Wow! Award on Mantra Website

Mantra Lingua Ltd - Bilingual Books, Dual Language Books, Bilingual Children’s Books, Bilingual Children’s Toys, Bilingual Children’s Posters, Bilingual Children’s CD ROMs, Bilingual Children’s CD's, Children’s Educational Aids In Multi Languages, Bilingual Children’s Friezes, Posters

Just noticed this on the Mantra site:

MANTRA WINS TWO AWARDS AT THE EDUCATION SHOW 21-04-2006

The 2006 "Education Show" was held at the NEC in Birmingham,UK. Mantra Lingua's "Little Red Hen and the Grains of Wheat" won the "WOW!" award given by the National Literacy Association (NLA). The book "caught the panel's attention because of its sumptuous illustrations with their determined and joyful appeal which give the familiar text a resonance. Witty, with a juggling cat and a duck on stilts, this will be a favourite in primary classrooms. There is a helpful list of keywords in translation in every edition, so you get a literacy resource for two languages, great for multilingual classroom. Mantra Lingua also won the 2006 EDUCATION RESOURCES AWARD given by BESA for their very innovative "Story Props" range of resources. Story Props work on the basis of extending the learning that can arise for a single story. For example, based on the book "The Buskers of Bremen" the props will include an "interactive literacy" CD Rom for KS1 English, a Board Game, a set of soft toys of characters in the book, an audio CD retelling the story in various language and a big book for whole class teaching. Story props are great for matching various learning styles and extend a simple story to numerous learning uses. (BESA is British Education Suppliers Authority and is the prominent representative of the Education Publishing world.)

technorati tags:mantralingua, mantra lingua, award, little red hen, review

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Another Myron review... 5 stars!

Children's book reviews -- picture book *Myron's Magic Cow* by Marlene Newman, illustrated by Jago- Curled Up With A Good Kid's Book

Myron's Magic Cow by Marlene Newman, illustrated by Jago Ages 4-8 40 pages Barefoot Books September 2005 Hardcover     With hints of fairy tales run amok, Myron’s Magic Cow is peopled by whimsical characters set in the framework of everyday life in the city as a little boy sets out to buy milk for his mother’s morning pancakes. Five dollars clutched in his hand, Myron trudges the familiar blocks (with brilliant illustrations by artist Jago) until he meets a girl with curly blonde hair pulling a cow by a rope: “You need milk and I need money- so let’s cut a deal.” Hinting at the adventures ahead (the three bears waiting in the car), the girl trades Myron the cow for the five dollars and is on her way, leaving Myron to ponder the wisdom of his decision. Myron pushes and pulls the uncooperative cow home, ignoring the stares as he passes, at a loss for how to transform this very large animal into the milk his mother needs. Much to his surprise, when Myron utters the magic word, “please”, the cow speaks. Myron’s decision is about to be rewarded by the amazing possibilities revealed by the cow. Thereafter the story evolves into the realm of fantasy and imagination, Myron’s world transformed and his perceptions of reality changed by the magic behind the mundane. With its whimsical story and outstanding illustrations, this wonderful book explores the parameters of the imagination and the infinite boundaries of fantasy. Myron’s Magic Cow is a product of a contemporary press, Barefoot Books, celebrating “art and story with books that open the hearts and minds of children from all walks of life, inspiring them to read deeper, search further and explore their own creative gifts.” Not to be missed!
	Luan Gaines/2006 for curled up with a good kid's book

technorati tags:myron, review, marlene newman, barefoot books, myrons magic cow, jago, jagollustration, illustration, illustrator

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Teapot Blogger

Teapot Blogger
Originally uploaded by Jagosilver.

My dad featured in the Western Morning News because of his world renowned Teapot Blog as mentioned below. Here he is sitting on a chair I made whn I was about 12, holding my mum's laptop, which he definitely doesn't use to blog with....

My dad and his blog in The Western Morning News

Andy Titcomb, 51, a potter based in the North Cornwall village of St Mabyn, has been making teapots since the late 1970s. Such is Mr Titcomb's devotion to his craft, he set up a blog called Teapots, Teapots, Teapots in June last year.
"Being a teapot-maker, I wanted to help promote interest in teapots and no one else was doing it," says the Exeter Art College graduate.
Recent posts on the colourful site include "dragon handle" teapots coming up for auction around the world, an unlikely "rocker on a motorbike" available on eBay for £36, and "The Ugliest Teapot in the World?" which features a battered silver teapot typically found at a church fete.
Mr Titcomb reckons the blog attracts as many as 300 readers a day, primarily from the US. On occasion there has been a bumper readership - a common feature when blogs are linked by counterparts that boast a premier league audience.
Mr Titcomb says: "My website was mentioned on author Neil Gaiman's (science fiction and fantasy novelist) blog and I had more than 3,000 visitors to my site in a few hours. My Internet service provider took my website down because of the large volume of traffic."Teapots, Teapots, Teapots is indicative of how simple the technology is.
Mr Titcomb says he read about the rise of blogging one day and set up his own forum the next. He posts new entries every day - and within 20 minutes he is back at the potter's wheel.

If technology buffs are to believed, there's one born every second. Blogging is an Internet phenomenon growing at such breakneck speed that the number of so-called blogs doubles every six...