My Christmas without Amazon

I have been loathe to buy from Amazon for a while now. Having moved from London, where thankfully there are still many wonderful local bookshops, to Brighton where wonderful City Books and The Book Nook fly the flag for independent books, I want to make sure that I do my bit for "shopping locally". 

Even someone as disorganised as me has managed it. How? By using Hive- www.hive.co.uk. You can order online and either pick up from a local bookshop, or they deliver to you. But each purchase benefits the shop you nominate, and Hive's range is getting bigger all the time.

In London I frequently ordered books from Big Green Bookshop, who could get books quicker than Amazon, and since there was no delivery fee, often at no greater cost than from Amazon.

So as well as going Amazon-free for Christmas, I will be avoiding Amazon after Christmas too. 

Season's Readings: Happy Hooves Oh! Oh! Oh!

It's Christmas. Cow is very excited about Santa's visit, cleaning her barn. She runs around the farm, waking her friends and telling them to clean their homes. So Pig cleans up, but then has a thought- his sty doesn't have a chimney! How will Santa deliver his stockings? So he goes to Sheep's house, who doesn't have one either! What to do? Maybe Donkey can help...

This lovely story, told in rollicking rhyming couplets, is beautifully illustrated by Rebecca Elliot. I adored the Christmas jumpers- very "now"! It's a perfect Advent read for children, especially if you want them to tidy their rooms! Recommended for cold evenings with hot chocolate. 

I am very grateful to Fat Fox for an advance copy of this book. This review represents my honest opinion.