Everybody loves the Gruffalo! We have three stunning Gruffalo backpacks and 3 large special edition plush Gruffalos to give away. All you have to do is the following:

1. Snap a picture of your little one reading a Gruffalo book or playing with Gruffalo toys.

2. Send the picture to socialmedia@exclusives.co.za with ‘Gruffalo’ in the subject line OR upload the picture to our Facebook wall. We will also upload any emailed pictures to Facebook

3. The three pictures that receive the most likes will win Gruffalo backpacks. The 4th, 5th and 6th most liked pictures will win the special edition large plush Gruffalos.

That’s all! These stunning prizes could be yours! Competition closes 7th December at 12pm. Terms and conditions apply!

You can see all of the discounted Gruffalo products here on Exclus1ves.co.za

Since I was very young I have always been fascinated and entranced by the world created by J. M Barrie. Peter Pan is a tale that transcends age, no matter how old you are or how young, you can always find an escape in Neverland. In the past the only movie depicting my favourite fairytale land was the original Disney version. And while I enjoyed this version when I was younger, as I grew older it no longer really held an appeal for me.

The original Peter and Wendy by J.M Barrie was written, as most fairytales of that time where, as much as a cautionary tale as a fantasy story. Mermaids and fairies where mysterious creatures of the wild, to be feared and respected and avoided unless you had a wish to leave the realm of mortals. This idea is best depicted in my favourite poem by W. B Yeats – The Stolen Child.

Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.

Thankfully there are now two movies that I truly feel bring the magic of Peter Pan to life. They are Finding Neverland and the live action version of Peter Pan. Here is a review and some of my thoughts on each movie:

That's not a Pirate name! What about Dastardly Jim, eh?

The story opens on the opening night of J. M Barrie’s latest play, unfortunately destined to be a complete failure. Undaunted by this setback, James escapes to his favourite writing retreat in a nearby local park accompanied by his faithful hound Porthos. It is here that he meets a family who are fated to become the inspiration for his next, and irrefutably greatest, story – Peter Pan. Having no children himself, he delights in joining the boys in various wondrous lands and scenarios born of their imaginations. Over time he adds many of the adventures he experiences with the boys to the story of Peter Pan.

Johnny Depp‘s portrayal as the great author is, in my opinion, one of his greatest roles. He brings to life the great imagination that created one of the most loved fantasy worlds in the history of children’s literature. The frequent flashes into the world of J. M Barrie’s imagination are wonderfully done and the scene at the end of the movie where he finally shows Sylvia Neverland are beautiful and breathtaking.

Although you don’t really see much of Neverland in this movie, it will always be a favourite because it reminds me that all we truly need is to believe, and our imaginations can take us to places we never dared to dream of before.

James: “You can visit Neverland any time you like”
Peter: “How?”
James: “By believing Peter. Just believe…”

"Young boys should never be sent to bed, they always wake up a day older"

"Peter! You know fairies?"

Peter Pan is mischievous and yet still wondrously innocent as he convinces Wendy (Rachel Hurd-Wood) and her brothers to join him in Neverland, where they will never grow old or have to worry about grown up matters. Once in Neverland the have their first encounter with the Lost Boys, Peter’s band of fellow runaways, who are coaxed into trying to kill the dreaded “Wendy Bird” by Tinkerbell. They also encounter the infamous Captain James Hook (Jason Isaacs), who has been trying to capture Peter ever since Peter cut off his hand in a battle and threw it to a crocodile.

The mermaids are not, as Disney would have us believe, giggling half humans with seashell bras. They are, as most common folk tales describe them, dark and beautiful creatures of the ocean who try to drown humans who come to near to their domain. Visually Neverland is everything you expect it to be and this will always be one of my all time favourite Peter Pan movies.

"I'm not afraid of no Wendy Bird!" Tootles shouted.

Who is Alex Rider?

Name: Alex Rider
Age: 14 years
Appearance: Alex is well built, with short fair hair and brown eyes.
Early Life: A few months after his birth, Alex’s parents, John and Helen Rider, were killed in a plane crash. Alex was then raised by his uncle, Ian Rider. They travelled widely, throughout the UK, Europe and the Americas (see holiday destinations for more information); Alex learned many of his special skillson these trips, such as rock climbing, scuba diving and foreign languages.
Current status: Alex lives in London with his legal guardian, Jack Starbright. He attends Brookland School.
Likes and dislikes: Alex is a supporter of Chelsea FC and a keen sportsman.
MI6 status: After the death of his uncle, Alex began to work with MI6 on special assignments.

Win! We have five sets of the complete Alex Rider series to give away, courtesy of Pan Macmillan South Africa! To enter, all you have to do is name three characters in the Alex Rider series in the comment thread below. The competition closes on the 30th of September and winners will be picked at random. Terms and conditions apply.

And the winners are…

• Itumeleng Lebeko
• Dhivanya Moodley
• Zaakiyah
• Rayno Lourens
• Patience Ngwenya

Like My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece, this title surprised me with the depths of its wisdom considering its guise as a book for pre-teens. I’m thinking of categorising these ‘Sneaky Adult Favourites’.

August Pullman, or Auggie as he is called by his loved ones, was born with a facial deformity that causes kids to ask him if he was in a fire, or if he’s a zombie. A Star Wars fanatic, Auggie also spent two years wearing an astronaut helmet in an attempt to hide his face. At the suggestion of his parents, he decides to leave homeschooling and go to fifth grade. Supported by his remarkable family, the first half of the story is narrated through Auggie’s eyes. Worse than the intentional cruelty of some of the kids (like naming him the Plague and refusing to touch him) is the fake friendliness of some of the teachers and the students, with their ‘shiny’ smiles. The rudeness, Auggie knows and can try to ignore; it’s the false smiles and quick looks away that hurt as much. There’s no anger, just frustration that might be expected of any small boy when so few will be his friend. The reader is also treated to multiple narrators in their own sections, creating a wonderfully multi-faceted story.

The major theme of the novel is ‘be kinder than is necessary’, something that definitely should have pride of place in not just a children’s novel, but in any novel. I struggled to get into it initially, since I was expecting some emotional manipulation with ‘he is deformed, take pity, for shame!’ After all, the book arrived at the office with a packet of tissues attached. But it isn’t manipulative or woeful; just sweetly honest. There are all the castmembers of childhood; kind teachers, bullies, nerds, popular groups, jocks, mean girls. Auggie navigates them all, and gets a little help from his friends.

So often books focus on cruelty and pain, and I would never be so trite to say that life does not deal vast amounts of unfairness on a daily basis to people who don’t deserve it. But it is something of a joy to read a book that celebrates the potential for kindness in everyone. I cried, I laughed, and I loved the characters in their development. I especially loved the line “I think that there should be a rule that everyone should get a standing ovation at least once” from Auggie. This is definitely going to be a hit with the parents that borrow this from their kids once lights are out.

Wonder will be available in paperback in April.

Audio books are one of the best ways to allay some of the unpleasant effects of long or dawdling journeys. On average, an audio book can provide up to 10 hours of listening experience, enough to keep you occupied for the duration of your daily, weekly or monthly travels. A great variety of audio books has been published across all genres, including fiction and non-fiction in various categories like children’s books, business, science fiction and much more. We at Exclusives.co.za have compiled a list of 10 great audio books to accompany you on your life journey(s).

We have compiled a beautiful hamper of children’s books, which includes some of the biggest names in children’s literature, such as Michael Morpurgo, Anne Fine and Dick King-Smith. The hamper includes:

• Ninnyhammer - Dick King Smith
• Ruby the Red Fairy - Daisy Meadows
• Amber the Orange Fairy - Daisy Meadows
• Jamie and Angus Together - Anne Fine
• The Mouse Family Robinson - Dick King-Smith
• Kaspar - Michael Morpurgo
• The Thirteenth Princess - Diane Zahler
• A True Princess - Janey Louise Jones
• Custard and Crayons - Sarah Rowden and Joanna Vestey 
• The Birthday Book - Edited by Michael Morpurgo and Quentin Blake
• Where’s the Meerkat? – Paul Moran

This is ideal for kids under twelve, and will make a stunning gift. To win this hamper, simply answer the following question in the comments thread before 10am on the 20th of February. The winner will be chosen at random.

Question: Name one famous children’s author, living or not.  

Good luck!

The Very Short Introduction series (the VSI collection) has long been a stalwart part of the Oxford University Press publishing house. These books are pocket-sized insights into a variety of subjects; over three hundred of them thus far. They explore the historical, economic and social aspects of a variety of topics, ranging from art to religion to world events.

We have a collection of eight VSIs to give away, courtesy of Oxford University Press. This hamper includes the following topics:

• Film
• Magic
• Children’s Literature
• The Periodic Table
• The Conscience
• Islam
• The Animal Kingdom
• Angels

Kelly Ansara over at It’s a Book Thing got her hands on the first ever Flemming-family endorsed sequel to Ian Flemming’s iconic ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang‘ titled ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: Flies Again’ by Frank Cottrell Boyce.

A book like this one stands out, not only because of its predecessor (Ian Fleming) but because it is a story that makes you realise why you started reading as a kid in the first place.

You can read the full review on her blog.

Until now, monster mash-ups have been done with novels that are no longer protected by copyright due to the author being dead longer than fifty years. Prime examples include Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and  Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. But now Antartic Press is being sued (and rightfully so, in this author’s opinion) by Jeff Kinney, the author of the Wimpy Kid series. According to this article by Publishers Weekly,

In the filing, Wimpy Kid noted that since the publication of the first book in April 2007 it has rapidly become a “cultural phenomenon,” selling more than 52 million copies, with merchandising that includes T-shirts, hats, action figures, swimwear, and board games. It calls Diary of a Zombie Kid “a counterfeit, copy, and/or colorable imitation.”

I’ve discussed monster mash-ups on this blog before here, and while I believe they are a worthwhile contribution to the literary world, it is definitely an infringement of an author’s rights to see such a title being produced with such blatant theft of intellectual property. But having also seen Diary of a Wimpy Vampire in the shops this season, I wonder if a court case will go up against that author too, even if the similarity isn’t as clear. It can be argued that once something is in the public domain it is up for free use; consider the case of Red Hot Chili Peppers suing the producers of Californication in 2007 for their use of their song title for the show title. The court case is still unresolved. There will always be parodies – Mad Magazine has been doing it since 1952 – and the line between copyright and parody can easily be blurred by good lawyers and free speech amendments. However, I do feel that Jeff Kinney has the right to defend his work should he feel that the zombie version hurts his original series.  What do you think?

We noticed that a tradition of bed-time stories is almost completely absent from the lives of our staff and their children. In fact, spending this sort of quality time, at bed-time, is challengingly out of reach for our staff. We have had to impose on our staff to work long shifts in the last 6 months. This often means our staff maybe not being there as much as any of us would like them to be, especially at bedtime.

We approached EXCLUSIVE BOOKS with an idea to try and do something to help fix this a little. Read on to see what we came up with and maybe you (or even your company) might want to do something similar!

You can read more about the NoMU Staff Initiative here.

Remember that we’re sponsoring the cookbooks in NoMU’s Subscribe and Win competitions where you can win the cookbook of the month if you subscribe to the NoMU newsletters. Click here for more info.