News

Rowan Coleman's novella Woman Walks into a Bar is published on 10 September 2013 and 100 per cent of the proceeds will be donated to Refuge, a charity dedicated to helping women and children suffering from domestic abuse and violence. Rowan explains what led her to this decision.

Most usually we are celebrating new additions to the family but last weekend  member Christine Mayle's family welcomed Ollie as elder daughter Kathryn's husband and Anne Coates was delighted to be at the celebrations.

Careers advisers from the Exam Results Helpline will be on-hand from 8am on Thursday 15 August (A level results day) to provide valuable careers information and advice to students (and their parents) across the UK who receive higher or lower A level results than expected, and more importantly who don’t know what to do next.

Parenting Without Tears regularly runs competitions with sponsors who provide the prizes. We have a few Terms & Conditions that entrants should observe or risk being disqualified.

Fresh ingredients delivered to your door with recipe cards for you and your children to follow – what could be nicer? Hello Fresh is an award-winning, UK-wide, recipe box delivery service encouraging people to rediscover the joys of cooking from scratch. Anne Coates and her family tried out the recently-launched family box (and fed their friends at supper parties) and were impressed with both the ingredients and the results.

Booking opens today for summer 2013 Kids Week at London Theatres. Free shows and activities throughout August.

Even if you are not one of the volunteer book givers for World Book Night you can still celebrate by buying a book or borrowing one from your local library. For parents it's a great opportunity to show children how much books mean to you. Here are the chosen titles for World Book Night 2013.

It's St George's Day, the anniversary of Shakespeare's birth and death, as well as the death of the great Spanish novelist, Cervantes. In their honour UNESCO made this the international day of the book. This evening thousands of books will be given away as part of World Books Night. Here crime writer, Mari Hannah, tells Anne Coates what she thinks about World Book Night.

Over 200 National Trust properties are offering free admission this weekend Saturday and Sunday 20 and 21 April 2013.

Wednesday 24 April at 2pm BST/9amEDT and 6am PDT, Anne Coates with be talking to Jayne Morris the burn out expert on a complimentary telecall.
Sign up now to register.

Amazon has a great spring sale on at the moment and what better way to spend a cold and wet afternoon than by watching a favourite family film – at a fraction of the usual price!

On Saturday 23 March people all over the world will be turning off their lights for one hour at 20.30 to show their support for the work of the WWF. In support of this event to demonstrate a determination to help protect the planet you can download for free some Just So stories read by Miranda Richardson, Alistair McGowan and Kevin McCloud.

As we celebrate the UN International Year of Water Cooperation, Anne Coates highlights some pertinent facts about water and sanitation and for a short time The secrets of Water The Simplest Way to Health and Beauty by Anna Selby is free to download.

In June 2013, Annie Brough will be cycling through the Rift Valley in Kenya to raise money for Breast Cancer Care, Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust  and Ovarian Cancer Action. You can help her with this cycling challenge by making a donation on her JustGiving page.

For many of us Mothering Sunday is a bitter-sweet occasion when we celebrate with our children but perhaps mourn the loss of our own mothers. Anne Coates pays tribute to her mother and recalls a Mother's Day when she was a child and disappointed her!

The London Tansport Museum is hosting story time sessions and make and take craft workshops during February half-term and the Easter Holidays. Kids go free and adult tickets allow unlimited entry for a whole year.

You can now buy Britax products and equipment directly through their website.

Saturday 9 February 2013 is National Libraries Day, a culmination of a week's worth of celebrations in school, college, university, workplace and public libraries across the UK. Join in and support your local library.