Apes a Go-Go by Roman Milisic and A. Richard Allen (HarperCollins Children's Books)

This is ape-shaped hilarity in book form and we LOVE it! "Apes a Go-Go" by Roman Milisic and A. Richard Allen is one of those delightful children's books that has a fairly simple story idea absolutely beautifully (and hilariously) executed, with the perfect balance between broad age appeal and superbly catchy repetition.

Being in charge of the perfect place to live isn't easy, and when a fussy mayor notices just one thing out of place - a flower stem that's a little too long - it's just not good enough. The annual "Tidiest Town" awards are coming up and the mayor wants everything to be just right.

With a rousing cry of "Cuppa Cocoa! Apes a go-go!" it's time to call in the apes! Crazy apes, messy apes, apes who mean well but just can't seem to help turning a drama into an absolute crisis as they garden, flood, smash and crumble their way through the town leaving complete and utter chaos in their wake.

The poor mayor is at his wits end as calamity after calamity soon reduce the near-perfect town into a demolition area. The competition looks all but lost, but is there one last ape who can possibly make everything better? A special type of ape who knows their way around a kitchen?

With the repeated line of "Cuppa Cocoa! Apes a go-go" youngers readers are going to absolutely LOVE shouting this at every opportunity. The apes are fantastic characters, like a cross between King Kong and the Grape Ape and the poor exasperated mayor is hilarious as he becomes more and more stressed, to the point of nearly spontaneously combusting, the poor chap!

We had an absolute HOOT with this book, it's guaranteed to tickle your funny bones!

Charlotte's best bit: The chaos-causing ape who thinks it's a great plan to drain a flood by smashing holes in everything. Oops!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Hilariously funny, brilliantly told and illustrated, we've gone completely ape over this!

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