' to describe modern feminism. I am gutted because 'woke' is normally used as an insult to those wanting justice, fairness and equality for all. This is something I thought the author would have supported but clearly I was wrong. All I can see is that I am glad the book of hers that I picked up only cost me 50p from out the front of a charity shop. The funny thing is that I finished the book off this week, ignoring all the books I wanted to read and only found out about her comments after I had finished it and after I had typed up my review. I am gutted to have found that out because there are enough people on the right brandishing others as 'woke' all too often. I do not find it an insult as such because to me it just says that I have woken up and I value equality. But I am not going to review a book when the author makes a...

Hello all. For some reason, though I thought I had posted on Monday it is nowhere to be seen! Anyway today is World Earth day! Are you going to be out and about somewhere, especially somewhere where there is nature? I think sometimes we take this planet for granted but we need the planet with all the plants, animals and bodies of water such as oceans. Think how many people travel in a boat. If we ruined our oceans, then people would get stuck. Ferry companies would suffer financially and jobs would be lost if they could not carry on providing ferry journeys for people. Then we have all the plastic that people just chuck or leave on beaches. Seagulls can access this and this can cause them harm. I know people might argue they are pests, but seriously... Is it a crime to be concerned about one type of animal suffering? If you take out an entire species because of what the human race has been doing, is doing and continues to do then that could affect the ecosystem and have an impact on ot...

Hello all... Now I know that women's rights have been at threat for a long time but when does it ever stop? Today I found out that 62 million men have accessed a r*pe "academy" site that teaches men how to drug and SA men and how to get away with it. I am horrified! I am disgusted, my stomach instantly started turning as I repulsed at the thought of that many men. Since when did one of the most heinous and violating crimes become treated as "a subject" to teach men about. It is grim that people find this acceptable... But then again, misogyny continues to rise. Look at all the number of rich and powerful men who have gotten away with committing crimes such as SA listed in the infamous files to do with the U.S.A. That country's president continues lording it over as if he is Jesus. Then we have people in this country including a certain disgraced ex-prince. There's also the people who want these sorts of disgustingly rich men to stay in power. The leader ...

Today I am reviewing another book. This time I am reviewing Pam Ayres's 2021 collection, On Animals . The collection brings together all her poems from across her work that in some way include any animals. These animals include hedgehogs as featured in her poem 'In Defence of Hedgehogs', or 'The Seagull' and even 'My Sister's Cat Does Not Like Me'; both of which indicate the animals included within those poems. As always, Ayres's poems provide her usual and unique humour.  Aside from Pam Ayres offering up her poems that come with the humour and the seriousness or the sentiment at times, she also included descriptions to add context to some of the poems. This is really liked because it gave me insight into Pam Ayres as a person not just as an author. This as well allowed for her to provide insight into things being different because attitudes around certain things have changed since she wrote some of these poems. There are poems in there that are deca...

I am back at another bookshop people. This time I am in the East Sussex seaside town of St Leonards. Found on London Road in the town, Black Gull Books lies, standing on a corner. It is a nice bookshop and one that is tidy. What I liked about this bookshop is how they have a neatness and strong clarity of book placement, which other bookshops might not necessarily have. I find with it being clear on where books are, it makes it easier to search if you want something specific. On the other hand, if you just want a random book or are not too fussed then it still makes it a little better when having a standard browse. Then we come to the staff who work in the bookshop. The staff here are very friendly and always happy to assist with any enquiries. I have been in this bookshop more than once by now and I have found them to be extremely polite and helpful when I was after something specific. I can also tell that they often build up a rapport with their customers, not just me. This is a reas...