Over the years my 10 year old son Diego and I have read and reviewed lots of personalised books. At the beginning of this growing trend six years ago the stories were compelling enough and the publishers were more interested on writing the child’s name as often as possible in the book rather than focusing on creating a truly personalised experience for the child. Since then, readers have…
A book tour has seen Francesca Lombardo, author of London-inspired book series Beatrice and the London Bus, present her books and run drawing workshops across 10 Southwark schools and three libraries. The tour turns into a real life experience with prizes offered to schools which won the drawing competition by major family brands (Coca – Cola, London Eye, The London Transport Museum, KidZania…
This year the 150th anniversary of Beatrix Potter’s birth is being celebrated with new books’ releases and now the announcement that a new live-action / CG motion picture Peter Rabbit is scheduled for production in January 2017, and is due for worldwide release in April 2018.
I mean, who doesn’t love Peter Rabbit… and his sweet author Beatrix Potter who was brilliantly…
Think of Noah’s Ark’s story with an Indian backdrop and a huge pumpkin as the ark, and here you have Pattan’s Pumpkin, a vibrantly illustrated flood story from India written by Chitra Soundar with illustrations by Frané Lessac. Pattan has an amazing pumpkin… it grows bigger than the goats, bigger than the elephants, until it is as tall as the mountains. But can Pattan’s…
Yesterday I attended an event at Waterstones Piccadilly to announce the PR campaign surrounding the 20th anniversary of the world’s biggest annual celebration of reading in the UK, World Book Day 2017 . To my surprise I met a stellar panel including Jacqueline Wilson, Francesca Simon (Horrid Henry), Liz Pichon (Tom Gates) and Steven Butler (Dennis the Menace). I happen to be one of few lucky…
This year on 13th September 2016 the world celebrates 100 years since the birth of Roald Dahl (1916-1990), one of the most popular children’s authors of all times. For the occasion, Carlton is publishing a fabulous new book The Gloriumptious Worlds of Roald Dahl. I have literally fallen in love with it. I dare say that it’s the best children’s book that I have reviewed in 2016. A…
There are lots of new Summer reads and bedtime stories for children out there to keep the little ones entertained. Here are London Mums and Kids Club favourite ones. These stories we have chosen are especially engaging. It certainly helped having the authors reading them. Watch them in our exclusive videos. Don’t forget to subscribe to the London Mums’ YouTube channel for more videos…
M.G. Leonard was terrified of beetles until she started researching them for her book Beetle Boy. She soon realised that these fascinating creatures, which support the eco-system of our entire planet, deserved to be the heroes, not the villains, of the story. So she set about writing the most compelling, funny and heart-warming adventure she could summon, about bravery, friendship and…
Tim Peake from space recently made people aware of a really unique way of writing books. He read such a special personalised bedtime story that I wanted to try on my son Diego, The Incredible intergalactic Journey Home, written by authors at Lost My Name. The great thing about this story is that is completely customised. When we ordered it we provided Diego’s name and address.
When we…
This year I have explored the issue of self assertiveness to help my 9 year old son deal with bullying at school and found the Feel Brave series by Avril McDonald extremely helpful to explain how to deal with issues which otherwise would be too tough and sensitive.
The Feel Brave series – published in June 2016 by Crown House Publishing (each book costs £7.99)- is a collection of five…