Whilst Michelle is taking some time away from Reasons to be Cheerful she had kindly let me host the linky for the month of November. This is my last week then I am handing over to the lovely Ojo's World. So here are my reasons this week:
1) Dr Who at 50!
OK yes I am geek and I am raising my children to be geeks so we have loved all the hype around the 50th anniversary of Dr Who! We all just love the programme and there were plenty of in jokes for all of us in the anniversary special:
2) Proud Mummy
My daughter passed her bikeability award at school meaning she should now be safe on her bike! I've already written more about this early in the week. My children are now also featured in a properly published book!
3) Operation Tween Bedroom
Tonight I sold the last piece of surplus furniture from my daughter's bedroom. She and I have put all the pieces she wants into the right places and it looks so much bigger! It does look like we may need another trip to Ikea to get some more Trofast storage units but now its a case of getting her possessions one box at a time down from the loft and putting them away...
4) Getting Fit!
I wrote yesterday about the fact that I finally feel that my running is coming together! Its a real major reason to be cheerful that I seem to have suddenly upped my game and I am on a roll. I am able to say hi to people as I run so I still have some potential too! The fact that whilst running this week I had a close encounter with a wren is also another reason to smile!
So please join in and tell us why you are smiling this week:
Just over a year ago I was having dinner with a friend who just happens to be author Marc Grimston, he promised my then 5 year old son that one day he would write a story with him as the star. In February we spent some time together and my children both helped with some of the story writing:
Another friend Mike Allard requested photographs of the children to help with the illustrations in the story. It took a while to complete and publish but finally this week my children received their specially dedicated copies of Grandpa Six Legs:
The children were so delighted to get them they stuck their noses straight in and read their copies:
If you look closely you will see that the back cover bears an uncanny resemblance to the photo at the top of this post:
This is the official description of the book:
Grandpa Six Legs is a fun story for young children. It's about an old man who lives in an old folks' home, but he has a secret! He is actually a retired Super Hero! His Grandchildren visit each weekend. His young grandson thinks that his Grandpa's stories are fantastic but his older sister thinks that Grandpa is just a silly old man. Something happens to prove the truth. Grandpa Six Legs is an ideal story to read to your little ones at bed time to let them dream of their own Super Hero Grandparents, or to help them as they start reading for themselves.
My son is delighted that like him his namesake adores his Grandpa and believes his stories about being a super hero. His older sister remains unconvinced until something happens that gives Grandpa a chance to prove whether he is just telling tales.
A great story to share with any child who may believe that their grandparent could be a retired super hero in disguise! My 7 year old also enjoyed reading it aloud himself so its great to help build up confidence in budding readers. The children can't wait to take the books into school to show their teachers!
Zio the hero is the debut novel of Marc Grimston who has used his experiences as a medieval re-enactor to help him put this novel together. The official book synopsis is:
Robert and his twin brothers Timothy and Michael find themselves accidentally transported into 14th century England where they find a land of dragons, mystery and magic. The King has lost his crown and the boys must help find it or the throne of England will be lost to an evil Baron. With the help of the clumsy but loyal dragon, Zio, their quest takes the boys across the centuries. Will they find the crown, or will the history of England be changed for ever?
The book is aimed at children 8 and over and indeed anyone who enjoys fantasy combined with history. The heroes of the book are all children except for the dragon of the title. It has a dastardly villan, some adults that need to learn a thing or two from the children, a lost treasure, murder and magic which is a recipe for a good book.
As a first novel it took a little bit of getting used to Marc's style but from about half way I found it very hard to put down! There is plenty of action and a few twists to keep you hooked as you go along. I'm not going to give any more away you'll have to read it yourself! There maybe more adventures to come so watch this space...
The book is only available in certain Waterstones stores and had some availability on Amazon. Ask at your local book store to see if they can get you a copy which would make a nice addition to a Christmas stocking...
- Paperback: 298 pages
- Publisher: Upfront Publishing (August 16, 2011)
- ISBN-10: 1780350473
- ISBN-13: 978-1780350479
