Puss and Boots by Ayano Imai (Minedition Publishing)

My lovely other half The Strolling Mum can now accompany us to our Library visits as I no longer have the luxury of a wednesday off (luxury?) now Charlotte has started school. The upshot of this is that she picks out some of the books from our library haul and she picked out this particularly stunning looking book, Puss and Boots.

Translated from an original Japanese children's picture book, it tells a traditional fairy tale story with a twist. A shoemaker has fallen on hard times and his loving cat decides to help out by promoting the Shoemaker's work to try and help sell a few more pairs. A nefarious monster that can change shape takes a shine to the shoemaker's work, but though he orders many many different pairs of fine boots and shoes, he is a stingy skinflint and never pays up.

Whenever the cat tries to ask for payment, the monster merely turns into something huge, powerful and nasty and frightens the cat away before the bill can be paid.

The cat, however, does have a cunning plan to foil the monster. You will, of course, have to read the book to find out exactly what happens in the end.

It's a sumptuously presented hardback book with the sort of illustrations that classic fairy tales suit best, beautifully painted panels and superb characters save the book from a slightly wonky translation (too many westernised phrases make it feel a bit clunky in places and I'm sure that's not down to the original author at all). Great stuff though, and a nice find Mummy!

Charlotte's best bit: The (slightly gruesome) end.

Daddy's favourite bit: The lovely illustrations almost leap off the page.