These last nine months have seen me living literally next door to a library. Anyone who has read this blog before will know how much I love books and am a huge supporter of libraries, yet for the first few months of living here we hardly visited. I'm not totally sure why, but I've put this right recently though and the kids and I have become library regulars, even remembering to return books before they become overdue! Both kids have really discovered the joys of audio books and our local library actually has a huge collection of them which they can borrow for free. I just daren't tell the ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Islands
It’s somewhat fitting that I’m sat writing this week’s Ladybird Tuesday in a cafe on the island of Jersey (much more on that soon), because this week’s Ladybird Tuesday book choice is Islands from the Ladybird Leader series, number 737. Islands was one of the later titles in the Ladybird Leader series. A series which covers things as diverse as song birds and trains. Sounds and teeth. The aim of the series was to meet the “very real need” for “first information books” for children. Ones which help answer some of the questions that children have, whilst also encouraging reluctant ... read more
Words and Your Heart – Kate Jane Neal
“Sticks and Stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” As a child this is the mantra that we were always taught to respond with if anyone every said anything nasty to us at school or in the playground. But the truth is that words can hurt. A lot. Words and Your Heart tries to turn that around and make children see that the words they use, especially when talking to others, can have an effect. Words can affect your heart, and that’s the “bit inside of you that makes you, you!” Words and Your Heart looks at words and the power they have. It’s aim is to make children stop and ... read more
Maurice the Unbeastly – Amy Dixon
When you think of a beast, what do you imagine? Probably some ugly creature who roars and stomps around, creating havoc wherever he goes. Maurice could not be further from that image if he tried. Maurice instead is gentle and kind. Sings beautifully and looks incredibly photogenic in pictures. He's also a big fan of organic snacks. Maurice's parents are worried that he needs to learn to be less civilised and so enrol him at the Abominable Academy for Brutish Beasts where they try to teach him to behave improperly. Will they succeed though? Or will they see that being different can be a good ... read more
Say Zoop! – Herve Tullet
As I'm sure regular readers know, one of my hobbies is collecting vintage children's books. There are so, so many things I love about them, but at the same time I also celebrate just how much children's books have moved on since my childhood. Back then books were just stories or factual. If your parents read you a bedtime story it was usually quite a old fashioned thing where they read and you listened. There were a few noticeable exceptions and I always remember the story my mum tells me about reading Wind in the Willows and how that book taught her about the sound of words. The use of ... read more
There’s a Monster in my Fridge – Caryl Hart & Deborah Allwright
Halloween is has now been and gone (I know, bonkers isn't it! I'm sure it was only June a minute ago) and that was the perfect excuse, if one were needed, for a slightly scary children's book, and that's exactly what There's a Monster in My Fridge is. This rhyming story is hilarious and not only does it include a monster in the fridge, but also a witch behind a screen, a vampire in the cellar and two skeletons in the bath! I'm not exaggerating when I say that I laughed out loud when I read this to Master C for the first time. And as if the words were not funny enough, they are accompanied ... read more
The Road to Nab End – William Woodruff
My reading seems to have slowed down a bit this year - possibly because I'm just always so tired that sleep has become the chosen option once I get into bed at night. I am still loving historical books though and The Road to Nab End is a great example. Rather than fiction though, this is actually an autobiography of historian William Woodruff and his early life in Blackburn, Lancashire. There seem to be so many books about people growing up in the East End of London (or at least I seem to have read a lot set there of late) that it was actually really refreshing to read about what life was ... read more
What’s on my bookcase – shelfie part 1
I'm super, super excited that later this year St Albans is going to be hosting its first Literary Festival. I'm even more excited as my good friend and fellow blogger Claire from Being a Mummy is actually in charge of the whole thing! With a very small team she's put together a programme with some great speakers for book fans of all types. I've blocked the days out in my diary already and I'm really looking forward to it. In the run up to the festival the other thing I've loved is some of the team sharing shelfie videos in which they talk you through what's on their bookcase. As someone who ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Snow-White and Rose-Red
When you ask people which Ladybird books they remember best from their own childhood so many people recall the Well-Loved Tales series and being read the books as bedtime stories on many occasions. Strangely I don't actually remember many of them at all from my own childhood, yet I'm pretty sure I can't have avoided them all completely. So many people know the story of Snow-White from the Disney film, yet the story of Snow-White and Rose-Red was completely new to me when I found this book from the Well-Loved Tales series (606D) in a local charity shop. It's rather a strange story if the ... read more
Before I Go To Sleep – S J Watson
I was rather excited to hear that one of the other mums from school was setting up a book group as so often I want to talk about what I've read with someone and there's just no one to talk to. The last time I was involved in a book group it was an online one before Little Miss C was born, but being someone who likes to talk the idea of doing so in person, possible over a glass of wine, is quite thrilling. The first book chosen for us to read is Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson. Now this isn't a book I'd heard of before, but I was gripped from the very first chapter. Christine wakes up ... read more