Brian Sibley

The last few Harry Potter companion books that I read were sadly underwhelming, but this one won me back into the fold! Designed by the Minalima team (who are also responsible for all of the graphic design for the film series itself), this book is a literal playground that allows readers to fully immerse themselves back into the visual imagery of the films and be inspired all over again by the story’s whimsy. Packed with stills from the films, behind the scenes imagery, and design artwork, show more I doubt that it would be possible to pack anymore information in - and yet, the writing team also held their own. Interspersed into the well-placed layouts are text panels that (for once) stay neatly contained alongside their visuals, and give us just the right balance of narration to retell the story. Much of the text is also woven with memories and personal stories from the actors and design team, so we get a real glimpse behind the scenes into the personalities of the Harry Potter world. Blended so artfully together, the book feels like a unique family scrapbook and really stands out amongst the plethora of other Potter publications that have been released over the years. Sure, we don’t get the depth of some of the speciality books (the art and design tomes are some of my favourites), but this book played the magical tone so perfectly that I am hard-pressed to think of how it could actually be improved. show less

Does what it says on the tin. Excellent photographs and some nice peeks into the behind-the-scenes stuff of the first Hobbit film. If you're into movies, Jackson, or Tolkien, absolutely worth a go, though if Rings was any indication, we're probably going to have much, much better behind-the-scenes material in DVD Extras form. And I take a star off for some really clumsy writing at the beginning of sections and for sometimes referring to the two Hobbit movies and sometimes the three Hobbit show more movies. I realize much of the work on the book was probably done when it was indeed two movies, but this easily could have been fixed before going to publication. show less

These juvenile movie activity books are almost always the poor cousins when it comes to feature film merchandising products. These low quality booklets often quickly make there way into pound stores, often before the film has even stopped playing at the smaller cinemas around the country.

Brian Sibley is no stranger to C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. In 1985 his Radio 4 adaptation won him the Sony Radio Award. It is without a doubt his genuine interest in this saga which has allowed show more him to produce such a surprisingly good themed activity book for children in this case.
Anyone who is proud enough to put their name on the front cover is already giving the consumer higher than normal expectations. In this case he has brought younger fans a book that does not disappoint.

Along with the usual maze games and 'spot the difference', and the obligatory pictures to colour in, he has written two short plays among the pages; thoughtfully one for five and the other accommodating just two actors. So, even an only child could potentially get involved with the participation of an eager parent.

Brian Sibley has also put together some out of the ordinary activities such as designing your own Narnian stamps; and even ideas for organising a whole Narnia themed Party, not unusual in itself - the Flower Fairy activity books have done similar, but not with the attention to detail that Brian has included here. Everything from designing party invitations to themed food, such as: The white witche's snow fondants, and Edmund's Turkish Delight, to name but a few. There are lots of fun party game suggestions and even a short composition to be played on the recorder! What a delightful idea!

Naturally there are lots of proposals for things to make such as Peter's shield and a Narnian battle breastplate - which children will love.
This book is packed with so many great games and activities only a few of which I have mentioned here.

Finally on the back page is a fold-out full colour game board for a 'Racing through Narnia' game.

This should have been a model for all future activity books. Sadly all too often it comes down to banging these things out fast to the same tired old format of mazes, word searches and colouring pages. Brian Sibley has shown that they can be so much better. show less

Some pretty decent writers do passable impressions of A. A. Milne around some nice illustrations in the style of E. H. Shepard.

Autumn: in which Pooh and Piglet prepare to meet a Dragon / Paul Bright
~3 stars~
Christopher Robin cannot be disturbed as he prepares for his role in the school play as St. George the dragon slayer. In his absence, Piglet gets all worked up that a dragon is coming to the Hundred-Acre Wood and pulls everyone else into his fear spiral. Meanwhile, Eeyore is desperate to show more keep credit for finding a shiny thing buried in the ground. It's fluff, but a cute little joke about uncomfortable pauses actually felt like something Milne would write.

Winter: in which Penguin arrives in the Forest / Brian Sibley
~3 stars~
Based on an actual photo of Milne, Christopher Robin and the original Winnie-the-Pooh stuffed animal looking at a penguin doll, this story is a bit macabre. First, Owl gets all prejudiced and downright enraged by the non-flying bird and takes his speciesist ass right out of the story in a huff without redemption or comeuppance. And then toward the end, the tone gets very dark as Penguin disappears and Christopher Robin gets ominously vague as to where he went or if he'll return. I genuinely fear for Penguin's fate and wonder if it involves something that might occur in Sid's room in the first Toy Story movie.

Spring: in which Eeyore suspects Another Donkey is after his thistles / Jeanne Willis
~2 stars~
A very predictable and labored story about paranoia, reflections and mistaken identity. Rabbit's friends and relations show up, but get treated as second-class citizens when it comes time to sit for tea and they are consigned to chat amongst themselves under the table, beneath the notice of the main characters. Nasty.

Summer: in which Pooh dreams of the Sauce of the Nile / Kate Saunders
~3 stars~
An amusing expotition has Pooh and friends trying to find find the headwaters of the stream that runs through the Hundred-Acre Wood. Not a lot happens as the trail leads up to the inevitable book-closing party, but the dialogue is snappy and reminiscent of Milne, and Kanga gets to shine more than usual. Very nice.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: Exposition -- Acknowledgments -- Autumn: in which Pooh and Piglet prepare to meet a Dragon / Paul Bright -- Winter: in which Penguin arrives in the Forest / Brian Sibley -- Spring: in which Eeyore suspects Another Donkey is after his thistles / Jeanne Willis -- Summer: in which Pooh dreams of the Sauce of the Nile / Kate Saunders -- Afterword / Paul Bright, Brian Sibley, Jeanne Willis, Kate Saunders

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... ) show less