Packed with good ideas and well laid out, 11 Jun 2003
I originally borrowed this book from the library and was so impressed decided to purchase my own copy.

It is full of good ideas for party games and certainly will form the basis of my daughter's fast approaching 3rd birthday party. We've already been playing some of the games as a family.

It is organised by age group - it covers 1-5 years - so its easy to select the appropriate games.

Well worth the money.

Packed with good ideas and well laid out, 11 Jun 2003
I originally borrowed this book from the library and was so impressed decided to purchase my own copy.

It is full of good ideas for party games and certainly will form the basis of my daughter's fast approaching 3rd birthday party. We've already been playing some of the games as a family.

It is organised by age group - it covers 1-5 years - so its easy to select the appropriate games.

Well worth the money.

A comprehensive guide with some excellent recipes, 25 Sep 2008
Halloween tends to be an exceedingly interesting time of year in the Redhart household. Personally I am always ready to get into the party mood, although in the past there has rarely been so much as a 'ghost' of a chance that my wife might join in. Indeed, Doreen has always demonstrated a rather pronounced level of disdain for youngsters- the roots of which could probably be traced back to the birth of our daughter Dawn. Sadly the careless 'mistakes' that have since led to the arrivals of both Horace and Crispin did little to change her mind about the merits of children. Anyhow, although Doreen would never participate, I have had some wonderful celebrations in the past. Sadly, however, in 2006 Doreen decided to ban Halloween altogether, much to the fury of the trick or treaters who were turned away from our door...

Well, you should have seen the mess our house was in that night! There was rude graffiti daubed across the garage wall, an assortment of rubbish strewn all over the lawn (including a couple of used contraceptives!), and a trail of human excrement smeared along the lounge windows. Indeed, with the house already in such a terrible state, I wouldn't have thought that a few old Halloween pranks could very well have made things any worse. How wrong I was! Much as I would like to think that we are a part of a highly respectable neighbourhood, I wouldn't deny that there are a few unsavoury kids in the community. However, the last thing I would have expected to receive through my window was a severed head tied to a brick! Doreen was absolutely furious! While she can be grumpy at the best of times, she was sorely unimpressed at having a pig's head invade the privacy of our bedroom at 2 am (although eventually she calmed down enough to see that the cloud had a silver lining- sure enough, the very next day we had the basis for a very lovely pot of stew).

Still, last Halloween, Doreen seemed to have learned her lesson from this incident- for she picked up a copy of this extremely helpful book and set about organising celebrations herself! I am pleased to say that we had an absolutely cracking party that year! The book covers anything and everything, including party games and how to make scary costumes (which Doreen had never previously been known to wear- aside from her négligée, that is!). There are also some very wise recipes for healthier alternatives to sweets and chocolate. Indeed, when trick or treaters came to the door, they were greeted by a cackling, gap-toothed old witch (kitted out in a werewolf costume) who was extremely generous about handing out some nutritious (yet tasty!) home-made treacle flapjacks. How surprising it was to see Doreen getting into the swing of things with quite such verve! It was only later on that I was to discover an empty bottle of high-strength laxative solution in the kitchen bin- and I'm afraid it was already well beyond the hour when I could feasibly have done anything about it. Some of the kids who called by had been clad in extremely high-quality costumes. If they had been hired from a fancy dress shop, they almost certainly would have had to leave a sum of money that would be retained in the event of damage. Yes, let's just hope that any 'deposits' that were left on the costumes were not terribly substantial!

PS. While Doreen must take full responsibility for her unconscionable actions, I can't help but feel that a fair chunk of blame lies at my own two feet. A few days after the pig's head came crashing into my home, I found out that (far from being a childish trick) it was actually a reminder from Mickey 'Gold Fillings' O'Flanagan regarding the considerable debts that I had incurred on the greyhound track- but, of course, I wasn't very well going to inform Doreen of that!

Packed with good ideas and well laid out, 11 Jun 2003
I originally borrowed this book from the library and was so impressed decided to purchase my own copy.

It is full of good ideas for party games and certainly will form the basis of my daughter's fast approaching 3rd birthday party. We've already been playing some of the games as a family.

It is organised by age group - it covers 1-5 years - so its easy to select the appropriate games.

Well worth the money.

A comprehensive guide with some excellent recipes, 25 Sep 2008
Halloween tends to be an exceedingly interesting time of year in the Redhart household. Personally I am always ready to get into the party mood, although in the past there has rarely been so much as a 'ghost' of a chance that my wife might join in. Indeed, Doreen has always demonstrated a rather pronounced level of disdain for youngsters- the roots of which could probably be traced back to the birth of our daughter Dawn. Sadly the careless 'mistakes' that have since led to the arrivals of both Horace and Crispin did little to change her mind about the merits of children. Anyhow, although Doreen would never participate, I have had some wonderful celebrations in the past. Sadly, however, in 2006 Doreen decided to ban Halloween altogether, much to the fury of the trick or treaters who were turned away from our door...

Well, you should have seen the mess our house was in that night! There was rude graffiti daubed across the garage wall, an assortment of rubbish strewn all over the lawn (including a couple of used contraceptives!), and a trail of human excrement smeared along the lounge windows. Indeed, with the house already in such a terrible state, I wouldn't have thought that a few old Halloween pranks could very well have made things any worse. How wrong I was! Much as I would like to think that we are a part of a highly respectable neighbourhood, I wouldn't deny that there are a few unsavoury kids in the community. However, the last thing I would have expected to receive through my window was a severed head tied to a brick! Doreen was absolutely furious! While she can be grumpy at the best of times, she was sorely unimpressed at having a pig's head invade the privacy of our bedroom at 2 am (although eventually she calmed down enough to see that the cloud had a silver lining- sure enough, the very next day we had the basis for a very lovely pot of stew).

Still, last Halloween, Doreen seemed to have learned her lesson from this incident- for she picked up a copy of this extremely helpful book and set about organising celebrations herself! I am pleased to say that we had an absolutely cracking party that year! The book covers anything and everything, including party games and how to make scary costumes (which Doreen had never previously been known to wear- aside from her négligée, that is!). There are also some very wise recipes for healthier alternatives to sweets and chocolate. Indeed, when trick or treaters came to the door, they were greeted by a cackling, gap-toothed old witch (kitted out in a werewolf costume) who was extremely generous about handing out some nutritious (yet tasty!) home-made treacle flapjacks. How surprising it was to see Doreen getting into the swing of things with quite such verve! It was only later on that I was to discover an empty bottle of high-strength laxative solution in the kitchen bin- and I'm afraid it was already well beyond the hour when I could feasibly have done anything about it. Some of the kids who called by had been clad in extremely high-quality costumes. If they had been hired from a fancy dress shop, they almost certainly would have had to leave a sum of money that would be retained in the event of damage. Yes, let's just hope that any 'deposits' that were left on the costumes were not terribly substantial!

PS. While Doreen must take full responsibility for her unconscionable actions, I can't help but feel that a fair chunk of blame lies at my own two feet. A few days after the pig's head came crashing into my home, I found out that (far from being a childish trick) it was actually a reminder from Mickey 'Gold Fillings' O'Flanagan regarding the considerable debts that I had incurred on the greyhound track- but, of course, I wasn't very well going to inform Doreen of that!

Good fun! , 18 Apr 2008
I bought this book when I was planning my wedding and it was a great help.
It deals with everything you would need in order to form a medieval celebration from the costume, food, music and decorations. I highly recommend this book!

Packed with good ideas and well laid out, 11 Jun 2003
I originally borrowed this book from the library and was so impressed decided to purchase my own copy.

It is full of good ideas for party games and certainly will form the basis of my daughter's fast approaching 3rd birthday party. We've already been playing some of the games as a family.

It is organised by age group - it covers 1-5 years - so its easy to select the appropriate games.

Well worth the money.

A comprehensive guide with some excellent recipes, 25 Sep 2008
Halloween tends to be an exceedingly interesting time of year in the Redhart household. Personally I am always ready to get into the party mood, although in the past there has rarely been so much as a 'ghost' of a chance that my wife might join in. Indeed, Doreen has always demonstrated a rather pronounced level of disdain for youngsters- the roots of which could probably be traced back to the birth of our daughter Dawn. Sadly the careless 'mistakes' that have since led to the arrivals of both Horace and Crispin did little to change her mind about the merits of children. Anyhow, although Doreen would never participate, I have had some wonderful celebrations in the past. Sadly, however, in 2006 Doreen decided to ban Halloween altogether, much to the fury of the trick or treaters who were turned away from our door...

Well, you should have seen the mess our house was in that night! There was rude graffiti daubed across the garage wall, an assortment of rubbish strewn all over the lawn (including a couple of used contraceptives!), and a trail of human excrement smeared along the lounge windows. Indeed, with the house already in such a terrible state, I wouldn't have thought that a few old Halloween pranks could very well have made things any worse. How wrong I was! Much as I would like to think that we are a part of a highly respectable neighbourhood, I wouldn't deny that there are a few unsavoury kids in the community. However, the last thing I would have expected to receive through my window was a severed head tied to a brick! Doreen was absolutely furious! While she can be grumpy at the best of times, she was sorely unimpressed at having a pig's head invade the privacy of our bedroom at 2 am (although eventually she calmed down enough to see that the cloud had a silver lining- sure enough, the very next day we had the basis for a very lovely pot of stew).

Still, last Halloween, Doreen seemed to have learned her lesson from this incident- for she picked up a copy of this extremely helpful book and set about organising celebrations herself! I am pleased to say that we had an absolutely cracking party that year! The book covers anything and everything, including party games and how to make scary costumes (which Doreen had never previously been known to wear- aside from her négligée, that is!). There are also some very wise recipes for healthier alternatives to sweets and chocolate. Indeed, when trick or treaters came to the door, they were greeted by a cackling, gap-toothed old witch (kitted out in a werewolf costume) who was extremely generous about handing out some nutritious (yet tasty!) home-made treacle flapjacks. How surprising it was to see Doreen getting into the swing of things with quite such verve! It was only later on that I was to discover an empty bottle of high-strength laxative solution in the kitchen bin- and I'm afraid it was already well beyond the hour when I could feasibly have done anything about it. Some of the kids who called by had been clad in extremely high-quality costumes. If they had been hired from a fancy dress shop, they almost certainly would have had to leave a sum of money that would be retained in the event of damage. Yes, let's just hope that any 'deposits' that were left on the costumes were not terribly substantial!

PS. While Doreen must take full responsibility for her unconscionable actions, I can't help but feel that a fair chunk of blame lies at my own two feet. A few days after the pig's head came crashing into my home, I found out that (far from being a childish trick) it was actually a reminder from Mickey 'Gold Fillings' O'Flanagan regarding the considerable debts that I had incurred on the greyhound track- but, of course, I wasn't very well going to inform Doreen of that!

Good fun! , 18 Apr 2008
I bought this book when I was planning my wedding and it was a great help.
It deals with everything you would need in order to form a medieval celebration from the costume, food, music and decorations. I highly recommend this book!


Why is Comfort Eating so good?? , 24 Oct 2008
I feel very disappointed about the title of this book, which I saw on the shelves in a local book shop.

So what you may wonder is so wrong with this book you may ask?? Well the sentence 'comfort food is the culinary equivalent to a hug' in the intro absolutely horrified me and made me wonder how many publishers attribute to one of the most unhealthy habits that many people indulge in. As someone who loves food, but also realises the wrong ways in which many people use food - for comfort, to replace affection and to raise low self esteem - I find the myth of 'comfort' food and 'comfort' eating one of the most unpalatable terms in common use today, 'comfort eating' should be dropped from all of our vocabularies for good.

There is - as any counsellor who helps people address behaviours in order to promote healthy eating and positive eating behaviours - a really strong link between the idea that food can make you happy and can become a main habit in addictive eating. I find this book title and the promotion of 'comfort' eating extremely irresponsible, and old fashioned. Are we still living in a time when we actually believe that food will replace our emotional needs?? Comfort eating is generally about using food to avoid confronting something, or to fill some emotional void in a person's life that they cannot seem to cope with in a more constructive manner. It is also a habit that can turn into a very subconscious and destructive habit. So why promote it?? Why continue the myth that eating for comfort is good?? Mothers (and fathers) teach their children habits around food, and not only damage their own health with behaviours like 'comfort' eating but also teach children (often without realising it) to do exactly the same - you are just adding to this with these sort of books.

I suggest these publishers take the time to look into why Comfort Eating is negative and rethink their marketing strategy in using this term as a way to promote their products/ recipes as it is only adding to a culture around food that is extremely destructive and ignorant.

I hope this has touched on your thinking on 'comfort' eating and given you some real food for thought.

Packed with good ideas and well laid out, 11 Jun 2003
I originally borrowed this book from the library and was so impressed decided to purchase my own copy.

It is full of good ideas for party games and certainly will form the basis of my daughter's fast approaching 3rd birthday party. We've already been playing some of the games as a family.

It is organised by age group - it covers 1-5 years - so its easy to select the appropriate games.

Well worth the money.

A comprehensive guide with some excellent recipes, 25 Sep 2008
Halloween tends to be an exceedingly interesting time of year in the Redhart household. Personally I am always ready to get into the party mood, although in the past there has rarely been so much as a 'ghost' of a chance that my wife might join in. Indeed, Doreen has always demonstrated a rather pronounced level of disdain for youngsters- the roots of which could probably be traced back to the birth of our daughter Dawn. Sadly the careless 'mistakes' that have since led to the arrivals of both Horace and Crispin did little to change her mind about the merits of children. Anyhow, although Doreen would never participate, I have had some wonderful celebrations in the past. Sadly, however, in 2006 Doreen decided to ban Halloween altogether, much to the fury of the trick or treaters who were turned away from our door...

Well, you should have seen the mess our house was in that night! There was rude graffiti daubed across the garage wall, an assortment of rubbish strewn all over the lawn (including a couple of used contraceptives!), and a trail of human excrement smeared along the lounge windows. Indeed, with the house already in such a terrible state, I wouldn't have thought that a few old Halloween pranks could very well have made things any worse. How wrong I was! Much as I would like to think that we are a part of a highly respectable neighbourhood, I wouldn't deny that there are a few unsavoury kids in the community. However, the last thing I would have expected to receive through my window was a severed head tied to a brick! Doreen was absolutely furious! While she can be grumpy at the best of times, she was sorely unimpressed at having a pig's head invade the privacy of our bedroom at 2 am (although eventually she calmed down enough to see that the cloud had a silver lining- sure enough, the very next day we had the basis for a very lovely pot of stew).

Still, last Halloween, Doreen seemed to have learned her lesson from this incident- for she picked up a copy of this extremely helpful book and set about organising celebrations herself! I am pleased to say that we had an absolutely cracking party that year! The book covers anything and everything, including party games and how to make scary costumes (which Doreen had never previously been known to wear- aside from her négligée, that is!). There are also some very wise recipes for healthier alternatives to sweets and chocolate. Indeed, when trick or treaters came to the door, they were greeted by a cackling, gap-toothed old witch (kitted out in a werewolf costume) who was extremely generous about handing out some nutritious (yet tasty!) home-made treacle flapjacks. How surprising it was to see Doreen getting into the swing of things with quite such verve! It was only later on that I was to discover an empty bottle of high-strength laxative solution in the kitchen bin- and I'm afraid it was already well beyond the hour when I could feasibly have done anything about it. Some of the kids who called by had been clad in extremely high-quality costumes. If they had been hired from a fancy dress shop, they almost certainly would have had to leave a sum of money that would be retained in the event of damage. Yes, let's just hope that any 'deposits' that were left on the costumes were not terribly substantial!

PS. While Doreen must take full responsibility for her unconscionable actions, I can't help but feel that a fair chunk of blame lies at my own two feet. A few days after the pig's head came crashing into my home, I found out that (far from being a childish trick) it was actually a reminder from Mickey 'Gold Fillings' O'Flanagan regarding the considerable debts that I had incurred on the greyhound track- but, of course, I wasn't very well going to inform Doreen of that!

Good fun! , 18 Apr 2008
I bought this book when I was planning my wedding and it was a great help.
It deals with everything you would need in order to form a medieval celebration from the costume, food, music and decorations. I highly recommend this book!


Why is Comfort Eating so good?? , 24 Oct 2008
I feel very disappointed about the title of this book, which I saw on the shelves in a local book shop.

So what you may wonder is so wrong with this book you may ask?? Well the sentence 'comfort food is the culinary equivalent to a hug' in the intro absolutely horrified me and made me wonder how many publishers attribute to one of the most unhealthy habits that many people indulge in. As someone who loves food, but also realises the wrong ways in which many people use food - for comfort, to replace affection and to raise low self esteem - I find the myth of 'comfort' food and 'comfort' eating one of the most unpalatable terms in common use today, 'comfort eating' should be dropped from all of our vocabularies for good.

There is - as any counsellor who helps people address behaviours in order to promote healthy eating and positive eating behaviours - a really strong link between the idea that food can make you happy and can become a main habit in addictive eating. I find this book title and the promotion of 'comfort' eating extremely irresponsible, and old fashioned. Are we still living in a time when we actually believe that food will replace our emotional needs?? Comfort eating is generally about using food to avoid confronting something, or to fill some emotional void in a person's life that they cannot seem to cope with in a more constructive manner. It is also a habit that can turn into a very subconscious and destructive habit. So why promote it?? Why continue the myth that eating for comfort is good?? Mothers (and fathers) teach their children habits around food, and not only damage their own health with behaviours like 'comfort' eating but also teach children (often without realising it) to do exactly the same - you are just adding to this with these sort of books.

I suggest these publishers take the time to look into why Comfort Eating is negative and rethink their marketing strategy in using this term as a way to promote their products/ recipes as it is only adding to a culture around food that is extremely destructive and ignorant.

I hope this has touched on your thinking on 'comfort' eating and given you some real food for thought.

Face Painter Approval, 01 Apr 2008
At the time of writing I'm fairly new to the entertainment business. I was looking for a book that would help me target my marketing effort in the right direction and this book has helped me in many different ways and business is starting to come my way.

The book has been written by well known professionals in different fields - clowning, magic, face painting, games organisers etc, each one has their own section. From simple suggestions like making sure you look the part to some really good ways of making sure the business comes your way, I've found it an interesting and inspiring read.

Packed with good ideas and well laid out, 11 Jun 2003
I originally borrowed this book from the library and was so impressed decided to purchase my own copy.

It is full of good ideas for party games and certainly will form the basis of my daughter's fast approaching 3rd birthday party. We've already been playing some of the games as a family.

It is organised by age group - it covers 1-5 years - so its easy to select the appropriate games.

Well worth the money.

A comprehensive guide with some excellent recipes, 25 Sep 2008
Halloween tends to be an exceedingly interesting time of year in the Redhart household. Personally I am always ready to get into the party mood, although in the past there has rarely been so much as a 'ghost' of a chance that my wife might join in. Indeed, Doreen has always demonstrated a rather pronounced level of disdain for youngsters- the roots of which could probably be traced back to the birth of our daughter Dawn. Sadly the careless 'mistakes' that have since led to the arrivals of both Horace and Crispin did little to change her mind about the merits of children. Anyhow, although Doreen would never participate, I have had some wonderful celebrations in the past. Sadly, however, in 2006 Doreen decided to ban Halloween altogether, much to the fury of the trick or treaters who were turned away from our door...

Well, you should have seen the mess our house was in that night! There was rude graffiti daubed across the garage wall, an assortment of rubbish strewn all over the lawn (including a couple of used contraceptives!), and a trail of human excrement smeared along the lounge windows. Indeed, with the house already in such a terrible state, I wouldn't have thought that a few old Halloween pranks could very well have made things any worse. How wrong I was! Much as I would like to think that we are a part of a highly respectable neighbourhood, I wouldn't deny that there are a few unsavoury kids in the community. However, the last thing I would have expected to receive through my window was a severed head tied to a brick! Doreen was absolutely furious! While she can be grumpy at the best of times, she was sorely unimpressed at having a pig's head invade the privacy of our bedroom at 2 am (although eventually she calmed down enough to see that the cloud had a silver lining- sure enough, the very next day we had the basis for a very lovely pot of stew).

Still, last Halloween, Doreen seemed to have learned her lesson from this incident- for she picked up a copy of this extremely helpful book and set about organising celebrations herself! I am pleased to say that we had an absolutely cracking party that year! The book covers anything and everything, including party games and how to make scary costumes (which Doreen had never previously been known to wear- aside from her négligée, that is!). There are also some very wise recipes for healthier alternatives to sweets and chocolate. Indeed, when trick or treaters came to the door, they were greeted by a cackling, gap-toothed old witch (kitted out in a werewolf costume) who was extremely generous about handing out some nutritious (yet tasty!) home-made treacle flapjacks. How surprising it was to see Doreen getting into the swing of things with quite such verve! It was only later on that I was to discover an empty bottle of high-strength laxative solution in the kitchen bin- and I'm afraid it was already well beyond the hour when I could feasibly have done anything about it. Some of the kids who called by had been clad in extremely high-quality costumes. If they had been hired from a fancy dress shop, they almost certainly would have had to leave a sum of money that would be retained in the event of damage. Yes, let's just hope that any 'deposits' that were left on the costumes were not terribly substantial!

PS. While Doreen must take full responsibility for her unconscionable actions, I can't help but feel that a fair chunk of blame lies at my own two feet. A few days after the pig's head came crashing into my home, I found out that (far from being a childish trick) it was actually a reminder from Mickey 'Gold Fillings' O'Flanagan regarding the considerable debts that I had incurred on the greyhound track- but, of course, I wasn't very well going to inform Doreen of that!

Good fun! , 18 Apr 2008
I bought this book when I was planning my wedding and it was a great help.
It deals with everything you would need in order to form a medieval celebration from the costume, food, music and decorations. I highly recommend this book!


Why is Comfort Eating so good?? , 24 Oct 2008
I feel very disappointed about the title of this book, which I saw on the shelves in a local book shop.

So what you may wonder is so wrong with this book you may ask?? Well the sentence 'comfort food is the culinary equivalent to a hug' in the intro absolutely horrified me and made me wonder how many publishers attribute to one of the most unhealthy habits that many people indulge in. As someone who loves food, but also realises the wrong ways in which many people use food - for comfort, to replace affection and to raise low self esteem - I find the myth of 'comfort' food and 'comfort' eating one of the most unpalatable terms in common use today, 'comfort eating' should be dropped from all of our vocabularies for good.

There is - as any counsellor who helps people address behaviours in order to promote healthy eating and positive eating behaviours - a really strong link between the idea that food can make you happy and can become a main habit in addictive eating. I find this book title and the promotion of 'comfort' eating extremely irresponsible, and old fashioned. Are we still living in a time when we actually believe that food will replace our emotional needs?? Comfort eating is generally about using food to avoid confronting something, or to fill some emotional void in a person's life that they cannot seem to cope with in a more constructive manner. It is also a habit that can turn into a very subconscious and destructive habit. So why promote it?? Why continue the myth that eating for comfort is good?? Mothers (and fathers) teach their children habits around food, and not only damage their own health with behaviours like 'comfort' eating but also teach children (often without realising it) to do exactly the same - you are just adding to this with these sort of books.

I suggest these publishers take the time to look into why Comfort Eating is negative and rethink their marketing strategy in using this term as a way to promote their products/ recipes as it is only adding to a culture around food that is extremely destructive and ignorant.

I hope this has touched on your thinking on 'comfort' eating and given you some real food for thought.

Face Painter Approval, 01 Apr 2008
At the time of writing I'm fairly new to the entertainment business. I was looking for a book that would help me target my marketing effort in the right direction and this book has helped me in many different ways and business is starting to come my way.

The book has been written by well known professionals in different fields - clowning, magic, face painting, games organisers etc, each one has their own section. From simple suggestions like making sure you look the part to some really good ways of making sure the business comes your way, I've found it an interesting and inspiring read.

HALLOWEEN HOW TO, 29 Jul 2006
This is an excellent halloween book which i keep going back to again again. Its got the top halloween books, films etc to rent out at halloween. easy ideas for decs and costumes. the history of halloween its a very interesting book which i love.