Robbie Cheadle

This morning, I have the pleasure of welcoming Robbie Cheadle to The Write Stuff. Robbie is sharing a review from her book While the Bombs Fell, and I know you’ll enjoy checking it out. Please remember to share far and wide, so lots of new readers will find this one! Thanks!

REVIEW:

A heart-warming tale

7 April 2019
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Growing up in rural Suffolk during World War Two, Elsie and her family live their lives amid the rumble of German bomber planes and the whine of air-raid sirens. But daily life must continue, and the children and their parents make the most of restricted amenities during wartime.

Along with Elsie Hancy Eaton (whose life inspired the book), Robbie Cheadle has produced an interesting and heart-warming tale about a wartime family and the ups and downs of everyday life as they strive to cope with the constant threat of invasion. The stories reflect the highlights and occasional tragedies that face the family during the war years, as well as the many ingenious ways they find to deal with the limitations of rationing and lack of income. The book includes family photographs from the time and lists several authentic World War Two recipes, such as Potato Pastry and Lord Woolton Pie.

A delightful way for children to learn about wartime Britain.

Continue reading →

SW book 1 cover

Silly Willy goes to Cape Town is a light hearted and humorous story about going on holiday with two small, and very different boys. The story is told through the eyes of Cautious Craig, an eight year old boy, and includes hilarious accounts of his views on life with his naughty younger brother. The story is for children aged 7 to 12 years old.

The book includes recipes and instructions on how to make five fun children’s party cakes as well as instructions on how to make the various illustrations, made out of fondant, in the book.

The blurb

When the George family go on holiday to Cape Town, Cautious Craig cannot believe what he has to endure at the hands of his naughty and wilful younger brother, Silly Willy. Willy throws tantrums at the most embarrassing and inappropriate times, causes a commotion on the aeroplane and tries to steal a chameleon from Butterfly World. What is a poor older brother expected to do in these situations?

Extract from Chapter 1: At the airport

We all had to walk through a funny doorway. Mom, Willy and I all walked through the doorway quickly and with no problems. The doorway made a huge beeping noise when each of my Nana and my Dad walked through. It turns out that my Nana has titanium hips. Very interesting, I wonder if she was a superhero before she was my Nana – metal hips sounds like some kind of super power to me. Dad had forgotten his pen knife in his pocket. He had to give it to the man at the doorway who took it away forever. Mom was cross because she had given Dad that pen knife as a special Christmas present and now it was gone.

After that, there was more walking through the airport to get to the waiting area for our aeroplane. Willy was tired of walking and started falling over so that Mom ended up half dragging him for a few steps every five minutes. She didn’t like this at all, her mouth got very straight and she “looked like a thundercloud”, as Dad commented. Easy for him to say things, I suppose, as he wasn’t the one pulling along naughty Willy. After what seemed like absolute ages, we reached the waiting area for our aeroplane. The other passengers were already standing in a line, waiting to go through the gate and get on the bus that would take us all to our aeroplane. The gate wasn’t a gate at all. It was just an open doorway which we walked right through. I was glad that we didn’t have to wait for very long before getting on the bus. I was feeling very tired and thirsty.

Chapter 1 includes instructions on how to make the boy on the suitcase.