Author: chickenandfrog

*Yes, ‘Independents’ not ‘Independence’ (although you can celebrate that too). On the 4th July it’s American Independence Day, but it’s also Independents Day for all of those fabulous indie businesses out there. We are very fortunate in Brentwood, because the High Street is so much more than faceless chains. Chains have their place, of course they do, but indie businesses, often owned by local families, are the driving force behind the heart of a town.

On the weekend closest to Independence Day, local retails celebrate what’s so great about being an indie. We are fortunate in Brentwood, as we are supported by a little pot of funding from the Renaissance Group,

who really value what we do. So, we have been busy putting a bid together to make Saturday 5th July truly awesome, not just for us, but for the community. We already have the wonderful author/illustrator Yasmeen Ismail visiting us in the morning. Authors and illustrators are incredibly supportive of indie bookshops which is great, because it means that you get to meet some very talented people.

What else? Well, we have put our funding to good use. Maisy Mouse will be with us throughout the day, as well as visiting the library and many other independent shops along the Ongar Road, Crown Street and the High Road. She will be giving out balloons, as well as posing for pictures. And…we will have a beautiful Disney Princess with us in the afternoon. She will be posing for photographs and handing out little treats too.

Watch this space for full details of the day. And, most importantly, celebrate with us!

There’s always something in the news about phonics – should we test, should we teach… Everyone is entitled to their opinion and the fact is that children learn in a variety of ways. However, it also true that our schools follow phonics programmes, whether you’re a fan or not.

To that end, Natasha will be running a phonics programme during the summer holidays. Each 30 minute session will include games and interactive activities, to teach your child the tricks of phonics. The sessions are suitable for children starting school in September, or those who have gaps in their phonic knowledge.

When? EVERY TUESDAY & THURSDAY DURING THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS!! (From Tuesday 29th July), 15:00-15:30.
The cost is just £7 per session and we encourage parents to join in. Pre-booking is absolutely essential, as we want to keep groups small. You don’t need to attend all of the sessions, but if you book and pay in advance for 4 or more, there will be a discounted cost.
4-7 sessions = £6 per session
8-10 sessions = £5 per session

Contact us to book in!

This is a quick reminder that our Book Club begins on Saturday 7th June, 15:15-16:00.
For just £7, you get to discuss the book of the month and take part in book-based activities. We are asking you to book up to ensure availability of the book. Book, book, book!

If you want to stay on for Creative Writing, it will be just £10 for the two sessions, including the cost of the book. Bargain!

Remember, as of the 7th June, there will be one Creative Writing session only, suitable for ages 6+.

What a crazily busy, gloriously wonderful day we’ve had today! A few months back I tweeted (rather shamelessly) Laura Dockrill to ask her if she would like to drop by for a visit, if ever she was in the neighbourhood. And she said…yes! If you don’t ask, you don’t get. The beauty of asking over a Twitter is the semi-anonymity of it all. You don’t need to do the waffly stuff, you just say what you need to say and hide behind the sofa until a response twitters your way.

Anyway, back to Laura. She said ‘Yes’ which was very exciting. So me and Mr Frog got to work, booking in children to meet Laura. Here comes the crazy – we arranged for 75 children to swing by. Not all from the same school, that would be uber crazy.

The day was awesome! Laura spent an hour with each group, talking about life experiences, sharing stories and generally inspiring everyone in the room. If you don’t know about melting Maltesers gently under your bum, you haven’t lived!

And if you haven’t had the chance yet, pick yourself a copy of Darcy Burdock or Hi So Much. (We have signed copies in-store). Darcy is up for the Waterstones book if the year. It deserves to win, so we count ourselves very lucky to have persuaded Laura to visit us.

Here’s some great pics from the day,

As a small, independent bookshop, we count ourselves lucky. Why? Because, firstly, we’re turning a profit (phew), secondly, our customers are awesome and thirdly, we have managed to tempt a huge array of authors and illustrators into Chicken and Frog.

The latest author to agree to spend time with us was Sara Grant. Sara spent the whole day with us yesterday and she certainly worked hard! Within ten minutes of walking through the door, a class of 30 pupils from Hogarth Primary arrived. It was a planned visit, so didn’t come as a surprise, although the timing did!

Sara spent an hour with the class, talking about life as an author and in particular, her series of Magic Trix books. In the playground this morning Mr Frog had several mums telling him how much their children enjoyed their visit with Sara.

After a spot of lunch, which was wonderfully interrupted by a lovely family whose mum chose to treat her daughters to some books, following a visit to the dentist. What a fantastic reward for going to the dentist!

In the afternoon, the Carnegie reading group from Becket Keys came in to spend time with Sara. Mrs Chicken is fortunate enough to facilitate the reading group at Becket Keys (she is a bird of varied talents).

Sara shared so much about her fascinating life as a writer and was truly inspirational, as she guided the group through the process of beginning to form a story.

As if she hadn’t done enough, Sara then met more children after school and even played Zombie Dice with Mr Frog.

Here are a few more pics from the day. My favourite is the photographer being photographed…

We’ve had such a busy March, and there’s more to come. This week we have Sara Grant visiting us all day, on Wednesday. During the day Sara is all booked up with school visits, but you are welcome to drop in after school to meet her.

And the following week we have the glorious Laura Dockrill here on Wednesday 26th. Laura has school children booked in to see her, but will leave some signed books behind if you aren’t lucky enough to be coming along on the day.

And don’t forget that the school holidays will soon be here…we have lots going on to keep you sane and the kids busy. Check out our events page for details!

Another World Book Day has come and gone, but never fear, because we still have the full range of WBD titles in-store for you to exchange for your voucher.

We celebrated WBD in style (as always) this weekend, with a fab author event. The brilliant David O’Connell joined us for the afternoon, along with a great bunch of very enthusiastic young writers, who were keen to spend some time with a ‘real’ author.

As well as reading from his hilarious book, Monster and Chips, David also drew some pretty crazy monsters, inspired by the children’s suggestions.

David spurred the group on to develop their ideas into a weird and wonderful comic style story, before they then designed and wrote about their own crazy monsters.

We can’t wait for the third book in the series to be published this summer!