Zoe and Beans - Meet Oscar! By Chloe and Mick Inkpen (Macmillan Children's Books)

Despite a good crunching as it was folded in half through the letterbox (poor, poor book), a quick press under some heavy books and we were back in business (posties, please don't crunch our books, it makes us very sad!)

Zoe and her best friend Beans are inseparable, but when Beans dashes through a hole in the hedge and doesn't come back, Zoe is astonished to find animals dashing in the opposite direction! Just how many pets does the new neighbour have?

A guinea pig? A rabbit? Who will pop up next?

In this delightful book we get to meet a new friend for Zoe and Beans - a tousle-tressed little boy called Oscar who thinks Bean is awesome, and can't wait to show Zoe all his animal friends.

Mick Inkpen's easy on the eye art style combined with Chloe Inkpen's writing is great for little animal-obsessed folk (if we let her, we're sure Charlotte would have as many pets as Oscar).

We're newcomers to the series, and were also lucky enough to also take a look at "Zoe and Beans - How Many Pets?" (which again introduces Oscar and helps tiddlers with their counting) and we're hoping that Oscar becomes a regular feature!

Charlotte's best bit: Oscar's lovely scruffy and fluffy guinea pigs

Daddy's favourite bit: Love Mick Inkpen's colour palette, eye catching and instantly appealing

(Kindly sent to us for review by Macmillan Children's Books)