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Saturday 4 October 2014

An Autumn Walk

We are very lucky to have lots of parks and green spaces in and around the city we live in, so there is plenty of opportunities to go exploring. Sundays do not get much better than a long lazy morning of coffee, pancakes and newspapers followed by a nice family walk. A family walk can be enjoyed at any time of the year but I always think they are better during autumn and winter.

So, after a lazy Sunday morning last weekend we went off to explore Greenbank Park, a small but beautiful park that is ideal for little legs.


There has been lots of talk of autumn this past couple of weeks, as our eager toddler rushes home from pre-school to tell us all about how leaves are falling from trees and how painting with a conker is 'amazing '. So, off we went in search of more conkers and autumn leaves, for crafting during the week ahead.


After searching for fallen goodies, it was time to take a walk around the lake and feed the duck, with porridge oats of course (bread is bad for ducks). I love how the simple things can put a smile on my daughters face.


Oh, we fed the swans too


After free time to run around and play on the rocket ship in the playground, it was time to go home, have a warm drink and watch the football and read some of our favourite autumn themed books.

Our conkers were used for painting and making little conker men with googly eyes and our leaves were used to make these cute little autumn leaf hedgehogs. My daughter got a little bored of the autumn colours and decided to make a funky feathered hedgehog too



What have you been getting up to so far this autumn?

Wednesday 1 October 2014

Book of the Month for October

Wow, this decision this month was very difficult as there have been so many great releases from Barefoot Books as well as lots of other releases from our other favourite publishers. After much deliberating, we have chosen Dara's Clever Trap and we think you are going to love it.


Meet a cunning princess who is known for her brains, not her beauty. Dara uses her talent as an engineer to foil a wicked plot and save her husband in this Cambodian traditional tale.
The Book is part of Barefoot Books' latest early reader collection, Princes Stories, was released this week alongside The Princess of the Springs

Now in general, we are not huge fans of princesses, especially super pink princesses, but we feel that Barefoot are taking a step in the right direction when it comes to stories about traditional princess tales. In this series of books we do not see images of Barbie doll princesses and the plot lines do not revolve around a simple search for true love. Yes, there is a little love in there but this is not the sole life purpose for these women. Take Dara for instance, she is an engineer who loves nothing more than designing buildings and using her skills to help others, in this case her husband. 

I personally think that the covers could have steered away from the pink banner at the top as it is still playing on gender stereotypes but that I could be here forever talking about my issues with pink. Whilst the styling is not perfect for me, there is definitely substance in the story and I hope that it appeals to both boys and girls who are interested in science and engineering. I like that there is a story to tell, based on a traditional Cambodian story, rather than simply churning out age old tales of girls who flutter their eyelashes and meet a prince that solves all of their problems.

I can't wait to get feedback from young boys and girls about this books, so do let us know what your child thinks.