Competition: Win a personalised Peppa Pig Book + discount code for Mummy Alarm readers

Starting school can be a daunting time for youngsters but now the idea of school can be introduced with this personalised Peppa Pig book by Penwizard. Whether your little ones are going to school, nursery or playgroup - you can make their first day a special one by sending them on their very own Peppa Pig adventure.

 

In ‘Go to Playgroup’, your child stars in the words and pictures with Peppa, Rebecca Rabbit, Danny Dog, Candy Cat, Suzy Sheep, Zoe Zebra and all the Peppa characters that they know from their favourite series. Creating your child's very own Peppa Pig story couldn't be easier: Simply add their name and then personalise the illustration to include their eye colour, hair colour and style and skin colour. Choose whether they go to school, nursery or playgroup and even add your very own personal message, for the ultimate personal touch.

If you would like to create this unique personalised book starring your child as they start school at simply visit www.penwizard.co.uk and fill in their details. Readers of Mummy Alarm save £3 on all Peppa Go to School purchases until 30th September 2011. Simply enter the discount code 362589 when you are checking out.

How to enter:

1. If you want to win a personalised Peppa Pig book, leave a comment telling me what you loved most about school. - REQUIRED

Please, use separate comments for each bonus entry. Failure to do so will result in only one entry per person. 

For extra entries: 

2. Follow @caro_mad on Twitter & tweet: "I want to a personalised Peppa Pig book with @caro_mad. You can enter here:http://bit.ly/ns4b2Q"
3. Comment on one of my non-competition posts and let me know which one you commented on
4. Subscribe to Mummy Alarm via Google Friend Connect
5. Follow Mummy Alarm via Networked Blogs
6. Like Mummy Alarm on Facebook

7. Share this competition using the Google+ button below

Terms & Conditions:

The closing date of the competition is 14/09/2011
The winner will be chosen at random.
The winner's names will be shown on this page.
Competition is open to residents of the UK only.
The prize is non-refundable and cannot be transferred. No cash alternative is available.

ThePrizeFinder - UK Competitions
Loquax - The UK Competetion Portal

Review: Love You Mum by Gillian Campbell

I'm not normally one for self-help books, I really don't like the guilt trip that most of them send you on, however when I was asked to review Love You Mum by Gillian Campbell I thought it might be a good idea to have a read through it. 

There are millions of books that tell you how to raise your children, how to get them to have the perfect sleep routine and and and. This books different: It tells you how to be a mum – a mum that is happy in her role, a mum that goes to bed with a smile on her face and a mum that is in charge of her life.

Love Your Mum is divided into several chapters like Understanding Who You Are, Building Habits or Parenting with a Truth and helps you to analyse yourself and your feelings towards motherhood using exercises that really get you thinking. After working through them, you will clearly be able to say what kind of mum you are and what kind of mum you really want to be.

We all are grumpy from time to time or think we could do better when we look at the 'perfect' lives of others, aren't we? But why don't we just change our habits? No motivation? No idea where to start? Let me tell you, Gill Campbell will give you a kick up the bum that will get you going. Regard her as a good friend or even better, your personal trainer: she'll hold a mirror in front of you and she'll show you ways on how to deal with the ups and downs of being a mum.

Gillian herself says: “The book is for Mums who perhaps end more days wishing they hadn’t snapped at their kids and their partners more than they had laughed and loved the challenges they faced. Those who dive into the escape of a glass of wine, an internet site or a reality TV show at the end of each day, rather than spending time with their partner or putting steps in place.”

If that sounds like you, pop into your local book shop or visit Gillian's website www.theonlymum.com to get your copy of “Love You Mum”. The book costs £12.95 but it might change your life.

National Schools 'Storyonics' Competition

I usually don't publish press releases but I think this one might be interesting for all mums and dads of children in year 5 and 6 year of primary education. There are some great educational toys up for grabs and the literacy competitions offered for the different age groups do really look fun. I still remember taking part in reading and literacy competitions when I went to school and I absolutely loved them. If your little one's year loves a challenge then let their teacher know that registration is now open for the National Schools Storyonics Competition. 

There are over £10,000 worth of prizes including 500 sets of 'Storyonics for PC/Whiteboard' worth £19.99 for 500 lucky participating schools to be won in the prize draw. First prize for the winning class is £1,000 worth of educational toys and games with second and third prizes of £500 and £250 respectively. At the beginning of September participating schools will receive 12 slides each with four images. The class selects one image from each slide and creates a story for submission before the half term break. This is a wonderful opportunity to encourage imagination and creativity while incorporating curriculum literacy skills in a fun way.
The competition is run by ZooBooKoo to celebrate the National Year of Communication and in recognition of schools' services to children's literacy learning. The competition is supported by The Communication Trust and Volunteer Reading Help.

Schools can register by visiting www.zoobookoo.com and clicking on Storyonics Competition. It only takes one minute to register - a minute which will bring hours of fun to your child's learning and the chance to win great resources for your school. So do remember to mention it to your child's teacher.

World Book Day: My favourite children's book

It's World Book Day in a couple of days and I thought this would be the perfect chance to share my favourite children's book with you.

As some of you might already know, I grew up in Germany, so I guess you won't be surprised to find out that my favourite book has a German title. It's called “Lustige Geschichten” (“Funny Stories”) and was written and illustrated by the Russian author Wladimir Sutejew. I don't know if there is an English version of the book but if you've got the chance to find it in English, I highly recommend getting it for your little ones. I absolutely adored this book and will definitely get a copy for my little girl.

“Lustige Geschichten” contains thirteen lovely stories whose main characters are a little duckling, a bug, a wolf, a fox, a bear, a swan, a little squirrel, three little cats and many more animals. All of them go on their own little adventures or experience life in many different ways. The stories are suitable for kids of a very young age. They are short, they are beautifully illustrated and they are written in a way that captures both children's and their parents' attention. My mum loved reading this book to me as she knew how much I loved it and when she didn't have the time to read it to me, I just sat down in my little arm chair and read it to myself – at least it looked like that to others, because I knew all the stories by heart. My parents even painted some of the characters on my bedroom wall so I could have them around me at all times – I loved my new wall decoration that much that I got my bright red crayon out and helped them colour the characters in. They weren't impressed, I can say that much, but they still let me read the book to my little sister so I guess they weren't that mad at me...

But what about you? What was your favourite book or which book can't your little one live without? If you want to share your book tips, use the Linky below to link to your book posts and let us collect as many must-reads as possible.