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picThe government is to spend £3million pounds on training children's centre outreach workers. This is a drive to ensure that the most disadvantaged families are reached and the needs of all children and families are being met.

Now that children's centres have been running for some time they are good at planning and delivering services and activities and ensuring in many cases that financial stability is a priority.

Our partnership is involved in developing children's centres and continues to support them in both their marketing and work with the community. The local neighbourhood and a knowledge of families and organisations can make so much difference to ensuring that they are part of the community and not seen as another service beyond a closed gate.

Over 5000 workers are intended to be part of the training programme, which is being developed by Children's Workforce Development Council. It is being provided by National Children's Bureau through a programme called Families Going Forward and underpinned by 4Children.


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


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Bradfield College

A whole weekend of children's books at Bradfield College, Berkshire - a splendid setting and the warmest days so far.

A great success for the FCBG Annual Conference 2010 .

Cake at Conference

We were there for the Saturday speakers.

Hadn't realised that there would be so much cake.

Definitely a bonus!

A Gothic Imagination started the day with Sarah Singleton, author of The Poison Garden and Century . She carried us through the attics of neurosis and cellars of repression, describing gothic style as somewhat claustrophobic, with decay and a feeling of being trapped in the past.

John Burningham(author of Mr Gumpy and many many more books), gave some amazing reflections on his work and career as an illustrator and author, somehow even finding a flair for trains in Japan.

Truth Lies and Violence was a lively seminar with Graham Marks (I Spy - The Constantinople Caper) and Marcus Sedgwick (Revolver). They even managed to travel to get the real feel of the settings for their books and in Marcus' case tried out a gun to see what it would feel like.

Books at Bedtime, in the middle of the afternoon, wasn't at all soporific! Wendy Cooling , David Melling and Clara Vulliamy were inspirational in their illustrations and composition of picture books. Hugless Douglas and The Bear with Sticky Paws are two of their titles.

And even time to relax too!

sm

Time to look at new books coming on the scene, chance to meet up with friends.

We enjoyed the opportunity to sit back and listen to the creativity of writing and illustrating.

Just wait until the children start getting stuck into those books.

Dolphin Booksellers for books and information on-line.


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


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TwThe Twilight effect has taken children's books into another world, not just literally either. The saga and series of books are written by  Stephenie Meyer - Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, published by Atom Books of the Little, Brown Book Group have sold in epic proportions.

The films Twilight and New Moon are also available on DVD and they make chilling viewing.

But one of the real successes of the book is how a love story and other stories are interwoven in the framework of vampires and evil, a world Bella stumbles into. Once there, it seems like there is no escape.....

You may not find the books in the children's section any longer. That's mainly because so many 'grown ups' are now reading them. But what teenager would want to walk in to a children's section with Thomas the Tank Engine and The Gruffalo.This series is a stunnning new approach and brings you to a supernatural world, mixed with romance and a large portion of suspense.

Available from Amazon.co.uk through our web links above. Hover your mouse over the 'little book' icon to see the details of the title.

The books are available at great price today. So why not start at the beginning with Twilight and start reading. I guess you will not be able to put them down.

Dolphin Booksellers always on line - bringing you information and great books.


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


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lbThe  School Library Association have launched a Primary School Library Charter on Monday 15 th February. The charter will help primary head teachers and governors set up and run a school library or increase the contribution that their current library makes to the school’s effectiveness and the pupils’ well being and learning.

At Dolphin Booksellers and at SmithMartin Partnership we are so pleased that the value of libraries in primary schools is really celebrated. A well resourced library with an area and space which is attractive for children to sit and read or to access information is so important. Library spaces we have created have been places that children just love to be in.

Many schools, for many children, are the only place that they have access to a wide range of books. It becomes the very start of their own reading materials and if we are lucky it can be the catalyst for finding the way to local libraries.

Sir Tim Brighouse, associate professor at the Institute of Education , University of London and former Schools Commissioner for London, welcomed the charter, saying: ‘The school library is one of the key indicators of whether a school environment is as best fitted as it can be for learning. If the library is a desert, you start to worry.

Lucy Bakewell, librarian at Hill West Primary School in Sutton Coldfield and the first primary winner of the SLA’s School Librarian of the Year award (2009), believes that a primary school library plays a unique role in ‘grabbing children when they are building their vocabulary and growing their imaginations to introduce them to reading habits and information handling skills which will stand them in good stead later’. She adds: ‘Primary school librarians are also well placed to reach parents and help to create a reading ethos in families as well as in schools.’

Watch this space for more information, we will be interested to find out the response from Gordon Brown to a letter from international colleagues.

Dolphin Booksellers for up to date information and a chance to buy books on line.


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


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snThe Snow Leopard by Jackie Morris

Whilst listening to the radio, I heard that snow leopards are perfectly adapted to the snow and bitterly cold weather we are having in the UK. It made me stop and think, then refind my copy of The Snow Leopard by Jackie Morris, published by Frances Lincoln.

The beauty and spirituality of these animals is captured wonderfully. The story is truly magical.

“From the beginning of time the Snow Leopard has sung the stars to life, the sun to rise and the moon to wax and wane. She weaves a song to keep her hidden valley safe from the world of men and as she sings, a child down in the valley beneath, dreams her song.”

slThe illustrations are amazingly evocative with the dreaming and sleeping child snuggled close to the leopard. The shades of cobalt blue matched boldly against the white and grey fur.

If you are looking for a book to use for creativity and imagination, go for this one over the winter spell. The writing and illustrations will give endless scope.

And just open the pages, read, gaze and dream............

For a more scientific approach, facts about the snow leopard can be found on the BBC nature web site with further links. There are some great videos of snow leopards, these solitary cats need about 2000 acres of snow covered lands in which to roam.

Or visit Jackie's website and find out more about her work, she has a large range of prints for sale too.
Buy The Snow Leopard, by Jackie Morris before you leave?


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


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ppPapa Panov was an old shoemaker, who lived in a Russian village.

It was Christmas Eve and he was expecting a special visitor the next day. He found the very best pair of tiny leather shoes that he had ever made.

' That's what I shall give him.' He said.

The next day, Christmas Day, he made a really warm fire, put some coffee on the stove and waited. He had several visitors that day, the old road sweeper, a young mother with a baby. He asked them into the warm and gave them coffee. He gave the best pair of shoes that he had ever made to the baby.

But still the special person didn't come.

As it got dark, he sat in his chair. Two large tears welled up in his eyes.

"Dearie, dearie" he said. It seemed as if someone was in the room. A voice said, " I was cold and you made me warm, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. Didn't you see me Papa Panov?"

Papa Panov is a beautiful, old french story, retold by Leo Tolstoy . It captures the heart of Christmas without too much tinsel.

Papa Panov's Special Day has been adapted by Mig Holder and illustrated by Julie Dowling.

cdppThere's also a CD which features Papa Panov as a story.

This story is one of several Christmas stories that will be on Dolphin Bookblog this Christmas.

Dolphinboooksellers.co.uk for children's books and information on line.

...continue reading "Papa Panov’s Special Day – Books for Christmas"


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


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cj1

Crispy Juice – Love Music, Love poetry, Love kids.

A new concept bringing rhymes and poetry together in a beautifully presented package. Crispy Juice website has style, quality and is a real delight in the illustrations and the way rhymes and music are put together.

The music is available to listen to on the website and CD's can be purchased on line. If you are lucky enough to live near Bristol, there may be some markets where you can find a Crispy Juice stall.

When you buy a CD, a donation of £1 is given to Zambuko library.

calpCalico Pie is the first CD produced. There are over 20 rhymes and songs, old favourites and new ones too, set to music by Paul Bradley using a melodica, glockenspiel, guitar and piano.

Its very dreamy and as they say on the CD, 'Its best served warm with a cosy blanket'.

Just right for winter evenings and anytime that you and the children want to enjoy music and rhymes.
It would be great for nurseries 'sleepy times' just after lunch. You know that sort of time when you don't need to actually sleep, but music and a comfy chair and a good book are just right!

Dolphin Booksellers have information and lists of books for Christmas, plus you can buy them direct through the link to Amazon, so great books at good prices. A winning combination.


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


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qrQuick Reads are a really good way to find your way into books. In fact they are an excellent read in their own right and they have been a huge success.In the last four years they have distributed over 1 million copies and introduced thousands of new readers to books.

2010 is their fifth anniversary and they have some exciting titles lined up already including Doctor Who and the Code of the Krillitanes by Justin Richards. aw Traitors of the Tower is written by Alison Weir. She is a great author who specialises in historical novels, based very closely to facts and research. For a larger novel try also Innocent Traitor or The Lady Elizabeth.

The back lists for Quick Reads are still available and definitely worth checking out. They are all written by best selling authors and include some celebrities too. The Quick Read website has lots of information and a chance to write a review about the books.

At Dolphin Booksellers we would be really interested in bringing some books and authors for an event for your organisation. Our City Stories website has more information too.


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


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dvSo good to have an award to celebrate diversity in children's fiction. Frances Lincoln Ltd, the award winning publisher and Seven Stories, the Centre for Children's Books announced the second Diverse Voices Children's Book Award.

Its aim is to encourage and promote diversity in children's fiction and is in memory of Frances Lincoln ( 1945 - 2001).

In the UK we have an amazing richness of cultures and people from all over the world. Children's perceptions of the world are largely based on the environment around them, the friends they meet and the books they read. Books need to be relevant to children of today.

The Diverse Voices Award is in its second year and is for new writers, whose books ensure that heroes, heroines and the range of characters reflect our modern cultures. The manuscript must celebrate cultural diversity in the widest sense, either through the story, or the origins of the author.

tdThere is a prize worth £1500 and an option for Frances Lincoln to publish the novel.

Last year's winner was Christy Burne and there's lots more information on her web page.

The fiction must be unpublished, between 15,000 and 35,000 words and written for 8 – 12 year olds, by a writer aged 16 or over.

All the details are on the Frances Lincoln and Seven Stories, where you will also find the entry forms.

If you already have an idea or have even started writing, there's nothing to lose and lots to gain.

Dolphin Booksellers are delighted to be able to include this information on Dolphin Book Blog and make it available to a wide audience of Children's Centres and schools.


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.


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libEnthusiastic, creative and talented are just what is needed to become School Librarian of 2009. Some of the best ways to encourage children with reading and books– being interested and enthusiastic, finding ways to be creative with books and of course having the talent to know what is going to appeal.

The School Library Association will be holding the Award Winning Ceremony on Monday 5th October at London Zoo. Not certain why London Zoo, Anthony Browne's books come to mind?

In the Autumn edition of School Librarian magazine there's a really interesting article; Theresa Breslin, former librarian and author of Whispers in the Graveyard, amongst other books, talks with her niece, Frances, a Children's Librarian for Fife Council with an office base inside the very first Carnegie library.

There are four librarians on the Honours List, from very different schools and colleges,with lots of skills and talent for making their libraries appealing places.

The Honours List for 2009 is:
Lucy Bakewell Hill West Primary School, Birmingham
Barbara Band Emmbrook School, Wokingham
Barbara Band Sponne Community Technology College in Towcester
Joy Wassell - Timms Parrs Wood High School in Didsbury

slAKeep looking here at School Library Association and at Dolphin Booksellers to find out who has become School Librarian 2009.


Dolphinbooksellers.co.uk is part of SmithMartin LLP

A retail resource for the best children's books, entry point into our children's and community library procurement and supply service. Offering a miscellany of news and featured authors for all our readers, whatever their age.