ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week - Katie in London by James Mayhew (Orchard Books)

On a recent trip to Buckingham Palace, Charlotte's lovely Grandma picked up a copy of "Katie in London" from the palace shop. James Mayhew's "Katie" books are marvellous. Mixing a spot of tourism with high adventure, and often some really neat historical and educational stories, Katie in London takes us on a whirlwind tour of the capital, perched on the back of one of the Trafalgar Square lions.

He's a lovely chap, who turns from cold stone to sleek gold in order to whisk Katie and her little brother  on a whistle stop tour of the greatest sights and sounds of London. He's also a little mischievous this lion, and with a twinkle in his eye he joins the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace (with a nod and a bow to the Queen of course!) and dives onto the London Underground to beat the traffic.

Kids absolutely love the Katie books, and the factual snippets at the end of the book are great. I think we loved the Lion as a tour guide best though, and giggled at the thought of his cold tum - and how Katie manages to help with that in the end (she gets far too much pocket money if you ask me!)

A charming, whimsical and delightful flight of fantasy that successfully mixes history and fun at breakneck pace. You too will feel like Katie and her brother at the end of the book, so it makes a great bedtime read and a very worthy book of the week.

Charlotte's best bit: The lion's cold tummy. Poor lion!

Daddy's favourite bit: Wholly identifying with the lion not being that keen on riding on the London Eye (but in the end, like the lion, I rather enjoyed it too though I was pretty petrified for most of it!)

A ReadItDaddy Book of the Week