Books That Help Us Talk To Our Children About The Environment

We live in a crazy world. The institutions we have always relied upon seem to be falling apart and at the same time we are facing the biggest environmental challenge in our history. While we may want to protect our children from the worry this brings, there is no doubt that they are aware of these issues to a greater or lesser extent. Psychologists have coined the phrase ‘eco anxiety’ to describe the worry or Continue reading

The Joy of Reading Children’s Books, for Adults!

When was the last time you read a children’s book for your own pleasure? That is the question posed by Katherine Rundell in her recently published essay “Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise.” Bestselling author of five children’s novels, including “The Explorer” and “The Good Thieves” Rundell defends children’s fiction, which has “a long and noble history of being dismissed”. For Rundell, when we stop reading children’s Continue reading

Chatting with Author Cerrie Burnell

For parents with children of a certain age, you will probably know Cerrie Burnell from CBeebies where she was the first disabled presenter. Within a month of joining the BBC, there were complaints from parents that she was scaring their children (Cerrie was born with her arm missing below the elbow). Thankfully the BBC and many disability groups stood by her and she stayed for the next eight years. Cerrie has now given up television

Continue reading

Getting kids to read over the summer holidays

Today I asked my daughter if she was looking forward to getting stuck in to a book over the summer holidays. “Not really” she said with a sigh, which is disappointing for such bookish parents! Getting kids excited about reading when there are so many distractions, like TV and computer games, is an ongoing challenge, and one we know all about at Bags of Books. So we are constantly thinking about how we can entice Continue reading