Okay, sorry for the MASSIVE delay (bet I've missed the prize draw 
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Q1 Which pack or books did you and your child review? Was the pack of books for "learning to read" or "reading together"?
We got the "read at home" bug club for Year 2, six sets of four books.
Q2 If a "learning to read" pack, how do the books compare with the reading practice books your child brings home from school? Which reading scheme does your child use at school?
She has Read Write Inc sessions at school still, but is now taking free reading books home from the classroom shelf, so these are quite a bit more straightforward than what she usually chooses - but she still sometimes selects stuff that is straightforward like the Bug Club stuff, so...
Q3 Would you say your child enjoy reading or looking at the books? Why/why not?
...she LOVED this set of books. She whizzed through them, reading a set a night, in about 20 minutes per set, but then spending significantly longer discussing the books/trying out stuff/reading them to 4 year old brother, etc. Some weren't as popular as others, but all were greedily anticipated and she kept begging to open the next pack, so we had to ration her to one pack a day. I think she enjoyed these because she weren't too challenging in terms of sentence length/structure/vocabulary, so she could focus more on content and plot. I think her decoding ability sometimes outstrips her actual understanding.
Q4 What's your overall review of the book pack?
Well, I love free stuff , but this was especially great because each pack contained such an interesting and stimulating MIX of books (she rarely gets non-fiction from her school, for example, and I don't think the Year 2 class possesses much - it's mostly in the library, from which Year 2 are not yet allowed to borrow). No set contained more than one book she wasn't keen on, I don't think. She really liked the Adventure Kids and Pirate and Potter Family books, as she loves series and has been rattling through Naughty Little Sister, Naughtiest Girl in the School and similar piffle, so I suppose she, like lots of kids I know, likes following characters. (She even liked Biff and Chip when school sent some of them home...)
I wasn't that keen on a couple of the books - I'm not keen on stuff linked in to stuff like Ben Ten, and Casper, because it feels like free advertising to me. The books themselves read rather clunkily too, I felt. Hypocritically, though, I thought it was really cool to have a book about being a Jedi. Harry Potter would've been ace too! Perhaps it's just that Ben Ten and Casper annoy me. I didn't like the way in which a mixture of real words (e.g. "experienced") and made up words ("Padawan Learner") were both bolded, mind you. I would have liked just useful REAL words to be highlighted.... but I am quite curmudgeonly.
I felt the books were just the right length for reading at home, as they are not so long that a child would feel over-faced. I really enjoyed reading the pirate books with dd and ds, and putting on a piratey voice badly. I was also surprised to enjoy the non-fiction selections - they were informative and had great photographs. There was a pleasing variety of countries represented in the ?Festivals? book, and the map was a sensible, useful touch.
On the other hand, I found the two ?Fang Family? books a bit weird for a six year old. Having to explain what a vampire was added to her confusion! The illustrations in the books were splendid, the jokes and word play clever, but the premise just annoyed me a bit ? it seemed more suited to older children.
Q5 And what is your child's review of the book pack?
I'll put her view of the first two packs, and add more if when I can get her to sit down with me and discuss them again.
ORANGE:
Chase in new York A (15): 'a bit short and babyish... it was fun'
Casper's Scare School B (16): 'medium' 'the pictures were funny'. It doesn't help that she isn't familiar with the characters, I think, and the language is a bit disjointed.
Flips & Spins A (15): 'I liked it when they showed you Katie learning how to jump and that boy learning on the rings. The pictures were good.'
Fun Festivals B (16): This was very popular with both the 6 year old and the 3 year old, 'especially the snow festival in Japan in the winter. I thought it was the best one.' Cue lots of googling pictures of Japan's snow roads, ice hotels in Scandinavia, etc. A very nice book indeed.
All scorned as a bit too easy, and rattled through the whole pack in 15 minutes, but then kept returning to the Fun Festivals. The pictures really intrigued her.
TURQUOISE
Cars, Cars, Cars A (17): 'really different!' She seemed very taken with the Lamborghini Murcielago 'it's amazing, mummy! Look at the doors!' Daddy will be proud.... She seemed to enjoy finding out about stuff I hadn't expected to interest her, like drive-in cinemas. It's normally her brother who's the car fanatic, so this was refreshing.
Run in the Rain Forest A (17): 'Good because they were in the rain forest, and they thought it was a jaguar, but it was a boy and a girl. And they joined in the festival. It was fun.'
Can You Do This? B (18) She tried some of these, and liked the 'flamingo', and didn't realise that eyes help you balance. We both tried the monkey and had quite a laugh. The foot and finger challenge was good for a giggle too.
Yun and the Ice Spirit B (18) 'The story and the pictures were good.'
Again, to my view rather easy, but in fact they really kept her attention, especially the two non-fiction choices.
Q6 Would you recommend these books to another parent? Why/why not?
Yes, I would. Looking on the website, they're very good value for money, and they are all good quality on nice paper, with a real range of subject and style. Good for girls and boys, I think, and seem built to last. I'm certainly saving them for ds to read when he's older, anyway.
Q7 Do you think your child would recommend these books to their friends (if they are old enough!)? Why/why not?
Yes. She's been telling friends at school about how cool her mummy is for getting her loads of great books to read that are better than school's.
Q8 What star rating would you give this pack of books overall? Please use a rating system out of 5 where 1 star is poor and 5 stars are excellent
4.5. Just a few niggles about the branding (except for Star Wars, of course!)