Playing by the book

Reviews of kids' books and the crazy, fun stuff they inspire us to do

A rhyming review, a covert cat and another great giveaway

Posted on | February 24, 2014 | 19 Comments

squishy

A review in verse

Imaginary friends are really the best
for escaping the blame, explaining the mess.

They’re even more fun, when your Mum plays along
until she’s fed up with all that goes wrong.

No matter how cute, your friend must comply:
It’s better behaviour, or else it’s goodbye.

Squishy McFluff, The Invisible Cat
(written by Jones, drawn by Okstad)

is such a delight for those at the start
taking autonomous reading right to their heart.

Told in fun rhymes with drawings so sweet
This new book from Faber is really a treat.

Perfect for fans of Alex T Smith
It’s funny, it’s charming, it’s one not to miss!

There’s naughtiness, mischief and invisibility
written with pace and feline agility.

Who would have known it was Jones’s debut?
I just cannot wait for book number two!

My rhyming review is meant as a homage,
but writing like this has been HARD I acknowledge

But I hope you don’t mind that I gave it a stab,
now find Squishy McFluff to put into your bag!

More conventional reviews of Squishy McFluff can be found here, here and here. And if my doggeral has tempted you to find a copy of Squishy McFluff keep reading as I have three copies to give away!

With her soft fluffy fur and endearing big eyes, my girls were begging me for a Squishy McFluff of their own. Being a cruel mother with a heart of stone I refused, and instead turned them into Squishy Mcfluffs (don’t you sometimes wish your kids were invisible?!):

cats2

cats1

You too could turn your kids into invisible cats – raid the wardrobes for white clothes and add a furry cardigan or (or make a simple dress like I did – I needed about a metre of fabric for each child), create cat ears out of pipecleaners and a headband, and a tail out of fabric remnants or tights (one leg inside the other with some socks for stuffing). I created a template for the cat masks which you can download from here. Pipecleaners pushed through the card I printed on made perfect whiskers.

Whilst white isn’t the most practical for a day at school, I think this would be a super fun costume for World Book Day, a day not only about having fun with books, but also an opportunity to raise funds for books.

Clara-Vulliamy-Books-Change-Lives1Books and libraries are a crucial resource in sub-Saharan Africa. They are vital for quality education; they raise literacy levels, provide information and underpin development. Books literally do change lives, and this is something Book Aid International knows a lot about.

This year, to celebrate its 60th anniversary, the charity wants to send 600,000 books to Africa, but it needs your help! Every £2 raised = one more book sent to Africa. Perhaps your school could have a bucket collection for Book Aid on World Book Day?

Did you know that if your school uses World Book Day as an opportunity to raise funds for Book Aid International, they could win £200 worth of book tokens?

Clara-Vulliamy-friends-dressed-up

To enter the competition all you need to do is to send Book Aid a photograph of your class in your World Book Day costumes by 7 April. Each class can send in one photograph to enter and the winners will be announced during the month of April. Full details are available here: http://www.bookaid.org/get-involved/fundraise/schools/world-book-day-2014/win-national-book-tokens/

Whether or not your class enters the Book Aid competition, you could enter my giveaway – all you need to do is leave a comment on this post!

Giveaway details

The giveaway is open to residents in UK/Eire only. To enter, simply leave a comment on this blog post. I have 3 copies of Squishy McFluff to give away.

For extra entries you can:

    (1) Tweet about this giveaway, perhaps using this text:
    Win a copy of the adorable Squishy McFluff by @PipsJones over on @playbythebook’s blog http://www.playingbythebook.net/?p=28944
    (2) Share this giveaway on your Facebook page or blog



You must leave a separate comment for each entry for them to count.

  • Three winners will be chosen at random using random.org.
  • The giveaway is open for one week, and closes on Monday 3rd March 2014 5pm UK time. I will contact the winners via email. If I do not hear back from the winners within one week of emailing them, I will re-draw as appropriate.


    • Don’t forget, if you haven’t already entered the other giveaway I’ve got on at the moment, you can do so here: http://www.playingbythebook.net/2014/02/20/ghosts-giveaway-garb/

    Good luck!

    Disclosure: My thanks go to the publishers, Faber, for donating the books for this giveaway, and for providing me with a review copy. I was approached by Book Aid to spread the word about the charity and I am very happy to do so. I received no payment for this post.

    The gorgeous illustrations in this post are by Clara Vulliamy, last year’s illustrator for Book Aid’s World Book Day programme. You can read a Q&A with her here: http://www.bookaid.org/clara-vulliamy-qa/

    UPDATE: Thanks to all who entered the giveaway, the winner was entries no. 4, 13 and 16.

    Category: Behaviour (good or bad), Book Charities, Cats, Dressing up, Ella Okstad, Families, Friendship, Grandparents, Imagination, Invisibility, Learning to read, Pets, Pip Jones, World Book Day, World Book Day ideas

    Ghosts for new readers, a giveaway and garb for World Book Day

    Posted on | February 20, 2014 | 30 Comments

    ghostsonthelooseMortimer Keene is a brilliant inventor…. who knows how to have fun!

    He’s also a very small boy.

    And he likes to cause chaos at his school.

    Having previously created a slime machine, his latest contraption is an appliance which sends out all sorts of scary apparitions to haunt his teachers and frighten his classmates. What mischief! And what fun ;-)

    But what happens when one of his ghoulish creations appears to turn on Mortimer? Could this be the end of the crackpot kid creator? Or will he be able use his skills to save the school and himself?

    Mortimer Keene: Ghosts on the Loose by Tim Healey and illustrated by Chris Mould (@ChrisMouldInk) is the second book in a series ideal for encouraging new readers to keep reading (and older, more reluctant readers to give books another go). Written in rhyme, with just a sentence or two per page, and broken up into easy-to-manage chapters, the format of this book (including its perfect hand held size) makes it easy for kids to keep turning the pages.

    realmortimerkeene

    The plot is a thrilling mixture of laugh-out-loud creepiness (watch out for a plague victims and a hangman) whilst the illustrations – on every page – are scratchily spooky and hugely entertaining. With plenty of bonus material at each end of the book there’s lots to spark the imagination: why not tell your own spooky story or set up ghost hunt?

    Like the sound of this book? I think it’s brilliant and so I’m really very pleased that I’ve got one copy of Mortimer Keene: Ghosts on the Loose to giveaway to lucky reader. you’ll find the details at the bottom of this post.

    The third instalment of Mortimer Keene’s adventures is out this summer (involving aliens!) but if you can’t wait that long, you might want to check out the Vampire School series written by Peter Bently, illustrated by Chris Harrison for more school-based ghastly ghoulish goings-on for newly independent readers.

    In the run up to World Book Day this year we thought we’d have fun creating a few costumes for children’s book characters we’ve recently discovered. So after a little bit of rummaging in cupboards and wardrobes in strolled our very own Mortimer Keene:

    mortimerkeene3

    We used some chef’s whites I happen to have but maybe you already have a white doctor’s coat or lab coat in your dressing up box you could re-purpose? Borrow a shirt and tie from a Dad, Uncle or Grandpa, and grab some rubber gloves from under the sink. The only thing we had to source specially for this costume were the toy glasses – but maybe you already have them from a past Harry Potter or Where’s Wally costume?

    mortimerkeene4

    mortimerkeene2

    mortimerkeene1

    As you can see the kids also made Mortimer-Keene-inspired Phantom Machine connected up to a home-made laptop (aka old shoebox). Whilst this might be a little difficult to transport to school for World Book Day, a toy laptop or a spanner (real or cut out of cardboard) would be an easy accessory to add to your Mortimer Keene costume.

    If your child’s school is encouraging everyone to dress up for World Book Day, do you know if they’ll be using it as an opportunity to fundraise for Book Aid International?

    bookaidlogo

    Book Aid International works in partnership with libraries in Africa providing books, resources and training to support an environment in which reading for pleasure, study and lifelong learning can flourish. Last year they provided 563,424 new books to over 3,300 libraries. This year sees their 60th anniversary, having sent more than 30 million books to partner libraries since they were set up.

    Book Aid has created loads of really brilliant resources to use in school, from lesson plans to assembly activities

    Why not use one of Book Aid’s resources in school on World Book Day, ask kids to make a donation to Book Aid in return for wearing their costumes, and thereby be part of something really wonderful; In 2013, children across the UK raised a staggering £75,500, enough to send nearly 40,000 books to children in places in Africa where books are scarce. How much could you help raise this year?

    Giveaway details

    I have one copy of Mortimer Keene: Ghosts on the Loose by Tim Healey and illustrated by Chris Mould to give away.

    The giveaway is open to residents in UK/Eire only. To enter, simply leave a comment on this blog post.

    For extra entries you can:

      (1) Tweet about this giveaway, perhaps using this text:
      Win a copy of @chrismouldink’s latest (& spookily brilliant) Mortimer Keene book over on @playbythebook’s blog http://bit.ly/1nPHW4G
      (2) Share this giveaway on your Facebook page or blog



    You must leave a separate comment for each entry for them to count.

  • The winner will be chosen at random using random.org.
  • The giveaway is open for just over one week, and closes on Friday 28th February 2014 5pm UK time. I will contact the winner via email. If I do not hear back from the winner within one week of emailing them, I will re-draw a winner.


    • Good luck!

    Disclosure: My thanks go to the publishers, Hodder, for donating the book for this giveaway, and for sending me a review copy. I was approached by Book Aid to spread the word about the charity and I am very happy to do so, having supported them for several years already. I received no payment for this post.

    mortimerkeenewinnerTHIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. IT WAS WON BY IAIN MACIVER.

    Category: Chris Mould, Dressing up, Ghosts, Inventions, School, Tim Healey, World Book Day ideas

    40+ Activities to go with several books by David Melling

    Posted on | February 17, 2014 | 2 Comments

    WBDlogo450px

    World Book Day is edging ever nearer and as the excitement builds I’ve been gathering ideas for activities at home and at school which would work well with the books by one of this year’s World Book Day author/illustrators, David Melling.

    First up, some general resources about David Melling and his work:

  • Video interview with David Melling
  • Another interview with lots of background information
  • A third interview with David Melling
  • Lots of short video clips on David Melling’s website
  • A teaching guide for several David Melling books
  • David Melling’s website, blog, and twitter feed

    • Good Knight Sleep Tight

    goodknight

  • Create a sensory table with different materials that could be described at soft and/ or fluffy, such as feathers, cotton wool, sponge pieces, scraps of fabric. Have the children explore them, and fill pillow cases (or you could make mini ones) and decide which they think would be most comfortable. You could extend this activity to include other possible cushion fillers eg lentils, foam, straw.
  • Grab some nets and go fishing (though not necessarily for fish). Using cheap kids fishing nets (like these) play catching games; throw feathers or small balloons into the air and see how many the kids can catch.
  • Build nests. Here are some different ideas using twigs, string and tissue paper, and paper plates

    • The Kiss That Missed

    kissmissed

  • Have a kiss blowing competition. Allow the kids to put lipstick on. Get them to kiss a piece of paper, leaving a lip mark. Cut out the kisses and then have the child place them on the palm of their hand and blow. You could experiment with different types of paper e.g. baking paper, tissue paper, card. At the end of the activity you could make a mobile with all your cut-out kisses
  • Make a dragon mask. There are printable dragon masks here, here and here.
  • Let the children decorate the room with a roll of gold crepe paper weaving it around furniture until it finally lands somewhere with a big kiss (a gold starburst made out of card). A smaller scale version of this would be to give the kids gold pens/pencils and let them doodle a flowing line on paper. They could also use glue and gold glitter, or glue and string with glitter.
  • Here’s a free sequencing activity for the Kiss that Missed.
  • Use the Kiss that Missed to support PSHE work; as an inspiration for writing stories about what would happen/how children would/might feel if they didn’t get a goodnight kiss, and as a springboard for writing cards to send to people they care about.

    • Hugless Douglas

    hugless

  • Lots of teaching ideas including a link to book trailer video
  • A Mothers day card activity based on Hugless Douglas
  • A Hugless Douglas dot-to-dot
  • Hugless Douglas “spot the difference” pictures
  • How to draw Hugless Douglas
  • 12 page Hugless Douglas activity pack inc a maze, colouring in and a cut and out and make mobile

    • We Love You, Hugless Douglas!

    weloveyou

  • Play Hide and Seek!
  • Make milkshakes! Here are lots of milkshake recipes, providing good opportunities for kids to practise following instructions and measuring things out.
  • Create a lucky dip stall with leaves (dried, real, or cut out of green paper). Kids can pull out an object and use it as inspiration for writing a story.
  • Make toy helmets like the bunnies wear. Decorate plastic bowls (with collage or permanent pens) and use string/ribbon/elastic to hold in place.
  • Make flower necklaces like the cows wear. Here’s one tutorial, and here’s another.

    • Don’t Worry Douglas

    dontworry

  • Dressing up with a variety of hats. Fill a box with all sorts of headwear from woolly hats to fancy hats (charity shops are a good source).
  • Wool/string painting ie using a length of wool in place of a paintbrush. Let the Children Play shows you how.
  • Wool/string collage: Dip pieces of wool in runny PVA glue and then stick onto paper, creating interesting shapes. For added interest use different types of wool.
  • Make hats. Here are tutorials for a jester hat, paper plate hats, rainbow hats, and old fashioned paper hats.

    • Hugless Douglas and the Big Sleep

    bigsleep

  • Create a warren out of cardboard boxes: Source as many large cardboard boxes as you can (eg from a white goods shop) and tape them together to create a warren of tunnels children can explore, perhaps ending up in a tent where everyone could read a story. If you can’t source cardboard boxes you could make tunnels using blankets draped over chairs, or you could borrow pop up tunnels like this one.
  • Provide a dressing up box with nighties, pyjamas, dressing gowns, slippers, hot water bottles, cuddly toys.
  • Simulate night time by making the room dark and then reading by torchlight



    • There’s also a great round up of activities to go with various Hugless Douglas books over on ChildLedChaos, everything from making woolly sheep to colourful spring branches.

    Don’t forget the official World Book Day resources to go with Hugless Douglas including a lesson plan and activity pack.

    The Tale of Jack Frost

    jackfrost

  • Make Snow Beetles. Adapt this idea for a ladybird to create a snow beetle, paint stones, or use plaster of paris to make beetles.
  • Mix up potions and soups. Provide bottles of liquids and jars of (eg. out of date) dried foodstuffs, bowls and spoons and let the kids mix up their own potions and soups. If the weather is fine, let them mix mud outside.
  • Go on a hunt for Snail glue. Look for snail trails outside. See how many different types of snail you can collect.
  • Play with cabbage. Cabbage is great for vegetable prints and for making pH paper. Here’s a recipe for cabbage soup (the kids could shred the cabbage).
  • Play with frozen suns. Freeze lots of discs of ice in advance (in eg yoghurt/ice cream pot lids) and then let the kids play with them. You could mix in food colouring to make a variety of frozen suns. Add in some ice cubes and you’ve got lots of lovely sensory play.
  • Make frozen sunflowers. Paint sunflowers with watercolours, but before the paint is dry, sprinkle liberally with salt. As the paint dries the salt causes an interesting effect, and often ends up looking like a thin layer of crystals/ice covering the painting. Alternatively, let the kids “draw” sunflowers with runny glue. Sprinkle the glue with salt and then paint the salt with food colouring (here’s a tutorial).
  • Drink worm juice surprise. Using gummy worms, create a drink the kids can actually try. Perhaps use pink milk and have the gummy worms crawling over the rim of the cup.
  • A clip of the animated version of The Tale of Jack Frost.

    • The Scallywags

    scallywags

  • Set up a a role play photo booth. Create a mini set, with some dressing up clothes and using a children’s digital camera allow them to take photos of each other. Print off the photos and use them to create a display.
  • Use The Scallywags as a starting point for talking about manners and rules. Work as a group to draw up a list of manners they’d like the group to follow e.g. When having lunch together, or working together on a project.
  • More role play areas based on the activities the Scallywags get up to: Practice pouring tea with teapots and cups, wash, clean and dress baby dolls. You could read Whiffy Wilson by Caryl Hart and Leonie Lord to further explore issues of personal hygiene and cleanliness.



    • David Melling has written many more books (you can find a full list of his picture books here, and his fiction work here). Which is your favourite book by David Melling?

    Category: David Melling, World Book Day
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