Christmas Gift Ideas for all the Family
GIVEAWAY ENDED I was in London this week for the Family Traveller awards. One thing I miss so much about living outside the city now, is the chance to just wander along high streets in my lunch break, or to sip a glass of wine after work. Dip into a café for a bite to eat, or see what’s new in the shops for the next season. As we were meeting at the White Company in Sloane Square, we had a browse in Peter Jones first, and just like that, I’m in Christmas mode! I know there’s a backlash over …
Travel Books for Kids: review and giveaway
I met my husband on holiday. We bonded over gluwein and ski-runs, and never looked back. Always forward, to the next trip. And we’ve had some great trips over the years. Dubai, the Maldives, California, Aspen, Cape Town and Turkey are just some of the places we’ve ventured. When children came along we stayed a little closer to home, but not for long. Our wanderlust and love of new experiences has us back out there now that the kids are a little older, and they’re proving themselves to be very enthusastic travel companions in their own rights. Lonely Planet introduces travel …
9 Brilliant Books for Tween Girls to Expand Their Reading Level
Books for 10 year old girls The Twistrose Key (by Tone Almhjell) Full of mystery, it slowly leads you up to the main event, until you’re so into it that you’re guessing what might happen next! (GG) Have you ever wondered where your pets go when they die? In your wildest imagination you couldn’t imagine this scenario for them, but when Lin finds her way to the land of Sylver, imagination becomes her reality, and an eternal winter plays host to racing adventure. It started out as an advent calendar of one-page chapters for the author’s sister and became a …
Dog on Stilts: a book with a message for children
Medium dog has a problem. At least, he thinks he has. You see, he’s just medium. Average, ordinary, normal. And that doesn’t suit him. He wants to be noticed. He wants to be liked. He wants to BE someone! Luckily, he thinks he has the solution, and embarks on a project that will see him walking taller than all the other dogs. But will it make him happy? Dog on Stilts A little dog with a big message for children Dog on Stilts is the second hardback children’s book by James Thorp and Angus McKinnon, of The Superhairies group. We …
World Book Day: 7 tips to get your child reading. #loveliteracy
For World Book Day I’m thrilled to be co-hosting a blog hop all about a love of reading – #loveliteracy. Myself and 7 other bloggers are immersed in children’s literacy in a variety of ways, and on a daily basis. For me, I’m in the most exciting phase so far, as my 9 year old daughter begins to appreciate books that I also love to read, and I’m enjoying discovering and discussing stories with her. But it wasn’t always this way. I remember very clearly the daily struggle to get her to read her school book, and the frustration and …
Book review The Giants and the Joneses by Julia Donaldson
It’s not often that a book inspires us to write a review, but twice recently The Bug has enjoyed a book enough that he has insisted on writing a blog post. He wrote recently about the latest graphic novel, Robotslayer, and as soon as we’d finished reading The Giants and the Joneses it was the first thing he wanted to do. Review – The Giants and The Joneses In a reversal of the standard Jack and the Beanstalk tale, Julia Donaldson describes how a land of giants live in fear of the small people (iggly plops). Until one day a …
World Book Day ideas from Miles Kelly
As you know, I am a compulsive reader. Those pages full of black and white adventure are like a drug I cannot give up. I read everywhere and all the time – I have even been known to get into trouble at school for catching up on my latest chapter when I should be doing maths. Ahem. So the opportunity to receive a book as a gift is never something I would pass up. To promote World Book Day on 6 March, the lovely people at Miles Kelly asked a secret blogger to send us a book they thought we’d …
Book review: Middle School by James Patterson
Middle School, by James Patterson. Hi this is actually GG once again and I have to do a book review on a Sunday! I know that in some religions Sunday is a day of rest. Well, in our house that rule doesn’t apply. So, I’m going to write a book review about Middle school: My brother is a big fat liar! Summary: Georgia Khatchadorian, Rafe’s little sister has started sixth grade and everyone is avoiding her because when Rafe was in that school he was very naughty and he got told off a lot. But Georgia desperately needs some friends. …
Graphic novels for kids: Robotslayer, by Vincent Kamp
I’ve always been a fan of sleep, but since discovering that reading is not only easy, but fun, I appear to have contracted my sister’s virus. It manifests as an inability to keep my head on the pillow at night unless said pillow is also home to a book. I have been discovered several times recently in the middle of the night, with lights blazing and a pile of books littering my duvet. One such book is Robotslayer. I read it. Mummy read it to me. And then I read it again. I’m not the biggest fan of handwriting, but …
Ask GG: Recommended reading list for 9 year olds
Last week we introduced a new feature, Ask GG, where readers get to ask anything they like, and I will give you the definitive answer – according to me. We were inundated with questions, so thank you. I will pick a few each week and post my answers on a Wednesday. This week I have chosen to answer the questions of Anna, from In the Playroom, and Kate, at Crafts on Sea, who both wanted recommendations for a reading list for 9 year olds who are good readers. Remember that I had been chastised for hiding a book under my maths coursework when I …
Project 365 #04: Recommended reading
I love to read. I read anywhere and all the time; I frequently generate grumbles from my parents by asking them to carry a bag load of my books on train journeys and trips to the supermarket. You just never know when you might get some down-time, and a book fills it like nothing else. This amount of reading has rendered me practiced at quickly decoding words, and so I’m always looking for the next challenge. But at the age of 9, many of the books I’m capable of reading are deemed unsuitable my my mother, or too complex by …
Change the Story Mother!
My mum went somewhere really important this week. I could tell it was important because she disappeared into the back of the wardrobe and emerged in a smart shirt and crisply ironed trousers. She used to wear them when she worked near Westminster, before I was born. As it happens, she was back to her old stomping ground, but this time she was visiting the House of Lords, and this time it was reeeeeeally important. What is Change the Story? Considering we live in a sophisticated society, it might surprise you to know that last year 1 in 4 …
Hilarious childrens’ book: The Weasel Puffin Unicorn Baboon Pig Lobster Race! (review)
The Weasel Puffin Unicorn Baboon Pig Lobster Race Yes it really is as mad as it sounds. But then that’s the great thing about a book for kids, especially a book which appeals to boys. And girls, as it turns out. Seriously, when you’re 6 (or 9, as it turns out) what could be better than a pig using a chocolate submarine to cheat his way through a race? In fact, all the animals in this delightfully-illustrated children’s book find the most absurd ways to cheat their way to the finish. All except one. The Weasel Puffin Unicorn Baboon Pig …
Why any book is a good book when you’re 6 – even one by a footballer
I heard a muffled protest this morning evanescing from Mummy’s room. Apparently the Bug had finished his new book, got up, dressed for school, and was itching to do a book review. Go figure. I snuck out to get my confiscated Kindle, and left them to it. Frankie’s Magic Football, by Frank Lampard Being honest, I’d heard Mummy say that she wasn’t going to bother writing about Frankie’s Magic Football. I could even tell you what she was thinking: it’s written by a footballer, how is that going to be any good? Plus the Bug is not really a fan of his …
Children’s Book Week review: Stick Dog Wants a Hot Dog
By Tom Watson. We hadn’t come across Stick Dog before seeing Stick Dog Wants a Hot Dog. The narrator claims terrible drawing skills, but we think his stick caricatures add something to the slightly pre-teen humour you’ll find Stick Dog’s dialogue with his fellow strays (named to appeal to kids and make parents roll their eyes): “We need to give the raccoon a name,” she said simply. “A name?” “Oh yeah, said Karen as if this was a perfectly logical thing to do. “If we’re going to have a nemesis who is trying to snatch what is rightfully ours, it …
Children’s Book Week review: Why your kids will love Stranded
A book for children ages 7+ Jeff Probst. Heart that name before? You may in fact have seen Jeff on TV – he is the Emmy award-winning host of the US version of reality game show Survivor. Jeff – a father of 2 children aged around the same as GG and the Bug – has this year published the first two of his Stranded series children’s books, and we were lucky enough to receive copies for review. Stranded, by Jeff Probst As a Dad of 2 children the same age as GG and the Bug, Jeff was keen to write a …
Children’s Book Week review: Barefoot Books
We’re in the middle of Children’s Book Week, and in solidarity with Save the Children’s Born to Read campaign we are posting a children’s book review every day. We started on Monday with a review of Skulduggery Pleasant, and today we’re pleased to bring you not one, but two books for different reading ages, from Barefoot Books. What are Barefoot Books? Barefoot books are beautifully illustrated books for children from ages 1 to 14. From picture books for the very young, through Independent Readers for those getting used to reading, and books that retell classic tales in original ways. The founders …
What Age is Skulduggery Pleasant for? Children’s Book Review
Children’s book week review: Skulduggery Pleasant – Last Stand of Dead Men (Review) by Derek Landy. Recommended age 11+ Today sees the start of Children’s Book Week in the UK, and we are celebrating by posting a children’s book review each day between now and Friday. Today we are reviewing the latest in the children’s book series Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy. Last Stand of Dead Men is number 8 in the series, and the sequel to Kingdom of the Wicked. GG has always been a prolific reader. She almost literally consumes books, maxing out her library card and finishing …
GG interviews author Safia Guerras about her first book: Lou Lou
Well, a film reviewer, and now a journalist. What wonderful opportunities I get to have a go at new things, just by dint of Mummy having a blog! Does it matter that I rarely win anything significant for my efforts? Not a jot! I get to do stuff that most children would give up their Haribo for, in a safe environment, with Mummy’s support and help. So, I may not be Odeon’s official junior film reviewer. So what? I had great fun giving it a go and playing with video editing! And today, I may not be launching a career …