Review: Lily’s Driftwood Bay: Message in a Bottle DVD

We were sent a copy of the DVD, Lily’s Driftwood Bay: Message in a Bottle to watch together. We’d never heard of Lily’s Driftwood Bay before, which is a real shame because it’s absolutely lovely. Lily’s Driftwood Bay is currently shown on Nick Jr and Channel 5’s Milkshake, and at first glance perhaps wouldn’t be the kind of thing to capture the imagination of a lively five year old boy, but by episode 2 he was hooked!

Lily’s Driftwood Bay features six-year-old Lily and her menagerie of friends as they set sail for a whole raft of adventures on the beautiful island of Driftwood Bay. The new DVD of the series, Lily’s Driftwood Bay: Message in a Bottle is available now.

Lily’s Driftwood Bay: Message in a Bottle DVD

The series follows Lily, a little girl who lives in a beach hut with her Dad (Richard Dormer). She creates an imaginary world from the treasures she finds washed up on the sea shore. Every day, the sea washes up a new treasure, which sparks Lily’s imagination about what might be happening ‘across the way on Driftwood Bay’. And so, with her best friend Gull the clever seagull in tow, an adventure begins as they head off to Driftwood Bay and its cast of colourful inhabitants.

There’s Salty Dog (Peter Mullan), a jolly sailor with a story for every occasion; Nonna Dog (Annette Crosbie), a wise granny who runs Cockle Café and is always ready with advice and a Puffin Muffin; Hatsie Hen (Tameka Empson), a train-driving hen with a need for speed and a love of excitement; Bull (Ardal O’Hanlon), a boisterous bull who always charges head first into things (often literally); Wee Rabbit (Jane Horrocks), a gentle young bunny with a love of art; and Lord Stag (Stephen Fry) an aristocratic deer with a taste for the finer things in life. It’s the kind of thing you watch and think – hang on – I know that voice, and it’s Stephen Fry!

Lily’s Driftwood Bay is a lovely, sweetly animated series about making fun and adventure from unwanted treasure which has been washed up on the shore, this charming DVD from Abbey Home Media features ten adventures with Lily and her friends. Episodes include Message in a Bottle, Honking Haddock, Old Bertha, Stop that Pudding, Puffin Muffins, Starfish in the Sky, Silly Seals, Harbour Cookies, Seaweed Pie and Runaway Stag!

Lily’s Driftwood Bay is U rated, runs for 70 minutes and is widely available from a range of retailers including Amazon. It really is charming and my boisterous boy enjoyed sitting quietly and watching it with me, it was a nice way to wind down before bed.

Review: Transformers Rumble in the Jungle DVD

My little brother (now aged 37) was a complete Transformers obsessive, and now we’ve both got boys of our own we were keen to pass on that love of these robots in disguise. For the past few months the boys have been building up a collection of Transformers, watching some of the original series on YouTube and (under strict supervision) playing with some of the Transformers my brother had 30 years ago. The small boy could hardly contain himself when I presented him with a copy of the Transformers Rumble in the Jungle DVD.

Transformers Rumble in the Jungle DVD

Transformers: Robots in Disguise – Rumble in the Jungle is available on DVD and for digital download from 23rd May 2016. The DVD contains six new episodes which follow on from the first installment of Robots in Disguise: A New Mission.

The Transformers Rumble in the Jungle DVD finds Bumblebee and the Autobots rounding up the escaped Decepticons. The team come face to face with a wild Decepticon, Grimlock, who is on the rampage and out of control; however that is not their only problem to overcome this time round. Bumblebee is in trouble as he is exposed to toxins that make him hyperactive and is being tracked down by a pair of bounty hunters determined to ensnare him once and for all.

The small by was beyond excited when I gave him the Transformers Rumble in the Jungle DVD, and he’s absolutely thrilled with it. I don’t fully understand what’s going on, but it’s lovely to see him sat watching it whilst playing with his Transformers. It’s exactly how my brother used to watch the original series 30 years ago, proving that Transformers is something of a classic, with considerable appeal for boys of all ages.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise – Rumble in the Jungle is available on DVD and for digital download from 23rd May 2016.

Transformers Rumble in the Jungle DVD

Review: Peter Rabbit: The Tale of The Great Breakout DVD

Last month we managed to grab a week away in Devon, we packed quickly and not particularly efficiently. When we got there it turned out I’d only packed one DVD for the small boy to watch in our wifi-less cottage, it was an old DVD – Peter Rabbit: Tales of the Start of Spring. Thankfully it’s a favourite and was watched every day while we were away. It seems to have re-kindled something of an obsession with Peter Rabbit. Earlier this week, the latest DVD installment was released – Peter Rabbit: The Tale of The Great Breakout.

Peter Rabbit: The Tale of The Great Breakout

The Peter Rabbit: The Tale of The Great Breakout DVD is the fourth Peter Rabbit DVD from Abbey Home Media. The 72 minute long DVD includes 6 exciting episodes, and all our favourite characters from the world of Peter Rabbit. The DVD also comes with a lovely free height chart.

The Peter Rabbit – The Tale of the Great Breakout DVD includes six episodes –

The Tale of the Great Breakout
The Tale of the Mystery Plum Thief
The Tale of Benjamin’s Strawberry Raid
The Tale of the Downhill Escape
The Tale of the Unguarded Garden
The Tale of the Cat and the Rat

Follow Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny and Lily Bobtail on their adventures and their quest to save the day, overcoming obstacles and outsmarting predators, all the while finding fun and excitement in the most unexpected places.

The Peter Rabbit series on CBeebies is always so lively and full of adventure, my little boy adores it and this DVD is no exception. He was super-excited to open it and couldn’t wait to put it on. We sat down together and watched it in one sitting – 70 minutes of mischief and adventure, with a few hairy moments and lots of fun and friendship. He loved it and I can see this coming on holiday with us next time.

Peter Rabbit: The Tale of The Great Breakout

Peter Rabbit: The Tale of The Great Breakout is rated U and was released on 2nd May 2016. The DVD is available from a wide range of retailers including Amazon.

Review: Pip Ahoy! DVD – Welcome to Salty Cove

Since Pip Ahoy burst onto our screens in 2014 the small boy has been fascinated by the goings on at Salty Cove. For those who haven’t yet seen Pip Ahoy It is all about the adventures of Pip the puppy, and his friends including kitten Alba and Alan the penguin (Alan is our favourite) in the seaside town of Salty Cove. Pip Ahoy features the familiar voices of David Jason, Stacy Soloman, Teresa Gallagher and Jimmy Hibbert.

Pip Ahoy is aimed at pre-schoolers and is shown on Milkshake (Channel 5) and on Cartoonito. The boy makes a special effort every morning to get up and watch it while he has his breakfast, so we treated him to a copy of the latest Pip Ahoy DVD – Welcome to Salty Cove. He was delighted!

Welcome to Salty Cove contains all 13 episodes of Pip Ahoy season 1 and is 2 hours and 23 minutes long. It’s a long DVD for a pre-schooler to sit and watch in one go, but you can pick and choose the episodes you watch so you can mix it up each day. We watched it over a few days after school and it was nice to sit and snuggle up together.

Pip Ahoy is a brightly coloured cartoon with easy to follow story-lines which are all about friendship and kindness. It’s lovely heartwarming stuff and Pip, Alba and Alan are very popular (I work in a toy shop, I should know) and the songs in the series are brilliant and make fantastic earworms – we’re still singing the penguin song from the Christmas episode!

Welcome to Salty Cove contains the following episodes –

The Mice Pirates
Fancy That!
Snooze Cruise
The Mermaid
Pizza Pirates
Pasty Flies a Kite
Stunt Gull Hopper
Auntie Twitcher’s Bird Watch
The Rocktopus
My Turn
Anybody Seen Alan?
The Wrong Way Train
Shelvis’ New Home

As always there’s lots going on in Salty Cove, the episodes are so bright and cheery too. With any series there are always favourite episodes which are watched over and over again, I like “Anybody Seen Alan?” where he bounces off the see-saw and off into adventure; the boy loves “The Rocktoppus” where a drumming octopus loses his drumsticks and it ends with a brilliant underwater gig.

welcome to salty cove

The DVD also comes with a free A3 activity sheet to colour in, do a dot-to-dot or spot the difference. The Pip Ahoy DVD Welcome To Salty Cove is available from Amazon and a range of other retailers for around £7.99.

welcome to salty cove

I will be taking part in the Pip Ahoy! Twitter party on Thursday 25th February from 1-2.30pm. Pip Ahoy! will be giving away 20 copies of the Welcome To Salty Cove DVD to some partying Pipsqueaks. Use the hashtag #PipAhoy to join in.

Review: Pip Ahoy Christmas Ahoy DVD

There’s nothing like the Christmas episode of your favourite programme to get you in the Christmas spirit. We were lucky enough to get our paws on a preview copy of the Pip Ahoy! Christmas Ahoy! DVD before its release date on 14th December. I can hand on heart say that you’re in for a treat. The DVD features the 22 minute long Christmas Special which will be shown on Christmas Day, as well as 4 other Pip Ahoy! episodes. The first 200o copies of the DVD sold will also include a bonus 9 track CD with 4 additional Karaoke tracks.

Take a trip down to Salty Cove this Christmas and join the festive fun as Pip, Alba and Skipper decorate the lighthouse; meet Alan’s special Christmas visitors – one of whom doesn’t like bouncing (can you believe it?) and meet Father Christmas!

I don’t want to give too much away, but the Pip Ahoy! Christmas Ahoy! episode is wonderfully heart-warming and full of festive fun. It truly made my heart melt a little, definitely made me want to get my hands on a penguin snowball, and really got me in the mood for Christmas. As for the small boy – he watched it four times in a row, which I think is a pretty good indication of how good it is.

The pre-school series Pip Ahoy! features Sir David Jason as the voice of Pip’s kindly uncle, Skipper, along with singer and reality TV star Stacey Solomon who sings the theme song and is the voice of the pink flamingo, Fuchsia.

Pip Ahoy Christmas Ahoy

The Pip Ahoy Christmas Ahoy DVD is released on 14th December, is rated Cert U and has a running time of 66 minutes (approx). The Pip Ahoy! Christmas Ahoy! DVD is available for order from Amazon today.

Kate & Mim Mim – A Christmas Wish DVD

Christmas seems terrifyingly close this year, the big day is thundering ever closer, but I’m pleased to say that I have started my Christmas shopping, whether I’ll ever finish it is another thing altogether. One thing we always get are Christmas DVDs, they’re a nice thing to watch as a family and a nice thing to give as a gift too. CBeebies fans will no doubt be excited by the Kate & Mim Mim – A Christmas Wish DVD which is released on 9th November.

For those not in the know, Kate is a feisty, imaginative 5-year-old girl and Mim-Mim is her purple toy bunny. Whenever she has a problem to tackle or a puzzle to solve, Kate and her purple playmate Mim-Mim twirl off to the magical land of Mimiloo where she and her friends can be anyone and do anything.

Kate & Mim Mim - A Christmas Wish

The Kate & Mim Mim – A Christmas Wish DVD contains 7 episodes as well as an exclusive music video, this festive DVD makes the ideal Christmas gift for any Kate & Mim Mim fan. It is 88 minutes long and was a popular pick for the small boy who watched it all the way through, which takes some doing for an easily distracted boy.

The DVD contains the following festive episodes –

Kittens & Mittens
While Kate and Mom are looking after a box of kittens, the box tips and they run all over the house. In Mimiloo, a flurry of mitty kats have overtaken Lily and Boomer’s house! Kate cleverly spots something they can use to round up the mitty kats and lead them home to the Winter Waterfalls.

Snow Bowling
Kate wants to build a snow fort, but there isn’t enough snow in the yard. In Mimiloo, Kate and her friends go snow bowling in the Winter Waterfalls. They use snowballs as bowling balls and snowmen for the pins. But when the gang slides down into an ice cave, Kate will have to think creatively to get them out!

A Storybook Ending
The storybook Mum is reading to Kate is missing its last page! In Mimiloo, Boomer can’t sleep because he’s lost his favourite book so Kate and Mim-Mim team up with their friends to act out the story. Mim-Mim doesn’t like being the big bad boogideebear and creates a clever new ending to the story.

Chilly the Snowman
Kate’s sad because her snowman is melting! In Mimiloo, it’s a sweltering hot day so Kate, Mim-Mim and their friends head to the Winter Waterfalls to cool down – only to find that all the ice is melting! To re-freeze the waterfalls, Kate will have to find Chilly, the snowman who keeps the Winter Waterfalls cold, snowy and frozen.

Twinkle Twinkle
Kate sees a falling star shoot across the sky and wonders where it landed. In Mimiloo, Kate, Mim-Mim and their friends find the fallen star in the Forever Forest. It’s just a baby, so they must find a way to reunite it with its mama in the nighttime sky.

A Wish for Christmas (double length episode)
It’s a stormy Christmas Eve and Kate worries that Dad won’t get home in time to put the star on the Christmas tree. In Mimiloo, Kate tells her friends all about Christmas, and everyone is excited to send a wish to Santa Claus. But when a blizzard stops their letters in their tracks, it looks like Christmas will be ruined!

Lighter Than Air
While playing catch in the backyard, Kate’s ball goes over the hedge, and Kate is too small to climb over. In Mimiloo, Mim-Mim accidentally squishes one of Gobble’s pumpkins, which makes him wish he was lighter. Using one of Tack’s inventions, he becomes the weight of a balloon! But when the gang runs into trouble, only heavy Mim-Mim can help.

The Kate & Mim-Mim – A Christmas Wish [DVD] is available from a range of retailers including Amazon and has an RRP of £7.99 making it a great stocking filler!

Note: We were sent a review copy of the DVD free of charge in return for this write up. All opinions are our own.

Review: Peter Rabbit’s Christmas Tale DVD

I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely on the countdown to Christmas now. My head is filled with plots and schemes for making the run up to Christmas a magical one for the small boy and our little family. One of the things we like to do is snuggle up on the sofa and watch Christmassy DVDs together.

As a child I used to love Peter Rabbit, so I was naturally thrilled when he returned to our screens just in time for my son to enjoy it too, Peter Rabbit and Friends is a series we do watch and enjoy together, so I was really pleased to be sent a copy of Peter Rabbit’s Christmas Tale DVD from Abbey Home Media. The DVD was released on Monday 2nd November and it’s the perfect DVD to watch with your little ones this Christmas.

Peter Rabbit’s Christmas Tale DVD

This new DVD features Peter Rabbit’s Christmas Tale and seven other adventurous wintery episodes from Peter, Benjamin, Lilly and friends. Episodes on this festive DVD include –

Peter Rabbit’s Christmas Tale – When Mr. Bouncer gets too sick to make the important holiday supply delivery, Peter and Benjamin take it upon themselves to brave a blizzard (and Mr. Tod) to get the job done and meet a new friend along the way.

The Tale of the Uninvited Badger – When Tommy Brock decides he’s had enough of the cold, he takes shelter by the fire inside the Bouncer’s Burrow. It’s up to Peter and his friends to devise a way of getting the grumpy badger out and to make sure he doesn’t come back!

The Tale of the Runaway Rabbit – Peter is left to babysit Cotton-tail but can’t resist an exciting event at the Squirrel camp. He brings his sleeping sister along but soon must rescue her when she wakes up and crawls away

The Tale of the Stolen Firewood – When Peter, Lily and Benjamin go out to collect firewood, they soon find that not one but three predators are after some too. Can the rabbits stage a series of daring raids to retrieve it?

The Tale of the Grumpy Owl – When Old Brown takes Peter’s Journal, Peter must choose between saving his most precious possession and saving a friend.

The Tale of the Lucky Four-Leaf Clover – When Benjamin finds a four-leaf clover, Peter tricks him into thinking it brings good luck. It’s harmless fun until Peter’s prank accidentally leads Lily into Mr. Tod’s dangerous clutches!

The Tale of the Big Move – When Lily’s father decides to move the family out of the Lake District, Peter comes up with a clever, but dangerous, plan to change Dr. Bobtail’s mind.

The Tale of the Greedy Fox – When Peter tells an impulsive lie, which leads Jemima Puddle-Duck into Mr. Tod’s clutches, he must act fast to stop her from becoming the fox’s dinner!

With over 100 minutes of animated action, Peter Rabbit’s Christmas Tale DVD was a real winner for our family, lots of action, lots of adventure and lots of festive fun. For more information about Peter Rabbit and Friends you can join the Peter Rabbit Club on Facebook.

DVDs: Channels 5’s Milkshake Fantastic Fun

Milkshake on Channel 5 and Abbey Home Media are releasing the Milkshake Fantastic Fun DVD on Monday 19th October – featuring favourites such as Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, Toot the Tiny Tugboat, Thomas & Friends, Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom, Fireman Sam, Little Princess, Lily’s Driftwood Bay, Dora and Friends, Wanda and the Alien, Chloe’s Closet and Bananas in Pyjamas for over 2 hours of fantastic fun!

We have watched a few of the different bumper Milkshake DVDs and they’re brilliant for keeping little ones entertained, and because each DVD contains an episode each of all of the Milkshake favourites – there’s plenty of variety and something for everyone.

Like most children, the small boy has his favourites – he loves Thomas & Friends, is completely obsessed with Paw Patrol and he adores Fireman Sam. We watched the Milkshake Fantastic Fun DVD together and it kept him happy and entertained (he also insisted on watching the Paw Patrol episode on repeat for about an hour). It gave us the opportunity to talk about the things which had happened in the various episodes, and to talk about themes such as love, friendship, sharing and always trying your best.

The Milkshake Fantastic Fun DVD is available from a wide range of retailers including Amazon from Monday 19th October 2015 and is rated U, making it suitable for all ages.

Milkshake Fantastic Fun DVD

Order your copy of the Milkshake Fantastic Fun DVD from Amazon.

Review: Tree Fu Tom and the Carrots Of Doom DVD

The Tree Fu Tom and the Carrots Of Doom DVD was released on 5th October and it contains over two hours of Treeopolis fun and adventures! Join Tree Fu Tom, Ariela, Zigzoo, Twigs and friends to perform some Big World Magic and help Tom to save the day in his usual way – with the help of his loyal friends and some Big World Magic!

The Tree Fu Tom and the Carrots Of Doom DVD contains six action packed episodes, each featuring our hero – Tree Fu Tom. Aimed at pre-schoolers aged 2-6, there’s lots of fun and adventure with an emphasis on friendship and a little lesson in each episode (patience is a virtue etc). We’ve been avid fans of Tree Fu Tom since it began on CBeebies in 2012.

The six action packed episodes on the Tree Fu Tom and the Carrots Of Doom DVD are –
– Carrots of Doom
– Picture This
– Dragon Fruit Fiasco
– Ranger Tom: A Badge Too Far
– King Stink
– The Sprite Before Christmas

We’ve always enjoyed watching and joining in with Tree Fu Tom and helping him to create the magic at home. The series was originally developed with the help of the Dyspraxia Foundation with the intention of promoting movement and co-ordination in pre-school children, plus it’s fun to join in with, and it gets us all off the sofa!

Being a huge Tree Fu Tom fan, the small boy loved watching this DVD, true to form he got up and copied Tom and his magical movements to create the magic at home. We think Tree Fu Tom and the Carrots of Doom is a must for any Tree Fu fan!

The Tree Fu Tom and the Carrots Of Doom DVD is available from a wide range of retailers including Amazon from Monday 5th October 2015.

Review: CBeebies All Stars DVD

One of the best things we’ve ever bought for the small boy was a small portable DVD player. During our annual 7 hour schlep to Cornwall it provides an excellent back of the car entertainment service, plus it means that if he fancies watching his favourite shows in our TV-less cottage he can do so.

He’s a massive CBeebies fan, and though his tastes have changed as he’s grown up, he loves to watch The Octonauts, Peter Rabbit, Mike the Knight, Chuggington and The Clangers, amongst others. So the CBeebies All Stars DVD seemed a good bet.

CBeebies All Stars DVD

He was almost beside himself when the CBeebies All Stars Bumper Collection DVD popped through our letter box. Released on 7th September, and rated U, the CBeebies All Stars DVD contains over two hours of CBeebies fun, including the Twirlywoos, Peter Rabbit, Octonauts, In The Night Garden, Mike the Knight, Chuggington, Furchester, Dipdap, Cloudbabies, The Clangers and Topsy and Tim.

The CBeebies All Stars DVD is a great DVD for any CBeebies fan, with all of their favourites in one place – and it certainly kept him entertained on our long journey!

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CBeebies All Stars DVD