Happy Birthday Royal Baby by Martha Mumford and Ada Grey (Bloomsbury Publishing)

I'll admit it, I inwardly groaned when "Happy Birthday Royal Baby" dropped through our letterbox as I expected it to be one of those awful 'cash-in' books released to mark the occasion of Prince George's 1st birthday.

I should've known better - this is Bloomsbury we're talking about, and they don't pin their colours to any old book, this is actually one of the funniest and most entertaining 'royal' tales we've seen in a very long time.

Preparations are afoot for the Royal Birthday! Auntie is drafted in to organise the party and more importantly the nosh (because she's a bit of a whizz at that, apparently!). Grandma and Grandad oversee the Royal Balloon Blower to make sure he fills the royal palace with balloons, and respected figures from far and wide gather for the celebrations, bringing huge presents with them by the truckload.

But something's wrong, the little prince does not look happy (Martha must've seen the many press pics of George looking like a little grumpy puss!) In fact he starts crying and no one seems to know what to do to cheer him up. No one should cry on their birthday should they?

Thankfully great grandma (the queen) is on hand to dispense royal wisdom. She knows exactly how to cheer up the little prince. With a snazzy jump suit, a sign-writing private jet and a parachute jump, queenie really brings a touch of class to the occasion and brings one very special super secret present with her...

You'll have to read the book to find out what it is - suffice to say that this is the point in the book where all parents will look at each other and exchange a knowing glance of "yep, been there, done that!"

Martha's story is entertaining and not at all what we expected - it's really brilliant. Ada's artwork is stunning too, just the right side of allowing you to identify who we're really talking about here - and also just the right side of cheeky in places (I am pretty sure that behind closed doors, Pippa does gad about on roller skates in a pink fairy tutu!)

"Happy Birthday Royal Baby" by Martha Mumford and Ada Grey is out today (hooray!), from Bloomsbury Publishing

Charlotte's best bit: Wanting an outfit like Auntie's (and a pair of pink skates to match)

Daddy's Favourite bit: There is divine wisdom in this book, imparted with a nod and a wink to all parents who have spent a small fortune on christmas or birthday presents, only for their little ones to fall in love with...(spoilers - read the book, you'll see what we mean!)

(Kindly sent to us for review by Bloomsbury Publishing)