What We Are Reading Right Now #4… And a GiveAway…

Welcome to this weeks list of reads…

So here you go: Se7en + 1 Books We have been reading:

Let’s begin with a book from my book pile:

The Mother Person: I am reading this at the moment, I started it to see what my boys were talking about… well it is a “just read a little bit more” kind of a book… as the afternoon whiles away. You just have to know more… It is a teen read about a young girl called Tamar that receives a box of intriguing treasures. The treasures inside the box are clues to a previous time, into the world of resistance fighters during World War II. You know a book by Mal Peet is going to be a worthwhile read, and un-put-down-able. From the very start your curiosity is peaked… it is all in the name… you are hooked. And the rise and fall of the story, as the book jumps between the present and the past just keeps you reading… All sorts of interesting plots and plans, you have to know how everything fits together and you can not figure or predict how it will end. This is definitely the year of war stories in our house, books that have changed the war from an event with a date, to a time filled with characters and folk that we relate to and understand. If I had to give this book a word then I would say: compelling. We were given this book by Pan MacMillan South Africa, to review.

And now for the kids:

Hood #1: You can not beat the Guinness Book of Records ever… and for the young man who loves to sprout facts and “Did you know?” this book is a winner… Actually the whole family loves this book – what’s not to love. And it is simply amazing how many times you can dip into it and discover something totally different and new. All my kids are intrigued by the weird things folks can and do eat… Many a dinnertime conversation has been started with a Guinness question of the day…We were given this book by Pan MacMillan South Africa, to review.

Hood #2: Oh have you met Dougal Trump? He is even on twitter!!! This is a funny read by Dougal himself, a young man that nobody ever listens too… so he writes down everything he has to say: including all the ways that trouble just finds him and “It’s not my fault.” This is a very fun read for boys. His pranks are hilarious… and this book was given the “best read just lately!!!” Stamp of approval. We were given this book by Pan MacMillan South Africa, to review.

Hood #3: When Hood #3 laid eyes on this book she just had to read it, I was a bit surprised that she would be so keen to enjoy a poetry anthology… but “You know a Jacqueline Wilson book will be good.” She read her way through the whole book, reading out poems she enjoyed and really dabbling into a gendre of book that hadn’t occurred to her except for school before. Classic poems and new poems, funny and sad poems… This book is a treasure and will have a special place on her bed-side shelf. We were given this book by Pan MacMillan South Africa, to review.

Hood #4: This book is the diary of Jake Carpenter and pretty easy reading for someone launching into the world of chapter books. It is well illustrated, brilliant artwork on every page and everyone knows that a picture can tell a thousand words… There are pirate facts threaded through the story that kept my fact lover intrigued. The diary entries are shorter than your average chapter and great for a quick read a couple of times a day. This book is part of a diary series by Richard Platt, and they make great books for kids that are dying to read, just out of easy readers but not ready to dive into epic chapter books.

Hood #5: Discovered a pile of Lucky Luke’s at the library and it has been very quiet, except for the occasional chuckle, from his bunk bed this week. He has loved them, who wouldn’t the coolest cowboy in the world… I know I could do with some time chilling out and reading of classic comics!!!

Hood #6: My oldest daughter read the diary of a Tooth Fairy by Alan Durant, to her little sister, very fitting since she recently lost her first tooth. In our house we call these “pink books,” not just because it is pink but because they are really aimed at the little girl market. This book is written as a diary of Pip’s life at tooth fairy school… the lessons she has to learn, vital things like map reading!!! It is just a little fairy fun… and my little gal loved it!!! We were given this book by Pan MacMillan South Africa, to review.

Hood #7: This is not your typical picture book – the images are strikingly simple… a giant orange, and then when you lift the flap… juice!!! I love it… the secrets behind the flaps are surprising and fun and no two types of flaps are the same. The whole book is one lovely and intriguing surprise. Fresh and fun, we love this book… don’t ever think that a really simple book can not be amazing… this one certainly is and deserves to become a classic!!! We were given this book by Pan MacMillan South Africa, to review.

And the se7en + 1th Book:

Hood #8: These books are really bath books and I thought that our little guy would think they were beneath him… but he loves them!!! Especially that I let him take them anywhere and right now whenever there is a break in the rain he is out there cooking in his mud kitchen… these plastic books that squeak are great for outdoor play and have been read in the mud, left in the mud, used as cook books in the mud and then sprayed clean – ready to go out again. Sweet simple stories and illustrations: A frog playing hide and seek with his mum, and a baby penguin who doesn’t want to hatch because it is too cold. Honestly I don’t think these books are about the story, they are all about letting our kids know that books are fun, anytime, any place, any how!!! We were given these books by Pan MacMillan South Africa, to review.

We are giving away four of our review books and there will be four winners. Our GiveAway Winners are always carefully selected from the folk that comment on our GiveAway posts. So in order to be a winner … leave a comment saying which books you would like to win… if you want to win all four of them then say so, but if you want to win just one or two of them then mention which books you would like to win in the comments… Next week we put all the names for each book into their own hat and select four winners… one from each hat…

So pick and choose one or two or all of the following four books and leave a comment:

This GiveAway works in the usual way, just leave a quick comment and you have until the close of play on the Sunday 26 August 2012, to enter. We will draw and publish the winner next week and I won’t respond to your comments as I do on our other posts because I don’t want to be included in our own giveaway.

Our GiveAways are open to everyone: If you have won a GiveAway before never fear – enter away. All our GiveAways are World-Wide – so no excuse – leave a comment and enter away!!!

We want to thank PanMacMillan South Africa for the books that they sent us for review. And we would like to declare that we were not paid to do these reviews, just provided with books. All the opinions are entirely our own!!!