The Snowman has arrived at Manchester Opera House and will be there until Sunday. The Birmingham Repertory Theatre production with a cast of 16 was first performed in 1993 and just as the book and the short film haven't really aged, neither has the stage show.


I'll start by saying I am a MASSIVE fan of The Snowman. I love Raymond Briggs work, I have several of his books and my earliest memory of reading with my parents is Father Christmas. His book The Snowman was released when I was only just 7 and has been an annual read ever since. I may have begun the show a bit biased.

I went with my partner and our 2 boys aged 7 and 9. We all had lots of questions about how The Snowman was going to work, would it be believable,what about the flying? Costumes? Lack of dialogue?

A Book Advent Calendar is a great way to get into the Christmas mood and spend real quality time with your child doing something they'll remember forever. Forget chocolates and windows, your child can open their imagination every day in the run up to Christmas.

Scholastic have put together 2 fantastic bundles of 24 books for advent 2017 and I'm truly delighted to be able to give away one of each. If you bought all of these books individually then they'd cost over £145rrp, but Scholastic are giving everyone an early Christmas gift and this Advent Pack of 24 books for age 0-7 is available to buy for only £29.99 while stocks last.


Scholastic Books are responsible for my earliest memories of loving books, I waited for the Scholastic Books leaflet each term with a great deal of excitement as I was allowed to choose a brand new book for myself. It gives me great joy to be working with Scholastic on such an awesome Christmas giveaway.

A Book Advent Calendar is a genius idea and something I wish I'd thought of years ago. Opening a new book each day during December with your children will create fabulous warm memories that you'll all remember forever.

This year Scholastic Books have put together 2 fantastic Advent Calendar Bundles and I'm delighted to be giving one of each away. Both bundles contain 24 specially chosen books and have an rrp of over £145 - but while stocks last they'll be on sale for only £29.99 for the pack.


Over 90 years after they started, Scholastic are still bringing great literature to children and this bundle of 24 Young Fiction books for younger independent readers aged around 7-11 contains some real gems.

The Morphant is a fiction book for young readers aged around 9+. Written by Cornelius Fuel, the tale starts with Gabriel Grant, a 13 year old Londoner, doing an amazing display for his sister Ariel. The story then tells you how he got to that point...


Morphant are born with the ability to change shape and very rarely a Morphant is born who is The One With The Gift. It takes another Morphant to seek him out and as the book starts, Brother Dhankza Linpoche has just rung the Silent Gong to signify he has been successful in this quest. Ordinary 14 year old Gabriel's life is about to change beyond recognition.

Shnooks are cute little plushy toys which make great stockingfillers - although the packaging is a bit bigger than your usual stocking. At first it almost looks like you have a book, but then you realise the small bubble on the front of the packaging is going to turn into a much bigger toy - 8 times the size in fact!


This is an excellent toy to give as a gift and totally Christmas morning friendly. Opening it takes seconds, although you might want to take the time to enjoy the novelty because it's not your average box opening.

My 9 year old loves facts. He gets a lot of pleasure from knowing everything and telling me things I don't know. For the last month we've been receiving a copy of the weekly young people's current affairs magazine The Week Junior and he's read each issue cover to cover.


Your children will hear or read some adult news coverage and this can be scary or confusing for them. It's often hard to know exactly what they've picked up on and how they feel, so it's difficult to know what you should tell them or bring up to discuss.


The Week Junior is pitched at the right level that they will learn the facts and the background and not just the scandalous headlines and terrifying soundbites.

Tofuture make a great little tofu press that you can use to press bought tofu. This makes it a firmer consistency which will soak up marinade better and be more suited to stir fries. This will give you a tastier meal, but you can also use the press when making your own tofu from scratch.


The press comes in 3 parts - a deep outer tub, the insert with perforated base to let the whey drip out and the clip on lid. The lid clamps on securely at the sides using rubber bands, which have 3 different positions depending on what you have in your Tofuture press at the time.

Steenbergs Organic are a family-run Yorkshire company passionate about the environment and those who live in it. They are committed to Fairtrade and provide organic spices, loose leaf tea and organic cooking ingredients full of flavour and aroma, each with a known provenance, so you can be assured you get only the best. And they're one of my favourites.


I am truly delighted to have been sent the gorgeous Taste Of Baking Jute Bag gift set, which arrived beautifully packaged and opening it felt just like Christmas to me! This is not only a practical jute shopping bag, it is crammed with exciting goodies.


The Taste Of Baking bag is full of of Steenbergs baking ingredients, as well as a set of 3 very special T&G /Sophie Conran designed wooden spoons and a huge Steenbergs Tea Towel.

The Game Of Things is a truly hilarious game for 4 players or more. It's very easy to play, but does often lead to answers which could be a bit risque or rude, so it's recommended for age 14+ only. Players secretly write down the answers to questions, and it's up to everyone else to work out who said what?


The Wooden Box is a lovely tough and it makes this a really excellent present. It feels special, it protects the contents well and it'll look good on the shelf for as long as you own it.


Inside the box are the game cards, scoresheets, answer sheets and pencils, as well as instructions. The answer sheets are serrated, so once you've written your answer, you can cleanly tear it off to pass to the reader.

The Awesome Little Green Men are 2 troops of small collectible Army Figures. They aren't all men and in fact half of them aren't even green, they're blue! My 7 year old will happily tell you just how awesome they are though...


There are several different sets to collect, each with mystery figures and the smallest is the individual Blind Box with one figure, a dog tag and a collectors sheet.