Scampy Doodle and the Reindeer by G. J. Barnes - [Book Review]

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Summary:

Scampy Doodle is a happy go lucky black dog who has a strong nose for adventure.

It's Christmas Eve and Scampy Doodle is fast asleep when he is woken by a strange noise coming from the chimney. Discover what happens when he goes to investigate and gets the greatest surprise of his life!

Information about the Book

Title: Scampy Doodle and the Reindeer

Author: G J Barnes

Illustrator: Chris Sorensen

Release Date: 4^th December 2017

Genre: Picture Book

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Clink Street Publishing

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43020585-scampy-doodle-and-the-reindeer

Purchase link:

Amazon 

My Review

This is a good time to read a Christmas story, Isn't it? My 4-year-old son wants to read a Christmas story and this book has come to me at right time.

The story is about a lovely pet dog Scampy Doodle, who like every other kid is waiting ready to receive presents from Santa. Scampy keeps a plate of carrots for the Reindeer and a drink for Sata Claus before the night of Christmas. 

Scampy is a kind and helpful dog who gives her collar to the reindeer and offers dog biscuits to the reindeer. 

This is a quick read as the book has only 20 pages. The illustrations of the dog, reindeer, and Santa are good. A sweet little story about Christmas for the little ones. The book cover is great and apt. Scampy looks adorable for kids.

My Rating: 4/5

Ps: I have received this book from the author through Authoright in exchange for a review and this is my honest opinion on the book.

Author Information

  As my daughter got older we used to (and still do) tell each other stories in the car about our family dog Scamp. Scamp had been neglected as a puppy and was rescued by my parents and became our family pet.

He was a little bit crazy (he used to try and get up on the table to lick up crumbs after a meal) but he was always happy to see you and always there for a cuddle whenever anyone needed one.

In many ways he was more like a human being, standing up on his back legs, drinking cups of tea out of a cup off the coffee table.

So I decided to write some of our stories down to share with others, the first one being Scampy Doodle and the Reindeer.

Website: https://www.scampydoodle.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/scampyd

Tour Schedule

Monday 3^rd December

Carol’s Notebook

Tuesday 4^th December

Jazzy Book Reviews

Wednesday 5^th December

Bound 4 Escape

Thursday 6^th December

Evermore Books

Friday 7^th December

Reading for Pleasure

Bumbling Blogger

Saturday 8^th December

Donna’s Book Blog

Sunday 9^th December

Rosie Writes

Monday 10^th December

Life of a Nerdish Mum

Tuesday 11^th December

Book Babble

Wednesday 12^th December

Fantastic Feathers

Thursday 13^th December

Bumbles and Fairy-tales

Criminally Good

Friday 14^th December

Dash Fan Book Reviews

Saturday 15^th December

Ellie in Heaven

Sunday 16^th December

Fraser’s Fun House

OBC Mini Reviewers

Until next time,

How to Recreate Traditional Gifts this Holiday Season?

The year is filled with gift giving occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. There are also events like births and weddings that spring up, and of course, the year ends with the gift-giving holiday season. It can all be enough to make anyone completely run out of fresh ideas when it comes to gift giving. Perhaps the solution isn’t in finding new types of gifts as much as it is in finding creative ways to present the item.

Source: www.pixaby.com

Collectibles

Do you have a friend that loves to collect, but you can’t imagine handing them another snowman, cat, or whatever their collection might be? Don’t be afraid to continue the tradition. Simply give it more creatively. For example, many people collect precious moment or willow tree figures found from retailers like Hallmark. Make the new piece the center of a basket. Paint the basket with a coordinating color, and fill it with related items. This could be candy, small picture frames, t-shirts or any number of other similar things.

Source: www.pixaby.com

Flowers

Fresh flowers make a wonderful gift, but they can seem a bit cliché. Try spicing them up a bit with imaginative ways of presenting them. Pick something to use as a vase that they can continue to use after the flowers are gone. Send a cup and saucer filled with miniature roses to the tea drinker and a mug of carnations to the coffee lover. Include a gift card to an area coffee shop as an extra bonus, and the gardener in your life will treasure a watering can filled with blossoms.

Source:www.pixabay.com

Food

One can never go wrong with the gift of food. If you are tired of the usual plate of cookies at Christmas, try filling a cookie jar instead. Cakes can be given on a covered cake plate, and a bread box filled with homemade breads and jams would be a wonderful treat. You could also shrink wrap a cutting board piled with crackers, cheese, and a slicer. Instead of giving a typical box of candy, give them a covered crystal dish filled with wrapped candies.

Use any of these suggestions to turn traditional gifts into something new and amazing. You may even think of some fresh new ideas of your own. Remember to be creative, and the next gift you give will be extraordinary.

So, how do you like recreating a traditional gift ? Do let me know in comments.

Until next time,

5 simple holiday gift ideas for kids

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I studied in a Christian missionary school in my childhood and so, the month of December was always a holiday time for us. We used to get at least 10 to 15 days of holidays in December for Christmas before our half yearly exams. Of course, we used to get holidays for Pongal too in January :-)


Gifting is a part of this holiday season. Even in our office we play Secret Santa and give gifts to our colleagues. When it comes to kids, the first gift that comes to our mind is toys. Other than that, what else can be interesting to them? Here are a few ideas that I have.. Let me know if you have any other good gifting ideas for kids.

1. Arts and crafts material

Quilling kits might find useful for kids above 6 years of age, but crayons and painting books/ books with stickers are useful for kids below 6 years of age. A gift set with a combination of pencils, crayons, colouring books, markers, fabric colours and erasers will be the best option.

 

 2. Outdoor gaming kits
Though a little expensive, a bike, skating board, tricycle etc are good gifts for kids.  Both boys and girls would enjoy this. Another option would be to buy a trampoline (quite expensive), a flying disc like frisbee, a ball etc.,

3. Indoor playing kits

 I love purchasing building blocks and board games. Board games like chinese checkers, Ludo, Monopoly, Snake and ladder, Brainvita etc., are very old traditional games which engage them for a long time. For children below 5 years of age and above 2 years, clay modeling kits are a good option.

4. Books
Please don't buy any serious books for children. First of all, it's difficult to make them read for a long time. So, Board books with pop-ups or interactive options are good for children below 3 years of age.  Some story books include stickers, fun quiz, coloring, and craft activities. These are good bets for me to gift for younger children.

5. Others

There are many things that kids use in day to day like lunch boxes, school bag, vibrant water bottles, a cozy pillow, a blanket with their favorite cartoon character, a night dress with their favorite designs etc., These items are easy to select and are very useful on a long run.

Pin it for Later!

Until next time,

This is my day 28 post for #NaBloPoMo Challenge.

Image courtesy:www.pixabay.com

The Holiday Killer by Holly Hunt - Book Spot Light

A thriller this time. I love Hollywood movies which were made in these lines - alone at home, Christmas season, snow and a psychopath on a hunt. A perfect on the edge thriller, right? 

Today's Book Spotlight is on 'The Holiday Killer' by Holly Hunt. Participate in the raffle copter giveaway :-)

Crime / Thriller

Date Published: December 7, 2015

Happy Holidays…

Around the world, Christmas Eve is a time of joy, hope and new beginnings, where children open presents, parents smile, and all is right with the world.

Except in Matryville.

Holidays are dreaded, rather than anticipated. A killer is on the loose, and he strikes as parents hide their kids, fearing the bogeyman’s wrath…

Liz Rhodes, Special Detective at the Matryville Central Police Department, is heading the investigation of the Holiday Killer. She’s close on his tail, a suspect in her grasp…

… and then her son is taken.

Will Liz be able to track down the Killer before it’s too late? Or will Jamie pay the price for her arrogance? Only time will tell...

EXCERPT

A young boy, five years old, sat sleepily behind his mum's recliner, watching the fireplace in front of him. On the clock behind him, midnight ticked slowly closer. The Christmas decorations around the room were gaudy, tired, and past their lifespan, but they were heirlooms and well-loved, so his mother continued to pull them out every year.

The boy tilted forward a little, yawning. It was well and truly past his bedtime, but he was definitely going to stay up to see Santa Claus.

The clock ticked over to midnight, and a rustling emerged from the chimney. Tom looked up, suddenly wide awake, and peered around the armchair to the chimney. Grains of soot dropped from the chimney into the fireplace below, and Tom hid a little more, watching the fireplace with trepidation.

Then the rustling stopped, and Tom watched the fireplace. But nothing happened.

He peeked out a little more, his heart starting to sink with disappointment. Maybe Santa didn't come if you were waiting for him?

Suddenly the front door clicked open and Tom gasped, hiding behind the chair, watching. He could hear the door creaking open, and feel the slow gust of cold as the wind from outside crept into the warm house. A large, bulky man stepped into Tom's view, dressed in a red suit, but lacking a beard or white hair. Tom watched him with one eye from behind the chair, and stared. Santa!

The man turned to look at him, smiling, and gestured for the boy to follow him. But Tom hesitated. This man was dressed like Santa, but his parents had taught him to be wary of strangers. Should he go? Or should he run upstairs and tell his parents about this?

The man gestured again, then reached into his large sack and pulled out a small present, perfectly wrapped, and held it out to him.

Tom emerged slowly from the chair, stepping slowly toward Santa. The bulky man smiled and headed for the front door, gesturing after him for Tom to follow. Tom looked at the present and cautiously followed the man to the front door, looking out. He couldn't see the man, but that didn't mean he was gone.

Suddenly something grabbed him from behind, pinning his arms to his sides and covering his mouth and nose with a large hand. Tom tried to scream, to wriggle out, but the man was much stronger than him, and he was cutting off his air.

The man carried him from the house, managing to steer him out without the kicking boy knocking anything over, and threw the boy into the trunk of his car. Winded, on the verge of passing out from oxygen deprivation, Tom weakly gulped in air as he watched a second shape carefully shut the door to the house, leaving behind no sign.

About the Author

Butcher by day, author by night, Holly spends her days off writing, playing in her garden and watching superhero cartoons. Holly lives with her husband Matthew and her cat Talia al-Kitty in a two-bedroom flat crammed with comics, video games, books and movie memorabilia. An active cosplayer, Holly and Matthew take time out of their days to entertain kids as various DC comics characters, and make their own costumes (when Real Life allows).

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Purchase Links

Amazon

Goodreads

Giveaway

eBook Copies of previous 6 novels.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Until next time,

Christmas - Childhood memories

I have many childhood memories associated with Christmas. Did you study in any Christian missionary school? I did. Whoever has studied in a missionary school can relate well to this post. Christmas reminds me of the following:

1. Christmas Carols:
The word Carol means 'dance to something'. Our music teacher used to teach these songs from November itself. We have a tradition to sing a song after our daily morning prayer in the school. We used to sing these carols during morning prayer and even in the church behind our school.

2. Christmas tree and star:
As per the tradition, Christians bring decorated Spruce/pine/fir tree to home to celebrate Christmas. They decorate it with edibles like apples, nuts or candy canes and with specific ornaments like balls and illuminate it with candles. 
As per the history, Christmas star is placed outside households to commemorate star of Bethlehem which revealed the birth of Jesus.

On the way from our home to school, we used to count number of stars decorated outside the houses and used to discuss which one is good. There used to be a Christmas tree decorated in school too. We have an arts and crafts class which targets on preparing crafts from waste. Our arts and crafts teacher used to teach on preparing simple crafts to decorate Christmas tree.

3. Santa Claus:
Saint Nicholas, a 4th century Bishop has a habit to gift to children. In US, People called him Santa clause. So, this tradition of gifting started from there.

Now, comes the favourite part of Christmas :) Our head mistress or any other senior teacher used to come as Santa Clause before Christmas with 'jingle bells' playing in the background and used to distribute chocolates in the morning prayer. 

4. Chrisma Chrischild game: 
It's also known as Secret Santa. It shows children the importance of kindness or giving. Teacher used to distribute one chit to each student on which some other student's name would be written. We will become Secret Santa / Chrismom for the student on our chit and he/she will become our Chris child. There used to be a Christmas tree or gift stand kept outside the corridor of the school, where Secret Santa should can place their gift to Chris child without revealing their identity. It's a fun experience to play this game altogether :) Sometimes, our Secret Santa can also assign some simple tasks to chris child in return to the gift like singing a multi lingual song in each class, reading weather reports, coming to school dressed in ethnic wear etc., So, December month used to be funny throughout :)

I had fun time with this game both in school days and also after I joined office. 

So, these were few things that i remember from my childhood days about Christmas. 
There is a blog hop #ChristmasBonanza happening in this month with around 20+ blogger publishing a blog post per day throughout the month. So, enjoy the posts :)

Until next time,

Image courtesy: www.freeimages.com

Come join a set of fabulous bloggers sharing their Christmas moments - Easy Holiday Crafts, DIY ideas, Recipes , Decor ideas and book recommendations with you .

Starting from today till Christmas and beyond, each one of us will be writing a post related to Christmas.

Participating blogs

ArtsyCraftsyMom - munniofalltrades - hfareensspace - roohiscollections - hellomommyhood - attachedmoms - totschooltotallyawesome - Themomviews - bumpsnbaby.com -

rugsoflife - oneandahalfminutes - shishuworld - ruskandtea - aspoonfullofideas - orangekitchens - obsessivemom - rachnaparmar - parentingmantras -

onboardthemommyship - kwikdekoblog - thekeybunch - momzspace - whatscookingmom - coloursdekor - happypeopleevents





So sit back, relax and check out all the fabulous Christmas Bonanza posts from our participating blogs in the linky. Support us by sharing our posts using the hash tag #ChristmasBonanza





This Linky is for participating blogs only, but We would love to see your Christmas Crafts too. Come and link up your Christmas post at ArtsyCraftsyMom.com

An InLinkz Link-up