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OK it's not technically a christmas book, but any book featuring snow - and a happy little guy in a red suit is ripe for dragging into our Christmas collection. Besides, we don't really need an excuse to tell you just how great a classic Ezra Jack Keats' "The Snowy Day" is.

Why do we love it? Well you have a happy little dude called Peter in it, who looks out of the window one morning to see the urban landscape transformed into a gorgeous white winter wonderland. You have utterly wonderful illustrations as Peter makes his way through the landscape doing all the things we really love to do in the snow (snowball fights, leaving footprint trails and flicking the snow-covered branch of a tree and enjoying an impromptu snow shower).

Most of all I personally love it because it's a book that's lasted through generations to still retain its place as a firm children's favourite. I know we use this phrase a lot on the blog but it really is timeless, and captures the very essence of child-like joy at those first signs of snow (which, if you believe the weather reports, might be happening sooner than you think).

A superb stocking stuffer. Join Peter in his joyful celebration of the magic of snow and all the fun you can have in it. See you on the slopes!


Charlotte's best bit: Peter making a lovely set of footprints, then making another facing the other way by walking backwards (We both do this as soon as the snow falls!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: Beautiful beautiful artwork that stands the test of time. A simple tale but so wonderfully woven together

We were lucky enough to receive not one but two fantastic "Jack's Mega Machines" books in the post recently - and they're great as christmas presents. Alison Ritchie and Mike Byrne have been establishing something of a cult following for these books, and their innovative papercraft vehicles.

In "Jack's Mega Machines - Supersonic Submarine", Jack's fabulous magic garage plays host to a brilliant little yellow submarine - ready for undersea adventures as Jack winds up caught amidst a fabulous football competition with a pod of happy dolphins.

In "Jack's Mega Machines - The Mighty Monster Truck" Jack fixes up a cool pick-up that magically transforms into a fat-tyred mud-stomping monster truck, just in time to embark on a perilous mission to rescue a little monster from a treetop in a dark, dark forest.

Though these books are firmly pitched at vehicle-loving boys, Charlotte always enjoys reading the stories together and playing with the vehicles - letting her imagination fly as she makes up her own stories using the papercraft models.

As we've said in our previous reviews of these fabulous books, the models are fairly tricky to remove from the book at first (the sticky stuff is just a bit too sticky, and resulted in Jack's supersonic submarine losing a wing - despite me being extremely careful about removing the models from the back cover).

Rollicking stories, brilliant artwork. Begin your Jack's Mega Machines collection today!

Charlotte's best bit: The poor monster truck getting completely trashed in "The Mighty Monster Truck!"

Daddy's Favourite bit: Brilliant undersea adventures and dolphin fun in "Supersonic Submarine"

(Kindly sent to us for review by Simon and Schuster Children's Books)

Murilla Gorilla is back! We absolutely loved "Murilla Gorilla - Jungle Detective" and when that first book hinted at a sequel, we waited...and we waited...and we waited. Finally it's arrived after all our waiting (a bit like Murilla herself) and caused such excitement at home, Charlotte's eyes lit up.

Imagine The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency set in an animal world, with Murilla Gorilla as Mma Ramotswe and you'll start to get an idea of why we love this book. It also gives me a good excuse to do a ton of silly animal voices and the mini-chapter format of the book is a brilliant fit for Charlotte's current reading level, where she still loves lots and lots of illustrations but can handle chapters and text too.

So while I washed up, Charlotte began reading the story to me (I love it when this happens) and we learned about Murilla's latest case. Poor Murilla lives in a shack with a leaky roof and when she discovers her mop is broken (after hunting high and low in the house, and eventually finding it in the bath!) Murilla sets out to visit the market for a replacement.

After the huge rainstorm, the market is in a mess but Murilla soon tracks down a new mop, and also a rather forlorn Parrot parasol salesman who has lost a yellow parasol.

Murilla, complete with her detective backpack, is soon on the case. Stopping for a rain-soaked muffin and digging out her magnifying glass, Murilla's haphazard detective skills soon get to the bottom (or should we say top?) of the mystery.

To find out exactly what happened to that missing parasol, and to experience the sheer joy of finding a book that feels so vibrant and different that you just can't help diving in for another read as soon as you've finished, makes this a must-have. Jennifer and Jacqui have come up with a corking good character and we truly hope that Murilla is gearing up for case number three!

Charlotte's best bit: Soggy muffins are no problem when your tummy is rumbling!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Coming up with a multitude of crazy voices for Murilla, the mandrill, the parrot and all the other characters. My kind of book!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Simply Read Books)

We couldn't have a christmas advent calendar without a christmas 'make' book - and you can always count on Usborne Publishing to have some absolute crackers in their christmas catalogue. Fiona Watt is the doyen of crafty makes and this bumper Christmas "100 Christmas Things to Make and Do" is chock full of utterly brilliant ideas from making an advent calendar, to making brilliant table decorations and all manner of fun christmassy things for little (and large) hands.

The hallmark of Usborne 'make' books is that they're always full of amazing ideas, with clear instructions and illustrations throughout - and above all, the feeling that you really can make everything in the book with fairly modest crafting skills, and without needing to dive out to your local crafting superstore for all the bits you need for the majority of these.

A brilliant addition to anyone's christmas stocking though obviously you'll probably want to dive out and grab one now, and get started with your festive christmas crafting before the first snows fall.


Charlotte's best bit: Making fingerprint robins. So cute!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Painted angels. Such a simple make idea but so effective!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Usborne Publishing)

Windows VPS has only been around for some time now but it has already gained much popularity. A large number of businesses and website developers are choosing this option over shared or dedicated servers since this new technology offers them multiple benefits. Shared servers are not suitable for websites that receive a high amount of traffic and is not suitable for those who require freedom and flexibility. On the other hand, dedicated servers offer all the freedom but are very expensive and so not affordable for most people. VPS offers the best of both worlds with its flexibility, reliability, ease of use and its cost effectiveness. Given below are some of the main benefits that this hosting solution offers:

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Windows VPS offers you all the help that you would need for managing the backups. This is very beneficial because your server will be backed up automatically every single day to make sure that you will be able to restore it to the original settings on any given day. The technical department at your hosting company will be able to help you restore the settings whenever you want. You will just have to call and specify your requirements and it would be done. Another big benefit is that you will no longer have to spend your time updating the server. Your server will be able to update itself automatically which will be very helpful. Any time that a new version is released, the server would update itself.

System Updates

Your updates will also be automatically managed each day. With servers the main problem is that you have to spend a considerable amount of time each day for updating it. However, with VPS the server would be updated automatically and you will have to not put in any efforts at all. With automatic updates you would be able to save a lot of time.

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Windows VPS is very popular today also because of several other reasons. You will be able to find out your exact hosting needs for your business. The system will be able to track the usage of your business currently. Based on this, it will also recommend the right hosting package for you so that you will be able to save a considerable amount of money. You will also be able to get a lot of technical assistance from your hosting company. During any time of the day or night, you will be able to call the help line number or use online chat if you are facing any kind of problem with your server.

You would be able to rest assured that your server would be secure since this hosting service will alert you automatically if it nearing a breakdown. A breakdown can actually be unpredictable but the hosting company would be closely monitoring the availability of your server and so they would be able to inform you if there is any potential problem. Business owners can enjoy a wide range of benefits by using this type of hosting service. There is no doubt why windows VPS has gained so much popularity in the recent times.

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All good hosting service providers today offer technical assistance to their clients 24 hours. In case you face any technical difficulties you can contact the customer service at any time for getting your problem resolved. You will have access to live chat, email and help line through which you can contact the hosting provider if there are any technical issues that you cannot handle on your own.

These were the major benefits that this new technology offers to its users. There are quite a lot of webmasters today who prefer to use this hosting service and avoid the large investment costs that are associated with the dedicated servers. Windows VPS offers the flexibility and the efficiency that you will require in order to run your websites smoothly.
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Employee job scheduling software is generally a multi-user application for creating and managing employee schedules; automatically generating optimal work schedules for employees; adding weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and annual tasks plus job responsibilities to an electronic calendar and managing to change assigned tasks in order to complete existing work schedules. By using job scheduling software which groups the employees into teams the task of scheduling becomes much easier. Shifts can be easily planned, any issues that occur in timescales can be addressed and any cost implications due to slippage in work schedules can be identified and resolved quickly.

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There are lots of art packages and kid-friendly art apps available on the iPad and we're always on the lookout for a new quirky wrinkle to drawing and painting on tablets. When John Lewis got in touch with a review opportunity on the new Crayola HD iPad Marker - we thought we'd take it for a spin.

Crayola is a brand synonymous with fantastic quality art materials that are kid-friendly, and it's interesting to see how they transpose that to the digital domain.

The HD Marker arrives in brightly coloured packaging, and some simple instructions to get things up and running. You will need a small Phillips screwdriver to fit the iMarker battery, and a QR Code reader on your iPad to allow you to claim the free software that comes with the HD iPad Marker.

Once you've downloaded the app, you're ready to go.

Charlotte gets busy drawing a gorgeous girl with red hair (probably Mummy!)

For a keen digital artist like myself, used to using a Wacom with pressure sensitive stylus, I am always completely flummoxed and frustrated by the iPad when it comes to drawing or painting. Luckily, children have no such foibles so Charlotte was (with a bit of practice) able to get on well with the marker. A point of note though, it seems to require a fair bit of pressure before it registers and draws a mark or colour, and we're still a bit puzzled what the battery actually does (aside from provide a pretty colour changing light on the side of the marker when in use).

The apps are great fun though - there are a range of apps available under the Crayola range (some free, some paid for) so there's a good mix of traditional colouring, drawing and painting fun to be had.

Charlotte enjoys the "Princess Colour Me In" app from Crayola, and seems to be able to use the Marker - though with a bit of parental guidance to ensure she doesn't end up scratching the iPad screen (I have not tested the marker with a screen protector but if you're looking to keep your expensive investment in pristine condition you might want to invest in one before letting your children loose with this).

Dressing as Princess Aurora is optional when using this, by the way

The Crayola HD iPad Marker is one of a range of tablet products available from John Lewis this christmas and retails at £24.95.

Check out the range using this link.


Charlotte's best bit: A good chunky and friendly product with some excellent supporting apps. It took a bit of a while for her to get used to using the Crayola HD iPad Marker but once she got going with it, she loved it!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A fun and engaging alternative to using your fingers or a traditional stylus, perfect for younger tablet-savvy kids

(Kindly sent to us for review by Michael at Forward3D on behalf of John Lewis Ltd)