DO NOT Open This Book

This book is awesome!
We like books that have a surprise in them, or that are interactive stories.
In this book, the monster tells you not to open the book. He'll do absolutely anything to stop you turning the pages to carry on with the story.

Eleanor says:

I love this book, it's really funny! The Monster gets angrier and angrier the more you turn the pages! and then at the end, he <<censored>>

Sorry, we can't give the story away!
The illustrations are lovely, as the monster gets so annoyed he almost jumps off the page, he tries to reason, he tries to stop you, but we all know children can't resist!

DO NOT Open This Book - Andy Lee; ill Heath McKenzie
£6.99

Paddington Party

We're holding a Paddington Party on Saturday 13th October from 10am until 12pm (noon).
It will be at The Ideas Test, 34 High Street, Sittingbourne, ME10 4PB

Please click through to the Caboodle Events Page to see all the information!

Paddington Party

Saturday 13th October is the first ever Paddington Book Day! We'll be celebrating by holding a Paddington Morning and a mini book sale at The Ideas Test Shop at 34 High Street, Sittingbourne. We'll run from 10am until 12 noon. I'll bring the marmalade sandwiches, you bring your children and let's have some fun! Activities are a Paddington Trail, colouring, Make Marmalade Sandwiches... Books will be available to buy. Please dress up if you want to!
View full details and how to claim
Valid From: 06/10/2018 Valid Until: 13/10/2018

Making Bookmarks

Eleanor is doing her Book Reader Activity Badge for Beavers.
She has to read 6 books (which she has done through the Library's Summer Reading Challenge), learn about how to look after books, and make a bookmark (after learning what they're for).

So, This Week Eleanor Loves... Making Bookmarks!

Firstly, here's a video of Eleanor sharing why it's important to use bookmarks.

(I'm sorry I haven't included subtitles - please see the bottom of the post for a transcript)

And here are the bookmarks we made!

We used this tutorial from YouTube:
https://youtu.be/YVkJPCp_1UQ
But in the interests of fairness, there are loads of different tutorials on the internet and YouTube that show similar bookmarks - explore and have fun!

Video transcript:

Andrea: Hello Eleanor, Can you tell me what a bookmark is ?
Eleanor: A bookmark is a thing what you put in a book, when you've finished half of a long book and you're saving the rest because you're doing something.
A: And are there any other ways of marking a page in a book that maybe you're interested in looking at later on? Would you, for example, hold the book open flat on its back, like this, on a surface?
E: No
A: You wouldn't do that? Why wouldn't you do that?
E: Because you might... one of the pages might have been like this... and it could have ripped.
A: ohh.
E: even if it was a library book
A: especially if it's a library book because other people need to read it, don't they.
E: yes
A: What about folding the corner of the page down? That'll help me find my page, won't it?
E: yeees. No!
A: Why wouldn't we do that?
E: because if we fold the book, it will be very bad because if you fold it, the page might get stuck with the other page. Even if you do two pages.
A: Will it break the page?
E: yes.
A: So, what are we going to do then to mark our books?
E:Make bookmarks!
A: Excellent, thank you.

Swapsies!

Swapsies is a lovely tale about a group of friends who each have their own favourite toys.
Fang's favourite is Sock, but Philip's train is better and Simon's ball is spectacular!
So Fang does swapsies with his friends.
When Ball gets stolen by a bird, Fang finds a stick and swaps it to get Sock back. Which turns out to be his most favourite toy after all!
Eleanor says:
"It's about sharing and swapping toys. Make sure you don't lose anyone else's toy like Fang lost Simon's toy. The friends were happy all together."
"It was swapsies-tastic!"

Swapsies by Fiona Robertson
9781444937268
£6.99
AR level: LY 1.5

Send My Book!

The Book With No Pictures

Eleanor has really loved reading this book, which as the title suggests has no pictures!
Instead, the reader (which has to be a grown up or an older child to get the full effect) has to read every single word in the book - which leads to some hilarious sound effects that have the listener in absolute stitches!
And although to get the full effect you have to play along, I did it dead pan once and it was just as funny.
Not long ago I had to read this to Eleanor and her friend FIVE times in one sitting because they thought it was amazing.

Eleanor says: "It's really funny and it makes the grown up make silly noises"

9780141361796

£6.99

Available now with Send My Book

Relaunching This Week Eleanor Loves...!

Originally, This Week Eleanor Loves feature was done every week in the book shop.
When the shop closed its doors to the public, I tried to carry on doing the feature each week, but for various reasons it didn't happen.

So, now Eleanor is a strapping 6 year old!
She's in Beavers; she goes to a fantastic school that loves books, and she's now on the Accelerated Reader programme (AR).
AR is a cool literacy programme that lots of schools do - the child reads a book at their comprehension and reading level, then they take a quiz on it to make sure they've understood it. They get points, leading to wristbands and certificates. The best thing about AR is that every child can get the rewards, because it's based on their own level of understanding.
Not all schools follow it, and that's fine, but the reason I'm talking about it is because I might base the future This Week Eleanor Loves on the books she's reading for that.
So, I'll put the interest age, reading "age", and AR level in each post (if it's available for that book), which I hope will help you choose the book that your child can read for themselves.
Nothing is stopping you choosing books that you can read to your child whilst they listen and watch! There'll still be plenty of those in this feature, as we read to Eleanor every night before bed, and of course, at random stages during the day whenever she wants to read something or wants us to read to her.

I'm also going to intersperse the feature with recommendations for all ages, so you don't have to wait until Eleanor's been the right age for your child!
I hope to include information about book awards and special events and features.

Please note, that although I will try to put things into my own words, especially when it's books that we are reading at home or school, I will not always use my own words. If I don't use my own words, it will be publishers' blurbs and their public information. I'll try to put these in a different colour or a different font when I do this. (If I can find a "quote" feature on this blog, I'll use that)

To start with, I'm going to upload previous This Week Eleanor Loves posts, but in a format that will show you the age range and interest, rather than a week-by-week account from the website.

I hope you enjoy the relaunch!

Watch this Space!