This was Jed’s face when a huge bundle of kids books from HarperCollins UK arrived by special delivery.
He’s such a ham! Seriously though, he was thrilled to receive a range of kids books by some of his favourite authors and featuring some of his favourite characters.
Unlike Ezra, it took Jed a while to get into reading. I blame second child syndrome: a) I just didn’t have the same time and focus to read to him as much; b) second kids are always cray cray. For what seemed like years, Jed was much more interested in bouncing off furniture, than settling down with a good book.
Eventually, I discovered the art of getting your youngling interested in reading. Hint: it doesn’t involve tying them to a chair and whipping out The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It’s all about letting them choose anything that gets them glued to the page. A bit like baby-led weaning.
Jed snacked on random comics, then he gobbled ‘hybrid’ volumes like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the Tom Gates series (still top of his list). Now, he’ll happily snuggle down with a story without pictures. His teacher says his reading has come along in leaps and bounds since Year 3.
These days, Jed and I read for 10 minutes before the school run, and this has transformed our early morning routine. So much calmer!
We’ve finished two longer kids books and have just started on David Baddiel’s 4th novel ‘Birthday Boy’. This is the story of Sam Green (some of you might know him from Baddiel’s award-winning The Parent Agency). Sam gets more than he bargained for when he wishes to have a birthday every day, and his wish comes true!
Here’s what Jed had to say about The Parent Agency, which he read last year: “A great fictional book about a boy who wished he had better parents. He goes into a different world where he gets to make up his mind about who he wants to be his mum and dad. I liked how the message was to appreciate what you’re given.”
Bad Dad is the latest book by massively popular author/entertainer David Walliams. Ezra read it in one sitting. Here’s his bite-sized review: “It’s about a dad who’s a racer, who gets mixed up with some very bad people. It’s a very funny book which gives you something to laugh about on every page.”
When it comes to Christmas presents, you can’t go wrong with a good book — whether it’s a gorgeously bound heirloom, a last minute Kindle download, or even a book token.
We can’t wait to get stuck in to the rest of our kids books pile. And huge thanks to HarperCollins Kids for the early Christmas gifts!
Win an AMAZING Bundle of HarperCollins Children’s Books!
For our 12 Days of Xmas 2017 giveaways, I’ve teamed up with HarperCollins Children’s Books once again to offer 1 lucky Babes about Town reader the chance to win a HUNGE bundle of 10 kids books by some of the most popular children’s authors on the planet. Altogether this amazing prize costs more than £112! The bundle includes one copy each of the following:
For ages 3-7
Boogie Bear – David Walliams: Ages 3+
Furry good book about a polar bear who takes a wrong turn.
The Grotlyn – Benji Davies: Ages 4+
A story of a not-so-scary monster living under the bed.
Kevin – Rob Biddulph: Ages 3+
Beautifully illustrated book about an imaginary friend.
Sunk! – Rob Biddulph: Ages 3-7
A fun tale about pirates, with rhyme!
Paddington 2: The Story of the Movie: Ages 5-9
The movie storybook about our favourite bear from Peru.
For ages 7-12
Bad Dad – David Walliams: Ages 9-12
Another romp from David Walliams involving a rad dad and a jail break!
Toto – Michael Morpurgo: Ages 7+
Morpurgo’s twist on what happened to the dog that went to Oz.
Birthday Boy – David Baddiel: Ages 9+
The story of a boy whose birthday comes again and again and again.
Skulduggery Pleasant 1 – Derek Landy: Ages 9+
First in a 10 book series that’s becoming a cult kids favourite.
Geek Girl All Wrapped Up – Holly Smale: Ages 11+
Perfect for tweens with STEM themes and some romance.
What a fantastic prize! Your little bookworms will eat them up. Competition entry is simple via the form below, best of luck!
Amazing Kids Books Bundle worth £112+
12 Days of Xmas 2017
Every day from Dec 14 until Dec 25, I’ll be giving away a fantastic new prize so don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE; follow Babes about Town on Bloglovin or just keep visiting the blog. Head to the Competitions page to see Christmas prizes and more!
Shout outs to:
ThePrizeFinder
Competition Database
Super Lucky
Gosh what a list
TOTO or THE BIRTHDAY BOY
live these authors -they put the fun into reading
Bad Dad and Toto.
my eldest would be very excited to read Bad Dad!
Birthday Boy – David Baddiel
What a fab selection. I think my girls would love Birthday Boy by David Baddiel x
Birthday boy would be his first choice I guess x
Birthday Boy :)
Bad Dad – David Walliams!
all of them
The Grotlyn and Toto.
I think bad dad
Boogie Bear by David Walliams.
Bad Dad – David Walliams
My son would love to read bad dad
Boogie Bear by David Walliams as my daughter loves his books.
My son enjoys Michael Murporgo books, and my five year old daughter would love paddington, my 9 month old daughter just loves any story I read with her xxx
Bad Dad – David Walliams, we love all David’s books, so funny!
My son is looking forward to Bad Dad – he loves David Walliams xx
Toto by Michael Morpurgo
Birthday Boy by David Baddiel
Somehow she has missed out on reading David Baddiel so Birthday Boy would be at the top of the list.
THE BIRTHDAY BOY my daughter is a fan
Skulduggery Pleasant himself, a several-hundred-year-old living skeleton working as a freelance detective, we are intrigued
Birthday Boy by David Baddiel
Bad Dad by David Walliams
Bad Dad – David Walliams all the way, his books are fantastic.
Bad dad :)
My daughter would love Boogie Bear and my son would love Bad Dad – he loves David Walliams books.
It would probably be Boogie Bear by David Walliams!
My youngest one absolutely adores Paddington!
Birthday boy
Would be bad dad .
My eldest would love to read Bad Dad
My daughter loves the David Walliams books and is most looking forward to reading Bad Dad!
David Walliams my 7 year old has just discovered his books
has to be boogie bear
Sunk! We love a rhyming story
Bad Dad – David Walliams:
Probably bad dad
Both my kids love David Walliam Books so it would be Bad Dad. My eldest would love this and I would read it as a bedtime story to my youngest.
I would say Toto by Michael Morpurgo.
Lot of great books, I’d love to win
Probably Paddington
Birthday Boy – David Baddiel
Bad Dad by David Walliams, he has read a few books of his
my daughter would love geek girl and my son would love bad dad
I think Paddington 2 would be first on the list :-)
All of them as they love reading
My daughter would look forward to the David Walliams book – Bad Dad
My daughter would enjoy Bad Dad – David Walliams
My 7 year old would love Paddington 2: The Story of the Movie:
My children would love Bad Dad
They all look great books but i think it has to be Bad Dad by David Walliams as they have enjoyed his other books too.
bad dad – we love walliams
Definitely the two David Walliams books, we love him!
All of them as they all love books, but I think definitely the David Walliams book
my daughter likes David Walliams, so Bad dad and my eldest is a fan of Micheal Morpurgo
David Walliams is fab so my son’s says he’d love to read “Bad Dad” next
My little boy watched the Paddington movie the other day and loved it, plus he’s obsessed with books so that would be the first one he wanted to read I think.
Bad Dad. We love David Walliams books
Boogie Bear as my granddaughter loves Polar Bears
Bad Dad sounds very funny
Toto by Michael Morpurgo
We love Bad Dad!
Bad Dad I think as my son is currently enjoying Gangsta Granny
lol bad dad would be our fav x
Paddington 2
Bad dad definitely!
I think that my son would like Toto – Michael Morpurgo: Ages 7+ the best as he loves the Tom and Jerry version of the Wizard of Oz :)
Bad Dad – sounds great just from the title!
My daughter will love Kevin.
Boogie Bear
My 6 year old is a total book worm (woohoo!) so would love most of these! I think he will enjoy reading Paddington to his brother who won’t go anywhere without his bear!
My daughter would love to read Bad Dad
My daughter is itching to read Bad Dad as she’s a huge David Walliams fan!
Your sons expression made me laugh out loud – the books look fab too as I have a little book work at home.
Birthday Boy – David Baddiel
Boogie Bear sounds lots of fun
Boogie Bear – David Walliams
Boogie Bear for my youngest grandchild
Boogie Bear – David Walliams
It would be Boogie Bear for my youngest and Geek Girl All Wrapped Up for my daughter :) thanks for this chance !
Birthday boy
My son really wants to read Toto.
My son loves polar bears so he would love Boogie bear.
I think my niece would enjoy Paddington 2: The Story of the Movie.
They all look fab, but Boogie Bear especially.
My kids would love Boogie bear
My daughter would love this book Bad Dad David Walliams is her favourite
Bad dad
Boogie Bear so we can get all snuggly on the couch read it together
My son would love the Paddington book
Anything that’s funny, like the David Walliams book
Bad dad for my eldest, she just loves David Walliams books. Toto for the youngest
My son would love the skullduggery pleasant book
Bad dad by David Walliams my daughter has just got into his books.
Boogie Bear – David Walliams
i think my daughter would love the david walliams stories the most, that said, she’s a real bookworm, she’s only 7 and has read almost all of the books in her beatrix potter collection (which I think are quite complicated reads for little ones)
i know a little somebody who love Paddington stories,superb selection of books
Paddington 2 we loved the film at the cinema over Christmas
I’m sure we would enjoy Toto, we love the Wizard of Oz stories so this would be a new take on the classics that we already know and love
My little girl is THE biggest fan of David Walliams so, I know, the first book she’d want to read would be Bad Dad – David Walliams: Ages 9-12. My little boy is, also, a book lover and I am sure he’d want to share these lovely books with her :) .
I think he’d be most excited to read The Grotlyn.
Birthday Boy and Paddington
Bad Dad – they love David Walliams books!
My youngest daughter would love to read Boogie Bear and my older daughter would most like to read Skulduggery Pleasant.
Boogie Bear by David Walliams
My son loves David Walliams – he’s great fun and encourages my son to read xxx
Definitely Bad Dad for my eldest 2!
Bad Dad – David Walliams
Bad Dad for sure
Birthday Boy, i am sure this would be the one he would read first
My granddaughter would read paddington first he is her favourite at the moment
Bad dad
I think my son would love Sunk!
My daughters love the David Walliams books, so I’m going to say Bad Dad!
Definitely THE GROTLYN. My great-niece Phoenix was convinced there was a monster under her bed the other day. Turns out it was Aspen – her new kitten. They have 3 cats but Aspen is the only one small enough to get under the bed.
paddington and birthday boy x
My grandson would love Paddington 2 Fabulous prize thank you so much for the opportunity
Bad Dad – David Walliams
would love to win this bundle for my grandchildren, they love books and stories
David Williams is a hit with my three kids who would love these books
My grandkids would love Bad Dad . Would certainly keep them busy when im on babysitting duty lol.
Paddington 2: The Story of the Movie: