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Early Chapter Book Reviews Are Here!

The eagle-eyed among you may have spotted that I have recently made a change to my logo. It used to say ‘Bite-Sized Book Reviews for Babies and Toddlers’ but now it says ‘Bite-Sized Book Reviews for Kids’.

Why?

Well, I opened this account back in September 2017 and started my blog in February 2018. Back then Ivy was just 2 so board books and picture books were our sole focus. Now she’s 4.5 and our reading landscape has shifted a little. We still read just as many board books and picture books, but a few months ago we started devouring chapter books at bedtime.

Mon
22 ^nd

Ivy’s Guest Book: Rachel Notarbartolo,
Owner & Designer, Ivy White

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Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family

Hi, I am Rachel! I am the owner of Ivy White, a luxury stationery and design studio. I am a graphic designer specialising on branding for small businesses and creating beautiful wedding stationery. I absolutely love my job! Having a home business is also great as it allows me to be with my little ones more.

I live in Windsor with my husband and our two children, Eva who is 4 and a half (the half is very important!) and Leo who is 2 and a half.

What are your children’s favourite books?

Eva loves so many books its hard to choose. She adores fairy tale stories, any princess falling in love with a prince and living happily ever after is right up Eva’s street. One book she does always go back to that isn’t a Disney tale is Room On The Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. It’s a funny, rhyming story of quick wits and friendship. It starts with the witch and her cat flying happily around on their broomstick until strong winds hit, leading them to make new friends along the way and a dragon!

Fri
19 ^th

Interview: Ruth Redford,
Author of ‘That’s My Daddy!’

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Hi Ruth! Thank you so much for chatting to me about your latest book ‘That’s My Daddy!’’

Could you give us a quick overview of what the book is about?

It’s all about daddies and is a celebration of them everywhere, in all shapes, sizes and forms. We wanted to encourage children to identify their daddies in a fun and interactive way. It covers everything from favourite foods, what they’re like in the morning, to jobs and hobbies and what they do around the house. Hopefully it’s silly and fun but also a really nice book to share and talk about what your daddy is like.

What inspired you to write this story?

I came up with the idea for That’s My Daddy when I was out running one day, one of the lines popped into my head and it developed from there, it was initially called The Daddy Catalogue! I did a first draft of the text and left it in my collection of unpublished stories for about six months. Then I happened to glance at it and thought there is something here so I sent it out on submission to a couple of publishers.

Tue
16 ^th

Ivy’s Guest Book: Tricia Keracher-Summerfield, Founder, Portrayed Photography

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Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family

Hello! I’m Tricia, – photographer, wife and mum to Mia (12), Isla (9) and Tristan (7). I grew up in Canada and moved to London more than 22 years ago. Over those years, I’ve had a few different jobs but nothing that really satisfied me. After the arrival of my third child, I decided it was time to follow my passion and turn my hobby into my career and launched Portrayed Photography. With three children under five years of age, the early days were a struggle and my time was very limited. Now that all three children are in school, I’ve been able to grow my business and expand from family photography to include personal branding and headshots for small business owners and freelancers. I photograph on location across London and the South East whether that be my client’s office, home or local park and in my South East London studio.

Mon
15 ^th

Interview: Clare Helen Welsh,
Author of ‘The Perfect Shelter’

Posted by Shelley Edwards - 3 Comments

Hi Clare! Thank you so much for speaking to me about your gorgeous new book ‘The Perfect Shelter’.

Could you give us a quick overview of what the story is about?

Hello! Thank you for hosting me on your blog and for helping us to celebrate our new story. The Perfect Shelter sets out to unravel the difficult emotions we face when a loved one is diagnosed with a serious illness, such as cancer. It is not a book about loss, but rather living with life’s uncertainty. I hope that it brings love and support to others going through difficult times.

Tue
09 ^th

Interview: Caryl Hart, Author of ‘Mini Monsters: Can I Play?’

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Hi Caryl! Thank you so much for chatting to me about your new book ‘Mini Monsters: Can I Play?’

Could you give us a quick overview of what the book is about?

Mini Monsters is a brand new series that deals with some of the challenges and emotions that young children experience within a pre-school setting.

The first book, Can I Play? focuses on the tricky subject of playing with more than one friend. Sparkle is putting on a magic show with Arthur, but when Scout wants to join in, Sparkle isn’t happy. She just wants to play with Arthur. But her inability to be flexible upsets Scout and leaves Arthur feeling worried and confused. It is only when Sparkle herself experiences being left out, that she realises that playing together is more fun after all.

Mon
08 ^th

Ivy’s Guest Book: Jennifer Warwick, Paediatric Speech & Language Therapist

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Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family

Hi, I am Jennifer Warwick, I am a paediatric speech and language therapist and mama to two girls aged nearly 3 and nearly 5. I live with my girls and husband Alex in South East London. We love exploring the libraries and great selection of local independent book shops in our area. Books are something that I have always loved to buy so we are lucky to have a huge selection at home.

What are your daughters’ favourite books?

A longstanding favourite of my elder daughter’s is ‘Creaturepedia’ by Adrienne Barman. She was given it nearly a year ago and she returns to it at least a few times a week. It’s a pretty big book for a 4-year-old which I think she likes as it makes her feel grown up carrying it around! The book groups the animal kingdom into different headings with beautiful illustrations and unusual facts which my daughter loves to share with people, I mean who knew that an elephant seal could held their breath for 100 minutes!

Mon
01 ^st

Ivy’s Guest Book: Michelle Wiseman,
Founder, Little Wise Toys

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Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family

My name is Michelle. I am based in South East London and live with my nine year old daughter who goes by her very own business name of Little Wise Junior (she is my Artistic Director too!). I am also the creator and owner of Little Wise Toys where I have designed and developed a range of screen-free educational and home learning toys for young children aged 3-6 (with a new product for 6-12 year olds focused on emotional development in the pipeline).

As Michelle’s daughter is in a slightly older age bracket than the usual focus of this blog series, they’re both going to cast their minds back to some of the early books they used to enjoy together in the pre-school years. Little Wise Junior is going to kick things off…

Mon
25 ^th

Ivy’s Guest Book: Alice Boland, Co-Founder, Tiny Treat Boutique

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Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family

Hello! I’m Alice and I run Tiny Treat Boutique with my sister Caroline. I live Hastings and I have a daughter aged 4.

What is your daughter’s favourite book?

We love reading ‘Diary of a Wombat’ by Jackie French. It’s about a wombat and his struggles with his humans. It is very funny and has a great rhythm, which we can take turns reading and reciting.

She is also a big fan of Don’t Put Your Finger in the Jelly, Nelly! There’s a hole on every page for her to poke her finger through and upset the monster on the other side.

Mon
18 ^th

Ivy’s Guest Book: Sam O’Neill, Founder, Balance the Load

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Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family

Hello my name is Sam, I’m founder of Balance the Load, parent of a 3-year-old firecracker called Sally and a 10-month-old meatball called Frank. We live in Nottingham but are originally from the south where houses cost too much for us. My partner and I are attempting to split childcare right down the middle – especially now we are on lockdown – which is making for some interesting conversations and challenges but also means we’re getting a lot of quality time with the kids and plenty of time for reading together.

What are your children’s favourite books?

My daughter Sally absolutely loves Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love. Julián’s daydreams of being a mermaid are made reality when he smears on his grandmother’s lipstick and tears down her curtain to use as a tail. The beautiful watercolour illustrations and fantastic character designs captivate Sally each time we read it together. It also helps that she’s as fanatical about mermaids as Julián is.

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