Portrait Of George Gershwin, A - BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Advantages: Fascinating story, evocative details, beautiful writing
Disadvantages: I didn't want it to end

..."A Portrait of a Turkish Family" is an autobiographical work that tells the story of one Ottoman family from the turn of the twentieth century through the First World War and the establishment of Turkey as a republic. Irfan Orga was the eldest of three children; his mother was born into the harem - as were most women of such standing - and married at the age of thirteen. When the book opens, Irfan and his parents and younger brother live with his paternal grandparents and a host of servants. Orga describes an often idyllic childhood with warmth and humour, depicting the childlike vigour of his mother, the haughtiness of his grandmother and the kindness of the servants. One memorable episode describes a trip to the hamam (Turkish baths) with his mother and grandmother that is like a trip to the beach with the servants instructed to... Read review

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...?George?s Marvellous Medicine? was the first of Roald Dahl?s stories which we read to our eldest son. It?s the story of a little boy who has a real stinker of a grandmother. She?s rude and scary and bosses him around all the time. One day George?s mum and dad have both gone out, leaving him alone with his Grandma. George has had enough of Grandma bullying him and so decides to cure her of her cantankerous behaviour with a special potion, which he?ll give her instead of her usual medicine. He finds an enormous saucepan in the kitchen and lugs it all around the house, essentially putting in a bit of everything he finds [lipsticks and canary seed included!]. He even makes sure he adds some brown paint so that it is the same colour as Grandma?s real medicine! He then boils it up to make sure that everything?s nicely mixed together before... Read review

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Advantages: Great re take on a well known tale
Disadvantages: None

...George and the Dragon An amusing spin off from the story of George and the Dragon as we know it?ie knight with sword killing a dragon. This book, however does indeed have a scary dragon, but the hero, far from being a knight in shining armour, is a mouse called George. ~~Story and Illustrations~~ The scene is set as we enter a landscape of high and rocky mountains and move into a "deep, deep valley in a dark dark cave"" (ooh!! The suspense). In this dark cave, lives a mighty dragon. Yes, he is big and very red. So big, in fact, that he takes up a whole double page spread, and there he stands amongst the rubble, blowing smoke from his nostrils. This mighty dragon can fly higher than the clouds and faster than the birds. He can burn down forests and smash castle walls and with a brush of his wing, he can foil and destroy whole... Read review

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