I’m sitting here at just gone 7 o’clock with my two children asleep in their beds (fingers crossed). Our bedtime routine has been established pretty much since the children were born and they never go to sleep without at least one story. My husband and I alternate taking each child to bed and our routine means they are usually in bed by 7pm. Recent research undertaken by Fairy Non-Bio about children’s bedtime routines* found the following: Even as dads get more involved in parenting, bedtime is still mums domain, with 51% of mums in charge of bedtime each night compared…
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Last month two new books were published by the Irish fashion designer, Orla Kiely, in her range of cloth bound board books. Just like numbers and colours, creatures and shapes are two beautiful books for babies and toddlers. Shapes focuses on some of the most common geometric shapes and then places them alongside a common object or animal featuring that shape. I love the hexagon and honeycomb page, but there are also a rectangle and house, an oval and a ladybird as well as a star and starfish. Creatures shows her strong geometric-style graphics and patterns to illustrate a variety of animals, from monkeys…
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I’m really pleased to bring you a lovely giveaway from The Works, Britain’s leading discount book store, so if you love reading with your little ones, read on for a great giveaway. As a child I loved hearing my parents read these classic Beatrix Potter stories and I now enjoy reading them with my children. Who can forget the tale of Two Bad Mice, which is currently my naughty toddler’s favourite? Or the tale of Tom Kitten, which is perfect for my 7 month old who has just started noticing we have cats! The Peter Rabbit Library gift set contains…
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I have a wonderful giveaway for anyone who loves books today. HarperCollins Children’s Books have generously given me 4 of the latest titles to offer as a giveaway to one lucky reader of the gingerbread house. My Henry Through charming verse and glowing illustrations, Judith Kerr takes us on a magical and moving journey that proves love really does conquer everything. A truly special picture book destined to be loved and treasured by children and adults alike for years to come. “It’s things we’ve never tried before That are the greatest fun, Like riding on a dinosaur, Which I had…
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We love reading books which is why I wanted to tell you about The Book Club. The Book Club team currently reads around 700 books a month and reviews and categorises each one to make selecting books better for parents. They have a great and informative website and I love the fact that books are categorised by age. Little Sis is just entering The Cooing Stage and I look forward to her brother entering The Explosive Stage! Join The Book Club and you will receive: weekly newsletters customised to your child’s learning age over 3000 recommended books and the cheapest…
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I spent most of my childhood with my nose in a book and I’m really keen to pass this love of books on to my children. Firmly believing that it’s never too early to start reading with your child, I was delighted that Little Sis was sent a soft book and rattle for review from JellyboxUK.com. They sell luxury children’s and baby gifts including a selection of cloth books. We received Captain Calamari’s Treasure Hunt, a lovely story which Little Sis loves looking at with me. The bright colours and tactile formats will delight little readers keen to explore. Bold,…
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bigbooklittlebookcardboardbox is an affordable children’s bookcase that addresses the common problem of how to store baby and toddler books. Traditional bookcases only show the spines but a baby or toddler likes to select books to read by looking at the covers. Like many other parents we’ve tried putting Edward’s books on shelves or in a plastic tub but neither have encouraged Edward to look through them or develop the love of books I want him to have! It was these observations and frustrations that lead Yorkshire Mum Frances Weir, to develop bigbooklittlebookcardboardbox. How to store baby and toddler book Inspired…
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Books and babies is the theme for this weeks’ Listography over at Kate Takes 5. I love to read and I really want Edward to enjoy it too. We have books all over the house and keep a box of his books in the lounge so he can pull them out and look through them any time of the day. The first book I bought for him was Faces (Baby’s Very First Book). It’s a simple cloth book with high-contrast images, crinkly pages and a mirror, designed to stimulate baby’s senses. Edward loved looking at this and we used it…
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I was on yet another course today (why do they always seem to be on Thursdays?) and had an early start as I needed to submit some work before I went. So I have spent the evening relaxing, catching up on my google reader and doing not much. I came across this great meme here. Take the book you are currently reading and turn to page 161, then read the 6th sentence and share it. Here’s mine: “It was a strange environment for an artist to work in.” From ‘On Brick Lane’ by Rachel Lichtenstein. This book was actually recommended…