The Phoenix Presents "Von Doogan and the Curse of the Golden Monkey" by Lawrence (Lorenzo) Etherington (David Fickling Books)

With a huge dash of derring-do, the world's coolest quiff, and puzzles to mangle your brain and beat it into submission, Von Doogan stars in his very first adventure puzzle collection. The very best (and trickiest) puzzles that kids can wrap their grey matter around have been a running theme in The Phoenix Comic. Charlotte and I usually enjoy working out these tricky little puzzles, which are fiendishly devised and beautifully illustrated by top comic talent Lawrence (Lorenzo) Etherington, one half of the fabulous Etherington Brothers.

We follow Von Doogan on his quest to solve the riddle of the golden monkey, while outwitting dastardly foes (and hopefully not depleting the ozone layer too much keeping that astonishing hairstyle in place!)

Zowie! This looks tricky! Poker Face (Puzzle 6)

I have a terrible admission to make - I keep sneaking off with this one to solve some of the trickier puzzles (and they really are fantastic, everything from working out safe passage through tarantula-infested caves to stacking up cargo in just the right way on a series of trucks).

Having all the puzzles gathered together in one delicious volume is awesome and if this doesn't keep us busy for the entire long summer school holidays, nothing will.

Puzzle 13 - A Clandestine Culinary Cryptogram. Unlucky for you!

"Von Doogan and the Curse of the Golden Monkey" is available from the fabulous Phoenix Online Store.

Charlotte's best bit: Charlotte is convinced that she could actually solve most of the puzzles on her own without my help, and that I just get in the way! Charming!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Absolutely love Von Doogan puzzles, they're like the Times Crossword of comic puzzle sections. No mean feat if you can manage to solve all of these without your brain exploding out of your earhole and crying "Mercy, mercy!"

(Kindly sent to us for review by David Fickling Books)