• DisneyBookWeek logo
    book review - What I'm reading

    Share the magic of reading with Disney Book Week

    June 3, 2016 - By 

    As a family who love to read we’re delighted to help promote the magic of Disney Book Week. My children love to read, something we introduced them to when they were tiny babies. I’m so pleased that at the grand old ages of 6 and 4 years old, that we still share at least one book at bedtime with each of them. Disney Book Week, is an exciting campaign running from 25th May – 12th June from Parragon and Disney. Disney movies have delighted generations of children and we can often be found re-watching one of our favourites when we…

  • The Wonderful Adventure of Nils Holgersson
    book review - What I'm reading

    What I’m reading: The Wonderful Adventure of Nils Holgersson

    May 30, 2016 - By 

    I love reading so was very happy to receive a copy of The Wonderful Adventure of Nils Holgersson by Selma Lagerlof to review. They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but I was blown away by the book cover designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith, the award-winning designed and creator of Waterstones Book of the Year (2015), The Fox and the Star. The Wonderful Adventure of Nils Holgersson by Selma Lagerlof was first published in 1906. The author was a teacher, feminist, suffragette and the first woman to win the Nobel Prize. It was originally intended as a school geography book but…

  • The Course of Love by Alain de Botton
    book review - What I'm reading

    What I’m reading: The Course of Love by Alain de Botton

    May 21, 2016 - By 

    It’s been a while since I posted a book review but I have a brilliant book to share with you today. Over the last few weeks I’ve been enjoying The Course of Love by Alain de Botton, his first novel in over a decade, which was published last month. He has fallen in love with her calm, her faith that it will be OK, her absence of fatalism – these are the virtues of his new Scottish friend. She has fallen in love, equally fast and hard and true, with the reserved sweetness and Levantine exoticism of this sad-eyed boy from Beirut.…

  • Jane Austen adult colouring book
    book review - competition

    Win Shakespeare and Austen inspired adult colouring books

    May 20, 2016 - By 

    I love the fact that new adult colouring are constantly being published. Fans of English literature will love the new colouring books based on classic tales, from Little Tiger Press. You can bring to life the greatest love stories of all time and indulge your creativity with these sumptuous colouring books based on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet On the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, Little Tiger Press celebrates one of his most iconic plays, Romeo and Juliet. Be transported to fair Verona, where we set our scene. Featuring iconic quotations…

  • The One and Only elephant parade Colouring Book
    book review - crafts - mindfulness - What I'm reading

    Adult colouring reinvented in postcard form

    May 10, 2016 - By 

    You all know how much I love my adult colouring books. I now have 2 shelves full of them from Orla Kiely to Vogue covers and everything in between. They are my favourite thing to pick up when I need some quiet time away from a screen. I’m always Instagram-ming my latest title and my only teeny tiny complaint is the size of them. I think my friends would tell you I’m a tiny bit impatient to fill in a hugely intricate design on an A4 sheet. Which is why I’m really enjoying the fact that the adult colouring book…

  • There's a Dragon book
    book review - competition

    There’s A Dragon book giveaway

    May 5, 2016 - By 

    I have a lovely giveaway to share with you today. Publishing this month, There’s a Dragon In My Backpack! is the hilarious follow up to There’s A Dragon in My Dinner!, the new series starring eight-year-old Eric Crisp and Pan the Mini-Dragon by Tom Nicholls. Both tell the story of a mischievous 15cm tall mini-dragon called Pan, who accidentally finds himself in England and specifically in the house of Eric, a young school boy and Pan’s new best friend. The little dragon has an oversized appetite for adventure. In There’s a Dragon In My Backpack! Eric finally succumbs to Pan’s demands and agrees to…

  • Colour with Me, Mum! by Jasmine Narayan
    book review - competition - crafts

    Win a copy of Colour With Me, Mum!

    April 20, 2016 - By 

    I love adult colouring books as you probably all know by now. I spend so long colouring with my children that I’m happy to have my own books and am happy to spend some time colouring in when I need to switch off for a bit. I keep thinking that there can’t possibly be any more to invent when I was told about Colour with Me, Mum! by Jasmine Narayan. Featuring over 50 unique colouring templates, family psychologist Dr. Jasmine Narayan’s colouring book is shaped to make colouring side by side easier. Each spread features a single piece of art connected across…

  • The Pursuit of Happiness book cover
    book review - What I'm reading

    What I’m reading: The Pursuit of Happiness

    April 10, 2016 - By 

    The latest title in the BritMums book club intrigued me. It was The Pursuit of Happiness by Ruth Whippman. Finding happiness is pretty much my life’s mission. My mum always told me that personal happiness was the most important thing and that has influenced the choices I’ve made in life. Today I’m pretty happy. I make time for the things that make me happy: my blog, singing in a choir, subscription boxes and adult colouring pretty much sums up any free time after being with my family. I try to live in the moment and have a love/hate relationship with…

  • book review - What I'm reading

    What I’m reading: Coastal Crafts

    March 30, 2016 - By 

    As you know we’re currently enjoying a family holiday in Devon on the south coast. We come here every year so I’m always on the look out for ideas to keep the children busy as well as simple crafts I can do at home with some of the treasures we’ve collected – take a look at the fillable wooden letter filled with sea glass we made last year. I’ve been picking up Coastal Crafts: Decorative Seaside Projects to Inspire Your Inner Beachcomber by Cynthia Shaffer for the last few weeks and have already bookmarked a few projects to make. I love…