On the Shelf

Party Magic
Party Party

Author: Jenny Dodd

Published by RANDOM HOUSE STRUIK

Sometimes thinking up new and creative ideas for your child’s next birthday party can be difficult and challenging. This is why parents simply can not get enough of Jenny Dodd’s lifesaving party books as it makes organising a creative kiddies party, a piece of cake! Party Party continues in a similar style to its predecessors Party Ideas for Children and Party Fun! with an all-new line-up of fabulous themes for the best parties ever – that will not blow your budget.

This book guides you on planning, invitations, food (including cake recipes), decorations, themes and entertainment. Best of all is that the themes highly adaptable to suit ages from the youngest to teenagers (and sometimes beyond), as well as other types of occasions. This book is ideal for mothers who love to entertain at home!

About the author: The success of her first two books instantly turned Dodd into an acknowledged queen of the birthday party world. From personal experience she understands importance and emotions attached to successful birthday parties for children. And as a pathology laboratory lecturer, she also knows just how to juggle a demanding career with the need to create special occasions within family life. Her own daughters and grandchildren can certainly attest to this.

One lucky reader can win one copy of this useful book, click here to enter!

Things to keep in mind when planning a kiddie’s party:

Planning: Planning is essential when planning a party for your child. Ensure that you are well aware of which themes are popular at the moment and which of these themes appeals to your child and his/her friends. Don’t have a Spiderman party for your six year old, when Ben10 is actually what he would’ve wanted.

Entertaining and fun: Having a bunch of youngsters over can be quite challenging because they will get up to mischief if they get bored. Ensure that you don’t have your hands full by arranging or thinking of adequate ways to keep them busy and entertained.

Keep adults in mind: Most small children will have a parent escorting them to their parties, so ensure that you have enough nibbles and drinks for them as well to avoid embarrassment.

Disposables are important: Disposable cups and plates are recommended for kiddie’s parties as they often spill and drop things. These disposable items can also be used to enhance the theme and to add life and colour to the party.

Roses are red …
Ludwig Taschner’s Roses

Author: Ludwig Taschner

Published by RANDOM HOUSE STRUIK

Do you love roses and want to know as much about these glorious flowers as possible? Or is your garden is serious need of some colour? Well, then this book is definitely for you! This beautifully illustrated book is divided into two parts – the first focussing on rose growth and care; and the second on many varieties of roses and colourscaping.

Part one includes advice on suitable conditions for growing roses; soil preparation; watering and fertilising; pest and disease control; rose health; pruning; cutting and arranging roses in a vase.

Part two focuses on the naming of roses, hybrids and sports; different rose groups and types; and colourscaping with roses, be it in formal garden designs, informal designs, mass plantings or the creation of focal points with specimen roses. So, if you are as serious about roses as this enthusiast, it might just be the best book you have ever owned.

About the author: Ludwig Taschner founded Ludwig’s Roses in 1971. Today it is world-renowned and the premier rose nursery in South Africa with the largest selection of rose varieties available. Through constant innovation Ludwig’ Roses have stayed at the forefront of the nursery industry. Ludwig has travelled the world and South Africa writing and giving talks on roses to encourage people to become more enthusiastic about this versatile flower. He was chairman of the Rose Growers Association for 25 years and is the author of another book called Roses.

One lucky reader can win one copy of this useful book, click here to enter!

Home is where the heart is
At Home – a short history of private life

Author: Bill Bryson

Published by RANDOM HOUSE STRUIK

This book has quite a deceiving title, when I first heard about it I thought that it is most definitely just another décor book – but boy was I wrong! The book is actually a very clever interpretation of the effect home life has on our lives.

Bill Bryson was one day struck by the thought that we devote a lot more time to studying the battles and wars of history than to considering what history really consists of: centuries of people quietly going about their daily business – eating, sleeping and merely endeavouring to get more comfortable. And those most key discoveries for humankind can be found in the very fabric of the houses in which we live. This inspired him to start a journey around his own house, wandering from room to room considering how the ordinary things in life came to be.

Along the way he did quite a bit of research on the history of anything and everything, from architecture to electricity, from food preservation to epidemics, from the spice trade to the Eiffel Tower, from crinolines to toilets, and on the brilliant creative minds behind them. And he discovered that, although there may seem to be nothing as unremarkable as our domestic lives, there is a huge amount of history, interest and excitement  - and even a little danger – lurking in the corners of each home.

This brilliantly entertaining book is the ideal thing to cuddle up with in bed during this cold winter season and believe me you won’t be bored, sometimes you find the most helpful advice and information where you least expect it.     

About the author: Bill Bryson has written many best selling travel books and his book A Short History of Nearly Everything won the Aventis Prize for Science and the Descartes Science Communication Prize.

One lucky reader can win one copy of this useful book, click here to enter!