Dim's Write Stuff

This trio of gift ideas neatly summarises the Silly Season, don’t you think?! The Book of Not Entirely Useful Advice A F Harrold is known for his poetic turns of phrase and deeply emotive narratives. He credits stroking his long wild beard as a way to churn out ideas. Well, he must have one very smooth beard for this book of not entirely useful but unarguably hilarious advice is brimming with more fun and folly than you can fit in a bathtub. In fact it virtually runneth over with rhyme, witty word play and enough nonsensical verse stories to keep the most ardent young poetry-lover glued to its pages. Harrold’s worldly poetic inscriptions of advice are thoughtfully grouped into common sections, presumably to keep things orderly and understandable. And that’s where any pretence at seriousness disappears with section subtitles that read like this: Advice mainly relating to food, ducks and dessert . Or … Section 2: Advice mainly relating to animals, giants and the natural world. Kid...

Playground pastimes in those informative primary school years tend to cement some of the most endearing and enduring memories of our time spent in school. These days it’s handball and (insert grimace) looming. I myself was more of a marbles and knucklebones kind of girl and can remember sacrificing lunch to compete in crucial playoffs and tournaments. Ah, the salad days of youth…What a party is was. Fortunately for me, I still get invited to the odd party and today I am delighted to be part of Robert Vescio’s Launch Party for his new early reader chapter book, Hopscotch Showdown .  Robert Vescio is perhaps best known for his picture books, No Matter Who We’re With and Marlo Can Fly but is a regular contributor to the children’s book scene and multi-competition winner, resulting in an admirable affiliation with Jelli-Beanz Publishing. His original Hopscotch Showdown short story was in the Jelli-Beanz Publishing Packed Lunch Volume 1 anthology for kids in 2011. K...