chickenandfrog

Truly Scrumptious

Posted on August 17, 2013August 17, 2013 by chickenandfrog

We have had such a lovely day today. Do you want to know why? I’m going to tell you anyway. We were visited by the very talented Steven Lenton (whose Twitter handle is 2dScrumptious, hence the title of this blog).
It’s always a little scary for Mr Frog and I when we have a visiting author or illustrator. Not because we’re naturally nervous, but because you just never know how many people are going to come in to meet your guests. We appreciate the time that our visitors give, especially as we only pay in tea, biscuits and chocolate! In keeping with the theme of Steven’s first illustrated children’s book, Shifty McGifty, (written by Tracey Corderoy), we decorated cupcakes last night:

Displays in the window and inside the shop reflected our joy of Steven’s visit,

Tweets had been tweeted, our FaceBook events page was updated, Phoenix FM had mentioned the event, so by this morning we were as ready as we ever going to be!
To our delight Steven arrived, with Shifty and Sam in tow (behaving impeccably as reformed criminals should). And shortly after, children arrived too – phew! Steven read to the enthralled group, whilst encouraging some serious spider spotting along the way.

A spot of drawing soon followed, with Steven taking the group step-by-step through how to draw Sam and Shifty,

I think you’ll agree that they did very well indeed. Now we have our own Shifty and Sam gracing the wall, with a waving spider and a brilliant chicken and frog! Thanks Steven 🙂

blog, events

Just an update!

Posted on August 16, 2013 by chickenandfrog

Well hello lovely readers, how are you? I’m jolly well, thanks for asking. It’s been a busy couple if weeks, what with one thing and another, so I thought I’d fill you in with a bit if rambling and a handful of photographs.
First up, the crazy stuff that makes me chortle. Friends, who know me far too well, bought me a wind up chicken and frog for my birthday. Obviously this has resulted in quite a few chicken and frog races, like this one:

Our eldest doesn’t find this amusing, but I do, so there!
I have been very busy planning all sorts of plans with the lovely Mark from the Brentwood Theatre.. As a result of scheming we will be collaborating with the theatre during the Christmas period, focusing on the theme of the brothers Grimm. And of course, the Brents are coming up in September for which we are proudly supporting the best actor under the age of 18.
What else? We’ve run some really great sessions in the past week, including a delicious cookery course,

Another art class with Russell Newton, where the children refined their lettering skills,

And the second of our Summer Holiday Lego challenges,

What else? Well, we are planning a collaboration with Talking Tots (Brentwood) in October. They are launching a Back to Books campaign and we are delighted to be able to support them in this. Details for the event will follow in the very near future, although we can say that there will be a party involved and a 10% discount voucher for all Talking Tots parents involved.
Last thing. I am now a regular on the educational visits page for Essex Mums, as well as a teacher for their ‘ask the expert’ panel. Told you I’d been busy.
I think I’ll go and curl up with a good book now and get an early night, ready for Steven Lenton’s visit in the morning.

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Forty or faulty?

Posted on August 4, 2013 by chickenandfrog

This month was a big birthday for me, as I turned 40 on Saturday. I know, it’s shocking that I am now in my mid thirties, but it’s true!
One of my friends absolutely hated the big four o, and asked if I was going to stay at home on Saturday, hiding away from the world. Why would I do that? Firstly, the age thing has never bothered me and secondly, my life is pretty good, so I’m a happy chicken.
What’s the best thing about birthdays? For me, it’s the cake (thank-you to my brilliant Holly for this year’s yummy offering):

Spending time with my lovely family and friends and of course, the presents. I have been truly spoilt this year and as the general theme was Alice, books and quite a big splash of purple, I thought I’d share some pics with you.
This is a gorgeous tea cosy from my crafty friend Claire, beautifully modelled by myself as a hat. I think it works well!

And here’s a very cute book which sums up my pending old age perfectly,

And now onto the Alice themed gifts from my wonderful Mr Frog,

On Sunday we had a Mad Hatter’s tea party, where some of our friends and family excelled themselves with their creativity,

I am a very lucky chicken indeed.

p.s. I know this isn’t really about being a bookshop owner, apart from the very tenuous links due to my awesome gifts, but sometimes it’s just nice to share. Happy reading everyone.

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London’s calling

Posted on July 31, 2013July 31, 2013 by chickenandfrog

I’d like to tell you about our day yesterday. Mr Frog and I had a rare experience; a whole day off, with the kids. It was lovely and although I have already thanked them, I would like to officially thank Grandma and Grandad Chicken for ruling the roost in our absence. It was/is very much appreciated.

What to do with this day of freedom? Well we’ve been planning and then postponing a day out to the big smoke. Rain has played a large part in our delay and so, in typical fashion, it rained persistently yesterday, despite the fact that it has been glorious sunshine for weeks now! But we didn’t care. I professed in the morning, ‘It’s warm rain, it will be fine.’ I was right, mostly…

London is a big place, full of stuff. Some of the stuff we have seen numerous times before and other stuff is split into two sub-categories. The first being stuff that we do not want to see, ever and the second being stuff that we don’t know much about and therefore haven’t a clue where to begin. But then, (fanfare please), in swept Francesca Fenn one day way back when and she introduced us to her ‘Step Outside Guides’ of London. The guides are so fab, that we stock them at Chicken and Frog. You can buy them singly, or in this rather lovely little gift box set that now graces our shelves.

The boy chose Book 1 because it has a cute picture of an elephant on the front and who were we to argue with that kind of selection process? So on Tuesday morning, in the summer rain, off we drove to Harold Wood Station to embark on our adventure.

This is what we saw:

I love a big lorry and a bit of scaffolding! And on we went, in search of Prince Albert at Holborn Circus. Unfortunately the Prince was off out for the day too, so we waved to these guys instead:

Moving swiftly on, we gazed longingly into shop windows in Hatton Garden, trying desperately not to look drenched and poor (not sure if we succeeded). We did find lots of lovely shiny things though, as boy wonder will show you:

Huge and detailed pic on the stairwell of Holborn Viaduct

Dragons! Very cool - there are loads to be found if you look hard enough. — Dragons! Very cool – there are loads to be found if you look hard enough.

After all of that we stopped off for a quick snack – the first of many if I’m honest. I can’t recommend Paul‘s highly enough. Divine.

This contained raspberries, so counts as one of my 5 a day.

Following on from the sugar fest, we wandered along to the Old Curiosity Shop. Pretty cool eh? Slightly odd that the current owners sell shoes, but still. Note the umbrella and pulled up hood. We carried on regardless…we’re so brave!

I shall finish with some random pictures and a note to say that these guides are quite frankly fabulous. We spent the whole day seeking out unfamiliar treasures and we had fun. That is all!

Psst, Holly, there's a penguin next to you! — Psst, Holly, there’s a penguin next to you!

Mmm, ice cream at Harrods (not part of the guide, but well worth the detour).

blog, events

Oh help, oh no, it’s a lot of Guffalos!

Posted on July 29, 2013 by chickenandfrog

Can you believe that we’re already into the second week of the school holidays? Time flies and all that. We have a very busy schedule of events for children, ranging from drama workshops to science. as well as the fee paying sessions, we pride ourselves on providing activities and events which are completely free of charge. This may not be particularly business savvy, but we strive to create a sense of community here at Chicken and Frog and feel that one of the ways that we can achieve this is through activities which are accessible to all.
This morning we held a Gruffalo make and take activity. Children popped in throughout the morning to create their own Gruffalo faces. Needless to say, there was plenty of glue involved and one or two over excited parents! Yes, parents. What is it about crafty things with our children that makes us so…childlike? I include myself in this. Maybe it’s the freedom of heartening back to our youth or an unfulfilled dream to be a Blue Peter presenter…
Here are some lovely pics of today:

Look out for our next free event, the Lego challenge. I think it’s going to be super busy!

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I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream

Posted on July 20, 2013July 20, 2013 by chickenandfrog

You may have noticed that it’s been rather warm lately. Yes, finally summer has arrived and with it comes the inevitable soar in ice cream sales. Our local Rossi’s must be delighted!

To this end, our Creative Writing Club members have been inspired to design their very own ice creams,

Once the ice creams have been designed, our young writers will then begin to develop a whole marketing package to promote their creations. See how busy some of them are!

The key to inspiring children to write is to hook into something that they’re interested in. Sweets and ice cream are usually guaranteed winners!

blog, events, sessions

It’s hot tonight

Posted on July 19, 2013July 18, 2013 by chickenandfrog

Too hot for talkin’…I think I’m on Alice Cooper overload at the moment, but his songs fit so perfectly that I just can’t help myself.

Anyway, it may be too hot to talk, but it’s never too hot to blog. Here at Chicken and Frog we are gearing up for the summer in style. Our window looks something like this:

But this Saturday we are planning a little treat for you by replacing some of our glorious books with the equally glorious Russell Newton. I’ve had this crazy idea you see and because Russell is so lovely, instead of running for the hills, he has agreed. Will he ever learn? Russell runs a super duper art club on Saturday during term time (13:00-14:30, for just £8), as well as holidays sessions whenever school has kicked out. My cunning plan is this. On Saturday, Russell, along with some happy volunteers, shall become our artist in residence. Quite literally in residence, in our window. You can come and witness the madness/creativity, from 12:30 and then join Russell for an art class (not in the window).

There’s no need to book in for Russell during term time, but if you want to come along in the holidays, you will need to secure your place.

blog, schools

Well we got no choice…

Posted on July 18, 2013 by chickenandfrog

…all the girls and boys, making all that noise…school’s out for summer! (Almost). I can forgive the poor grammar of Mr Alice Cooper for two reasons. Firstly, he has almost a god-like status in our house and secondly, summer holidays are very nearly upon us. Hurrah!

I am one of those parents who actually relishes the summer break. Yes, it costs us a fortune, yes by the end of it you may want to kill each other, but that heady freedom of the summer break can’t be beaten. I consider myself extremely lucky because I’ve always had the holidays off with our lot (those teachers, flipping part-timers, blah, blah, blah) and our kids are fantastic if I do say so myself. This year will be a little different, as this is the shop’s first summer, which means I have waved a slightly shocked farewell to the six week holiday. However, we have lots of groovy stuff going on to entertain not only our family, but hopefully others too!

I’m an inquisitive person by nature, so always like to know what other schools do when their Year 6 pupils leave them for good. Some have a graduation ceremony, others a prom, perhaps a social gathering or two…every school is different. This is going somewhere, honest.

A few weeks ago we were approached by the Chair of Governors from Ingrave Johnstone, with a lovely request which I feel compelled to share with you. Their PA do something rather wonderful; they sponsor a book buying spree for the children. Each Year 6 pupil is asked to purchase a book which will bear a bookplate with the child’s name and be placed in the school library, as a legacy if you will. Isn’t that inspiring? So this morning, the children came along in the roasting heat, to buy a book each and just chill out with myself and Mr Frog for a while. The children were an absolute credit to their school, choosing thoughtfully and never once forgetting their manners. We were extremely impressed.

A truly beautiful way to leave your mark before heading off into the sunset, embarking on a whole new adventure.

*We gave a 10% discount on all purchases, plus free delivery. Supporting local schools all the way!

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It’s the weekend!

Posted on July 13, 2013 by chickenandfrog

Good morning all. Wowsers it looks like we’re in for a hot one today! I’m going to say it out loud, ready? Summer is finally here. Mr Frog is not a fan, but I am.

Our day is going to be crazy busy. We’ll start with Bring Daddy to Story time at 9:45. Of course if you want to bring mummy that’s fine too, but it’s a good way to earn some brownie points for dads.
10:30 sees the last of our Family Learning Projects until the next academic year rolls around. For those of you who don’t know, the FLP is a project funded by the Brentwood Share Fund, which enables us to deliver free tuition to local families. Here’s our groovy logo, courtesy of the supremely talented Russell Newton:

We are delighted to say that Russell will be running his art club for children from our little shop, every Saturday during term time, starting from TODAY, 13:00-14:30. The club costs £8 and is suitable from age 5. And don’t forget, he’ll also be running workshops during the holidays.
From 15:00-15:45 we have Creative Writing Club for ages 5-7, followed by Creative Writing for ages 7+, 16:00-17:30. The sessions are drop in, for £5 each. This week we are taking our inspiration from music. Should be fun! If it’s anything like last week, this may happen too:

Ooh, we’re going to sell lots of gorgeous books today too, so get yourselves down here pronto! (Well, from 9:30).

blog, events

Farewell IBW 2013

Posted on July 6, 2013July 6, 2013 by chickenandfrog

The day is almost over and we wave a fond farewell to our first ever Independent Booksellers Week. And what a week it’s been!

We’ve hosted a Tiger Who Came to Tea party,

a Hugless Douglas craft and story time session, countless impromptu story times, welcomed the ever so lovely Christopher William Hill to Chicken and Frog,

and finished off the week with a Where’s Wally hunt around Brentwood. I would like to thank all of the ‘businesses’ who took part: Mi Neni, Brentwood Theatre, Brentwood Library, B.M.Cycles, Rossi’s, Vintage Verde, French Quarter, The Hair Company, Ya Ya’s, Holly Trees Primary School and Hogarth Primary School. It was a real community triumph, which I am hoping helped to increase footfall today. Also a very big thank-you to the people of Brentwood who chose to come out on this scorchingly hot summer’s day…phew it’s been a hot one!

So that’s it, our first IBW done and dusted. The final part of the day was shared with our Creative Writing Club,

It’s been fantastic. Here’s to our second one!