DRAGONESE DAY.

So unless the 6th of October is important to you personally, perhaps you celebrate your birthday or maybes its your wedding anniversary, its probably not a day you have circled on your calendar.

Well it should be!!!!!!

For not only is the 6th of October National Poetry Day this October the sixth sees the launch of

Drum roll please ........

Yes, today author CRESSIDA COWELL is launching Dragonese Day, a great way to inspire children about Vikings, dragons and other languages and cultures.

Visit WWW.HOWTOTRAINYOURDRAGONBOOKS.COM to download exciting activities, watch the special Dragonese Day video, contribute to the online gallery and even learn to speak Dragonese ...... here, courtesy of Red House book catalogue, are a few to get you started.

• PIDDLY .................. a little.
• JOOSQUEEZE-PROTECTOR .... armour.
• OKEY DOKEY .............. alright.
• ZUZZPOT ................. bedroom.
• SNIK-SNAK ............... biscuit.
• SLAMMER ................. door.
• MOO-POOS BLOCK .......... cheese.
• QUICKSMART .............. clever.
• DO DI CHUCKLI HA-HAS .... laugh.
• STRIDERS ................ legs.
• FICKLE-SCRATCH .......... pen.
• YUM-YUM ON DI BUM ....... bite someone on the bottom.

And now for my own tribute to Dragonese Day ...........



A song I always cried at as a child and, I confess, still do - I mean to say how can the following words fail to bring a tear to the eye?

A dragon lives forever but not so little boys

Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys.

One grey night it happened, Jackie paper came no more

And puff that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar.

His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain,

Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane.

Without his life-long friend, puff could not be brave,

So puff that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave. oh!

(Click HERE for all verses).

YE OLDE BOOKSHOP.

Internet and supermarkets kill off 2,000 bookshops

According to research carried out by Experian there were only 2,178 bookshops left in Britain's high streets this July. With supermarkets, the rise of internet retailers and the ever-growing popularity of e-readers nearly 2,000 bookshops have closed since 2005. - James Hall, The Telegraph (September 2011) Click HERE for full article.

Stark facts I know. So is it a good idea for Waterstone's (a big book retailer here in the UK and across Europe)to end its 3-for-2 book promotion?

Well it is according to new managing director James Daunt who said that the offer .....

"Goes completely against the grain of how I like buying books. We don't despoil our books by putting stickers on them."

A fair point Mr Daunt. 

But its not all bad news as ........

The 206 store Waterstones business is now said to be looking at introducing money-off deals either pricing campaign books at £5 or introducing a 'staggered' offer for paperbacks at £3, £5 and £7. - Alison Flood, The Guardian (September 2011)Click HERE for full article.

But getting back to the internet being responsible for the closure of so many bookshops.

Its no secret that when it comes down to books I prefer the real deal, no e-books for me, thank you very much.  No, I love to browse my local bookshop (which happens to be a Waterstone's), I love the smell of books, and there is nothing quite like opening the pages of a new book

BUT

Like many other households money is tight here in the Petty Witter household and whilst in an ideal world I'd love to be able to buy all of my book from Waterstone's or, better still, a local, independent store I confess that though Waterstone's also has books available to buy online it is cheaper to buy books from specialist online retailers such as Amazon. Plus of course buying this way also has the advantage that the book(s) are delivered straight to the door - a big plus for someone with mobility problems.

So, What do you think of the 3-for-2 offer and how do you prefer to buy your books?

BROOMSTICKS AND BEASTICLES.

BROOMSTICKS AND BEASTICLES by BARBARA SLEIGH.

The 77th book read in my 100+ Reading Challenge, Broomsticks And Beasticles was a hospital charity shop buy and is not so much a book written by Barbara Sleigh as whilst she did write some of the content this is more a collection of short stories and verses chosen by her.

Should a witch decide to help you, be sure to follow her advice very carefully for if you don't you'll soon wish you'd never met her!

You can find out what fearsome things happenend to those who didn't take their witches seriously in this delightful collection of stories and poems, conjuring up magical creatures from all over the world.
......Outer back cover.

FIRST SENTENCE (Forward): Do you think of Witches as always ugly, old and wicked?

MEMORABLE MOMENT: See my favourite bit.

KEEP IT OR NOT?: Not.

I loved this short read of 152 pages, full of stories and verses from countries as far apart as Wales, Scotland, Norway, China and Czechoslovakia and from as early as the sixteenth century there really was something for everyone as you can see by clicking HERE for the contents list.

My favourite bit?

Once in a night as black as pitch

Isabel met a wicked old witch.

the witch's face was cross and wrinkled,

The witch's gums with teeth were sprinkled.

Ho, ho, Isabel! the old witch crowed,

I'll turn you into an ugly toad!

Isabel, Isabel, didn't worry,

Isabel didn't scream or scurry,

She showed no rage and she showed no rancor,

But she turned the witch into milk and drank her.

-Isabel by Ogden Nash

(Click HERE to view the whole verse)