February 2013 – Chicken and Frog Bookshop

We survived half term!

Posted on February 23, 2013 by chickenandfrog

Hello out there. It’s been such a full on week, that I haven’t had a chance to blog at all. I thought I’d take this opportunity to share some lovely photographs of the week.

Stuffing a Nishnobbler in before anyone had a chance to nab some!

In the process of creating our very own Fizzy Lifting Drinks. Burptastic!

Eating (of course), whilst creating new packaging for Wonka’s Nutty Crunch Surprise.

Developing drawing skills with local artist, Russell Newton.

Designing volcanoes in science.

And that’s just a small fraction of what we got up to this week. No wonder I’m tired.

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Half term rest?

Posted on February 19, 2013February 19, 2013 by chickenandfrog

It’s only two days into the half term break and I think I need a rest! I may be on holiday from school, but the bookshop and family life is going full pelt, so it’s go, go, go.

On Monday we ran two Roald Dahl inspired cookery sessions. They were fantastically good fun (and exhausting). The back room still smells of melted chocolate and golden syrup. Yum! You can’t beat filling other people’s children full of sugar and then sending them home. We made ‘Nishnobblers’

which are an ingenious combination of melted chocolate and bubble wrap. You don’t eat the bubble wrap, but it does create a fantastic bubbly effect and tastes scrummy too.

Then we moved onto ‘Willy Wonka’s Nutty Crunch Surprise’. The surprise being no nuts, but plenty of fizzy poppy candy instead. And we rounded off the sugar fest with ‘Fizzy Lifting Drinks’

Burptastic. Huge thanks to the genius that was Roald Dahl for the inspiration and to the brilliant children who joined in the fun.

Today began gently with a lovely sleep in (thanks Mr Frog for getting up with smallest Radish). I made up for the leisurely start with a furious spring clean, before going into the shop to run a drama workshop.

Another fun filled two hours with great children, all willing to get involved with the silly games. We ran through conscience ally, sat on smoking hot seats, created a puppet show and interrogated the Big Bad Wolf. All in a day’s work here at Chicken and Frog. I honestly love my job.

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Fairtrade Fortnight

Posted on February 15, 2013February 15, 2013 by chickenandfrog

Roll up, roll up, come to our Fairtrade event on Saturday 2nd March. We are delighted to be supporting such an outstanding organisation, who work very hard to ensure that workers across the world are treated ethically.

At the moment we are busy collecting Fairtrade packaging from biscuits, chocolate etc. and yes, before you ask, we are happy to eat the contents of said packaging first. It’s all in the name of charity!

So if you have any packaging, please do drop it into our Fairtrade ‘bin’.

And then, pop in on Saturday 2nd March, from 10:00 onwards, to help us create a piece of collaborative recycled art.

If you want to find out more about Fairtrade events in Brentwood, check out @BwdFairtrade on Twitter.

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Skinny Fiction

Posted on February 14, 2013February 14, 2013 by chickenandfrog

Don’t panic, it’s not some kind of crazy new fad diet involving eating pages from cookery books. So what is it? Skinny Fiction is the craft of telling a story in as few words as possible.

For example,
He watched closely. The target came into view. It was done.

Not the greatest example, I know. If you want to read others, you can either visit our page Skinny Fiction, or check out this fantastic website:

http://garytaaffe.blogspot.co.uk/p/skinny-fiction.html, where you will find a brilliant collection of super-short stories from around the world.

I love this concept because it’s so accessible. I truly believe that anyone could write their own skinny fiction. It may vary in quality, but the possibilities are endless.

If you would like to get involved by adding a story to our page, either leave us a message on the site comments box or email natasha@chickenandfrog.co.uk

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A Time to Remember

Posted on February 13, 2013February 13, 2013 by chickenandfrog

We have just received the most beautiful book in our latest delivery. Now obviously all of our books are fantastic, as we are very picky about the choices we make, but this one is particularly special.

My New Granny, written by Elisabeth Steinkellner and delightfully illustrated by Michael Roher, is unlike any book I have ever had the pleasure to read. The subject matter is delicate, as it focuses on Alzheimer’s; in particular the effect that it can have on family life and the relationship between grandparent and grandchild.

What I admire most about this book is its directness, coupled with a gentle humour. Alzheimer’s is an incredibly emotive topic and can be very frightening, not just for the adults, but also for the children who form part of the family unit.

Steinkellner and Roher, in my humble opinion, achieve nothing short of greatness in this thoughtfully told tale. The reader feels empathy, not sympathy for the characters and that’s what is so special about this book. Empathy is a far more useful reaction than sympathy, because it allows us to remain rational. Feeling sorry for a family or individual is all well and good, but isn’t it better to gain an understanding if their situation, rather than simply get upset?

If you know someone going through the trials of Alzheimer’s and are struggling to explain it a child, I’d look no further than this powerful story.

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And the winners are…

Posted on February 10, 2013 by chickenandfrog

On Saturday 9th February, we were joined in the shop by the talented J.D.Irwin (a.k.a Julie!). Why? Because we ran a creative writing competition with the lovely Julie as our guest judge and Saturday was prize giving day.
There was a fantastic energy as people came together, not just to celebrate their own achievements, but to delight in the joys of writing.
For once I’m not going to say too much, because the wonderful stories speak for themselves. I will just say a huge thanks to Julie for making the final tough decision and an even bigger thanks to the wonderful children of Brentwood for picking up a pen or pencil and letting their imaginations run wild.
Here are the runners’ up and winners’ fantastic stories. We chose to scan in their writing, rather than type them up, because the children’s penmanship and illustration is so beautiful.

Reception:Lilly Miles (Hogarth)

with Freddie Geggus as runner up (Hogarth)

Year 1/2: Isabella Scharvona (Holly Trees)

with Amelia Bendall as runner up (Holly Trees)

Year 3/4: Iris Blake-Mahoney

with Sophie Miles as runner up

Year 5/6 Jack Williamson (Hogarth)

with Ellen Fasham as runner up (Holly Trees)

And a very special mention goes to the nutty (and brilliant) Michelle Ward for her superb entry too:

Do Chickens Have Lips.

It was a bitterly cold day in Brentwood, Mr. Frog’s legs shook from the cold making it very difficult to hop along Crown Street. He had of course wrapped up warm, in his best jeans, a thick wool jumper in beige and his brown leather shoes, all topped off with a black leather beret. Mr. Frog was looking very smart indeed. Why had Mr. Frog put in all that effort for his shopping trip? Mr. Frog was in love.

At the end of Crown Street, there was a little shop called Mrs. Chicken’s Vegetable Emporium. Mrs. Chicken had been married to Mr. Chicken who had left her for Ms Spring Chicken several years earlier. Mrs. Chicken was definitely an independent bird.

“I’m so nervous” Mr. Frog had told Mr. Badger. “I just saw her smile and my heart skipped a beat”. Mr. Badger replied “Hmm do chickens have lips”? Mr. Frog decided to visit Mrs. Chicken’s Vegetable Emporium to find out.

As Mr. Frog approach the door way to the shop, he could see Mrs. Chicken talking to a customer. She was truly a beautiful chicken with the longest eyelashes Mr. Frog had ever seen. He felt himself blush and picked up a couple of potatoes and pretended to marvel at their quality.

Mrs. Chicken waved to Mr. Frog. She drew in a long breath and walked over to him. “Can I help you Mr. Frog” she asked, her eyelashes fluttering. “MY GOD”, thought Mr. Frog. “She knows my name!.

Mr Frog knew that this was his one chance to impress Mrs Chicken and before he knew it, he was talking like they had been friends for years. “I was just looking to purchase some vegetables to make some homemade soup” said Mr Frog. “I love soup” Mrs. Chicken replied. “You do” Mr. Frog said blushing. “I do” said Mrs. Chicken. “Would you like to come over for some soup, Mrs. Chicken? I am going to make carrot and leek, with butter, cream and freshly ground black pepper”. “Oh my” said Mrs. Chicken, her claws tapping on the wooden floor “that’s my absolute favorite soup, ever!”

That night they sat in Mr. Frog’s kitchen, eating the delicious homemade carrot and leek soup. They talked and talked, they laughed and laughed and stayed up all night until the daylight shone through the kitchen window.

“I should be going home” Mrs. Chicken sighed “but maybe tomorrow you would like to come to my house for dinner”. Mr. Frog could of hopped across the room “oh Mrs. Chicken, I would be delighted” “Mr. Frog, please call me Valerie” said Mrs. Chicken. “Ok Valerie” said Mr. Frog “you can call me Herbert”.

Mr. Frog suddenly thought about what Mr. Badger had said “do chicken have lips”. At the kitchen door he leaned in and kissed Mrs. Chicken and Mrs. Chicken kissed him back. “Yes” he thought “Chickens do have lips”.

Of course Mr. Frog, (Herbert to his friends) and Mrs. Chicken (Valerie to her friends) met up many times for soup and eventually Mr. Frog proposed and they were married on the beach at Southend on Sea.

If you happen to walk by the Mr. & Mrs. Frog-Chicken Vegetable Emporium on Crown Street, be sure to give them both a wave.

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A Little Diversion

Posted on February 7, 2013 by chickenandfrog

I’ve had a funny sort of day today. Not funny ha-ha, just a bit odd because events took me out of my usual Thursday routine. Every other week Thursdays are a shop day, however this week I went to ‘work’, but not work work. Instead I travelled to South Kensington (very fancy), for a training day with the wonderful leadership team I am part of at school.

There were many things about my day which threw me off kilter. For a start I travelled by train, whereas I normally get to drive in the comfort of my own car, where I can sing (ok, not sing in the conventional sense). I always look forward to train journeys and then about 10 minutes in I remember why I haven’t been in one for an age. They’re like a doctor’s waiting room. Why don’t we speak to each other in this country? The only person that spoke on the first leg of my journey was a mum who kept on telling her daughters off for speaking too loudly whilst playing on their phone. Horrid.

Then I got terrible window display envy as I sauntered passed Harrods (in my Primark wardrobe). They have a full size Chinese dragon, with moving jaws. It kind of puts my plan of swishy material and lanterns into pathetic perspective that’s for sure!

Primark logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The day improved as I indulged in lots of yummy food, coupled with a thought-provoking course on effective, assertive leadership. A slight down-turn again, as it took me over two hours to complete a relatively short journey, meaning that I scooted into the shop with just enough time to book in some freshly delivered stock, before staring tuition sessions. Breath! Got home, kissed the kids, went out again for a parents’ evening for Radish Number 1, terribly unhealthy take away and now to blogging, which is a thinly disguised excuse to avoid the ever-growing pile of ironing which is threatening to take over the house!

Anyway, the point of this blog post? Not sure if I’m honest. I was going to get on my high horse about people not reading vs people reading on the train, but I’m too tired. I did notice that the majority of readers were men with a newspaper. There were a sprinkling of e-readers and only one book (not including my own). Sadly most people had earphones in and were texting furiously throughout, whilst maintaining absolutely no eye contact with a fellow traveller.

Make of this post what you will. I solemnly swear not to ramble in such an unfocussed fashion ever again (honest).