blog – Page 27 – Chicken and Frog Bookshop

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Posted on December 23, 2012 by chickenandfrog

Today we rescued many a stressed-looking man by opening our doors on a Sunday, therefore providing the opportunity for an extra few precious hours of panic buying. It worked out well, resulting in the sale of a fair few books and gift certificates, as well as crafts from Claire’s Beautiful Things.

Although the said rescuing made me happy, my favourite part of the day was just as the morning’s business began. A lovely young American came in, searching for a copy of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. She was delighted when I offered not one, but two versions of this classic, deciding upon this edition by Clement C.Moore:

It wasn’t just the fact that I had what she was looking for, but the lovely story that she told. Every year her mum reads ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas to herself and her sister, but this is the first year in England without her mum, so the book is for our lovely customer’s husband to read on Christmas night. Everyone that I have relayed this episode to has had the same ‘aah’ response, so I decided to share it with you!

If I don’t say it in person or before hand, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and (even more importantly), a peaceful New Year.

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Christmas has come early!

Posted on December 19, 2012 by chickenandfrog

Part of our mission statement for Chicken and Frog is to provide affordable education for the families of our community. To a large degree we have already achieved this, as we run tuition sessions* for just £15, without any scary tie-ins which ask for long-term commitments from parents.

Although in an ideal world we would love it if our children received all of the education that they need in school, for a variety of reasons this cannot or is not always the case. We found out first hand how expensive private tuition can be and felt that it would be beneficial to offer an alternative. To this end, we run 4:1 group tuition for a less daunting fee.

However, we are all too aware that for many families, the cost is still a barrier. As well as this, some parents need to know how to support their child with school work. I wouldn’t know where to begin if our eldest was struggling with maths and I know that there are other parents out there that feel the same.

Mr Frog & Mrs Chicken when eldest Radish needed help with maths!

Many schools run one-off literacy or numeracy drop-in sessions for their families, and whilst they are very good, they may not be enough. So what’s the solution? Well, we have come up with a cunning plan to help combat this tricky situation. Our plan began to take shape back in August when we heard about the Brentwood Localism Share Fund.

In essence, there is a pot of money which has been ring-fenced for self-sustaining community projects. For example, Claire Mackaness developed the Brentwood Bag Project, using funding from the Council, enabling her to deliver training to local community groups, on how to make and sell bags using re-claimed materials.

There are varying rules and regulations around the funding, but the main premise is that the money is used to benefit the community in a long-term, sustainable fashion.

Our idea is relatively simple. We will offer ten families (in the first instance), 12 x 1 hour tuition sessions in English or Maths (not both), on a fortnightly basis. For now, we will focus on Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 children. In addition to the contact time with the teacher, each family will have access to a chat-room and ‘ask the teacher’ section via our main website. We will also offer a 10% discount on books for the signed up families. The catch? There isn’t one, except that one parent must attend each session with their child. There is no cost to the families involved, unless they choose to buy a book! All we ask is that the families attend their allocated sessions each fortnight.

Exciting stuff heh! We are very grateful to the Council for awarding us our bid and are really looking forward to putting our plans into action once the New Year swings into view.

* KS1-A Level English & Maths, French conversation, Basic Skills for adults

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It’s competition time

Posted on December 12, 2012 by chickenandfrog

We have some great news…well, actually we have two big pieces of news, but I’m only blogging about one of them tonight.

As you may already know, I run a ‘Creative Writing Club’ every Saturday afternoon, which is great fun. The sharing of stories through the written word and film, all leads to some wonderful writing from the children. I have been overwhelmed by the response the club has received; it has gone a long way to confirming my faith that children love writing.

To celebrate the talent that’s out there, we are running our very own creative writing competition in the New Year. We invite children to write a short story or narrative poem about Mr Frog and Mrs Chicken. The rest is left entirely up to the budding authors.

The fabulous J.D.Irwin will be joining us to whittle the entries down to three final winners (one from each of the following Key Stages – KS1, KS2 & KS3). All entries need to be with us by Saturday 26th January, by post, in person or via email: competition@chickenandfrog.co.uk. If you are from a local school and would like to get involved, we can arrange collection of your children’s entries on Friday 25th January.

Julie will present the three winners with their prizes on Saturday 9th February at 14:00, right here at Chicken and Frog Bookshop. In addition each winning entry will be published on our website, so they can grab their fifteen minutes of fame! So, what are you waiting for? Get those pencils sharpened…

P.S. All entries must include the child’s full name, D.O.B and contact details.

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Ho ho how do you choose?

Posted on December 7, 2012 by chickenandfrog

Obviously at this time of the year the shop is looking, well, Christmasy! We have a roaring fireplace in the window, sparkly snowflakes and one or two books.

Picking our Christmas-related books was tricky because there are so many to choose from. What do you look for in a Christmas book? Not everyone wants a traditional tale, but you need to include them in your collection, so what to go for?

Well, this is my top 5:

I have a very well-loved copy of my own, which I will never part with. The illustrations are stunning, classic Ahlberg and each little pocket contains a treasure to delight readers young and old.

A lovely re-telling of the nativity, with glorious illustrations.

Blooming marvelous! A humourous look at the life of Father Christmas.

It’s just funny ok? Pants are always amusing.

A classic tale, perfectly narrated, with delicately drawn illustrations.

We have all of these books in-store plus a whole lot more, including books perfect for gifts or just snuggling up on the sofa with. Happy reading.

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Rant!

Posted on December 5, 2012 by chickenandfrog

I was driving to work on Monday morning, merrily listening to the XFM Break fast Show, when suddenly I turned from a mild-mannered teacher/ bookseller into a ranting crazy lady.

Why? I’ll tell you why. Because the latest radio ad for Talk Talk came on. ‘That’s not much of a catalyst,’ I hear you proclaim and you are quite right. Although adverts can be an irritant, they do not usually cause such an emotional reaction. However, this particular one did.

It’s all about their Christmas promotion for some shiny product or another, which is fine. What is not fine is that a disgruntled teen says ‘thanks’ for book tokens in a clearly derisory tone. What I’d like to know is what is wrong with the giving or receiving of a book token? I used to love them and my children still do. And I mean an actual book token, not an Amazon (boo hiss) voucher.

Ooh, it made me so cross. It’s this kind of negative, false depiction that continues to compound the myth that children no longer read. Absolute nonsense. Year on year the sales figures for the children’s book market buck the ‘trend’. Children do read.

Rant over, apart from to say that we sell and accept National Book Tokens, as well as our very own Chicken and Frog branded gift certificates.

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Dig deep

Posted on November 30, 2012November 30, 2012 by chickenandfrog

Good morning one and all. I know that it is bitterly cold out there today and that there’s a recession on, but today I’m asking you to put all of that aside for the sake of one amazingly brave little boy. Sky Harrington-Ellis is just two years old, yet he and his family have already been through more than most of us will experience in a life time.

Tonight we will be staying open until 21.30 to help raise much needed funds for Sky and his loving parents, Paul and Marie. So, wrap up and dig deep people. Chicken and Frog and Beautiful Things will be donating a percentage of our takings from this evening to Sky’s fund, as well as holding a raffle full of lovely prizes, all kindly donated by members of the community.

And to show you how much we appreciate your support, there’ll be mince pies and mulled wine waiting for you.

To donate directly, you can follow this link: http://www.gofundme.com/SkysFund#description

To keep updated with Sky’s progress, you can read this touching blog: http://friendsofsky.wordpress.com/?blogsub=confirmed#blog_subscription-2

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The holidays are coming, the holidays are coming…

Posted on November 29, 2012November 29, 2012 by chickenandfrog

…as if you hadn’t guessed it, Christmas is almost upon us and I have finally succumbed. The shop is decorated and I have listened to ‘Fairytale of New York‘ enough to make me come to terms with the fact that even though it is not quite December, Santa Claus is most certainly in town. As I have said before, I do love Christmas, I just don’t love the fact that it has turned into a two month extravaganza.

Enough of my bah-humbugging, I shall now sprinkle good cheer wherever I may be. People are starting to ask us what we’re up to at Chicken and Frog during the hols, so I have updated our events page with the various activities that we are putting on. Please also check out Claire’s website for all of the wonderful crafty activities that she will be running.

There will be plenty to do to keep your angels occupied , as well as a huge range of gorgeous books and crafts just waiting to be given to a loved one as a present!

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Chicken and Frog to the Rescue

Posted on November 29, 2012 by chickenandfrog

Here at Chicken and Frog we always like to provide our customers with whatever they need, from books about lighthouses to a reprinted classic from years gone by. So, when a young man (who aspires to become a firefighter) came in and asked if we could help him brush up for his basic skills test, who was I to say no?

I know what you’re thinking; a young firefighter eh, no wonder she said yes. Well, how very dare you! It won’t be me (sadly) who will be delivering the tuition, so you can stop that right now. However, if he chooses to let his fellow colleagues know about us and they happen to visit Chicken and Frog, I will be my usual, hospitable self.

There is a serious edge to this blog post dear reader, and that is to let you know in my rambling manner, that as well as 11+, English and Maths (KS1-‘A’ Level) and French Conversation, we now offer basic skills sessions for in adults in English and Maths. Our main time slot will be Thursdays 18.00-19.00, but we can run sessions during the day too if that would suit your needs. The cost is just £15 per hour and all sessions must be pre-booked, as we guarantee no more than four students in a group.

I appreciate that it can be difficult as an adult to ask for help when it comes to numeracy and literacy skills, but once you have made that first step there’ll be no looking back. You don’t need to commit to a long costly course and each session will be tailored to support you. All we ask is that after the first session, you book and pay in advance for following sessions.

tuition@chickenandfrog.co.uk

01277 230068

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Peter Rabbit is Hopping to Town!

Posted on November 24, 2012November 25, 2012 by chickenandfrog

Just a quick piece of cheery news on this rather wet, dreary day. Chicken and Frog are proud to announce that we now sell tickets on behalf of the Brentwood Theatre, for the up and coming performance of Peter Rabbit. The show runs (or should I say hops?), from the 8th-30th December.

It is an honour to support our local theatre and we hope that this is the beginning of an enduring partnership. Tickets are £13.50 (£11.50 for concessions) and can be purchased either at the theatre box office on 01277 200305 or here at Chicken and Frog.

N.B. We can only accept cash or cheque in-store.

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Ho Ho Ho!

Posted on November 20, 2012November 25, 2012 by chickenandfrog

I’ll be the first to admit that I am not the world’s number one Christmas fan. It’s not that I don’t love the time we get together as a family, or the food (lots of food), or the pressies (giving in particular). All of that is wonderful. And of course, ‘Fairytale of New York‘ is played, so that’s got to be good. It’s the fact that it starts in October that gets me twitchy.

However, now that I am a ‘shopkeeper’, I have had to give in slightly to the commercialism of the season, so the decorations are now up at Chicken and Frog. Poor Mr Frog was sent back to the Christmas shop with the bag of highly-colourful foil selection that he had so carefully chosen, but other than that it’s gone without a hitch.

Not in my shop!

We have some very pretty twinkly snow flakes and lots of gorgeous books and crafts in situ and that’s enough for me. I am holding off until the 30th November before we create and unveil our Christmas window display, so it will at least be nudging into the correct month. I can just about cope with that!

However, I am not a complete Grinch

and really do love the way that children get so engrossed in the magic of it all. So, in order to rid myself of this ‘bah humbug’ tendency, ‘The Jolly Christmas Postman’ will be shared during Discover a Book tomorrow morning.

As if that wasn’t enough (and quite frankly a morning surrounded by the genius of the Ahlberg’s is pretty close to perfection), the children will get to write to Santa (with a bit of help if needed). All of the children are guaranteed to receive a reply in time for Christmas Eve.

Ho, ho, ho!