The Bookery

Children’s Book of the Month: May 2019

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May’s BoTM is A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry and illustrated by Mónica Armiño. Inspired by a true story, A Wolf Called Wander is about family, courage and survival. The young wolf Swift lives and learns happily with his family and his pack in the mountains until the terrible day when rival wolves invade and take over their home. Alone for the first time, Swift decides against trying to survive on the fringes of his old territory and sets … Read more

Q&A With Robert Macfarlane

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Q&A With Robert Macfarlane You began your journey as a writer at the highest of elevations, in MOUNTAINS OF THE MIND. It is fascinating that the latest stage of your journey takes you to the lowest – to the world beneath our feet. Can you tell us what led you there? Yes – fifteen years and five books have taken me from the mountain-tops to the sunken storeys of place that lie beneath the surface of both land and mind. … Read more

CCB Book Group

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Did you know there’s a CCB book group? We meet approximately every six to eight weeks on Mondays, at 7.30pm in the shop. Rather than taking it in turns to choose the next title we usually base our choices around CCB events or national literary prizes. Last year we chose Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine from the Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist, and then challenged ourselves to read as many as we could from the shortlist – someone managed all … Read more

CredShed

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(Architect’s drawing) The CredShed Story In 2016 Crediton Community Bookshop moved to its new home at the heart of the High Street. We also acquired a large, vacant building located directly behind the shop. Once part of Lee’s retail wine business, the building was constructed in a time before supermarkets to store pallets of wine. It was dilapidated and rough around the edges, with a lack of natural light and no heating, but offered over 50 square feet of space. … Read more

The importance of reading for pleasure

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Reading for pleasure Reading for pleasure has been shown to have a direct correlation with mental well-being and academic success, yet recent research shows a decline in both the number of children being read to and the number reading for pleasure independently. In brief Recent surveys by the National Literacy Trust and Nielsen Books (The Guardian 04/03/19) indicate: The number of children being read to has dropped by 12% since 2012 Most parents stop reading to their child by the … Read more

Children’s Book of the Month: April 2019

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Our BOTM for April is Pog by Pádraig Kenny. Having moved into their dead mother’s childhood home with their father, David and Penny soon discover the presence of Pog in their attic. Pog is a magical creature tasked with protecting the boundary between the worlds. But when David is drawn into the forest, lured by a darker creature which tells him there’s a way to bring back his mother, the children and Pog discover many monsters to defeat as well … Read more

Crediton Big Read

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This May we are launching the first ever Crediton Big Read! We want as many people as possible to get involved in reading books! So what does it mean? Look out for these three titles… Captain Cat and the Treasure Map by Sue Mongredien (illustrated by Kate Pankhurst): a new laugh-out-loud story for emerging readers. The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths (illustrated by Terry Denton): first of the comedy classic, bestselling Treehouse series for readers aged 8-12. Raven Black by … Read more

Chagword, Dartmoor’s Literary Festival

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We’ve just spent the weekend at Chagword, Dartmoor’s Literary Festival in the beautiful market town of Chagford with a diverse and entertaining programme packed with much-loved writers and performers. Chagword actually began a little earlier this month with the first Children’s Bookfest on March 9th. Events with entertaining children’s author Sarah McIntyre, her co-conspirator and CCB patron Philip Reeve followed by wildlife presenter Nick Baker during the day, and the Pocketwatch Theatre Company performing Wind In The Willows in the … Read more

World Book Day and the Top Titles Tour

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World Book Day is a highlight on the book industry and schools calendar as children celebrate by dressing up as their favourite book character. This year we were happy to see a revamped and rebranded WBD with the message ’Share A Story’. With parents under pressure to buy outfits (and supermarkets filling their shelves with TV character costumes) the original meaning of WBD had become a little lost along the way.  Research shows that spending just 10 minutes a day … Read more

Robert Burns: Poetry, Songs and Values

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Robert Burns (1759-1796), a well-known Scottish poet and lyricist, has given us many much-loved texts: ‘Auld Lang Syne’, ‘A Red, Red Rose’ and ‘A Man’s A Man for A’ That’ to name but a few. Writing in both Scots and English, his poetry and songs are read and studied around the world. He became a Scottish cultural icon and an inspiration to the founders of liberalism and socialism. This Burns’ Night, we’ve gathered a few favourites from Rabbie Burns’ canon … Read more