WIN 1 of 2 Bubbles the Dragon Books

This wonderful rhyming story from author Alison Thomas, is the perfect read to teach your children about the importance of being kind to others, accepting their differences, and learning to love who you are. The book really promotes positivity, inclusion and diversity in a way that appeals to the younger generation with fun illustrations to match.

"Bubbles is a dragon who is a little different from the others. The other dragons laugh at him from afar because he looks a little different to them. However, although Bubbles knows what they are saying about him, he isn’t going to let that stop him from doing what he loves to do - Zooming around the sky!

One day the other dragons suddenly see Bubbles zooming up high above the clouds and even though they start out with making fun of his appearance, slowly they start to see a strength within him that ignites a new emotion - acceptance!

Christmas Gift Giveaway - Day 20

My Christmas Gift Giveaway is back! 30 days, 30+ fantastic prizes.

A big thank you to my followers this year.

WIN The Guinness World Records 2015 Book

Christmas Gift Giveaway - Day 19

My Christmas Gift Giveaway is back! 30 days, 30+ fantastic prizes.

A big thank you to my followers this year.

WIN 3 Books from the Whimsy Wood Series

Christmas Gift Giveaway - Day 12

My Christmas Gift Giveaway is back! 30 days, 30+ fantastic prizes.

Just a little way to thank all of my followers this year.

WIN a Selection of Children's Books

World Book Day Costumes

As soon as I visited Jokers' Masquerade I knew exactly which costumes to choose for the Mini Mes ready for World Book Day (6th March).

When the book fair visits school, 'Where's Wally?' is always the first book they seek out, sit down together with and enjoy. It was always the first I looked for too with friends as a child. Trying to find the man dressed in stripes among all the other characters was always great fun and would even get a little competitive! Plus, the outfits both Wally and Wenda wear are very distinctive so they really appealed.

ParkPups *Review and Giveaway*

ParkPups is a series of children's stories and songs, created and written by Jane Marlow, which come to life online at ParkPups.com. It's a great way to introduce your little ones to the internet in a fun yet educational way and we have really enjoyed using the website over the past few weeks!

Inspired by Jane's walks in a local park she decided to write the stories based around her own pet BooBoo and the other dogs she met on her travels. There is even a park area on the website where you can learn about all of the other ParkPups; Daphne, Frazzle, Zola, Mr Patou and Masher. 

We received free access to the three eBooks; BooBoo's Boat Trip, Frazzle's Favourite Number and 'M' is for Masher and some goodies in the post to enjoy also. These are great for building number confidence, introducing the alphabet and learning about different methods of transport. The language is perfect for early readers but the option for audio online is great for those that are still learning.

The website, which is bright and really attractive to capture the attention of pre-schoolers, is simple to navigate and Jamster liked to visit via my iPad where everything was then touch screen for him.

The books and website help to develop literacy and creativity skills and there are regular competitions too which is a nice bonus and encourages children to get involved. Jamster, being slightly older than the age group the site is aimed at, was able to use the website completely unaided and he liked the games in particular.

Areas include:

 Music room
Park
Gallery
Games room
Post room
Art studio
Kitchen
BooBoo's blog

I think having the navigation buttons for the different areas as images rather than words is perfect for giving toddlers  a little independence online - a great idea!

We were able to download the books or read them from our online bookshelf  but there are also hard copy books and CD's complete with Audio books to purchase.

You can follow ParkPups on Twitter or Facebook too for more information.

*** WIN ***

ParkPups have kindly provide 10 prizes to giveaway! The first being an eBook bundle plus a t-shirt, CD, crayons and figurine for the first name drawn and then 9 eBook Bundles for the remaining winners.
To enter please answer the question below:

What’s the name of the ParkPups’ park? 

Email your answer with subject line 'The Mini Mes and Me Comp' to Pups@parkpups.com 

Entries must be received no later than midday 31st January 2014

Good luck!

Will you be visiting ParkPups.com?

*We received some ParkPups goodies in return for this review and giveaway. The opinions given are honest and our own*

Win a Selection of Books from Booktrust

Booktrust has announced the definitive list of 100 books to read before you're 14 - and to celebrate we are giving away five books from the list of your choice!

Drawing from over 90 years' experience recommending children’s books; Booktrust experts selected the final 100 from an initial list of 500 books and are now asking everyone to join the debate and vote online for their favourites on the list (www.booktrust.org.uk/cbw). 

The nation’s top books will be announced on November 25th so pick up a book, get reading and tell Booktrust what you think!

Booktrust are giving you the chance to win five books from the list in its entirety from the eclectic mix of traditional classics and modern greats that Booktrust believe are must-reads to fire children’s imaginations and turn them into life-long readers.

*** WIN ***

To be in with a chance of winning five of these fantastic books you can enter via the Rafflecopter entry form below.

The giveaway closes on 24th November 2013

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Books - The Gallery

We are all little book worms in the family, especially the Mini Mes who read at school, as soon as they get home and again before bed. I tend to use my kindle these days as it's easy to pop in my bag but I do have many books in drawers and stashed away in my room that make an appearance quite regularly. We have lots from colouring and puzzle books, stories, craft and cook books.

Earlier this year Minxy decided she wanted to raise money for the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust after reading about the orphaned elephants in her magazine. She decided to read 50 books in 50 days as part of a read-a-thon and she aimed to raise £100. She received a few kind donations including a lovely bundle from Top That Publishing and she managed to raise £184 for the charity. If your little ones read Animals and You magazine she is being featured again soon with her story!

Jamster and Minxy also enjoyed dressing up for world book day with two of their favourite books.

The Gallery Theme this week is Books

Monday me #7

The first week of the summer holidays seems to have flown by but despite the Mini Mes being at home pretty much 24/7 I've still managed to squeeze in a little Me Time!

If you would like to join in with Monday Me, you can read more here

My Monday Me

The Mini Mes usually go to their dad on a Wednesday but neither wanted to this week so they remained at home, however they went round on the Thursday night instead. The Mr and I enjoyed a lovely evening stroll with the poochie around the local fields. I've actually found an app, Samsung Hope Relay, which is like a walking tracker and for every mile you do they give £1 to charity. You can make your own little person for it too by taking or uploading a picture! It made me feel as though my dog walking efforts in the muddy woods and fields is not only beneficial to me in terms of my health and fitness but to others too!

I've downloaded a selection of new books for my Kindle Touch to read over the next few weeks. They were suggested by friends so I'm not sure if they are my usual taste but I like to go on recommendations.

Snowflakes in June - Emily Britton

A million little pieces - James Fray

Dirty game - Jessie Keane

What will survive - Mark Gartside

The house of women - Anne Brear

The secret diary of a single mum - Katherine Williams

Have you read any of these? What did you think?

What have you done for you this week?

You can grab the badge (highlight and press ctrl c):
<a href="http://www.theminimesandme.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t467/theminimesandme1/MondayMeBadge.jpg" alt="TheMiniMesandMe" width="125" height="90" /></a> 

Project 366, 163/366 - Readathon

She has managed to raise more than her target already! I'm so pleased and grateful for peoples support.
You can sponsor minxy with her readathon or find out more here:  www.justgiving.com/chloereadathon

Project 366, 157/366 - Reading

I'm so proud of minxy. She has been doing her daily reading for her readathon for 5 days now (only 45 to go) and Jamster has been involved too helping to choose her books to read each day. She has already met her £100 target for charity!