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…
Technology and digital devices are now part of everyday life and most of you will have a smartphone or tablet at home.
As a parent, you might be worried about how your child is using technology and when it comes to touchscreens it can often feel that there’s conflicting advice about what is best for children.
The good news is that if it is used correctly alongside books, technology can play an…
This Spring there are three new nature art books which support schools’ biology topics and encourage children to discover nature and learn all about plants and animals living in the green spaces around them. I have used them with the London Mums Kids Club to explore Richmond Park and find out lots of facts about trees, leaves, deers, squirrels and foxes. Some of these books include boxes to…
Looking at art books is extremely important in early childhood and can help develop children’s abilities in the arts as well as strengthen parent-child bonds. Going to the museum is not always easy with young children, so art books are a great alternative. I recently reviewed a book about Miro’ which I enjoyed reading with my 9 year old son Diego who has been exposed to art since he…
