At the end of May I decided to take part in the #PaperbackSummer challenge being run by Suze and Sophie. I had great plans to read about a dozen paperbacks while also reading digital review books and doing my best to keep my spiralling To-Be-Read pile under control…
Paddington
14 April 2015 by Leave a Comment
As a little girl my favourite bear was Paddington, the good-mannered bear from Darkest Peru. None of your Rupert with his weird trousers or Winnie the Pooh and his gang of freaky friends for me; it was always Paddington. When I love a book (or in this case character) the thought of a film adaptation is pretty scary…
Almost 4 million British children don’t own a book
7 December 2011 by Leave a Comment
Of all the news stories I’ve read recently, this is undoubtedly the most depressing. According to a survey by the National Literacy Trust almost 4 million children in Britain do not own a book. This represents almost one third of the kids in the UK, a massive rise from one in ten in 2005. I find this really quite upsetting, I think back to my own childhood and how many books I had and the magical lands that they took me to…
The BFG
2 November 2011 by Leave a Comment
An ongoing bone of contention in a couple of the #BookTwub discussions has been the feud between fans of Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl as to which is the greatest children’s author. One week Blyton came out on top but the following week Dahl triumphed…
Top Ten: Children’s Books
7 October 2011 by 5 Comments
I’ve been thinking for a while about writing a post on my favourite children’s books. It’s been going over and over in my head and I’ve been wondering how to choose the list. Would it be my favourite books specifically from childhood…
The most inappropriate book ever?
24 August 2011 by Leave a Comment
In my old life I was heavily involved in politics. Thankfully I’ve managed to escape and move on…
Mr Men celebrate 40 magnificent years
17 August 2011 by 1 Comment
The Mr Men series by Roger Hargreaves celebrated its 40th birthday this month. Mr Tickle, the first character, was inspired by a question from Hargreaves’ son Adam who asked what a tickle looked like. I loved the Mr Men books as a child, although never quite such a big fan of the Little Misses. It pleases me immensely to find out that Roger Hargreaves has become the third best selling British author and more than 75 million Mr Men and Little Miss books have been sold in the UK alone.
Burly & Grum and the Secret City
8 August 2011 by Leave a Comment
A children’s book with a good message – but not a good book
One of my passions is animal welfare. Ever since I was a little girl I’ve found zoos utterly repellent and the recent debate in Parliament on banning the use of wild animals in circuses sent me into a frenzy. A charity very close to my heart is the Born Free Foundation which campaigns to free animals from captivity and return them to their natural environment. Founded by actress Virginia McKenna they do a lot of great work and I urge you to find out more about them.
On Friday Born Free invited supporters to read the children’s ebook Burly & Grum and the Secret City by Kate Tenbeth. I was immediately intrigued – a book I could read in a couple of hours which had a strong animal welfare message seemed like my idea of Monday morning fun (no – really it did)…
Pottermore launches – greedy people rejoice
3 August 2011 by Leave a Comment
When JK Rowling teased us with news of a website called Pottermore fans went into meltdown. Was this a new story? Were Harry, Ron and Hermione coming back to fight Death Eaters who remained loyal to Voldemort?
Not quite – Pottermore is really not much more than a neat marketing ploy. E-book versions of all seven novels will be available in a number of languages and we’ll get a little more information on the wizarding world and character backgrounds.
Early registration is now open for a limited time, and already some lowlifes are selling account details on Ebay for stupid prices, completely against both the terms and the spirit of the website and Rowling’s wizarding world. The official Pottermore blog has asked that fans don’t purchase details online. I’m know I wouldn’t – I’m happy to wait until October for more information.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
8 July 2011 by Leave a Comment
A magical new world – and the beginning of a legend
To begin with – a confession. For the first two or three years the Harry Potter craze totally passed me by. I had – of course – heard of the books and the backstory of Joanne Rowling, the single mum who created a phenomenon …