Tamara Small and the Monster's Ball by Giles Paley-Phillips and Gabriele Antonini (Maverick Books)

Back in the mists of time, Giles Paley-Phillips (who is easily one of the nicest chaps you could ever converse with in the book business) let us take a sneaky early peek at one of his books, "Tamara Small and the Monster's Ball". We're still a bit techno-luddite-ey here at ReadItDaddy Towers so it was great to take a second look at the book in paper form rather than flicking through the preview PDF when Giles kindly sent us a copy recently.

Quite rightly, "Tamara Small and the Monster's Ball" has been receiving rave reviews from bloggers, journalists and parents and it's not difficult to see why.

Telling the story of Tamara Small whose blissful sleep is interrupted by a monster one night, you might mistakenly think the book sounds a little bit sinister at first but it's a fantastic and joy-filled zany look at what monsters get up to when they're not prowling the neighbourhood roaring, eating things they shouldn't eat, and generally nestling under people's beds or in their wardrobes.

Understandably, Tamara Small is a little scared at first but when the monster whisks her off to the premiere social event of the monster calendar, the Monster's Ball, she's soon grooving with ghoulies and ghosties, spinning on her head with werewolves, and having a monstrously good time.

As regular blog visitors will already know, we love a good monstery tale here at ReadItDaddy and along with 'Fearsome Beastie', Giles and Gabriele are fast becoming the dream team for toddler-friendly monster books (Still not entirely sure about that axe-chopping bit in Fearsome Beastie myself but it doesn't phase Charlotte in the least so maybe I ought to take a leaf out of her book!)

Fantastic, fun-filled and utterly groovy. If you haven't already got a copy, what on earth are you waiting for?

Charlotte's best bit: Unsurprisingly it hasn't changed, she still wants a lime-green cake for her 5th birthday next year.

Daddy's favourite bit: Great rhyming text, fantastic illustrations and I love the subtle way the story changes part way through from something that appears initially a bit sinister and dark, to a complete chaotic zany party! Brilliantly uplifting!

(Kindly supplied to us for review by Maverick Books / Giles)