BlogBooks

Tractor Ted

Tractor Ted, young children’s favourite cartoon tractor, DVDs and books are my 6 year old son’s favourites. He loves the fact that they show life on a farm and all tools and equipment a farmer needs to run a farm in great detail. Being a mum, I must admit I could not understand at first why he loved it too much, but I slowly starting appreciating its highly educational value. I also…
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BlogBooksGet Creative

Book review: Making Stuff for Kids

This book is certainly one of my favourite art & craft books I have ever come across. The best thing about this art & craft manual is that it’s easy to follow instructions on how to make the most complicated things such as patchwork bibs, backpacks, pouches, button necklace, owl cushions and rug dolls. It is also very good to inspire and do your own art & craft. In fact we…
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BlogBooksGet CreativeParty tips

Make your own fun

Make Your Own Fun: Over 140 Boredom-Busting Games and Activities for Children! [Book] by Josie Curran is the perfect book for the summer and beyond filled with amazing games and activities to do at no cost. This treasure trove of games and activities is a wonderful reminder of a time before television, when children made their own entertainment. In the 70s when television was not yet so…
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BooksCultur-Italy Ezine

Book review: Todo in Tuscany

Todo in Tuscany is about how a couple not only had the Dream, as many of us do, of starting an exciting new life abroad but how they actually did it (they bought a villa near the beautiful walled city of Lucca in Tuscany in 2007, while maintaining and running their UK-based business). What they hadn’t planned on was buying a house … with a dog attached. And they certainly hadn’t…
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BlogBooksSchooling

LONDON FOR CHILDREN

Did you know that a polar bear used to fish near the Tower of London? Or that ice bowling on the frozen Thames was once a popular pastime? LONDON FOR CHILDREN by Matteo Pericoli, published today by MacMillan Children’s Books, must be the best book about London I have come across in years of reviewing books about this amazing European Capital. My 5 year old son commented ‘Mum, when…
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BlogBooksCompetitions

Win 1 of 5 Lunchtime books by Rebecca Cobb

Lunchtime? I’m far too busy having fun! It’s lunchtime for one little girl, but she’s just not hungry. A visiting crocodile, bear and wolf, however, are starving. It’s just as well that children taste revolting! A beautifully illustrated tale of food, friendship and fun. For your chance to win one of these books, answer the simple question below in our dedicated competition…
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BlogBooksCompetitions

Win 1 of 5 copies of 'The Au Pair' books

Parenting and how mums and dads cope with kids and childcare during the summer months is going is a hot topic and come July, will be high on the agenda. Ever thought of hiring an au pair? That’s exactly what Jilly, a harassed mum of three, does in Janey Fraser’s new book THE AU PAIR – a hilarious romp through the world of unsuspecting families and foreign bodies. Janey herself went through…
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BlogBooksSchooling

GREYHOUND BARKS AT No.10 TO LAUNCH BOOK

A Greyhound called Danny recently visited 10 Downing Street to raise awareness about the benefits of children reading to dogs. Launching his new book, ‘Danny goes to London’, Danny hopes children will be encouraged to pick it up and read to dogs like him. Danny is a Reading, Education and Assistance Dog (READ), and is sponsored by the Kennel Club’s Bark and Read Foundation to go into…
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BlogBooks

Make your own fun

Over 140 boredom-busting games and activities for children! In the 70s when television was not yet so developed and popular we played so many more games and we often made our own games. Reading this compendium of games and ideas made me remember with nostalgic feelings at my childhood. The 70s were creative years and we never had entertainers at our birthday parties. Back then we could…
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Baby & ToddlersBlogBooks

My mummy

‘My mummy’ by Paula metcalf and Lucy Barnard is an amazing book for young children published by Macmillan.This story is a wonderful celebration of motherhood and the special bond that exists between a mum and her children. It’s really beautifully illustrated and I can relate to all activities and scenarios mentioned in the story: from cycling together in the park to make…
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