Mum and Working Book Club

Here at Mum and Working we LOVE books and think reading to your children is a fantastic chance to spend some quality time with them (and a good excuse for a cuddle!). We also know the pleasure children who can read independently can get from choosing a book and escaping through it to another world. As mums too, reading can be a great break from the normal pressures of every day life and a chance to have some valuable 'me time'.

With all that in mind we have dedicated a section of the site to reading - bringing you recommendations, news and information about all that is happening in the world of books!

Books News

Bookstart launches new book pack for deaf children

There are 35,000 deaf children in the UK. 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents with little experience of deafness. Bookstart recognises the importance of encouraging all parents and carers to enjoy books with children from as early an age as possible.

With this in mind, and to tie in with the National Year of Reading 2008 whose aim is to make reading accessible for all, Bookstart has produced a new pack called Bookshine which offers free books and information specifically designed to suit deaf children's needs.

The pack is aimed at parents of deaf children aged 0-5 years. It includes a touch and feel book and a book featuring simple British Sign Language (BSL) signs and an image of a child with a hearing aid as it is important that deaf children see themselves in books.

Alex Strick, Bookstart Consultant explains: "The Bookshine books and accompanying materials have been chosen in partnership with the National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) and parents of deaf children. The Booktouch materials have been developed in partnership with the RNIB and parents of blind and partially sighted children."

Booktrust also provides Booktouch packs for blind and partially sighted children. This pack has also now been revised and fully updated. The pack includes information and advice as well as two touch and feel books, ideal for stimulating children's sense of touch.

Working through locally-based organisations, Bookstart gives the gift of free books to children at around eight months, 18 months and three years, along with guidance materials for parents and carers. Bookstart also aims to foster a love of books through a range of fun activities. Parents wishing to receive a pack should speak to their Health Visitor or contact their local library. To find out more about Bookstart and the different packs available, please visit www.bookstart.org.uk

Book Recommendations

Cover of 'The Infidelity Chain'

The Infidelity Chain by Tess Stimson

Ella Stuart has worked hard to achieve the perfect work-life balance: a high-flying career as a paediatric doctor, a charming husband, charity fundraiser Jackson Garrett - and in urbane PR consultant William Ashfield, a passionate, worldly lover.

William is equally devoted to Ella, his mistress of eight years, and to his faded, troubled wife, Beth. He knows he could never choose between them; and is eternally grateful he's never been asked.

When tragedy strikes out of the blue, Ella's carefully ordered life is abruptly derailed. Struggling to cope as the chaos spirals out of her control, unable to play the accommodating mistress any longer, Ella examines her long relationship with William, and finds it wanting.

But her personal nightmare has repercussions for everyone linked to her. For William, who has to face his own demons and make the toughest decision of his life. For Beth, who is just beginning to emerge from the depression that has stolen the most precious years of motherhood.

And above all for Cate, William and Beth's seventeen-year-old daughter, whose transition from girlhood to womanhood is suddenly set to be a baptism of fire.

Published by Pan Macmillan in paperback 4th January 2008, priced £6.99

Cover of 'The Odd Egg'

The Odd Egg by Emily Gravett

All the birds have an egg, but there's something odd about Duck's...

When Duck finds an egg of his own he's delighted: it's the most beautiful egg in the world! But all the other birds think it's a very odd egg indeed and everyone's in for a BIG surprise when the egg hatches.

Published by Pan Macmillan in hardback 7th March 2008, priced £10.99