THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY- JENNY HAN

Synopsis : The Summer I Turned Pretty is the first in a gorgeous romantic series from fabulous new teen voice, Jenny Han. Jenny Han’s delightful and well written coming-of-age story is the perfect beach read for 2010. Combining summer love, lasting friendship and teen angst, girls everywhere will fall in love with it this summer

One girl. Two boys. And the summer that changed everything…

Everything that happened this past summer, and every summer before it, has all led up to this. To now.

Every year Isabel spends a perfect summer at her family friends’ house. There’s the swimming pool at night, the private stretch of sandy beach . . . and the two boys. Unavailable, aloof Conrad – who she’s been in love with forever – and friendly, relaxed Jeremiah, the only one who’s ever really paid her any attention.

But this year something is different. They seem to have noticed her for the first time. It’s going to be an amazing summer – and one she’ll never forget…

Hot Brands Verdict
Finding the right balance for teen reading can be a challenge, but this book sets just the right tone. Combining first love, family drama and an open-ended ending leading on to the next novel, this is perfect summer reading. Although written for young people it will also have appeal for parents too, remembering their first love. Its atmospheric descriptions, transports you to the beach house, you can see it and you can smell the sea in the air. A fabulous new writing discovery. We loved it! Highly recommended!

Buy The Summer I Turned Pretty from Amazon.co.uk

With summer themed craft workshops, family exhibitions and lots of outdoor activities, The Quays – Greater Manchester’s waterfront destination – is the place to be when it comes to entertaining both kids and adults alike.

Featuring a host of exciting activities and venues within a single square mile there’s always something happening at The Quays and this summer is no exception.

The Lowry Outlet Mall is the place to be when school’s out! Enjoy the free family activities on offer all across the summer months including craftwork shops, games and popular children’s’ characters. And that’s not all, the Mall offers and on-site cinema, five plaza restaurants and stores offering up to 60% off RRP all year round.

Family favourites showing on stage at The Lowry in coming months include Alice in Wonderland, Penguin, and the infamous musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Creative and interactive workshops, Ballroom Sundays and dance sessions for the under 5s are also popular family attractions at The Lowry.

Action-packed and interactive the Imperial War Museum North is hosting the All Aboard: Stories of War at Sea exhibition for families from July 17 2010. Get hands-on with activities, dress up and learning workshops.

For those who love their sports, Lancashire County Cricket Club offer a Saturday Club for children, experienced coaches will teach the kids basic cricket skills, including fielding, batting, bowling and wicket keeping. While Salford Watersports Centre offers an extensive range of water-based activities, including dinghy sailing, power boating, kayaking, and much more.

Mersey Ferries operate the Manchester Ship Canal Cruise throughout the summer (June 12-September 25), enjoy a truly memorable journey along the 35 -mile stretch of canal. This includes commentary on the, the history of the area and an insight to one of Britain’s major waterways.

Both The Ramada Manchester Salford Quays and The Lodge offer affordable accommodation for those looking to make a weekend out of it!

WIN OVER £20,000 OF PRIZES WITH ANDREX®
Andrex, the nation’s favourite toilet tissue, this week launches a fantastic new Puppy promotion exclusively on Facebook.

Each of the 6,500 fans of the Andrex Puppy’s Facebook fanpage will have the chance to win one of thirty top prizes every day with a total value of over £20,000, simply by entering a fun competition.

Top prizes include Nintendo Wii Consoles, X-Box 360s, Sony Cybershot Digital Cameras, Nintendo DSi consoles, Sony Playstation 3s, gift vouchers up to the value of £150 from a number of retailers including Next, M&S and Tesco and much much more.

Smaller prizes also include money off coupons and Andrex Puppy goodies including pyjamas cases, hot water bottles, cuddly toys and slippers.

To enter, all fans have to do is play the new ‘Pup-o-matic’ game. Similar to a slot machine, the fruit symbols have been replaced with the Andrex Puppy and his ‘Soft’, ‘Strong’ and ‘Long’ friends that feature in the new Andrex advertising campaign – a chihuahua, a bulldog and a sausage dog. Matching dogs means prizes.

For a chance of winning, visit http://www.facebook.com/theandrexpuppy and enter the competition today. The competition runs from 15th June to 5th July 2010.

THE GIANT SLEEPOVER 2010 - ARE YOU READY FOR BED?
Do you remember when a sleepover was a friend coming over, chatting and laughing for a while, some snacks, a movie and then lights out? Well, ‘sleepover’ now has a ‘giant’ meaning.

The Giant Sleepover, taking place across the world next weekend from Saturday 19th June, will see children aged 5-16 years in registered youth groups and schools, having fun and raising money as they face a number of exciting fundraising challenges. If your child is registered and doesn’t yet have a bed to sleep in, by purchasing a ReadyBed from the Big Red Warehouse, which you can find through the link on the www.giantsleepover.com website, you will ensure a donation is given to the Giant Sleepover Charities. In all, over 20,000 children are registered to take part including a scout party who will be sleeping at Hamley’s toy shop in London, in the world’s biggest ever ReadyBed measuring 17.5 meters wide!

But if you’re not registered to take part in The Giant Sleepover this year, why not join in by having a sleepover of your own? ReadyBeds from Worlds Apart are a sleepover essential and mums will be pleased because there’s no fussing over spare beds and covers as the ReadyBed is a clever all-in-one solution comprising pillow, mattress and duvet.

The ReadyBed has a built in cover that can be removed and simply popped in the washing machine. The bed also come with a handy pump so it can be inflated in minutes, plus its own carry case for easy transportation which is handy for when travelling to a friend’s place for a sleepover at any time!

The Giant Sleepover has grown from just one school’s commitment in 2003 to a well established annual event and what hopes to be a Guinness World Record this year.
For more information on The Giant Sleepover, visit www.giantsleepover.com
For more information on ReadyBeds, visit www.worldsapart.com or call 0800 389 8591.

‘ARE WE NEARLY THERE YET?’
- Airport Parking and Hotels Offers Top Tips on Keeping the Kids Entertained -
Travelling with children can sometimes be a challenge and test of patience for parents, so Airport Parking and Hotels (APH) http://www.aph.com/ has compiled a list of games and top tips to help parents stay one step ahead of the tantrums, whether they are from troublesome two year olds through to teenagers.

Here is a sneak preview below of the top tips or click on your child’s age group for a full downloadable list:

Babies & Toddlers (pre-school):http://www.aph.com/tipsforkids
They often don’t need too much, as long as you have their favourite teddy and blanket to hand so try these in your hand luggage:
· Pack your child’s favourite fruit, snacks and sandwiches cut into fun shapes
· Pack a few favourite toys and comforters
· Pack child neck supports, a blanket and pyjamas
· Babies are often happy to play with the simplest things such as cups and laminated safety cards on aeroplanes, so there is no need to lug a huge bag of toys on holiday
· Play peek-a-boo with small children

Younger Children (aged 5-11):http://www.aph.com/tipsforkids
They need things to stimulate their inquisitive minds as they bore easily, so a good selection of activities should include:
· Provide each child with a bag of their own toys and a few new ones for a surprise treat
· Compile a ‘fun book’ with word searches, dot-to-dot games, noughts and crosses tables, colouring pages, holiday trivia and a fun map of the holiday destination
· Make sure you know how to play guessing games – I-Spy, Who am I?, Car Bingo, 20 Questions, and guess the colour of Mr Men
· Audio Story Books - download stories onto an iPod or buy some audio story books to play in the car

Teenagers (11 upwards):http://www.aph.com/tipsforkids
They are less dependent on adult supervision and can largely amuse themselves, with a few well placed props:
· Pack magnetic board games such as GoSpy, Scrabble, Monopoly and Cluedo
· Make sure you’ve packed their favourite food and drink (but you’ll need to replenish the latter after Airport Security) so there’s no excuse for those teenage tantrums
· Make sure they take a good selection of reading material and encourage them to use waiting or journey time to go over revision notes if they are approaching exam season
· Don’t forget the Nintendo- DS, PSP, i-Pods and hand-held DVDs – make sure they are fully charged for the journey before you set off and don’t forget headphones

Airport Parking and Hotels Ltd is one of the UK’s leading booking agencies and this year celebrates its 30th year as a retailer and operator of pre-booked airport parking and travel extras. APH offers parking at all major UK airports, ports and Eurotunnel terminals plus airport hotels packaged with parking and airport lounges. APH is also a carbon balanced company and has, through the World Land Trust, helped purchase more than 1,000 acres of endangered rainforest.

For further information visit http://www.aph.com/ or call 01342 859515.

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