A Scarf and a Half by Amanda Brandon and Catalina Echeverri (Maverick Books)

Do you have a knitting nan or gran? Nan Webb was always the biggest knit(ter) in our family, she could hand-knit and crochet such amazing things in fact if anyone had asked her she could probably have knitted a Nuclear Submarine Cosy, she was that good!

Granny Mutton loves knitting so when Lionel Mutton (her grandson) is about to have a birthday, Granny gets busy and decides to knit young Lionel a scarf to keep his neck warm.

Granny can't reign in her enthusiasm, with needles almost on fire with the effort she knits the scarf to end all scarves - in fact it's a scarf and a half!

Lionel's birthday arrives, and he quickly rips open his present, thinking it's a new football - and is somewhat deflated when he discovers the world's longest scarf inside. It's huge, wraps around him so many times that he trips and stumbles, and falls face-flat in the mud. But can a scarf become the most awesome birthday present in the world after all, with a little imagination (and a good stretch?)

"A Scarf and a Half" is awesome, a rousing cheer for our wonderful grandparents (or for that matter dotty old aunties or mums who knit too!) and an awesome demonstration that a child's imagination through play can help any ordinary everyday object become something magical! A book and a half, this!

Charlotte's best bit: Lionel's scarf tug-o-war!

Daddy's Favourite bit: What a wonderful granny Granny Mutton is!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Maverick Books)