Match Wits With The Kids

It's been more than five years since my revision guide Match Wits With The Kids was published, but some are still discovering the book for the first time. The latest review appeared back in November last year.

"I bought this book because I like learning new facts and also as an aid to encourage my ageing brain to exercise its little grey calls. The book is attractive, the range of topics it covers is immense and the book is written in an easy and pleasing style. My daughter has a 5 year old son and she is already having to search her brain to answer some of his questions and she worried what would happen in a few years time. I have bought her a copy and I know she will enjoy it for its own sake but also it will mean she is more confident when answering the walking question mark in a few years' time."

I love the phrase 'walking question mark'... If you'd like to pick up a copy of Match Wits With The Kids, click this link.

Match Wits with the Kids

It's not that long until fifteen and sixteen year-olds up and down the country we be embarking upon their GCSE examinations. And if you're a parent of such a prospective examinee, what can you do to help?

Well you could do a lot worse than pick up a copy of Match Wits with the Kids to refresh your own knowledge of subjects such as English, Maths, Science, History, Geography, Modern Languages and even the Classics. But don't just take my word for it, check out David Marx's review over at his blog.

Here's a highlight:

If, as parents, you sometimes find yourselves climbing the collective walls of turmoil in search of something to entertain and calm the kids – especially during those elongated weekends that are filled with rain, tedium and nothing particularly groovy on telly – then this could well be the perfect book for you.

Match Wit with the Kids is, as it says on the front cover: ‘’a little learning for all the family.’’ Indeed, it’s one of those books that immediately grabs the attention of even the most innocent and innocuous by bystanders. It’s akin to a pub quiz, only more geared towards that which we all learnt at school...

Jonathan Green has compiled a more than compelling and magnetic wealth of interesting facts, figures and knowledge.

As such, Match Wits with the Kids is a book that’s as engaging as it is fun as it is imperative throughout those aforementioned weekends and really long, giddy car journeys.

New Match Wits quizzes available for download!

I am very pleased to announce that Icon Books have posted a series of brand new quizzes for Match Wits with the Kids on their website.

To access this entirely free, downloadable material, simply click on the appropriate link below.

ENGLISH

MATHS

BIOLOGY

CHEMISTRY

PHYSICS

HISTORY

GEOGRAPHY

MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES

And for the ANSWERS to all of the above, click here.

What is Myrrh Anyway?

Much excitement in the Green househould this morning, as my author copies of What is Myrrh Anyway? have arrived. And for what started out as a relatively short stocking filler of a book, it's actually turned out to be quite a weighty little book on the subject of Christmas and its traditions.So if you've always wondered why Christmas Day falls on 25 December (and not the 15 Augcember, for anyone who's seen the new series of Harry and Paul on BBC1), or can't understand why Brussels sprouts are always on the menu for Christmas dinner, then this little Christmas cracker of a book is the one for you.

The book isn't officially published by Icon Books until 2 October, but it is available to pre-order over on Amazon. And you can discover more fun and fascinating facts about the festive season over on the dedicated What is Myrrh Anyway? blog.

Ho, ho, ho.

The Massive Match Wits Giveaway!

How would you like to have a copy of Match Wits with the Kids, signed by the author... and for free?

Well, if you would, then make sure you're outside the Department for Children, Schools and Families (Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3BT) between 8.00am and 10.00am this Friday 18 July 2008.

Icon Books are going to be giving away 500 free copies of Match Wits with the Kids and I'll be there to sign them as well. All those involved in the giveaway will be wearing Match Wits t-shirts and will be happy to explain why this is the most important book of the summer.

Match Wits with the Kids - a little learning for all the family!

Match Wits Google Search

I'm told by those people whose business it is to know such things that companies put a lot of effort and money into having their names at the top of the list when anybody puts the relevant search into Google.

However, I have also been told that with a little canny use of the Internet yourself, a writer can achieve the same results without having the big budget to back them up.

So, you can see why I'm understandably very happy that when you type 'Match Wits with the Kids' into Google UK, that the first ten items on the search results page are all to do with my book! This is thanks in part to an Amazon listing, my publisher Icon Books arranging for me to be filmed by the people at Meet the Author, and my own blogging efforts.

It just goes to show, that a little effort in the right place at the right time can work wonders! A lesson for us all, I feel.

Match Wits with the Kids from Icon Books

Match Wits with the Kids is now available to buy through the Icon Books website. And of course there are all sorts of other fascinating books that can be purchased from there. Why not check out Sean Connolly's Wholly Irresponsible Exploits! - 65 Ways to Muck About with Science, or 365: Great Stories from History for Every Day of the Year by W B Marsh and Bruce Carrick?

And then of course, there's Icon's children's imprint Wizard Books where you can find examples of the sort of books I wrote before Match Wits.