Indie Pen-Dance Day (our new Indies and Self Publishers slot) kicks off with "Penelope's Toothache" by Ariele Nolla (Sailing Solo Publishing)

We love indies and self published authors and illustrators but sometimes we're completely swamped by submissions (you really are a passionate and creative lot!)

So we've come up with a plan. Every week, we'll aim to cover at least one indie title on our new "Indie Pen-Dance Day" Wednesday slot. We'll choose an independently published or self-published book to cover in the slot, and hopefully tell you a bit more about the talented folk behind them too.

So to kick off this new slot, we've been in touch with Ariele Nolla, author and illustrator of "Penelope's Toothache" - a zany tale with a serious message, brush your teeth and keep your dazzling smile - and beware of the sugar bugs.

Penelope's family love vegetables, and brush their teeth diligently. But Penelope loves her Aunt Loveona, the most wonderful chocolate maker. Aunt Loveona always makes sure Penelope has plenty of sugary and chocolatey treats for a midnight feast.

One day though, sure enough, Penelope wakes up to find that her biggest and bestest tooth is aching, and soon the (slightly terrifying) family dentist, Miss Flossie Floss confirms Penelope's worst fears - that tooth is going to have to come out!

(squeamish children and adults - like us - might want to quickly skip past the bits with the HUGE NEEDLES! EEEK!)

All is not lost - Penelope can grow back her lost tooth, but the dentist tells her that the secret to a dazzling white smile, and keeping your teeth in your head rather than in a jar by the side of your bed, is to brush and floss and don't indulge in all those sugary sweet treats.

Ariele Nolla came up with the story first, and struggled to source an illustrator to do her book justice. So she painstakingly taught herself Photoshop, and dreamed up Penelope and her family, and the whacky world they live in.

You can pick up "Penelope's Toothache" for Kindle via Amazon.

Stop by Ariele Nolla's author page on Facebook for more on Penelope's Toothache and other book projects too!

Charlotte's best bit: Aunt Loveona, the best chocolatier in town!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Seriously impressed that Ariele taught herself Photoshop to design the illustrations for her book (and they're great fun too!)

(Kindly sent to us for review by Ariele Nolla)