The Big Book of Magical Mix-Ups by Hilary Robinson and Nick Sharratt (Scholastic Children's Books)

We've had a few different books in this format before. Pages are divided up into strips and hilarity ensues when you mix and match different page 'strips' together to make crazy combinations. At least that's the idea behind The Big Book of Magical Mix-Ups, but Charlotte's idea is that you should NEVER, EVER, EVER mix the strips up, always making sure they are the same colour and make sense.

Er...

(takes child to one side, explains chaos theory and the notion of untidyness)

Ahem, that done, this book wasn't quite as big a hit as I'd hoped, though the core idea is excellent. Take a family member (ie Daddy), add a behavioural trait (boring), add a magic spell and an ingredient and end up with Daddy transformed into...a slippery frog or a chocolate fairy.

In theory it should've made Charlotte snort milk out of her nose at every page turn. In practice she's too neat and organised for such antics. Shame, I thought it was a great idea!

Charlotte's best bit: "Nosey Grandma!"

Daddy's favourite bit: "Mummy the Chocolate Fairy"

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars