Tag Archives: David Melling

Just Like My Dad App News plus Book Giveaway

Posted on 13 June, 2013 | 7 Comments

For those new to the blog, you may not know that I we are huge fans of David Melling in the Chaos household. This addiction goes back six years, when I purchased a copy of Just Like My Dad from one of our local bookshops for Mr Chaos’ first Father’s Day when MG was only a few months old.

That book is enjoyed as much now as it was then. Well, technically it’s enjoyed much more as there’s only so much a four-month old gets out a book, and we’ve double the children now! But I’m sure you understood what I meant before I decided to add needless clarification…

Just Like My Dad app screen

Today, 13th June 2013, Just Like My Dad is being released as an app. Perfect for Father’s Day sharing, it includes burp and fart sounds. What more does any self-respecting 2-8 year old want than burp and fart sounds? Apparently this also applies to most dads too, but I try to avoid gender stereotyping…

I don’t have anything to run apps on, so normally leave app reviews to the wonderful CApptivated Kids. But the fact that the app includes David Melling illustrations and is based on Just Like My Dad would make it worth the £1.99 price tag in my opinion!

Just Like My Dad app screen

The Just Like My Dad app is released in iOS and Android versions, and is available from the iTunes AppStore and Google Play in the UK, Europe, Australia and North America. I’ll add links as soon as I get them.

I normally ignore press releases in my reviews, but as this isn’t a review here’s some facts from the press release:

Narrated by a child actor to appeal to children using the app
‘Read to me’, ‘Read by myself’ and ‘Record myself’ options
Available in all options, each screen has automated and touch-activated animation
Available in all options, each screen includes touch-activated sound effects, including farting skunks and burping dad and son lion
Children get to torment ‘dad’ by ripping plasters off the dad lion
‘Record myself’ option allows a child and father to have fun recording the story together

Sounds like fun. I think my two would particularly like the ripping plasters off dad lion part! Amazingly I haven’t actually reviewed Just Like My Dad yet, but for an idea of the style I have written about Just Like My Mum.

Just Like My Dad app screen

To celebrate the release, Hachette have offered me five sets of the Just Like My Dad board book plus toy lion to giveaway. If the lion is anything like the mini Hugless Douglas from his book/toy set then it is cuter than cute (and small enough to smuggle into schoolbags for a bit of comfort away from home…) I wish I could enter my own competitions!

Just Like My Dad Book and Toy Box Set

To be in with a chance of winning one of these book/toy sets, please enter via the Rafflecopter widget below. The prizes will be sent direct from the publisher. Obviously they won’t arrive in time for Father’s Day, but this is a book to be enjoyed any day of the year. The deadline is midnight on Tuesday 18th June. Open to UK addresses only. Winners must reply with addresses within 5 days of drawing, or another winner will be drawn. Five prizes on offer.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Posted in Giveaway, Picture Books

Tagged Apps for Children and Dads, Apps for Kids and Dads, David Melling, Father's Day, Father's Day 2013, Hachette Children's Books, Hodder Children's Books, Just Like My Dad, Just Like My Dad app

National Hug Day with Hugless Douglas

Posted on 16 January, 2013 | 34 Comments

Hugless Douglas in London looking for hugs

Monday 21st January is the most depressing day of the year, according to some made-up calculations. It’s also National Hug Day, which seems like a much better idea. In honour of this, a giant Hugless Douglas will be out and about in London all day. He’ll need all that fur with snow predicted. Brrrrr!

David and Douglas’ London Schedule:
8.30am Hugless Douglas at Watermark bookshop, Kings Cross Station.
10.00am Hugless Douglas at Buckingham Palace.
11.00am David Melling and Hugless Douglas at Waterstones Piccadilly signing books and giving hugs.
2.00pm David Melling and Hugless Douglas at Netley Primary School giving 117 free books to the children!
4.00pm David Melling and Hugless Douglas at Watermark books, Kings Cross Station signing books and giving hugs.

If you’re out in London and take a photo of your hug with Hugless Douglas, tweet it to @hodderchildrens and you could win a Hugless Douglas plush and signed book.

Signed books and slippers

If you’re not in London, how about a set of signed books and fluffy Hugless Douglas slippers? This wonderful prize comes courtesy of Hachette Children’s Books and I wish I could enter because they look so lush! Fortunately there’s a second chance to win with Book Sniffer too.

For one entry into the draw, let me know about your favourite kind of hug. For a second entry, do some social media sharing or tell a friend about National Hug Day and Hugless Douglas. Winner chosen via the Rafflecoptor widget below so make sure your entry counts! The competition closes at 12am 22nd January.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Look at those slippers, aren’t they gorgeous?

Slippers!
If you’re on Twitter, follow @davidmelling1 and @hodderchildrens because they’re awesome, and for notification of other competitions throughout the week.

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Posted in Giveaway, Picture Books

Tagged David Melling, Hachette Children's Books, Hodder Children's Books, Hugless Douglas, We Love You Hugless Douglas

We Love You Hugless Douglas by David Melling

Posted on 2 January, 2013 | 5 Comments

We Love You, Hugless Douglas: David Melling (Hodder Children's Books, 2013)

We Love You, Hugless Douglas: David Melling
(Hodder Children’s Books, 2013)

There’s a commonly held belief that for Star Trek films (the ones with the original cast at least), the even numbered in the series are superior to the odd. I mention this because I’ve found the opposite with the Hugless Douglas books… Hugless Douglas and Hugless Douglas and the Big Sleep are examples of the best in picture books; Don’t Worry, Hugless Douglas and We Love You, Hugless Douglas are merely very good!

Don’t Worry, Hugless Douglas was shortlisted for the Red House Children’s Book Awards 2012 and all four are excellent books in a series that I not only recommend wholeheartedly but also dedicated a blog week and a Pinterest board to so I am perhaps a teeny bit over critical…

In this tale, Douglas bumps into Flossie the sheep who has lost her best friend. Together, Flossie and Douglas set off to look for Little Sheep. For reasons not quite explained, Flossie is stuck (literally) to Douglas. This is reminiscent of the sheep sticking to Douglas’ back in The Big Sleep and where Douglas finds Flossie stuck in the tree. We even get a Thank-You Hug

Cow from Don’t Worry makes a return, with her best friend and new characters in the form of (unnamed and unmentioned, perhaps they are in book 5?) hedgehogs. Rabbit returns with a troop of bouncing bunnies (maybe one of them is the original rabbit from Hugless Douglas that, being male, hasn’t been seen since?)

Flossie and Little Sheep are reunited after a rummage through a leafy bush filled with bric-a-brac and just one sheep this time, but Douglas starts to feel sad because he doesn’t have a friend like all the other characters they’d met. Fortunately wise old owl doesn’t call Douglas a twit this time, but instead shows Douglas how loved he really is.

As usual, the illustrations are pieces of perfection with many details to look out for. For any child with the series of books, there are so many parts that refer to other books throughout the series that each book is a joy to re-read over and over. Highlights for us were the adorable hedgehogs and crazy bouncing bunnies, but my personal favourite illustration is the double spread where Douglas sits alone and melancholy because of the emotion that seeps through.

The final double spread is full of “I [heart] something” images and are MG & DG’s favourite part. We choose our favourites from the selection, on the last reading MG chose “I [heart] my mum” and DG chose “I [heart] my dad”

We Love You, Hugless Douglas is published on 3rd January 2013 in the UK and is well worth getting for the illustrations alone.

Image (c) David Melling

Disclaimer: We were sent a copy of We Love You, Hugless Douglas by Hachette Childrens Books for review. No other financial reward was given and the opinions are my own. I was not asked to write this post.

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Posted in Picture Books

Tagged David Melling, Hachette Children's Books, Hodder Children's Books, Hugless Douglas, We Love You Hugless Douglas

Advent Books, part five

Posted on 11 December, 2012 | 1 Comment

The Tale of Jack Frost: David Melling (Hodder, 2003)
This is an absolutely perfect Christmas book, as well as being an almost perfect book. Annoyingly, it is currently out of print. Even more annoyingly, meany old grown ups are trying to sell copies of it for £40 and up online (see here) We were lucky enough to get a copy almost three years ago, and I reviewed it here. I am frustrated on behalf of children who are missing out on this lovely book, and it is a pity that the publisher didn’t manage to get it reprinted in time for Christmas. If you find a copy in an independent bookstore, do snap it up, it is a beautiful book that MG and DG love to hear again and again (and then watch the animated version too!)

The Lighthouse Keeper's Christmas: Ronda & David Armitage (Scholastic Children's Books, 2002) The Lighthouse Keeper’s Christmas: Ronda & David Armitage (Scholastic Children’s Books, 2002)

Another one I ordered via school and has only just arrived so we haven’t had a chance to read it enough times to review yet!

The Nightmare Before Christmas: Tim Burton (Hyperion Children’s Books, 1993)
The Nightmare Before Christmas is probably my all-time favourite film that I can watch over and over again. This is a lot to do with the genius of Henry Selick who is an amazing director, coupled with the imagination of Tim Burton (who sadly ‘jumped the shark’ many years ago in my opinion!) This book is pure Tim Burton in the good days however and a joyous rhyming romp! It’s not the film (there’s no Oogie Boogie or Sally for a start) but it’s the same rough plot. There are a couple of rhymes that don’t gel (maybe it’s not having an American accent but I can’t get “good job” and “macabre” to rhyme) but the luscious art and the plot more than make up for this. A gorgeous book, and well worth it just for the “A Visit From Saint Nick” parody (“… The children, all nestled so snug in their beds, would have nightmares of monsters and skeleton heads…”) This is my book, of course, bought long before I had children, but my children are my children so they love it too! Bear in mind one of DG’s favourite books is The Spider and The Fly!

When It Snows: Richard Collingridge (David Ficking Books, 2012)
This is a beautiful, beautiful book. With an ending which will leave book-lovers everywhere signing with delight. It is so luscious that I’ve added it as an actual Christmas present instead of an advent book so I don’t have my copy to hand! But that gives me the perfect opportunity to share the review written by one of my favourite fellow book bloggers: Read It, Daddy! If you love children’s books and aren’t already following his blog and twitter, I really urge you to do so. I aspire to produce so many outstanding reviews every week!

Ella Bella Ballerina and The Nutcracker: James Mayhew (Orchard, 2012)
DG is going through a Ballet phase. MG did at about the same age. It’s all about dressing up in ballet clothes, pretend dancing (it’s amazing how much they pick up even with not going to a single class ever!) and reading books with ballerinas in. So this book is a HUGE hit. Not to mention that “Ella Bella” are very almost MG’s names as she is Eleanor Isabelle for long She likes Ella as a nickname now, but when we tried it as a baby she insisted on being Eleanor so she’s always been that. I often call her El’s Bells which she dislikes intensely! As I mentioned in my Katie and the Starry Night review, James Mayhew is a genius and this is another wonderful introduction to… book. Playing by the Book, another of my favourite book blogs, has such a gorgeous nutcracker feast in her write-up that I can’t resist sending you there to read more! I’ve just found out that there’s another Ella Bella review today, and her review is beautiful so please do look. Library Mice is the cause of much of my book spending with her wonderful reviews of the most beautiful books.

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Posted in Picture Books, Unsolicited Review

Tagged Advent, Advent Books, Christmas, Christmas 2012, David Ficking Books, David Melling, Ella Bella Ballerina and The Nutcracker, Hachette Children's Books, Hodder Children's Books, Hyperion Children's Books, James Mayhew, Orchard Books, Richard Collingridge, Ronda & David Armitage, Scholastic Children's Books, The Lighthouse Keeper's Christmas, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Tale of Jack Frost, Tim Burton, When It Snows

The Totally Terrifying Three by Hiawyn Oram & David Melling

Posted on 28 October, 2012 | 2 Comments

The Totally Terrifying Three: Hiawyn Oram & David Melling (Hodder Children's Books, 2011)

The Totally Terrifying Three: Hiawyn Oram & David Melling
(Hodder Children’s Books, 2011)

It’s paperback publication day on Thursday (1st November), but I’m amazed we haven’t reviewed this book yet as we’ve had it since hardback publication a year ago. You can often find books before the official publication date and as it’s slightly Halloween-y, here’s the review to perhaps send you to your nearest bookshop searching for a copy…

Once there was a Dragon who was convinced he was TOTALLY TERRIFYING. One look at himself in the mirror and he nearly jumped out of his skin.

If you’re a regular reader you may be shocked to know that I am a huge David Melling fan… Yeah, okay, it’s somewhat obvious (Hugless Douglas Week for example…) This book is full of my favourite things David draws: Dragons! Witches! Trees! Everything!

I could easily take the double spread above and frame it, it’s so wonderful. That is, if I could get past the sacrilege of destroying a book… It also neatly summarises everything in the story: the dragon, the witch, the giant, the toddler, and of course long-suffering Wiggles the dog.

The story follows a Dragon, who thinks he is too terrifying, so he leaves his neighbours and finds… A Witch, who thinks she is too terrifying (but neither the Dragon or Witch are terrified), so they leave together and find… A Giant, who thinks he is too terrifying (but none of the three are terrified), so they leave together and find… A Toddler, who also isn’t terrified… Which leads to some rethinking of their totally terrifying status, and a new three set out to scare… “absolutely NOBODY!”

MG particularly loves humour in words like “scar[ing] the pants off people” and the fact that all the characters are basically just very silly and not at all scary. DG likes the brave toddler (and all the scary looking bits!) I love the details, as ever: look at what the dog and cat are doing in each picture; the trees (they need their own book); two bats near the witch’s hat at all times; the giant’s car and what happens when he stands up…

Hiyawyn Oram and David Melling are both deservedly acclaimed and this collaboration is a fine example of both their work. Other Halloween-suitable books by the totally terrific two (although not as collaborations) that we’ve already reviewed: The Ghost Library & Rumblewick and the Dinner Dragons.

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Posted in Picture Books, Unsolicited Review

Tagged Books, Children's Books, David Melling, Dragons, Giants, Hachette Children's Books, Halloween, Hiawyn Oram, Hodder Children's Books, Picture Books, Reading, The Totally Terrifying Three, Witches

Hugless Douglas Week: Six Questions with David Melling

Posted on 5 October, 2012 | 4 Comments

For the final day of Hugless Douglas Week, David Melling kindly volunteered to be the first interviewee in an ocassional series where I ask Who? What? Why? Where? When? How? to authors and illustrators of children’s books.

WHO?
David Melling – author and illustrator of children’s books.

My influences, and there are way too many to list here, include the usual suspects: Ronald Searle, Ralph Steadman, Quentin Blake, Maurice Sendak. I won’t keep listing names but I will say particular influences that still inspire me are Asterix and Obelix, Tom and Jerry, Laurel and Hardy…I could go on but think I’ll stop there. Oh, and my kids of course!

WHAT?
The book I’d love to write and illustrate is a collection of silly Fairy Tales. I’ve lost track of the number of times a project like this has been close to becoming reality but something always seems to get in the way. But it’s still on my ‘to-do’ list. Perhaps one day.

At the moment I about to start work on the 5^th Hugless Douglas book! It hasn’t got a title yet but it’s his birthday. Today, 1^st October, is literally Day 1 on this title so I haven’t got much more to say right now. First things first – this Q&A!

My favourite ice cream is vanilla. I know, wild eh?

WHY?
I’ve always loved reading and drawing and studied art and photography at college. Then, from around the age of 21, for about ten years of concentrated effort and various jobs, I finally realised that what I was really looking for was to illustrate stories! The writing came later but it completed the journey. I’m very fortunate to be able to make up stories and draw pictures all day. Very fortunate!

I create for children simply because most stories that require illustrations are for children. Also, my sense if humour hasn’t really grown up (thank goodness).

Why do children ask so many questions? I guess because they are curious about the world they find themselves in! I remember that phase with my children. That particular phase when everything you say is met by that question ‘Why.” I hope my books, the stories and pictures, fuel that interest. After all, it’s a funny old world, it takes some time getting used to all its little foibles. All children are doing is trying to make sense of it. Then again, aren’t we all!

WHERE?
Presently living in Abingdon, Oxfordshire but grew up in London.

Favourite place to be is either at home with the family or at my studio. I’m afraid I’m irritatingly content!

WHEN?
The first published book I illustrated was called Brilliant The Dinosaur by Richard Stilgoe in 1993. Some of you older readers might remember he used to be on TV. He wore quirky knitted jumpers while playing the piano on the news programme Nationwide in the 1970-80’s. Sadly, we never met!

The first book I wrote and illustrated was the picture book The Kiss That Missed in 2002. It’s celebrating 10 years this year!

My favourite period in history? Hmm, I’m not sure I have a favourite but I do like Medieval times…it appeals to my gothic side.

When does the post arrive? Ha! An excellent question! Don’t get me started…

HOW?
I started creating books soon after spending about 4 years working in a series of London based animation studios. It was way back in the 1980’s and I just loved the way the drawings helped to tell the story, not always with words – Tom and Jerry is a supreme example. It taught me that pictures are just as important as the words to carry a story, sometimes more so. By the time I decided to leave the studios I had bug and knew that story telling with pictures was exactly what I wanted to do.

A picture book can take anything from 3 to 6 months for me. If I break that down it’ll look something like this:
Sketchbook ideas (including written notes), on a particular subject: 2-3 weeks.
Storyboard and first written draft – 2 – 3 weeks.
Pencil roughs on cartridge paper – 4 weeks.
Trace and ink onto watercolour paper – 2 weeks
Painting final artwork – 6 – 8 weeks.

Obviously, this will vary depending on the type of book and whether I come to the drawing board with a vague idea or a very particular idea. It’s not an exact science. You’ll notice that I write and draw and the same time when getting the ideas. For me both disciplines feed off watch other. I know that some author illustrators write first then illustrate. I couldn’t do that. But, of course, everyone is different. It’s whatever works for you!

How long is a piece of string? Well, that’s an easy one; That long.

All images © David Melling, used with permission.
The sample Who? What? Why? Where? When? How? questions can be downloaded here.

Thank-you for sticking with me throughout Hugless Douglas Week. Don’t forget there’s still time to enter the giveaway: deadline extended to Tuesday 9th October. Extra goodies added, and books will be signed (there will some delay in posting while we work out logistics!)

I’d like to offer huge thank-you hugs to Hachette Children’s Books for sending extra prizes and the activity book download to support this week; Helen from CApptivated Kids for the guest post; and most of all to Douglas’ Dad, David Melling, without whom none of this would have been possible.

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Posted in Guest Posts and Interviews, Picture Books

Tagged David Melling, Hachette Children's Books, Hodder Children's Books, Hugless Douglas, Hugless Douglas Week, Interview with David Melling, Six Questions

Hugless Douglas Week: Hugless Douglas App

Posted on 4 October, 2012 | 1 Comment

I’m delighted to have Helen from CApptivated Kids guest post here at Child-Led Chaos today, reviewing the Hugless Douglas iPhone/iPad app. Helen’s blog is full of reviews of apps for small children, and gives me the only positive reason for having an iPad I can think of! A huge thank-you hug to Helen for the review.

“One spring morning, a big yaaawwwwn came from the back of a deep dark cave.
… I need a hug,” said Douglas.”

And off he goes in search of the perfect hug in this interactive version of the picture book Hugless Douglas by David Melling. My children (aged nearly 5 and not-quite 3) already enjoy the Douglas books, and so we were really pleased to find him in the App Store.

One by one, Douglas carefully considers all the things that make his best hugs so good; they are big, tall, and comfy… but individually, nothing he finds is quite right. Then a rabbit points him in the direction of someone who can combine all these things into one wonderfully huggable package – his mum.

There are some lovely touches which show off the humour and warmth of Douglas’ world. For example, the very charismatic sheep that he scoops up in his arms (surely a shoo-in for Best Supporting Actors) are even more fun when a soundtrack of “baaas” is added. Douglas blowing his nose on the rabbit’s tail got extra giggles from my children, as did his attempt to climb a tree.

It’s nice to see Alan Davies narrate the story. His narration is warm and inviting, while the music by Simon Wallace is reminiscent of a lovely old-fashioned children’s TV series.

There are two extras included – a noughts and crosses game and a hug gallery. The gallery is a very nice feature, as you can email different hug illustrations to your friends and family. I’m sure grandparents would love receiving a Good Night Hug, Cosy Hug or Tummy Hug.

While we really enjoyed using this app, there are some things which we would love to see in any future updates. It would be good if the “Read to Me” option were not just a video of the book, but allowed for the page turns and interactivity currently only available in “Read by Myself”. Secondly, although keywords appear when you touch the illustrations (e.g. Douglas, bed, scarf), this is not consistently applied across the pages. And while the interactive elements definitely add something special to the story, I would have loved to see the app exploit the full possibilities of the iPad a bit more.

Overall, this app is a good value, straight forward version of the picture book, which delivers a warm and cosy hug for Douglas fans.

Hugless Douglas by David Melling, developed by Hachette, compatible with iPhone and iPad. Available from http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/hugless-douglas-interactive/id440678822?mt=8 priced at £1.99 at time of writing.

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Posted in Guest Posts and Interviews, Picture Books, Unsolicited Review

Tagged Capptivated Kids, David Melling, Hachette Children's Books, Hodder Children's Books, Hugless Douglas, Hugless Douglas App, Hugless Douglas Week

Hugless Douglas Week: Downloads

Posted on 3 October, 2012 | 1 Comment

Fortunately for Hugless Douglas fans, there are lots of freebies available online from colouring in sheets to teaching guides.

David Melling’s own website and blog (plus facebook and twitter) are a wealth of sneak peaks of upcoming work, videos and sketches:
Buy a signed print from Hugless Douglas
Keep an eye on upcoming events
Sneaky peek of upcoming Hugless Douglas project
Sneaky peek of We Love You Hugless Douglas
Behind the Scenes painting Hugless Douglas
Hugless Douglas and the Big Sleep storyboard
World Book Day 2012 with link to video of event including sketching Douglas live
There are also free downloads and resources for various books, including this Hugless Douglas Mother’s Day card to make:

From my very favourite and most wonderful local independent bookstore: Mostly Books, Abingdon
David Melling LIVE! – a page full of info plus two must-watch videos
Five Questions with David Melling – interview with Douglas’ “dad”
I Need a Hug! – event to celebrate the launch of first Hugless Douglas book (featuring the back of three year old MG’s head, and her picture of Douglas)

Activity Booklet

Hachette Children’s Books have very kindly given me permission to upload the activity booklet that is available in printed form at Hugless Douglas events. This is a 12-page PDF with dot-to-dot, maze, spot-the-difference, mobile to make and my favourite of all: how to draw Douglas. Download link here.

Hachette Children’s Colouring Sheets

The five PDF files shown above (colouring pages, Father’s Day card and sketches activity) can be downloaded from here. The Father’s Day Card and Love sheets are unique to this site.

In addition, the Tree Hug colouring sheet (shown above with full Mum Hug sheet) are included in the zip file of booklets that can be downloaded here (if the direct link doesn’t work, try this page and click ‘Colouring in templates’ link). This file includes the Sketches Activity and Boulder & Mum Hugs colouring from the website above.

Boulder, Tree and Mum Hug can also be downloaded from Scholastic.

Teaching Guides
There are a host of resources for teaching using Hugless Douglas, I wrote about related activities yesterday and here are some more teaching guides and activity ideas:
Missouri Building Block Picture Book Award activity sheet (PDF)
Tiger Tales teaching and reading guide (PDF)
Teaching Library teaching ideas (webpage)
ESL Printables reading worksheet (you need to be a member and make an upload to download this sheet but a full preview is available if you register for free)

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Posted in Picture Books

Tagged David Melling, Don't Worry Douglas, Don't Worry Hugless Douglas, Hachette Children's Books, Hodder Children's Books, Hugless Douglas, Hugless Douglas and the Big Sleep, Hugless Douglas Week, We Love You Hugless Douglas

Hugless Douglas Week: Activity Ideas

Posted on 2 October, 2012 | 2 Comments

“Hugless Douglas Activities” is one of the biggest search terms to this blog, therefore I’ve been thinking about what to do for this post for a while. After several hours of often fruitless google searches, I eventually remembered Pinterest and added a whole host of eclectic ideas onto an HD springboard board A selection are included below with suggested themes.

I have included a linky at the bottom of this post for you to add any related activity posts, and please do comment to suggest themes you think should be added too.

Theme: Bears

Circles Bear

A wonderfully simple craft that even very small children could manage (with help cutting out the circles) and added learning in the form of big/small and shapes.

Hugless Douglas Arms

No tutorial here, but I had to link to these fantastic bear arms made specifically for Hugless Douglas. Very crafty parents may be able to rustle up something similar!

Teddy Bear Toast

A delicious looking snack to try for your little bears, look like it can be made by small children too so practical skills, cuteness and a fairly healthy snack or breakfast alternative.

Potato Paw Prints

I love the idea of actually using jam to make paw prints, but I don’t think I’d be able to go through with it. All small children love to make ~~a big mess~~ pawprints

Handprint and Footprint Bears

Another nice and simple craft for young children and up. If you’ve not tried animal handprints, Red Ted Art has an entire alphabet of them!

For older children:
Bears feature in many of David’s books. Look at the bears in the following books:
The Star-Faced Crocodile
The Kiss That Missed trilogy
Two by Two and a half
How they are different from each other and from Hugless Douglas? How are they similar? Are all the bears friendly?

Other book series bears to look out for:
Big Bear & Little Bear (Martin Waddell & Barbara Firth)
Bear (Karma Wilson & Jane Chapman)
The Bear (Jez Alborough)
The Bear with Sticky Paws (Clara Vulliamy)
George & Bartholemew (Virginia Miller)
Muffin (Clara Vulliamy)
Old Bear & Little Bear (Jane Hissey)
Paddington (Michael Bond & various)
Winnie the Pooh (A A Milne & E H Shepard)

Theme: Other Animals in the Hugless Douglas Books
For sheep, see Theme: Sheep, Wool, Knitting and Hats below

Owl Mask

How much fun is this owl mask? Plus it’s made from leaves so can be preceeded by a nature walk in most seasons, except winter. How would it look with green leaves I wonder?

Amazing Edible Owl

A fantastic treat for active youngsters. Krisproll, banana and chocolate buttons – who-ooo could resist? I think I must have had food on the brain when I was collecting links, but I love this owl sandwich too!

Rabbit Finger Puppet

This finger puppet looks fantastic, and I’m sure the sewing parts could be replaced by glueing for very small children. For something with a template to cut round, there’s these lovely bunny tree decorations.

Theme: Hibernation (Hugless Douglas)

Why has Douglas woken up and forgotten his mum? Well, several months of sleep is enough to confuse anyone! What is hibernation, and what other animals hibernate in winter?

Hibernation Diorama

A complex papier-mâché and clay project to be attempted by children with a serious interest in hibernation (or making things!) and a fantastic result to be proud of when complete.

Bear Cave Craft

As well as this bear cave perfect for young children to make, the link also includes a hibernation song and finger play which would be lovely to do with small children. Lots of other ideas too!

Animals in Winter

Not free, but I think Montessori Print Shop’s materials are well worth the price. This downloadable pdf makes a sorting game of how different animals respond to winter: do they hibernate, migrate or adapt?

Theme: Trees, Leaves, Rocks and Seasons (Hugless Douglas)

The search for a perfect hug is also a lovely sensory experience. On a nature walk, try to collect some stones, leaves, bark (or twigs) and maybe some raw wool to feel while reading the story. Does your child think that these things are nice to hug or not?

Leaf Shapes

This site has a leaf shape template to download and cut out leaf shapes for all sorts of crafts – the examples on this page are gorgeous. You could also cut out paper leaves to make a tree or animal shapes for example.

Leaf Print Tree

The Hugless Douglas books are full of trees and leaves, so this leaf print tree is a good expressive craft for small children to experiment with senses, colours and mess

Colourful Spring Branch

Douglas wakes in the spring, so this fun craft project is another nice addition. When thinking about trees and leaves, the seasons come to mind as most trees change so visually throughout the seasons.

Rock Sensory Bin

Great fun for small children – playing with stones and searching for small objects hidden in them. With added sensory feel of the rocks/pebbles – rough and smooth could be covered here too.

This huge free download from CurrClick has some seasonal learning ideas. I particularly like the tree patterns sheet on page 8, and the ‘how do I adapt to the seasons’ game on pages 41-42.

Theme: Sheep, Wool, Knitting & Hats (Don’t Worry Hugless Douglas)

Sheep feature throughout the Hugless Douglas books, and as an added learning link through Douglas’ hat is wooly. Conversations about how sheep are sheared for summer, how raw wool is processed and knitting and crochet can follow on from here.

Do you have any hats at home? What kind of hats are they: sun hats, winter hats, decorative hats? Why do we use hats? Can you design a hat? There are lots of hat crafts for small children, from a simple paper hat to pirate hats and beyond…

Cotton Wool Sheep

Making sheep from cotton wool is loads of fun. This is a Mary had a Little Lamb craft which in turn leads to thinking about rhymes and fairy tales that can be read after Hugless Douglas, for example Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Cloud Dough

This cloud dough looks like wooly sheep and would be a nice sensory follow on from thinking about sheep. Compare the texture with wool too, to see how things that look similar can feel very different.

Felted Balls

Another sensory experience, and could be combined with the sensory bin idea for trees, leaves and rocks plus roving shows the stage between raw wool and yarn wool.

Wool Sheep

I think this craft idea is really good for cementing the link between wool on sheep and the wool used for knitting etc. The link has lots of farmyard ideas which don’t quite follow for Hugless Douglas but would be fun for another day.

Crochet Hat

A fairly tenuous link here, but I thought this hat was so cute! I can’t knit or crochet but parents who can could probably make this together with children – the eyes might be good for children to make for instance. There’s some lovely hats on this site, including an owl hat.

Theme: Underground Homes (Hugless Douglas and the Big Sleep)

Rabbit lives underground. What other animals can you think of that live underground? Ants, worms, moles? What are the similarities and differences between animals who make their homes under the ground?

Theme: Nocturnal and Diurnal (Hugless Douglas and the Big Sleep)

Hugless Douglas goes to Rabbit’s for a sleepover. They are sleeping at night. Some animals sleep in the day. What does nocturnal mean? What does diurnal mean? What nocturnal and diurnal animals can you think of?

Nocturnal or Diurnal

A simple, visual way of describing the difference between nocturnal and diurnal animals plus ideas for a sorting game to make using pictures found online and printed.

Nocturnal or Diurnal Sorting Game

Not free, but another Montessori Print Shop sorting game perfect for Hugless Douglas follow-on and saves looking up animals and finding quality images yourself.

Silly Songs
I couldn’t resist creating these silly songs (to the tune of well known nursery rhymes). I hope Mr Melling and Hachette Children’s Books will forgive me!

You can download the song sheet here.

Goblins
Depending on the age and interest of the child, reading the Goblins books to them before or after Hugless Douglas could lead on to cross-over activities. Some questions to think about:
What would a Hug Goblin look like?
Where would it live?
What would it do?
What would happen if Hugless Douglas met a Hug Goblin? Can you write a story about this?

And now it’s your turn… Please comment or add a link below. Tomorrow I will be rounding up a selection of colouring sheets and other resources you can download.

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Posted in Crafty Activities, Education, Picture Books, Play

Tagged David Melling, Don't Worry Douglas, Don't Worry Hugless Douglas, Hachette Children's Books, Hodder Children's Books, Hugless Douglas, Hugless Douglas Activities, Hugless Douglas and the Big Sleep, Hugless Douglas Week, We Love You Hugless Douglas

Hugless Douglas Week: Giveaway

Posted on 1 October, 2012 | 7 Comments

Hugless Douglas and the Big Sleep: David Melling (Hodder Children's Books, 2012)

To celebrate the publication day of the paperback of Hugless Douglas and the Big Sleep on 4th October I will be having a week of Hugless Douglas posts including reviews, activities and where to download colouring sheets etc.

To start the week off, I’m opening a giveaway for one hardback copy of the third Hugless Douglas book plus a copy of the activity book you can usually only get by attending an event. You can read my original review of the book here, or the edited re-post is below.

Before you read that, let me point you in the direction of Hugless Douglas events with David Melling coming up very soon:
6th October 2012: Cheltenham Literary Festival
(SOLD OUT, Sorry!) 7th October 2012: Bath Literary Festival
12th October 2012: Wimbledon BookFest
31st October 2012: Wessex Festival
10th November 2012: Leicester Festival
See www.davidmelling.co.uk for more details.

UPDATE: Thanks to the generosity of Hachette Children’s Books and David Melling, more prizes added plus all books can be SIGNED if wanted. Giveaway extended until Tuesday 9th October due to extra prizes.

Hugless Douglas and the Big Sleep is the third in the Hugless Douglas series, and I think it might just be my favourite of the three. To recap: In Hugless Douglas (Hodder 2010), Douglas wakes from a long sleep and tries to find a hug that suits him, looking for big tall and comfy hugs in all the wrong places until Rabbit takes him to the best hug of all. In Don’t Worry [Hugless] Douglas (Hodder 2011) Douglas gets a new hat from his dad but in his excitement the hat gets ruined. He looks for advice about what to tell his dad, before finding out that telling the truth is the best option.

In Hugless Douglas and the Big Sleep, Douglas is heading for a sleepover with Rabbit: “There’s plenty of room at Rabbit’s.” But not before choosing what to take with him, getting lost, picking up some friends along the way and ending sleeping not quite where originally planned…

It’s the attention to detail that make me love these books so much. This may be why I like Hugless Douglas and the Big Sleep so much, because it brings themes from the original Hugless Douglas book: the honeybee pyjamas, the bush with eyes, the owl saying “Twooooo Twit!”. I also love how the sky subtly darkens throughout the book with a sunset sky before night falls – something that you can even see in the storyboard:

Kind permission given by David Melling to use storyboard sketch

Poor Douglas. They pushed... ...and they pulled.

This double spread also has that Winnie-the-Pooh trapped in Rabbit’s house feel, except in this case Rabbit is very happy for Douglas to visit and the problem is getting into her house, not out of it. (And I just love how this Rabbit instantly just decides to dig a bigger hole because she is, after all, a rabbit…)

The attention to detail really is just fantastic: there are always ten sheep (even when they’re just eyes in a bush), Douglas’ storybook front and back cover is an exact match to the first Hugless Douglas book, one of the sheep is pulling the pyjamas out of the bag before Douglas is shown wearing them (though how he gets them on must be a book in itself!)

The final double page spread of “things to take on a sleepover” is packed with humour (especially the cuddly toy), but I think my favourite has to be: a friend. Hugless Douglas can be every child’s friend so off you go now, grab yourself a copy and enjoy. And don’t forget to read it to your children once you’ve enjoyed it…

Don’t forget to pack a friend…