This week I watched a television programme where a celebrity needed to hire a nanny to help with the care of her baby, but she was concerned that he would love this nanny more than her. I came across a parent with similar worries when I was working as a registered child minder. This parent…
Kate sent me 2 of her books: A SPECIAL FAMILY CHRISTMAS; This is a lovely book , which made me and the children who I shared the books with feel really Christmassy. We chatted about putting up our Christmas tree. The book is written in a rhyming text, which, as my regular readers will know…
With Halloween on the horizon, this is the perfect book for children who want to hear about spooky ghost stories! I have been a huge fan of Usborne books for a number of years: I read and shared them with my own children and with the children that I cared for when I was working…
I could see how great this book is as soon as I opened it! As a former early years practitioner I know that a toddler’s brain is like a sponge; they soak up knowledge and learn at their very best when they are having fun. At the beginning of the book is an explanation for…
The first thing that struck me when I received this book was the bright, colourful front cover. Luna loves her nursery and is especially fond of a particular toy tiger, so she borrows him from nursery over the bank holiday weekend. Luna and tiger visit lots of different places with her family and have some…
As soon as I came across Scotchbooks on Facebook I knew that they would be a good fit to my blog theme. I was sent 3 books:- SCOTCH THE SCARE-GO; Scotch appears to be an average run-of-the-mill scarecrow at first glance .But he is so much more than that when he becomes a scare- go…
This is the third book in the Greta the happy maker series of children’s books based on the adventures of a real life pug. Greta wakes up to be told by her Mama that today is a special day. Why? Greta thinks, Is it Easter, Greta’s birthday, Valentines day , Christmas or Halloween? Eventually after…
Explaining about the death of a family member, including the loss of a pet, to children can be extremely difficult for parents, especially if they too are grieving. This beautifully written book could be the answer to this for parents, carers and other adults. The author wrote the book based on his own exigence of…
This is the second book in the Greta, the happy maker series of children’s books. As in the first book where Greta makes a friend here Greta is making the most of her life. . Greta likes to dream, but one time she has a nightmare and is afraid until her mother comforts her. ….
Usborne books wre always a great read when I shared books with my own children and the ones I cared for when I was working as a registered child minder. So when I was offered the opportunity to review some of their books, I was delighted. I was sent 2 hardback books: Little lift and…
Stephanie sent me 2 of her children’s books to review:- My dad, my hero: is a beautiful celebration of the relationship between a child and their father. The illustrations are of animal babies with their dads; something that will really appeal to children ( who doesn’t love a cute baby animal?). The text is written…
This hardback children’s book is wonderful: It has rhyming text, bright, colourful illustrations and as it teaches children about trees and nature. it’s educational too! The book ia written by Anna Smithers and illustrated by Martyna Nejman. Some of the text has colourful words, making the book even more inviting to children. I particularly love…
This children’s book has a delightful front cover. The tale is about a father and son who on a camping trip together start a conversation about the stars The book could be a useful tool to help any children who have been bullied as it mentions how to cope with bullies in the story. The…
I was sent the following books: The Christmas present dilemma! This delightful book teaches children that Christmas is an expensive time . Marsh doesn’t want to offend his friends by asking for presents that they can’t afford, so the friends come up with their own ideas and choose the perfect gifts for him. Doing the…
I must point out that I have nothing against children’s nurseries and pre- schools, but because I worked as a registered child minder for many happy years I will always recommend a child minder to parents if asked about day care for their children. Looking for childcare here This is why: Registered child minders usually…
The first thing that struck me when I received this book was the brightly coloured front cover. Then to my delight, I discovered that the text is written in rhyme, my absolute favourite for children’s literature , as it not only makes the story more fun, but any early readers can often predict the next…
The first thing that struck me about this book was the bright front cover. Chuck is a cheetah who ALWAYS wins, he is so confident about winning that it has made him big-headed. But what would happen if he didn’t win a race? I love the message that the story is sending out to children:…
Separation anxiety in children was something that I had to deal with often when I was working as a registered child minder. In my experience it affects children the most when they are aged between 6 and 9 months, but as every child is different this can vary. My tips for coping with this problem…
Most of my readers will be aware that I am a stroke survivor. Without having any of the symptoms mentioned in the F.A. S.T. stroke awareness adverts; just the mother of all headaches ( which wasn’t unusual for me). I suffered a massive stroke in 2007, which has left me disabled wheelchair user, with left-sided…
As with all the ichild activities, these are user friendly; making life simple for parents and carers: LOLLIPOP GHOST: This simple way of making a ghost only requires a lollipop, tissues, ribbon and double sided tape. Follow the instructions to make your ghost and the thing that children will love is that after Halloween they…
As soon as I saw the front cover of this book I was taken back to my childhhod days, when I had a pet rabbit that looked just like Clover, mine was called Apache . The delightful book tells the story of what Clover the bunny dreams about, which will thrill children of a wide…
I was sent the following to review:- MONKEY-DOG! A NEW BREED OF SUPER HERO: Children will love this brightly coloured book, which is full of fun and a few comical dinosaurs. Some of the text is in rhyme and is written by Steve Dixon. The book is illustrated by Chloe Harvey- Hall. It is aimed…
When I was a registered child minder, I was sometimes understandably mistaken for the children’ s mum. I was a busy child minder having lots of different children of varying ages to care for: One day I was walking up my street with a couple of children when a lady that I recognised as living…
Nikki Saunders, the author of this wonderful children’s book is a mother of 2 children who have autism. She wrote the book as she struggled to find child friendly literature on the subject when her boys were diagnosed. The book has a bright front cover in my favourite colour purple . From start to finish…
I am not going off of my theme of parenting tips and advice as stroke can happen to anyone, of any age; even children and babies. When I was a child , my uncle suffered a stroke in his forties. I thought that this was unusual as stroke only happens to old people, doesn’t it?…
With the cost of living rising almost daily, parents and carers will be wanting to save money whenever possible. These are some of my ideas:- Make window shopping a fun activity; I have spent quite some over the years time just looking in shops rather than buying with my own children, grandchildren and the ones…
The first thing that struck me when I received this toy was the amount of early learning opportunities it provides: Being a former early years practitioner( registered child minder) I am aware of how a young child’s brain is like a sponge and will take in more information that most people are aware of. ….
I chose the Magneti’ book from the wide range of gifts and educational toys for both girls and boys available from Wicked uncle herehttps://www.wickeduncle.co.uk/presents/girls/age-11ecause I knew this particular product would provide hours of educational fun for a wide age rang of both boys and girls ( and a few adults, as well, I suspect!). When…
There has been talk about shortening the long summer school break for many years as a way to save heating costs during the winter months; the idea being making the summer holiday 2 weeks shorter and adding that to the Christmas break ( so parents would have to find the extra heating money!). But the…
This is the second Zara dogdog book that I have reviewed the first one is Zara dogdog on the school run here This book has a bright,sunny front cover. Zara dogdog loves to have fun with her family, but she must be kept safe in the warm sunshine; the book explains to children ( and…
This children’s book is written and illustrated by Lauren Foreman. It is a lovely little book that has rhyming text ( my favourite) and delightful, bright, colourful illustrations. The story tells how Polly has difficulty in sharing until her mother convinces her that sharing is best . The book is not too long so would…
This great children’s book has a fantastic message; that it is okay for children to say no to something that they are uncomfortable with. The book has a bright, colourful front cover making it appealing straight away. Malina doesn’t like the idea of her friend’s new activity, which is playing the bum drum game. ….
Best learning sent this great educational toy. The whack and learn mole will teach children the alphabet, numbers 1-12 and colours while also developing hand-to-eye co-ordination and dexterity; all whilst having fun. When a child age 6 months upwards whacks the mole on the head he can start playing and learning. There are different modes:-…
Walker books sent the following children’s books for me to review: WHERE IS LITTLE FISH The first thing that struct me about this delightful board book is the quality. It has flaps for children to lift when trying to find Little fish. I have come across lift the flap books before, usually the flaps are…
When Suziw got in touch to ask if I would be interested in reviewing one of her books I jumped at the chance as I have been a fan of children’s literature since falling ‘in love’ with the Gruffalo while I was a registered child minder.The things Evie eats is written by Suziew and has…
This picture book is written by Caroline Baxter and illustrated. by Izabela Ciesinska When Boolino books got in touch and asked if I would be interested in reviewing this book I knew by reading the title that I defiantly wanted to write the review. This book will appeal to early years settings, especially child minders…
As an early years practitioner; you should be very aware of the need to work with the children’s parents in partnership. Here are some of my experiences of this from my many years as a child minder. I liked to think that I knew the children I was caring for extremely well, but I never…