Kids Love To Read
March 1, 2010
Sales of children’s books have seen a healthy increase with a rise of almost 5% with picture books sales increasing to 13% on 2008 figures. In the UK last year more than 60 million books were sold generating more than £293m to the book industry.
Taking the top 5 spots for best selling books were Stephenie Meyers Twilight series of books contributing £29.3m in sales. Her series of books of modern day vampires have been a massive hit.
National Year of Reading and World Book Day usually held in March are now regular events with schools participating in after school book sales. Children usually receive a £1 book voucher as encouragement to buy a new book. Also many campaigns have encouraged parents to read to their children from an early age particular introducing babies and toddlers to to picture books.
Anthony Browne, Children’s Laureate says “The best picture books leave a tantalising gap between the pictures and the words, a gap that is filled by the reader’s imagination”.
Library lending is also on the increase with children borrowing more books than 3 to 4 years ago. Libraries are also playing an important role in encouraging children to read by staging more events for children to join in on such as meet the author sessions.
The best selling young children’s books were
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The Tyrannosaurus Drip Song by Julia Donaldson
Stick Man by Julia Donaldson
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sandak
The Gruffalo’s Child by Julia Donaldson
On a footnote my 5 year old read a book to me yesterday for the first time. We were waiting in the car for his big sister when he proudly read Hide and Seek to me. What a joyous and rewarding expereince that any parent can relate to – sharing quality reading time is truly one of the most pleasurable moments of the day.
The Cost Of Raising Kids
February 25, 2010
It’s official the cost of raising a family has reached a new high. A new report suggested for the first time the amount of money spent per child from birth to age 21 years has topped £200,000 – a rise of 43% from the first survey 2003.
This even takes into account parents cutting down on expenditure during the recession. In the first year alone expect to fork out £9,152. The biggest drain on finances was childcare followed by nursery fees, holiday and after school clubs coming in at a whopping £54,696. Education costs were put at £52,881, food £17,490, clothing £14,035 and holidays at £13,207.
Peak expenditure times were during the university ages of 18 to 21 when you could expect to pay £13,677 a year. London families topped the expenditure list with an average of £220,769 and the least expensive was £177,706.
With parents continuing to worry about money more than three quarters of them say that they have cut back on family expenditure during this tough economic climate. Even kids are helping their parents with some 13% of parents being asked for less pocket money.
Mike Rogers, group chief executive of LV= who are part of Liverpool Victoria, commented “Every parent will know how expensive it can be to raise a little one and, as parents, we know we don’t begrudge a single penny of it.
“But I suspect many new and prospective mums and dads will be a little shocked to see the potential financial burden ahead of them.”
Stressing the importance of planning ahead chief executive of Child Trust Fund provider The Children’s Mutual David White said it was important for parents to plan ahead. “I think the cost of raising children is definitely increasing and of course this is a hugely emotional matter for families because it is their kids.
“What we are finding is that parents are becoming more aware of this and planning ahead. It is much better to save from when the child is very young and to start saving for their long-term future.”
Disney To Acquire Marvel Entertainment
October 1, 2009
Disney recently announced that it would buy Marvel Entertainement in a deal worth around $4 billion. The comic giant’s portfolio consists of over 5000 characters including Captain America, X-Men and Hulk with Spiderman probably the most famous.
Disney president and chief executive Robert Iger said “We believe that adding Marvel to Disney’s unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation.”
Also Stan Lee who created Spiderman plans a new project with Disney – an animated comic book to be made available online and on mobile phones. The (young) 86 year old will voice the head of the organisation that the super hero works for and has high hopes of its success. The name of this new venture is ‘Time Jumper.’
Success For Fiesta Crafts With Paint, Make & Play Sets
October 21, 2008
Fiesta Crafts is celebrating a gold award from the Good Toy Guide for their Paint, Make & Play Sets.
The judges included parents, adults and perhaps the hardest judges of all – the children!
These innovative craft kits are designed for kids who love to personalise their toys and are proving to be highly popular. There are five ranges to choose from – Castle, Fairy House, Fire Station, Nativity Scene and Princess Castle. They make an excellent, quality gift.
Fiesta Crafts also received Silver awards for 3 For Me, Fish N Spell and Greedy Pirates.
Well Done Fiesta Crafts!
This Year’s Dream Dozen Toys Announced
October 15, 2008
These are the toys that are predicited to be this year’s bestselling must haves – in alphabetical order they are:
BABY born® with Magic Potty, Zapf Creation® (RRP £33.99)
Bakugan™ Starter Pack, Spinmaster (RRP £12.99)
Ben 10 Deluxe Omnitrix, Bandai (RRP £15.99)
Catcha Beast, Bandai (RRP £19.99)
Cupcake Maker, Character Options (RRP £29.99
Elmo Live, Mattel (RRP £59.99)
FurReal Biscuit, My Lovin’ Pup, Hasbro (RRP £149.99)
High School Musical 3 Musical Dance Mat, Vivid Imaginations (RRP £22.99)
In The Night Garden Upsy Daisy and Her Chase and Play Bed, Hasbro (RRP £34.99)
My Life, Flair Leisure Products (RRP £49.99)
Rescue Pals Swim To Me Puppy, MGA Entertainment Ltd (RRP £29.99)
Star Wars Clone Trooper Voice Changer, Hasbro (RRP £29.99)
Dream Toys 2008 to be announced on 15th October!
October 8, 2008
Not long to wait now! With over 50 years of consumer knowledge the Toy Retailers Association is uniquely placed to make predictions on this year’s dream toys.
There are seven categories which we’ve listed below.
Hot Dozen – all will be revealed on the 15th October!
Pre-school- toys that stimulate and motivate the under 4s.
Boys – cars, pirates, transformers!
Girls – Make-up, dolls, glitz and glamour.
Hip’n'Kool – For older kids and even adults!
Games – for fun, family times.
Creative – for budding designers and engineers.
Check back here next week to find out the hottest toys in town!