Supporting homeless charity Crisis, this collection of short stories explores the lives of a number of young adults as they venture into very different Christmases. I have enjoyed reading short stories more and more since having Spike. I don’t have the time to commit to a book in full anymore and short stories give me the ideal reason to pick up a book for 10 minutes. This is why I thought I’ll be Home for Christmas was the ideal thing to read over the Christmas period last year. It features a number my favourite authors; Cat Clarke, Non Pratt and Juno Dawson. As well as a couple I’ve been meaning…
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What happened in 2018 & goals for 2019
I thought 2017 was pathetic for reading but 2018 was worse. I finished the year having read about 10 YA or non-picture books. I was almost finished I’ll Be Home For Christmas by New Years Eve but I didn’t quite manage it (Finished it on New Years Day instead). But even so… 11 books that aren’t picture books and a Goodreads total of 42 is awful! Not only that, I haven’t been reviewing the booked I have read! I’ve managed 11 blog posts on Readaraptor in 2018, which is ridiculous! I want to start reviewing more and reading more but finding the time is difficult with working full time and…
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Counting Stars – Keris Stainton
“So. It looks like I’m moving to Liverpool. I know. I can’t wait believe it either. My parents have agreed to let me give it a go. I’ve been offered a fantastic job at the theatre where I did my work experience and the brother of the woman I worked with – hi, Lola! – has a house where I can rent a room.” Anna is about to embark on the most amazing adventure. She has a job, a house share and a life to envy in the city of culture, Liverpool. Or that is what it would seem, however when Anna takes the plunge and uproots her life, nothing…
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We Come Apart – Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan
“Caught You have to be quick, none of this pretending to be browsing business that some shoplifters go for. It’s in grab what you want and out again.” Jess is pro at shoplifting. But she’s not so pro at making friends. Thats why she gets thrown into the Reparation Scheme. Nicu misses home and hates being stuck in this foreign land. He wants nothing more than to go home, until he gets caught stealing a bar of chocolate and meets Jess. *** I have mentioned it before and will probably mention it again, but I love books written in verse. Especially when they are written by Sarah Crossan like We…
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Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls – Elena Favilli & Francesca Cavallo
Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls reinvents fairytales, inspiring children with the stories of 100 heroic women from Elizabeth 1 to Serena Williams. Illustrated by 60 female artists from every corner of the globe, this is the most-funded original book in the history of crowdfunding. *** I knew as soon as I first heard about it that Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls was my kind of book. I can’t remember if I was pregnant with Spike or if I had already had her but I knew that this book would be something I’d be getting for me to read then pass on to her. This was my first reading of the…
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My top five (six) picture books this #InternationalChildrensBookDay
Did you know that International Children’s Book Day is today? It’s celebrated on Hans Christian Anderson’s birthday and is designed to “inspire a love of reading and to call attention to children’s books” according to the IBBY website. With this in mind I thought I would share the picture books that are on my favourites list at the minute. These are the books that inspire me and that I want to share the most with Spike as she grows. Moon – Britta Teckentrup This book tells a story about nature and the moon phases across the world. How the moon changes and how that effects things on the planet. All with…
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Bob and Flo: The Missing Bucket – Rebecca Ashdown
“It was Flo’s first day at nursery. She had a packed lunch and a new bow.” When Flo starts nursery, she makes sure she is pleasant and polite. She takes with her a new bow and a packed lunch in a bucket. She soon discovers that buckets are made to go missing. Friends are made to be found. *** This was quite possibly the cutest little picture book I have ever read. Its about penguins at nursery, one of which is on their first day, and how they make friends. Its the perfect book to introduce to a young one starting nursery who is a little scared or wary of…
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Moonrise – Sarah Crossan
“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…
