Merry Christmas

Here are all our cards decorating the space behind the counter.

Thanks everybody for being so kind.

Thank you for the cards.

Thank you for all the cakes and biscuits and all the other gifts.

And a special big thank you for supporting us through the year.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Women's Aid

Even a little publicity might help the charity sponsored by the Angel and MS Christmas who were kind enough to frame our collection of Christmas cards.

The charity is Women's Aid and you can click to link in to their good works.

Thank you for calling in ladies, can't be too warm in that Angel's outfit!

When you next see me (David, the tall one with a South African Accent), buttonhole me for a contribution.

Four in the Fifties

It seems only a little whole ago that a good friend to the shop was introducing us to her remarkable talent and her new book, Little Green Shoots.
Now Jenny Henderson has delivered her latest book to Cotswold Bookstore. Called Four in the Fifties, it has nothing to do with Enid Blyton's Famous Five after the death of poor Timmy, but is a nostalgic look at a childhood in the 50s and 60s. In fact, the full title is Four in the Fities, Seven in the Sixties.
Her jacket blurb - 'It will enthral anyone who can recall the excitement of steam trains, the steamy whirl of washday, of 'Listen with Mother' by cosy coal fires and the safe structured, daily routine of those times.' describes this illustrated book perfectly.
Priced at only £10.99, at our store, £1.00 of which Jenny will donate to the BBC Children in Need Appeal, it is the perfect companion to Little Green Shoots and a perfect gift for anyone who remember such times.

Muffin

It's quite some time since we had a dog on the blog and this one charmed us right away.

Her name is Muffin and I think, on her next visit, she'll remember exactly where the biscuit tin is.

Of course Muffin wasn't the only canine visitor today. Regulars Alfie and Barney were in too.

New jacket for Henry

We are pleased to see that the new jacket on Just Henry conveys so much more than the original.
The coils of film and the blurred running children on the earlier cover made it look more like a ghost story to me. What do you think?

Those of you who miss the film on the 18th Dec. might like to know that there will be a DVD available, but I promise you, there's much more in the bookMind you, I hear that two of my favourite actresses will take part - Barbara Flynn and Sheila Hancock.

I still say the book's the thing.

Mail from Michelle Magorian

Though I'm very pleased that Just Henry is to appear on television (Sunday 18th  - pay attention!) I always saw it as a serial. It is a real page turner. A gripping piece of story telling that kept at least two of our customers up ALL night reading it. As a serial, the wait till next weeks episode would have had the nation talking (and sold us lots of books!)

Michelle Magorian herself mailed us recently and here is part of her mail -

The film is a flavour of the book. The script writer, a lovely and experienced writer was basically asked to write a 90 minute drama from a 700 plus page book. I try to explain to people that it's rather like asking a composer to write a short arrangement based on a symphony for less instruments and then put his own creative input into it to make it hang together as a new piece of work. I tell people that they're both related and both different but that I hope people will enjoy them both in different ways. 

I just hope that the 'Flavour' is a tasty one as it's a terrific book.

The Games Workshop Hobby

Many of you will now know that we stock Games Workshop products and some will wonder what it's all about. Well, they have an excellent article on their web site at the moment.

What is the Games Workshop hobby all about
Just click the link above and read all about it.