“The First Call The green phone on the wall in the hall hardly ever rang. Anyone who wanted to speak to Mom called her cell. Sane with Angela.” When 7 year old Joe answers the phone, he doesn’t expect to hear his brothers voice. 10 years his senior Ed has been gone a little while, and the news on the other end of the line is not good. Ed has been locked up, and they are convicting him of murder, he’s on death row. 10 years later Ed’s execution date has been set, and this might be the last summer they ever have together. *** I have always been a…
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Our Latest Library Haul
We visited the library recently and I wanted to share with you guys the books we picked up. Visiting the library is one of the best things to both me and Spike. She loves it because she gets undivided attention and to read as many books as she can find, and I love it to nurture her love of reading. We’re really lucky that our libraries have good opening hours. The one in our town is open until 7pm some nights, and the one in the city, 6 miles away, is open on a Sunday. Its often on a rainy sunday that we take shelter there and thats what we…
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Moon – Britta Teckentrup
“Have you ever wondered why The moon shines in the night-time sky? How every creature, last and tree Is subject to it’s mystery…” Over deserts and forests, Arctic tundra and tropical beaches, the moon shines down on creatures around the world. Children will love discovering how it changes from day to day as the lunar cycle is shown through clever peek-through holes, each revealing the moon in a different size and shape. *** I have heard of how amazing Britta Teckentrup’s artwork and stories are, but Moon was our first introduction to her awesomeness. We were bought this beautiful picture book by my sister for Christmas and she couldn’t have…
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House of Windows – Alexia Casale
“‘Happy fifteenth birthday, genius! Just think this time next year you’ll have a first-year Cambridge First and a bunch of mates who might just keep up with you. Love, Gerry'” Nick is 15. He isn’t a genius, he’s just starting Cambridge next month because he ‘works hard’. He is uprooting the life he and his dad have in London, away from everything he knows, because he has to live within a 3 mile radius of the College, but can’t live in dorms because of his age. He and his workaholic dad will be just fine though, things will carry on as they have in the last 4 years. With Nick…
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My 2018 reading goals
So last year was pathetic for reading. Again. I promised myself that reading Spike a bedtime story every night (with duplicates throughout the year) would mean that I read at least one-two new picture books a week, so I set a target of 104 books on goodreads. I hoped that would allow for at least 30 YA books for me to enjoy. I failed that target. I think I managed 8. Which I guess is better than the year before. But still. My goodreads target still wasn’t met though as I kept forgetting to add the picture books to my read list… or couldn’t find them at all. I finished…
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Stick Man – Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
“Stick Man lives in the Family Tree With his Stick Lady Love and his stick children three.” Stick Man is living a great life, until one day, when out for a run, he comes into contact with a four legged-friend. There begins an adventure he will never forget. But he’s one determined Stick Man and he won’t rest until he’s back at his family tree! *** I have always heard amazing things about Julia Donaldson’s books. They are raved about by many parents. We got the Gruffallo before Spike was even born and I’ve read it many times. Room on the Broom and The Snail and The Whale were bought…
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Truth or Dare – Non Pratt
“What truth must she face? How far will he dare to go? One Story. Two Sides.” How far is too far when it comes to the people you love? Claire Casey hates being the centre of attention. But if it means getting Sef Malik to notice her, it’s a risk she’s happy to take. Sef is prepared to do anything to help his recently disabled brother. But this means putting Claire’s love – and life – on the line. Because when you’re willing to risk everything, what is there left to lose? *** I love Non Pratt’s books. They never fail to capture me and make me love each and…
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This is the Story of You – Beth Kephart
“Blue, for example. Like the colour the sun makes the sea. Like the beach bucket he wore as a hat, king of the tidal parade. Like the word I and the hour of nobody awake but me. I thought blue was mine, and that we were each ourselves, and that some things could not be stolen. I thought the waves would rise up, toss down, rinse clean, and that I would still be standing here, solid. I was wrong about everything.” Haven is a six-mile long, half mile wide island. Mira and her friends are a handful of a smaller community of year-rounders on the holiday island. They have…
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Give the gift of reading with Scholastic
Looking for the perfect book for a loved one this Christmas? Why not give the gift of reading? It will open up a whole new world, or if your loved one always has their head in a book why not expand that universe even more, with the next book in the series? Or the latest from their favourite author? I always, always make sure Spike gets at least one book even birthday and Christmas. There’s nothing like reading in our house and we both love the stories and adventures that we get to go on because of the piles of books strewn across the place! (Sometimes literally strewn!) So when…
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Good night, Sleep tight – Kristina Andres
“Fox and Rabbit live quite far away, in a bight little house beyond the molehills. One night Rabbit came racing home across the fields and up to the door, which Fox had locked because it was almost midnight.” And so begins the first of 11 and a half stories in which Fox and Rabbit try to find new ways to sleep and say good night… *** This little collection of stories is the perfect bedtime treasury for a tired little girl or boy who just needs to hear their parents’ voice as they drift off to sleep. Spike loves a bedtime story, but as she’s so little, she…
