Friday Book Review: Zio the Hero

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

Reasons to be Cheerful XVII ( #R2BC )

So much to be cheerful about this week its hard to know where to start!
1) Daughter's Sleepover
Not only did I survive this but it was a really nice evening. My daughter had invited 2 of the most mature girls in her class so I was very relaxed. We did lots of girlie things together and I even got a decent night's sleep! Wonder when I'll let her repeat the experience...
2) Grown Up Day's Out
Despite horrible weather (sleet, hail and rain!) I had a lovely afternoon at Bowness in Windermere. I'd been advised of a road to park in for free and then my friend and I discovered that the Lakes Christian Centre had a board outside offering:

• free tea & coffee
• free toilets
• free prayers!

As we were in need of somewhere out of the rain we took advantage of the offer and were made very welcome. Afterwards we wandered down to the lake shore but it really wasn't a pleasant place to be:

So time for some browsing through the varied shops before eating lunch at Vinegar Jones' seafood restaurant. Then it got really wet so we hopped from shop to shop before having a final hot drink to defrost. Still a pleasant way to spend a child free afternoon.

3) My son

He may not be being an angel at school but he seems to be soaking up learning. There is a new found enthusiasm for telling us all the letter sounds from the start of objects around us and he is even keen to write his letters. This is what he wrote tonight after school:

4) My daughter

Turning 8 hasn't turned her into a perfect daughter but she does seem to be learning to tone down her tantrums and her attitude (the sticker chart helping here as she doesn't want Nintendo DS being withdrawn!). She has such loving moments and tonight she made me lots of drawings including this one:

5) Work

I had a successful little sale at a baby and toddler group in Lancaster today for my Usborne Books. Lots of enthusiastic mums and grannies buying books. To top it all I got a lovely cuddle with a little baby boy...

6) Birthday Retail Therapy

Thanks to some of the lovely presents I was given last week I was able to get myself a whole new outfit for this new cold weather. So I have a lovely long angora mix tunic from M&S and a new pair of black ankle boots to complete the outfit. That's me smartened up for autumn/winter then!

For more tales of happiness please follow the blog hop:

Wordless Wednesday: Summer's Over

Thought for Tuesday

This image and text are doing the rounds on Facebook. I don't know where they originated but Carie Gouldsbrough started this particular viral message:

As a parent of a girl and a boy it really makes me think...

Life Circle: Week 2 Planning Ahead

Kate has asked us to think about where we want our lives to move onto after our initial reflective posts. I am going to put some of my thoughts into this post.

5 Years On

That seems like a lifetime away when I think that my son is not yet quite 5 and so will be twice his current age and in Year 5 at school and his big sister in Year 8 at secondary school. I am not wishing my children's lives away but this will give me so much more freedom. This will enable me to have both a more active social life and time for a career.

I would hope to have got myself a decent job or made a success of my own business and moved well away from my reliance on benefits. This would hopefully mean that we could be living in a slightly larger home with more space for us .

By this stage I should have managed to maintain a new healthy weight and be keeping up my levels of fitness. If there was a significant other in my life by this time then it would be the icing on the cake.

1 Year On

This obviously has to be more realistic than the first set of goals! My son will be well established at school and I hope to be working at least 16 hours a week with a regular and steady income. This will have taken me on to tax credits instead of Income Support which is a confidence booster.

My home will finally be completely sorted after the re-shuffles and sorting out all the possessions we have! I would hope that my social life would have extended somewhat and that hopefully my participation in things like the Kendal Passion Play will have introduced me to lots of new people.

By then I should have got my weight down to a healthy slim 14 (I've tried size 12 and didn't like it!) with plenty of exercise for me and the children. 

Click on the logo up the top to find out what everyone else is hoping for.