Hello and welcome to our roundup of products your family will love. We've got a bumper package for you this week, as many new products hit the shelves - anyone would think there's some kind of gift season on the horizon.


For the gamers in your family
Club Penguin is the UK's biggest online world for children, and its founder recently talked to us here.

Now the first Club Penguin Wii game has launched, so your children can play in teams with their friends. The game's world and sounds are just as you'd recognise from the original website. Players can also choose to play as their usual penguin, or create a new one, and use the game to earn coins in the online version.

Club Penguin Game Day offers a series of mini games, for one to four players, and would be a great game to play at a children's party. It's a sort of penguin Olympics, as players compete to see who can do the funkiest dance, or roll the biggest snowball. Suitable for age 3 and over, RRP £39.99, currently on special offer at Argos for £26.99






Also released this week for family games night is My Sims: Sky Heroes. Players race and battle in aircraft, aiming to become an ace flyer. Rated from age 3, though my seven year old found this one tricky to play and I suspect it may go down best with the ten and overs.

We liked being able to customise your aircraft and swoop through the skies, battling sky pirates. Wannabe airmen will love this.

My Sims Sky Heroes is out now on all major games formats, RRP 29.99







Books for boys and non-girly girls
DK (Dorling Kindersley) have released a series of large format hardback books for the Autumn. We looked at How To Do Everything (RRP £14.99) - a great gift for a child you don't know well, because it really does cover a little bit of everything.

It's lavishly illustrated with clear photos, which I found was a great inducement for children who are not natural readers and need a little something extra to get them hooked. Marked as suitable for age 12+, though my seven year old son, who's not usually a book fan, was so keen on this that he started taking it to bed with him.

We also enjoyed the DK book Danger! (RRP £16.99), released this week - a real treat for children who enjoy facts about all the horrible things in life.

Both are widely available in bookshops now or online here.




For mucky pups
Persil have realised what mucky beasts our children are and have launched a new range of its Small & Mighty concentrated washing liquid, in bigger sizes. Just remember that although it's a bigger pack, you only need to use a little. A 1.5L bottle will give you around 85 washes for approx 17p each - bargain.

RRP £5.99 for 1L, but most of the major supermarkets have got offers on this, so shop around.



Music and stories for younger children
Bush Tales is a set of beautifully illustrated animal stories with accompanying musical scores and performances from West End stars. So they're great for bedtime stories with an added soundtrack, or for beginner readers to read alone with the CD to guide them.

You can buy the books and CDs individually, or the complete boxed set would make a lovely gift or family keepsake.

Bush Tales is available in bookshops and online here, hardback books cost £4.99, the CD and DVD story book is £9.99 and the first edition signed boxed set is £49.99.




Halloween cuddlies
Recently we looked at the limited edition ice cream bears from Build A Bear Workshop. Now the company has gone all Autumnal, with a range of spooky Halloween teddies.

In Build A Bear stores nationwide now, or online here. Bears priced from £12, with outfits from £10. Ain't she cute?