We're delighted to have won Gold and Silver at the Practical Pre-School and Primary Teacher Update Awards! We're very proud to have achieved this recognition for our talented Clickety team's hard work!

The Awards are one of the most respected and coveted in the entire toy and education sectors. Tested by childcare and education professionals, the results are viewed as a measure of what's good and what's not in a field that is swamped with choice.

The Practical Preschool Awards focus on products for the early years and Primary Teacher Update Awards are for products aimed at key stage 1 & 2 children. 

There is a set of criteria for books which includes scores for appeal to children, educational value, use of vocabulary quallity of illustrations, durability and value for money. With such rigorous testing and strict criteria these prestigious awards really are something to be proud of, so we're very pleased that we did very well in both age categories.

Practical Pre-School Gold - The -CK Set of Three Books

Here's what the testers said about the -CK Set: "Gorgeous, good quality books! Great for all children, especially those with speech or language difficulties. The repetitiveness really helped the children to learn and then remember the words. They especially enjoyed listening to the stories and reading the books for themselves. A big thumbs-up from us."

The -C/K set includes CDs with narration by Rik Mayall.

Primary Teacher Update Silver - The -T Set of Three Books

This is what the testers said about the -T Set: "A specialist set of books that are very original. The children liked the stories; they were fun to read. They were great for encouraging sound awareness and the children very quickly joined in with repeating the sounds. We thought the adventurous word choice was great and really extended the children's vocabulary."

The -T Set includes CDs with stories read by Catherine Tate.

A big thank you to all the testers - adults and children alike!

We love the Talking Tots communication groups and are excited and delighted to be the winner of their 2011 Toy Award for developing pre-literacy skills. They say:

"Clickety Books have been created from a linguistic point of view and feature fun characters such as Lucky the Plucky Duck, Erica the Picky Chicken and Cork the Squawky Hawk.

They are clear to read and beautifully illustrated and are complemented by audio CDs which are narrated with Rik Mayall & Ronni Ancona’s unique voices.

The books make use of rhyme, repetition of words, phrases, sentences and refrains which allow children to make predictions or guesses about words, phrases, sentences that could come next in the story."

Thank you Talking Tots!

Having 'a love of words' is a term that people with 'a love of words' truly loathe.  However, I really do have 'a love of words'.

So, imagine my joy to learn that one can actually adopt a word (for a year) and take ownership. Even better, you'll be helping the I CAN charity which exists to help children with communication difficulties. A massive win win.

Have a look at www.adoptaword.com for more details.

The initiative is a great idea and the adoption of a word makes an amazing Christmas gift.

Don't quote me on this, but (according to the Twitter feed) the 18th of December is the last day that adoption certificates can be sent out.

Keep your hands off the word 'diddle' though, I've got my eye on it.

Clickety Books were delighted to attend the Giving Voice launch in London on Tuesday.

An epic, snowy journey from Cornwall was made worthwile by a fascinating evening that included an exclusive screening of The King's Speech' (which was intensely moving and beautifully acted).

Ed Balls MP delivered a hearfelt and impassioned speech about the importance of the campaign, including the national economic benefits of supporting individuals with speech and swallowing impairments.

It was also a privilege to meet the I CAN team, the charity that support children's communication issues. We have a feeling that Clickety Books will be working much closer with the charity in the future.

The Church House venue was stunning, sitting luxuriously in the shadow of Westminster Abbey. The thick snowflakes in the air added something Romantically magical to the atmosphere, much more so than the vans full of riot police, bracing themselves for student protests.

A slightly less epic journey home made the trek to the smoke a satisfying one with much food for thought.

We wish the Giving Voice campaign a very successful year.  Speech and Language Therapists are critical to lives of so many, including my own son, so long may they be able to operate without restraint of budget or resource.