CREAK! Said the Bed by Phyllis Root and Regan Dunnick (Walker Books)

I'm sure this is an all-too familiar occurrence in most households with young children. It's saturday morning, you've got nothing to get up early for - but bang on the nail of 6 am (or probably earlier), your beloved offspring decide that it's time to get up, wake up, jump up, jump about and be as active as possible when all you want to do is curl up into a foetal ball and go back to sleep.

Worse still, those instances where it's the middle of the night, you're horribly overdrawn at the sleep bank and your children have had a collective nightmare about clowns with sewing needles for fingers, and all need to snuggle up in your bed.

"CREAK! Said the Bed" is a fun little book with a simple storyline and that slow-build up to a cataclysmic finish that just works beautifully in certain children's books. You can see the inevitable conclusion coming a mile away, but it's the journey there that's funny and something most of us beleaguered parents can readily identify with.

Regan Dunnick's simple coloured line drawings are humorous and charming. A great little find.

Charlotte's best bit: The ever-growing crack in the bed

Daddy's favourite bit: Being able to so readily identify with a book that it's like holding up a mirror to our life!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars