#The Children’s Bookshow

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Sian Williams, founder The Children's Bookshow Podcast

The Children’s Bookshow is back! BookBlast® is delighted to interview its visionary founder, Sian Williams, to discover how this much loved and hugely popular national tour of writers and illustrators of children’s literature first began and who will be on tour this autumn. Michael Rosen: “The Children’s Bookshow takes children’s authors to meet tens of thousands of children, introducing children…

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(Gifted) The Real Boat by Marina Aromshtam and illustrated by Victoria Semykina . It’s a story about a paper boat who wants to sail on the ocean like ‘real boats’. However, he doesn’t know where the ocean is, so he needs the help of all kinds of different boats to tell him how to get to the ocean. . You can swipe to see some of Victoria’s illustrations! I especially love how some of the boats appear to have eyes if you look closely! Victoria has won the ‘Highly Commended’ prize at the Klaus Flugge Awards for her illustrations in the Real Boat!! If you’d like to see her in real life, she’s part of the 2018 Children’s Bookshow! Her stop will be the 2nd of October in Ilkley, Yorkshire. And there are loads of other great writers and illustrators taking part, so make sure you check and see who will be having an event near you! . Huge thank you to @templarpublishing for sending me a copy! . . . #therealboat #victoriasemykina #marinaaromshtam #templarpublishing #childrensbookshow #bookcover #picturebook #kidlit #childrensbook #beautifulbooks https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn8JQIOF21k/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1pqjb5rnhbri5

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Butterflies by D E McCluskey

This was given to me by the author and my apologies it has taken me so long to get around to reading it. I interviewed Dave on our local radio (Islands FM) bookshow, which I host, over a year ago. He was an easy person to interview with his friendly, chatty, easy going good humour. This no-nonsense humour comes over in this novel. Quote: ‘Dave generally writes dark, or mainstream horror although he has cross genres into extreme horror, comedy thriller, romantic drama & childrens books’……. talented man indeed. As I’m not into horror I went for the seemingly romantic family saga Butterflies …. Well! Yes, there is romance in there but there is a lot of sex - raunchy, explicit, sex. It would give EL James a run for her money (50 Shades minus the bondage).

Olivia is young, beautiful & has just married Paul (the rich, handsome man of her dreams) in Tuscany surrounded by their close friends & family. But a life changing, devastating, accident happens bringing this fairytale to an end.

Olivia, is overcoming fatigue, shock and recuperation and battling with her sister-in-law, who is part owner of the family firm with Paul, and who wants to run her personal life. To make matters worse, her sister in law has temporarily moved into the ‘granny flat’ at the end of Olivias garden with her hen pecked husband Richard, to be near and to help. Olivia had unwisely invited them to stay as she is spending most of her time in the hospital with Paul.

Olivia turns to her close group of friends and Aunt Penny for support. Aunt Penny has been like a mother to her but she receives bad news about her own health which adds to Olivias devastation. Olivias friends reckon it will do her good to have a few drinks & let her hair down but she feels guilty for doing so. It also loosens her inhibitions and heightens her sexual desires – a recipe for disaster.

This is an easy, hot under the collar, read and the plot fairly predictable but I liked the character. Olivia was likeable, forthright and human and reading the conversations with her mates was like eavesdropping on a group of fun, liberal, naughty friends.

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Best Books for 7-year old That Will Improve Kids Readability

Best Books For 7-Year Old INSIDE: You 're at the right place if you're looking for the best books for 7 years old! Books for beginners can be difficult to navigate, but the following chapter books are excellent, especially if you're looking for a 2nd graders chapter book series. Kids between 7 and 8 years of age are very interested in reading. Research has shown that, when early intervention happens, children with low readability by the end of the first year still remain poor readers. You need to keep an eye on the progress of your “child's reading skills”. Schools have a readership professional on the team, which deals with reading issues. An advantageous way to prevent this is to read your child out loud.There are many books that you can read at home to encourage the growth of your “child's reading skills”. Continue reading to learn how your child can learn to read and help at home.Table of contentsBest books for 7-year-oldRead These Best Books For 7 Year To Stop Reading ProblemBest “Picture Books”Best “Chapter Books”Next Level Chapter Books Series BooksEasy Chapter BooksNonfiction BooksHow to Read Books With 7-Year-OldHow do you hook your kids when they are still young to help them discover the magic in stories and make reading a permanent and cherished part of their daily lives? 1. Let Your Children ChooseTo young readers, the choice is extremely essential, as it allows children to become inspired by making less of a burden and more a pleasure to read. Read the full article

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November 19th 4pm 📚Author Shane Burcaw and Owner of the Non-Profit @laughingatmynightmareinc will be joining our Children's Show @i_am_boink & @alisoncromiemusic for a Book Reading and Signing at @bluenosecoffee . . . . #laughingatmynightmare #nonprofit #nonprofitorganization #childrensbooks #childrensbooks #notsodifferent #shaneburcaw #bluenosecoffee #bookreading #booksigning #minnesotacoffee #mncoffee #minnesotaevents #mnevents #lamn #nonprofits #kidsevent #musicshow #puppetshow #bookstagram #bookshow #butfirstcoffee #dakotacountymn #farmingtonmn #bookworm #kidsbooks #kidsbookstagram #kidsbook #kidsbookswelove #kidsbookswelove (at BlueNose Coffee)

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Tours & Series | Top 5 Reads from The Children’s Bookshow 2023 | roundup 3

Although The Children’s Bookshow hits the road in the Autumn, tickets to many shows have already sold out and the remainder are selling fast. All performances include a free book for every child. Marina Warner, the historian, mythographer, art critic, novelist and short story writer, forms a persuasive case for fairy tales being a crucial repository of human understanding and culture in her very…

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Tours & Series | Top 5 Reads from The Children’s Bookshow 2023 | roundup 2

For over twenty years, The Children’s Bookshow has tirelessly worked to promote, up and down the country, not only a love of reading, but also emerging and established children’s authors who are not TV celebrities chatting on a sofa. In 2022, Michael Rosen, who was children’s laureate from 2007 to 2009, flagged up the problem that the promotion of the children’s book industry is generally…

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Tours & Series | Top 5 Reads from The Children’s Bookshow 2023 | line-up 1

The Children’s Bookshow is back! The writers and illustrators of children’s literature touring the regions of England this year are offering a fantastic variety of entertaining LIVE storytelling. Siân Williams, founder of the tour back in 2000, was admirably astute in the way she took author events out of bookshops into much bigger venues, offering a great afternoon out to schoolchildren. The…

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Breaking News | The Children’s Bookshow 2023 | book soon, don’t miss out!

The Children’s Bookshow brings the joy of books and reading to schoolchildren across the UK each autumn. This year, the much loved and hugely popular national tour of writers and illustrators of children’s literature features an exciting line up of authors and illustrators celebrating 21 years on the road. “Stories can be like magic. Sometimes they’re the only way to make sense of the world,”…

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Review | Rosa’s Bus, Fabrizio Silei, illus. Maurizio A. C. Quarello | Darf Publishers

Rosa’s Bus by Fabrizio Silei, who refers to himself as a “researcher of human stories and events”, is a perfect early learning book for children from the age of seven upwards. Beautifully illustrated by Maurizio A. C. Quarello, and sensitively translated from the Italian by Siân Williams, it is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. What does Grandpa want to show Ben? Why is Ben being told such a…

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2022 in Review (part 2): Fiction and Nonfiction from 5 Indie Presses, Andrey Kurkov & The Children’s BookShow

2022 in Review (part 2): Fiction and Nonfiction from 5 Indie Presses, Andrey Kurkov & The Children’s BookShow

Lack of time has meant that mastering the TBR&R pile has been a frustrating challenge this  year. Many fantastic books have been published in 2022 by independent trade publishers championed via The BookBlast Diary over the years. The intermittent support is mightily appreciated of a couple of donors who stepped into the breach when official funding organizations turned us down not once but three…

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The Black Dress by Deborah Moggach (audio version)

The Black Dress by Deborah Moggach (audio version)

We were discussing the books recommended in a magazine when I last did the Bookshow on our local radio.  I was really looking forward to this one because it is written by the woman who wrote the Exotic Marigold Hotel and  different sources gave it rave reviews. It came out on July 22nd this year. 

Here is the synopsis:

‘Pru is 69, her husband has just walked out, leaving her alone to contemplate her future. She's missing not so much him, but the life they once had - picnicking on the beach with small children, laughing together, nestling up like spoons in the cutlery drawer as they sleep. Now there's just a dip on one side of the bed and no-one to fill it. 

In a daze, Pru goes off to a friend's funeral. Usual old hymns, words of praise and a eulogy but...it doesn't sound like the friend Pru knew. And it isn't. She's gone to the wrong service. Everyone was very welcoming, it was - oddly - a laugh, and more excitement than she's had for ages. So she buys a little black dress in a charity shop and thinks, now I'm all set, why not go to another? I mean, people don't want to make a scene at a funeral, do they? No-one will challenge her - and what harm can it do?’

So she starts going through the obituaries to seek out various funerals which she hopes will lead to her meeting a suitable new man. This of course involves all sorts of lies and deceits on her part as she has to pretend to know the deceased person.   This does result in her meeting and having new relationships which lead to lots of twists and turns and unexpected surprises in the various plots, many of them unpleasant.

The book was described as funny and witty and laugh out loud. I didn’t find it even remotely funny. 

Pru is an unattractive protagonist. She isn’t especially principled and frequently displays negative characteristics, She is duplicitous and manipulative.  She is also vulnerable, caring and lonely but I felt little compassion for her as she was annoyingly self pitying and needy - droned on and on ad nauseam about how wretched she was, wallowing in misery, dragging up and brooding on bleak memories - it was unremitting, repetitive and became tedious and irritating and to make it worse  the narrator either had a whiny voice or was melodramatic.I had to speed up the narration she spoke so slowly. 

In fact I didn’t like or empathise with any of the characters - not even one person in the entire book, they were all pretty unpleasant.  I thought it was puerile and immature, frequently distasteful, sordid and inappropriately crude. It was as though she was trying to raise a laugh by shocking with really vulgar situations and language - for instance listing just about every slang word for the vagina - WHY? 

It reminded me of when my kids were small and going through the lavatorial stage. One would say ‘bum’ or ‘poo’ and they would all roll around cackling for ages. As soon as it calmed down one would say ‘wee wee’ and they would be howling with laughter again. I’d be rolling my eyes and muttering ‘Oh God!”  That just about describes my reaction to this book. 

There were loads of rave reviews- but it left me cold. Very disappointing. 

Review by Ro

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BookBlasts® | Top 10 Reads for Independent Minds | November 2017

Our eclectic November top ten reads rejoice in strong women and have a radical, cosmopolitan flavour. We continue our celebration of 15 years of the Childrens’ Bookshow, highlighting two more books featured in this year’s tour. Happy reading! Georgia @bookblast

Strong Women Grigori Rasputin holds court 1911 Photo Topical Press AgencyGetty Images

Rasputin and Other Ironies by Teffi(Pushkin Press)

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Get a flavour of The Children's Bookshow LIVE!

Get a flavour of The Children’s Bookshow LIVE!

Michael Rosen will be kicking off this year’s bookshow on Friday 22 September, 10.30am & 1.30pm, Theatre Royal, Newcastle NE1 6BR.

Here he is presenting Jean-Francois Dumont’s book The Geese March in Step in 2015.

This year, poet Rachel Rooney will be performing on Tuesday 3 October, 11am, King’s Hall, Ilkley LS29 8HB.

Here she is performing in 2015.

And here is writer and performance poet Vale…

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Interview | Siân Williams, founder, The Children's Bookshow

Interview | Siân Williams, founder, The Children’s Bookshow

What is The Children’s Bookshow and how did you dream up the idea? It’s a national tour which takes place each autumn in theatres across the country ranging from the Old Vic to the Liverpool philharmonic – 15 venues in total. The tour takes writers and illustrators into those theatres to read their work to children, and to go to schools to do workshops afterwards and work with the children on…

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Breaking News | The Children’s Bookshow 2017 | 15 years on the road!

Breaking News | The Children’s Bookshow 2017 | 15 years on the road!

 “The Children’s Bookshow takes children’s authors to meet tens of thousands of children, introducing children to how and why writers write, illustrators illustrate.  They give children insights into how they too can transform thoughts and feelings into words and pictures.  This is not simply a matter of it being enjoyable, it’s a necessary part of what we understand by the word ‘education���.”…