"The Aerodynamics of Biscuits" by Clare Helen Welsh and Sophia Touliatou might win this year's award for "Most Original Children's Book Title" - I mean who could fail to be intrigued by a book with a name like that!
Digging into the biscuit tin, we find the story of a young boy who (rather naughtily) cannot resist raiding the cookie jar. Alas, the boy finds that a sneaky thief has made off with all the comestibles and there's scarcely a crumb left! Soon the boy traces the miscreants, finding a gallant band of mice not scoffing their ill-gotten gains but doing something rather odd with them! Trying to construct biscuit-based spacecraft with them in order to fly to the moon for a cheese raid!
(See, we told you this book was hilariously original!)
The fearsome pirate mouse crew need help though. They're absolutely terrible at building rockets but our heroic human pal knows a thing or two about the stress conditions of chocolate spread when used as wing binding material, or the impact resistivity of a chocolate cookie on rough landing on the lunar surface, so he accompanies the mice on their perilous cheese quest. But what happens when they get to the moon? Is it time for a cheese feast, or does tragedy lurk in the lunar shadows!
This book is utterly brilliant and inventive, with a wonderfully paced tale underpinned with mouthwatering biccie-flavoured illustrations. Be warned though, reading this story is likely to make your tummy rumble a lot and may prompt pre-bedtime raids to the biscuit jar!
Charlotte's favourite bit: The naughty mouse Pirate Captain, scuppering his own crew! Oh noes!
Daddy's favourite bit: Baked to perfection, this book is brilliano!
(Kindly sent to us for review by Maverick Books)
"The Aerodynamics of Biscuits"
Written by Claire Helen Welsh
Illustrated by Sophia Touliatou
Published by Maverick Books
Publication Date: 28th September 2015