Thames Valley Mums Blog

Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” Said the Sloth Prize Draw

Enter your primary school and local library in the Prize Draw contest to receive an exclusive, signed artist’s proof from Eric Carle 

This autumn, 680,000 copies of Eric Carle’s wonderful story book “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” Said the Sloth will be given to reception age children in England, as a gift from independent charity Booktrust and Pearson, the world’s leading education and technology company.  

To celebrate, Booktime are offering primary schools and libraries in England the chance to enter a prize draw to receive an exclusive artist’s proof from the book. Each vibrant, colourful spread from the book is signed by Eric Carle. 

Sleepless night and being a bundle of nerves

My book is about to come out and so I have spent the past week fretting so much, I thought I was about to have a nervous breakdown. I seem to spend my entire time looking at it on Amazon. This is a bad idea. Sometimes it is at 3,000th in the best seller list which seems bad enough but, in retrospect, is not so awful as when I logged on the day after it had plummeted to 27,000th. One day it was 4,449th and then, by midday, it was 80,000th. I don’t know what any of this really means. All I know is that other books I have looked at in a similar ilk are things like 137th and 809th which seem a million miles higher than mine.

Ten things to do in Oxford with children this Christmas

Wondering what to do with the kids this Christmas?

Oxford is just a hop, skip and a jump away and it's a great place for kids. You just need to know where to go and what to do.

Check out these insider tips by Kelli Terrington, an Oxford mum and founder of Ox and Cross Publishing, publisher of the Oxford Colouring Book, where all proceeds go to charities that help children.

1. The Botanic Garden near Magdalen Bridge has an inspiring Christmas tree decorated with things found in the garden.  If you are worried about being out in the cold, there are several glasshouses where you can keep warm and admire many interesting plants despite the outside temperatures.