Wednesday 30 October 2013

Demon Dentist by David Walliams review and giveaway

I enjoyed reading this book and can see how entertaining it would be to children aged 9 upwards. I did read aloud carefully selected extracts to my four year old (he loves dark comedy and all things scary!) which he loved - especially the bit about a motorcycle display team jumping over a bus! We laughed and giggled together throughout the book - it's very funny!

There's been comparisons to Roald Dahl and I have to say being a huge Dahl fan, I was a bit skeptical at first. However, the comparisons have been made with good reason, the story would appeal to any Dahl fan and the illustrator, Tony Ross (Horrid Henry) has done a fantastic job!

This book is awesome, it's the first Walliams book I've read and now I want to read the rest!

... oh and you get a free pair of false teeth too ;-)

I'm lucky enough to have a copy to give away to one of my wonderful readers, see below. 

DEMON DENTIST for aged 9+
Darkness had come to the town. Strange things were happening in the dead of night. Children would put a tooth under their pillow for the tooth fairy, but in the morning they would wake up to find... a dead slug; a live spider; hundreds of earwigs creeping and crawling beneath their pillow. Evil was at work. But who or what was behind it...?

The long-awaited fantastically funny new children's novel from The King of Comedy, David Walliams! Continuing their perfect partnership, this novel will be illustrated by Tony RossDavid Walliams goes from strength to strength as thefastest growing children’s author in the UK.

Copies are available from AmazonYou can download extracts here.

The giveaway
HarperCollins have kindly allocated me a copy David Walliams Demon Dentist for my lovely readers to win :)
To enter the competition, please tell me ... Are you afraid of the dentist? 

Answers in the comments section below. Please include a way of contacting you, such as twitter id.
One winner will be selected using random.org to win a copy of the Demon Dentist please reply with your details with 7days of winning or another winner will be selected.

Competition closes 14th November 2013 at 12noon. UK entries only please. Prize sent out directly from the prize provider. 

Optional Bonus entries:

• Follow me on Twitter and Tweet a link to the comp including@beachpebble
• Like "Emma in Bromley" Facebookpage
• Follow me on Pinterest(beachpebble) and Pin this comp on Pinterest
• Add me to your Google + and G+ this post
• Follow my blog on Bloglovin
• Follow me on Instagram(beachpebble_uk) and like my Demon Dentist picture
• Leave a comment on another of my blog posts (not other comps)

Please leave a separate comment below for each of your bonus entries so I can count them (max 1 for each method).

Thank you, Emma in Bromley xx

Update - Thank you to everyone who entered, this competition has now closed and I'm pleased to announce the winner:

Victoria Welton @vicwelton







Friday 25 October 2013

Prizes for Parents Competition Round Up 25.10.13

Prizes for parents 25.10.13
Originally started by the lovely Emma at Mellow Mummy, I'd like to bring to you Prizes for Parents.
This is a weekly roundup of some of the best competitions available on the web, I'll keep my eyes peeled for the best prizes or freebies on offer for UK families, mums, parents and health and beauty fans.
I'll post a selection here of the ones I spot or if you have a competition you'd like me to include, just tweet me the link @beachpebble, email me or leave a comment below with the details and closing date.
#prizesforparents
Prize must be open to UK winners.
Published every Friday.

• Win a baby OMSK sweatshirt
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 27.10.13

• Win 1 of 5 The Little Reindeer DVDs
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 27.10.13

• Win £230 worth of Joseph Joseph kitchenware 
Entry by online form, closes 18.11.13

• Win 1 of 6 Mickey's around the world clubhouse playsets
Entry by online form, closes 31.10.13

• Win a Harvey Maria floor before Christmas
Entry by Facebook, closes 31.10.13

• Win £250 John Lewis vouchers
Entry by online form, closes 04.11.13

• Win a Paul Klee children's book
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 09.12.13

• Win a HABA BBQ
Twitter entry by RT and follow. Closes ?

• Win 1 of 10 tins of biscuits
Entry by online form, closes 17.11.13

• Win 1 of 3 The Little Reindeer DVDs
Entry by blog comment, closes 09.11.13

• Win a snapajack party pack
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 10.11.13

• Win a Tidy Books book case
Entry by blog comment, closes 28.10.13

• Win a selection of books from the BookTrust
Entry by blog comment, closes 15.11.13

• Win a Theraline Plushy Moon breastfeeding pillow
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 21.11.13

• Win a Hape Guitar
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 28.10.13

• Win 1 of 2 Family Kitchen Cookbooks
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 04.11.13

• Win a freezer full of COOK frozen meals
Entry by online form, closes 01.11.13

• Win a selection of books from the book trust.
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 24.11.13

• Win 1 of 3 LEGO Star Wars models
Entry by online form, closes 02.11.13

• Win a Wii U console and spongebob game
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 31.10.13

• Win a Brio railway bridge
Twitter entry, follow and RT closes 07.11.13

• Win 5 books from the book trust
Entry by blog comment, closes 30.10.13

• Win £100 to spend on HABA at Babipur
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 28.10.13

• Win 1 of 3 Spookley the Square Pumpkin DVDs
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 29.10.13

• Win a Wii U console and spongebob game 
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 30.10.13

• Win 1 of 3 Jollywobbles DVDs
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 16.11.13

• Win a framed Belle and Boo Halloween print, a book and colouring pencils.
Entry by emailing an answer, closes 31.10.13

• Win a Rocking Horse!
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 30.10.13

• Win a Scooby-do Trap Time bundle
Entry by online form, closes ?

• Win 1 of 3 Max Steel DVDs
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 30.10.13

• Win a pair of designer Missima Barbara shoes.
Entry by Facebook like, closes 08.11.13

• Win an annual family pass to babbacombe model village
Entry by rafflecopter closes 14.11.13

• Win a complete look from kaleidoscope
Entry by blog comment, closes 27.10.13

• Win 1 of 3 sets of books for Halloween giveaway.
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 28.10.13

• Win a Vango Nitestar sleeping bag
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 01.11.13

• Win 1 of 3 Mr Bloom DVDs 
Entry on the blog closes 30.10.13

• Win 1 of 3 The Big Wedding DVDs
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 28.10.13

• Win a children's vitamin hamper
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 27.10.13

• Win 1 of 4 baby pillows with Theraline
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 26.10.13

• Win your Christmas Presents! 
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 31.10.13

• Win 1 of 3 Grizzly Tales for Gruesome kids DVDs 
Entry by blog comment, closes 30.10.13

• Win 1 of 5 The Hive DVDs 
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 30.10.13

• Win 1 of 3 The Sooty Show DVDs 
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 27.10.13

• Win 1 of 6 Divine Chocolate Hampers
Entry by online form, closes 31.10.13

• Win a family ticket to HMS Belfast
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 03.11.13

• Win a Personal Planner
Entry by blog comment, closes 30.10.13

• Win 1 of 5 Mr Bloom DVDs 
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 01.11.13

• Win 1 of 2 tins of sweets
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 03.11.13

• Win a Star Paws Knights sticker book
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 30.10.13

• Win Do Nutters game
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 31.10.13

• Win Leon Family and friends cookbook
Entry by blog challenge, closes 31.10.13

• Win a Gioteck RC-1 gaming chair
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 04.11.13

• Win Logo board game
Entry by blog comment, closes 30.10.13

• Win 40 Usborne books!
Entry by online form, closes 28.10.13

• Win a bundle of Clarks Maple Syrup
Entry by rafflecopter closes 03.11.13

• Win a personalised book from love2read
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 03.11.13

• Win a Tesco loves baby bundle
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 31.10.13

• Win Abney and Teal faraway island DVD 
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 01.11.13

• Win 10 x anti colic bottles and a soother from MAM
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 01.11.13 

• Win a set of Poppy Sparkles friendship bracelets
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 31.10.13

• Win a case of pearl cakes muffins
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 26.10.13

• Win toys from the Toadstool
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 30.10.13

• Win Fisher Price Cheerin Minnie Mouse 
Entry by rafflecopter closes 27.10.13

• Win a Stellar Glass Kettle
Entry by rafflecopter, closes 27.11.13

• Win £200 of Pyrex
Entry by rafflecopter closes 20.11.13

• Win a copy of Mummy Fever Mission Accomplished book
Entry by Online form closes 27.10.13

• Mel has a new monthly round up on her blog too!

• There's a lovely linky over on Super Lucky for October comps.

• Freebies of the week

The Impact of Exercise During Pregnancy

I received a News Article I thought was interesting, thought provoking and relevant and I wanted to share it with you ...

Exercise during pregnancy improves vascular function of offspring into adulthood
Exercise during gestation has the potential to program vascular health in offspring into their adulthood, in particular significantly altering the vascular smooth muscle, shows a new study published today [25 October] in the journal Experimental Physiology.
The current guidelines for pregnant women recommend thirty minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on most if not all days of the week. Unfortunately, not all physicians are yet convinced that exercise is beneficial for both the pregnant women and their offspring.
The results of this study provide evidence that maternal exercise during pregnancy is a powerful programming stimulus in the arteries of the offspring and that this programming may have implications for future cardiovascular disease susceptibility of the offspring.
Previous studies only focused on offspring at an early age, so this study is the first to demonstrate the effects of exercise on adult offspring.
Dr Sean Newcomer, of California State University San Marcos USA, and Dr Bahls, of Universitätsmedizin Greifswald Germany say:
“Our study was the first to demonstrate that maternal exercise during pregnancy significantly impacts vascular function in adult offspring.”
“A second important aspect of the findings in our study is that previous research identified the endothelium, which is the single-cell layer lining all blood vessels, to be susceptible to foetal-programming interventions. Contrarily, we show that the vascular smooth muscle was significantly altered in adult offspring from exercise trained mothers.”
The research took place in pigs as they have human-like responses to physical activity and can be trained to complete exercise regimens, whilst avoiding the time and ethical constraints of long-term studies in humans.
Drs Newcomer and Bahls explain how they carried out the research:
“Swine are considered a superior animal model for cardiovascular studies compared to rodents. Pregnant swine were treadmill exercised for 20-45 minutes for five days a week, which is consistent with American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (ACOG) recommendations. We assessed vascular function in offspring femoral arteries using in vitro techniques.”
Future research, especially in humans, is essential to not only improve biological understanding of how exercise during pregnancy alters adult offspring health, but also to ensure evidence-based guidelines for pregnant women.
Drs Newcomer and Bahls say:
“We are only starting to understand how exercise during gestation influences offspring adult health and disease. Results like ours may help to create guidelines enabling women to make the best decisions for them and their children by providing evidence based health choices.
“Physical activity may act through multiple pathways which depend on type, duration, intensity and frequency of the exercise regimen. Furthermore, it is essential that future research investigates the coronary circulation and also establishes what impact these reported changes in vascular function in the offspring have on cardiovascular disease susceptibility.”

Emma in Bromley xx