Month: April 2013
What a difference a year makes
This time last year myself and Mr Frog were seriously considering opening a children’s bookshop. Crazy I know, but that’s us. We scurried off to the marvellous London Book Fair for the first time ever and let me tell you, we were completely overwhelmed by the experience.
We met with publishers, authors and wholesalers. It was a complete whirlwind, but it didn’t put us off. Within six months we had taken the daunting and very exciting step to open our very own bookshop. Chicken and Frog went from a ridiculous daydream (and an accountant’s nightmare) to reality.
We opened our doors to the public six months ago this Saturday. I can’t believe where the time has gone or how well (touches wood, thumbs a lucky rabbit foot etc) it is all going. We’re paying our bills, feeding all three of our children every day and even selling books. Hurrah!
To celebrate our first six months we will be taking 20% off of everything (books, not clothing, don’t be scared), reading lots of stories and generally enjoying owning the coolest bookshop in town. Yeah, I can say that. It’s good to be proud of your achievements. Working with Mr Frog has been super duper. We feel like we are a part of the community and have got to make some good friends. Our customers are the best customers ever.
I’m going to get slightly mushy now – sorry. This would not be possible without the support of our beautiful children, who have had to change their lifestyle considerably. Also, my long suffering parents for manning the shop, tutoring (daddy) and being brilliant grandparents. Same goes for Mr Frog Senior when it comes to Grandad duties and general support. And, last but not least, our lovely friend Claire Mackaness who started the journey with us and now has her own beautiful nest in Ingrave.
In the past six months we have held a writing competition with the fabby Julie D Irwin, been visited by Julie (she must be sick of us), Tamsyn Murray, Lucy Coats, Michelle Robinson and J.N.Paquet. We’ve hosted parties, set up a very busy tuition centre, told stories, run a FairTrade event, secured funding for the Family Learning Project, hosted a huge range of school holiday events, hired our room out to baby massage therapists, an OT, a home-school group…and lots more. Many apologies if I have left you off of the list. It’s all been rather exhausting and jolly good fun.
Here’s to the next part of the journey. Keep on reading!
Readit, readit, readit
As I have said before, a great perk of this being a bookseller lark is getting ‘reading copies’ of new books. It’s brilliant, not only do we get to read titles before they make it to the shelves, we also get to gloat about it (a bit). The following title has actually been around for a little while, but somehow I managed to miss it. There are so many books and only a limited number of hours in the day.
Thanks to the lovely Heidi at Walker Books I have received a copy of Sheena Wilkinson’s Taking Flight.
This is Wilkinson’s debut novel, with a target readership of 14+. It was the Children’s Books Ireland’s Editor’s Choice for 14+ (2010), one of The Irish Times’ Children’s Books of the Year 2011, and has won two Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Awards: the Children’s Choice Award and the Honour Award for Fiction. Not bad eh? On top of that, it was shortlisted for the Reading Association of Ireland awards, featured in the International Youth Library’s White Ravens catalogue and features on the 2012 IBBY Honour List. Phew, that’s quite a list of accolades for a debut novel.
All of the above are justly deserved. I wish that this had been written when I was a teen so that I could have read and re-read it. It is actually that good. The dual narration is a clever device, as it allows the reader to make connections with two key characters, rather than just one. I won’t give anything away, you’ll need to read it for yourself.
I will certainly be ordering myself a copy of the sequel, ‘Grounded’. How did I ever miss the work of this super-talented author?
Your issue?
I’d like to tell you about a friend of mine. Her name is Monica and we’ve known each other for about 18 months, maybe a little longer – time flies and all that.
Monica is a twenty-something with big dark eyes, long chocolate coloured hair and the warmest smile I’ve ever seen. Sounds perfect doesn’t she? She’s also a dedicated mum of three beautiful children and a damn hard worker. But, she’s homeless and makes money by selling The Big Issue right here in Brentwood – just outside Marks and Spencer in fact. Her life is less than perfect and far from easy, but she’s determined to make it better.
She doesn’t beg or scrounge, she has a job. Do you know how many issues Monica sells on an average morning? One, maybe two. How can that be right. Are you one of the people who avoids eye contact and suddenly has an important call to take as you pass Monica by? I hope not.
I could rant about this situation for hours, but I won’t. I will, however ask you to do one small thing. Next time you see Monica (or any Big Issue vendor), dig around for £2.50 in your pocket and buy a copy. Apart from anything else, it’s a brilliantly written magazine and of course, it will go a little way to supporting the homeless of our communities.
Picture this…
We have had the most lovely of afternoons here at Chicken and Frog. Michelle Robinson (children’s author extraordinaire) visited us for a huge chunk of the day, reading stories, singing songs and having a good old chat about the life of a writer.
We have been tweeting each other for a few months now, so it felt like I already knew Michelle when she arrived. I think we share the same slightly quirky sense of humour, which is a good thing, otherwise I am aware that I may just come across as a bit ‘eccentric’.
Children and parents came in and out through the day, to meet Michelle and have a story or two or three…
It was really interesting to find out how the whole publishing system works, especially when you are the author of a picture book. I had no idea about the process that goes on behind the scenes. Just like any job I suppose, if you are not part of a specific industry, you are not always aware of its complexities. I have always admired authors and illustrators hugely (good job too), but now I do even more so.
Michelle has kindly signed lots of her books, so if you didn’t get a chance to meet her today, they are here waiting for you.
A small selection of Michelle’s books. Michelle has written a range of picture books, from board books to hilarious tales of escaping startled elephants.
Week 1
We’re almost at the end of week one of the holidays. Time flies when you’re having fun, even if it’s ridiculously cold. I’ve heard a rumour that it’s Spring, but I’m not sure it’s based on fact.
Anyway, I just thought I’d share a couple of pics from the past two days at Chicken and Frog. We’ve created puppet shows, written stories…
as well as making chocolate lollies, instant ice-cream and designer drinks,
Tomorrow the holiday programme continues with drawing and science workshops (both fully booked, sorry). This week is completely full, but there are a few places left for some of next week’s sessions.
We are rounding off this week with a visit from the rather wonderful Michelle Robinson. Michelle will be reading stories and signing books from 12:00-15:00, so do come along to say hello. If there are any budding writers out there, you are more than welcome too!
Chicken and Frog Bookshop 
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