22/12/2015 1 Comment Christmas Challenge Dec 20Christmas at Thornton Hall, Lynn Marie Hulsman is a feel good festive chick lit that helped me to get through a night spent in hospital with a relative. Juliet Hill is a chef who caters for house parties etc but this year she will be spending Christmas with her boyfriend's family - or so she thinks until she discovers his unfaithfulness a few days before. She immediately accepts a last minute job cooking for a client over the festive period in his manor house in the country. There's a varied bunch of characters, all of whom have their own agendas, and the party is by no means jolly all of the time. A quick, enjoyable read with delicious food descriptions, arguments, love and comedy and a suitably happy ending.
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16/12/2015 0 Comments Christmas Challenge Dec 16Diversity, or the lack of it, in children's literature has been a bit of a hot topic this year and I think most of us would agree that it's good for kids to be able to see characters like themselves in the books they read . Today's Christmas picture book, An Angel Just Like Me by Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright & Ying-Hwa Hu addresses this very problem in the most gentle and lovely way. When the angel that Tyler's family puts on the tree gets broken, Tyler wonders why there are no black angels and he sets out to find a new one that fits his family. He goes to many shops but is unable to find one but he is given a special present - a carved angel that looks just like him. The angel is his best present but then all of his friends want one too! A warm, thoughtful story with an important message.
16/12/2015 0 Comments Christmas Challenge Dec 15When it comes to quality picture books you just can't go wrong with anything by the Ahlbergs and the Jolly Christmas Postman is just delightful. My copy was my son's so is over 20 years old but I'm very happy to say all the 'post' included in the letters is still there (apart from a jigsaw sadly but was a bit much to expect that to still be intact!). It's all the little details on the pages and on the letters that make this book so very charming - Little Red Riding hood's letter includes a game board with the exhortation to 'Have fun! and remember - there's worse than wolves in the world!' and in the Toytown Christmas Annual that is sent to the Gingerbread Boy there is an ad for Gruff's Troll Powder which apparently is 'the perfect Xmas gift'! The diorama in the envelope given to the postman by Santa (pic below) is just beautiful, every child should have a copy of this book ;-)
13/12/2015 1 Comment Christmas Challenge Dec 13Tosca's Christmas, by Matthew Sturgis with illustrations by Anne Mortimer, combines two of my favourite things - cats and Christmas! Tosca, a beautiful tortoiseshell cat, doesn't like Christmas because she always seems to be in the way and she never gets any gifts. This Christmas is different however when she meets a very special someone in a red suit and finally gets a present just for her. The pictures are just gorgeous and this was a favourite book for December reading when my children were small. You can only get second hand copies now unfortunately but it's well worth snapping the book up if you get the chance.
12/12/2015 0 Comments Christmas Challenge Dec 12Today I've revisited a classic - The Polar Express, Chris Van Allsburg. I've watched the film many times but had only read the book once many years ago. It is luckily just as enchanting as I remembered with dark atmospheric illustrations and descriptions of the journey in the middle of the night to the North Pole. I can recite the last paragraph off by heart and I'm sure I would still hear the bell (I can certainly hear the replica one I have on my tree!) " At one time all my friends could hear the bell but as the years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I've gotten old, the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe."
11/12/2015 0 Comments Christmas Challenge Dec 11I've read another Christmas story app today, Heckerty's Christmas. The Heckerty range of apps are particularly good for Dyslexics as they are written in a very clear font and the pages are cream and easy on the eye. If you choose the read aloud function each sentence is highlighted as you hear it and the voices are good fun. The story emphasises the fact that we are all individuals and fine just the way we are and reinforces the message of Christmas being a time of giving. The colouring in pages provided are enjoyable too and being able to request a signed picture for framing is a lovely added bonus.
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AuthorMy blog is a collection of thoughts and I hope you will learn something about me from the ramblings as well as finding some useful links. I'm Bev Humphrey and I'm a Literacy, School Libraries and Technology Consultant. I am self employed so views expressed are solely my own. CategoriesAll Android Apps Authors Bett Book Giving Day Books Cats Childrens Books Christmas Christmas Challenge Conferences Dickens Dyslexia English Games Geography Graphic Novels Images Inspiration International Women's Day Ipad Ipad For Education Libraries London Mfl Picture Books Podcasts Poetry Poetry Day Primaries Reading Resources Revision Twitter Urls Video Visits Wbd Wordcloud Wordle Workshops Write Path Writers Writing YA Youtube |