I am NOT a Dinosaur (American Museum of Natural History) by Will Lach, Jonny Lambert, with a foreword by Dr Mark Norell (Sterling Publishing)

We have seen many, many, MANY Dinosaur books on the blog and honestly we really cannot get enough of them. As well versed in the various species as we are, we do love a new approach to diving into prehistory and examining the beasts that stomped the earth, swam the oceans or soared in the skies long before we came along.

So it's been a fabulous learning journey looking through a book that proudly proclaims "I am NOT a Dinosaur!" on its cover.

What the book does is delves into more unfamiliar territory than talking about T-Rexes or shouting about Stegosauruses. 11 of the 16 species examined here (including our long long lost and distant ancestors) aren't dinosaurs at all, but may well have rubbed shoulders with the more well known species that hoover up all the glory and recognition.

So within, we'll learn a bit more about the fearsome Pterosaurs that flew on lizardy wings, the truly awesome giant sloth that could quite happily lean in your bedroom window for a lazy chat, the Smilodo - the aptly named big-toothy cat that you really wouldn't want to try and feed kitty treats to.

Beautifully designed and packed with information, with some really gorgeous illustrations this is a not-dinosaur book with a difference and we've really enjoyed it immensely.

"I am NOT a Dinosaur" is out now from Sterling Publishing.

LOL - A Keepsake Journal of Hilarious Q & As by Brandon T. Snider (Sterling Children's Books)

There comes a time in every child's life where they realise that there's a metric ton of hilarity in putting mum and dad on the spot.

Embarrassing your parents is, after all, fitting payback for all the times they've gobbed on a hankie and wiped your chin with it, or loudly asked in a sing-song voice "Do you need a wee?" while you're out in public.

With "LOL, a Keepsake Journal of Hilarious Q & As" it's time for sweet sweet revenge for all those degrading and demeaning moments where mum and dad have overshared.

Get your best pens and pencils out, and become a real nosy parker with some choice questions (which you can also turn on your friends at school too), filling in the blanks in this spiral-bound journal so that you've got documentary evidence of all the dirt on 'em. Who knows when that stuff might come in useful later on.

Would mum run up to a stranger and kiss them in public? Would you wave at a little old lady crossing the road (er, I have been known to do this). Would you eat a bug for a bet? These and many, many more questions are packed into this rather original little book that kids can have a lot of fun with and really make their own.

It's also fun to come up with your own questions. Charlotte, of course, rose to the challenge admirably and we're beginning to think that a raise in pocket money might be on the cards as she now has a book full of delicious blackmail material should we ever forget to pop a few coins into her piggy bank at the end of the week.

"LOL - A Keepsake Journal of Hilarious Q & As" by Brandon T. Snider is out now from Sterling Children's Books.

ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week - Week Ending 27th May 2016 - "The Sky Guys" by Madeleine Rogers (MIBO / Button Books)

This book won us over with a rather neat combination of glorious design, simple text and 5 great little bird models to make, with additional scenery (neatly, the book's protective fly-cover pops off to become a dazzling backdrop). Meet the Sky Guys!

Simon Cowell can write a better kids book than you (or so he thinks). Time for a wake-up call - A ReadItDaddy Editorial

When I'd stopped laughing, and wiped the tears from my eyes after reading Simon Cowell's opinion on children's books (see the Bookseller article) I tried to put myself in the shoes of someone with that big an ego. Someone who has such an unshakeable sense of their own worth that they think they can turn their hand to anything, and be a roaring success at it.

Obviously, Mr Cowell's success in the music industry is undeniable. From humble beginnings as a sort of weird synth-playing dog act, he's moved up in the world and now holds the music industry in an iron grip.

I can safely say that I've never actually contributed to Cowell's net worth myself, but zillions have, and each time a new series of X-Factor or Britain's Got Talent starts up, or whatever the US equivalents are, there's a huge amount of press and it feels like the whole country gets wrapped up in it.

Can he really muscle into the children's book market?

Of course he flipping can't. Because Simon Cowell has made the mistake so many other celebrity authors (or would-be authors) have made.

He's started out with the assumption that writing for children is easy. The poor, deluded fool.

What's worse, he's made the sweeping generalisation about children's books that will prove to be his undoing. He describes them as "Boring" which is his first mistake. That smacks of a person who obviously has not read nearly enough children's books.

At last count, Charlotte and I have read (at least) 2500 books that we've written up for review. We've read countless more that haven't found their way onto the blog. We've seen books of every shape and size, books that are beautifully subtle in the delivery of their stories and their messages. Books that are darkly tinged and live on in the memory. rightfully becoming classics. Books that cause such an outpouring of love and affection that collectively, booky folk are in total synchronisation with their opinions on them and when they meet in person, they almost hug each other with glee at the mere mention of them.

Can you honestly tell me, with a straight face, that Mr Cowell could write an animal book that impressive straight out of the gate?

I couldn't. Nor could I write a book that instantly impressive either, because I'm under no illusions about what it takes to create something that kids will take to their heart, read with relish, and perhaps even obsess over a bit.

Merely being famous does not guarantee that the balance of sale will be met purely by association. I get the feeling that Cowell has set himself up for a fall before he's even put pen to paper. Savaging a genre that people openly love and write enthusiastically about has to be one of the stupidest moves you could make if you want people to approach your work without an initial bias against it.

When it arrives, when it finally makes it through a sympathetic editor, when an illustrator takes on the job of trying to imagine Simon's book world and visualise it (assuming - hah - that the idiot really doesn't think he can do the illustrations himself because kids have such a low expectation when it comes to the pictures in their books), when it's finally published I'd really love to read it and try to write about it without wanting to completely tear it apart. It might miraculously be good (I remember the low expectations I had about Russell Brand's first children's book, which actually wasn't atrocious and Brand was VERY lucky to land the awesome Chris Riddell as illustrator).

If it is good, I'll probably be strangely upset because it will just prove something I already believe. People like Simon Cowell just seem to get away with being that monstrously egotistical AND successful whereas folk who quietly beaver away writing, drawing, trying their very best to get a book out there and read, and published, often fall at the first hurdle. There really is no justice is there.

ReadItDaddy's Chapter Book and Middle Grade Roundup - May 2016

Welcome to our May roundup of all things groovy and readable in chapter and middle-grade form. We're bringing you an absolute book SMORGASBORD this month so let's get started with a book that (thankfully, or not, depending on your point of view) has absolutely nothing to do with small yellow creatures with goggles.

"Dr Critchlore's School for Minions" mashes together two of our favourite genres. The "School" story and monster tales - to bring you a distinctly different educational establishment. Dr Critchlore's school is like Hogwarts gone bad, and the oddly-shaped incumbents (and vaguely human-like children) who fetch up on his doorstep are here to learn one thing and one thing only. How to become the most awesome and effective henchman or woman to supremely evil beings.

Meet Runt Higgins, abandoned at the school as a rather misshapen baby but now old enough to start lessons. Along with his friends Darthin the Gargoyle and Syke the tree nymph, Runt is eager to get cracking on the school's rather unique curriculum. But as with all good school stories, even an evil school for evil minions has dark plots interwoven with the story and soon Runt will realise that nothing at the school is as it seems!

Sheila Grau has created a truly brilliant monster-filled book world that we consumed voraciously like the eager little imps we are. The good news is that Book Two (Gorilla Tactics) gets a preview at the end of this story and is just around the corner, release date wise.

"Dr Critchlore's School for Minions" written by Sheila Grau and Illustrated by Joe Sutphin was released on April 12th 2016 and watch out for "Gorilla Tactics" arriving on shelves in the summer, Published by Abrams & Chronicle.

We seriously crave decent middle grade and YA science fiction. Thankfully Sophia McDougall has always made the genre her own with her fantastic "Space Hostages" series. Now Sophia has turned her attention to a new book series.

"Mars Evacuees" (Book 1) is the exhilarating and exciting story of Alice Dare who starts off the book very briefly as an ordinary everyday schoolgirl sometime in our not too dim and distant future. As the world undergoes dramatic climate change, a new ice age dawns and children all over the planet (even from humble Nottingham) are evacuated to Mars to live in the offworld colonies there.

Alice soon finds that her old life is long gone. Drafted as a member of the Youth Defence Force, Alice will make new friends, fight invisible enemies and (slightly surreally) adopt a robot goldfish.

"Mars Evacuees" kicks off brilliantly, a fast-paced page turner with more than a measure of tongue in cheek humour underpinning the awesome action. We can't wait for more adventures with Alice.

"Mars Evacuees" by Sophia McDougall was released on 27th March 2016 from Egmont Publishing.

From robot goldfish to...chocolate ones? At least this next book arrived with a rather tasty and tempting treat in the parcel which was very swiftly devoured by Charlotte (Almost as swiftly as the book itself!)

If you could somehow imagine the weirdest duo in book history embarking on a bonkers road trip to Bitterly Bay, you'd be halfway to working out what on earth is going on in Steve Webb's hilarious new book "Spangles McNasty and the Fish of Gold".

It's holiday time for Spangles McNasty and his best friend Sausage-Face Pete. They're stinky, smelly and downright dishonest and out to make every other holiday maker's life an abject misery. Only one person can stop them, a young boy called Freddie Taylor who - with the aid of time travelling jet skis and more than two brain cells (which is more than we can say for Spangles and Sausage-Face), it's a crazy and surreal caper destined to make you giggle. Can Freddie step in before the hapless duo find the mythical "Fish of Gold" which they believe will reap them untold fortune and glory?

With awesome art from Chris Mould, "Spangles McNasty and the Fish of Gold" is definitely not short on brilliant belly laughs and completely crazy humour. Released on 5th May 2016 by Andersen Children's Books.

Now, this business about Pugs. What do you love about them? Why do you love them? I blame that Booksniffer myself, she started it all :) So let's take a look at a book that caused squeals of delight from Charlotte (who rather fancies her own pet pug methinks!)

Meet Captain Pug (who made me think he was in dire need of a "Wash" at the end!), the adorable doggy star of a new book series from Laura James - with awesome illustrations from Eglantine Ceulemans. Captain Pug fancies a life on the seven seas so embarks on a nautical adventure. Clad in his utterly lovable captain's outfit (seriously, Claude, you're going to have to up your game - this pooch is out to steal your style crown or should that be beret!) and with a decent supply of his favourite foodstuff (Jam tarts, hey this pug DOES have good taste) he's ready to embrace the salt winds and rolling waves.

There is a problem though. A mighty large problem. Captain Pug is actually afraid of water! EEEEEP!

Hilarious and brilliantly original, "Captain Pug" has definitely won our hearts and it's fantastic news to hear that this is just book one. More are planned in the series as you'll find out at the end of this seafaring tale.

"Captain Pug - The Dog Who Sailed the Seas" (Captain Pug Book 1) by Laura James and Eglantine Ceulemans arrived in port on 5th May 2016.

From seafaring pugs to would-be espionage agents. A bit of a leap granted but let's take a look...

The name's Twigg. Kevin Twigg. I know, it's not the most spy-tastic name ever but in "The Accidental Secret Agent" by Tom McLaughlin, you're about to meet a Kevin to be reckoned with. Schoolboy turned super-spy purely by accident, Kevin soon finds himself at the centre of an international plot cooked up by a nefarious and mysterious supervillain.

It could be a tall order for a pint-sized spy whose weapon of choice is a banana, and who can't even leap over a fountain without ending up with his bum showing to all and sundry! Eeks!

Luckily the supervillains are equally as inept as the secret service, so it could just be that with a bit of schoolboy nous, Kevin Twigg can out-bond Bond!

A hilarious new romp from Tom McLaughlin, published by OUP on 1st June 2016, keep a sharp I-spy eye out for "The Accidental Secret Agent" this summer.

There's no link whatsoever between spies and onions (even if you carry an exploding shallot in your briefcase Mr Bond). So without further ado, let's move on to an utterly sublime little story that feels like it was MADE for the summer (whenever that chooses to arrive!)

"The Adventures of Alfie Onion" by awesome wordsmith Vivian French, with glorious illustrations from Marta Kissi, is new out from Walker Books.

A lovely little self-contained novel destined to warm the cockles of your heart, Alfie Onion is the tale of Alfie who always seems to play second fiddle to his older brother Magnifico Onion. Alfie is press-ganged into a new adventure by Magnifico but only to carry all the heavy bags and do all the manual labour. Magnifico can't very well hog all the fortune and glory while carrying heavy suitcases after all, can he? Soon it becomes obvious that Magnifico isn't quite as magnifico as he seems, and it's time for Alfie to shine.

With a little help from his animal friends (including a truly awesome and brainy pet pooch), Alfie's star is sure to rise to the very top and win his family a "Happily Ever After" in storybook land.

"The Adventures of Alfie Onion" by Vivian French and Marta Kissi was released on 5th May 2016 by Walker Books.  The perfect summer read!

Next, a more decidedly darkly tinged tale for those of us who like something gothic and creepy...

"Magrit" by Lee Battersby is an awesome dark and spine chilling tale along the lines of Neil Gaiman or Eoin Colfer. Magrit lives in a cemetry with her constant companion, the Master Puppet. Magrit literally made her best friend from bones and bits of junk, imbued with dark powers.

Soon Magrit and Master Puppet's world is shattered by an unexpected arrival. A baby, mistakenly dropped by a stork. Despite Master Puppet's pleas that the baby is disposed of unceremoniously, Magrit calls the little foundling Bugrat, and decides to raise it as her own. But what future is there for a child raised amongst the bones of the dead? Will Magrit understand Master Puppet and Bone Girl's dire warnings too late?

This is a breathtakingly original and darkly delicious book that was possibly a bit too dark in places for Charlotte's bedtime reading matter but is nonetheless a truly brilliant piece of fiction that describes the difference in the relationships we have with our closest friends and those we consider to be family. Lee's writing is tight and tense, and the book world he's created here feels hugely satisfying and deep. Personally I couldn't get enough of it so I can only imagine what your 9-12 year olds will make of it (and boy, would it ever make a brilliant piece of stop motion animation! Movie studios take note!). "Magrit" was released on 5th May 2016 from Walker Books.

We're on the home stretch, let's stick with the darkly gothic for our next book...

8th Grader by day, monster hunter by night - meet "Max Helsing". Descended from a long line of witch pursuers, vampire hunters and monster despatchers, Max might be an ordinary everyday schoolboy but he has extraordinary powers. Pitted against the darkest demons that roam this world and beyond, Max turns thirteen and realises that he is the subject of an ancient curse.

Running out of time, will Max Helsing be able to save the world - and himself from the thirteenth curse?

Curtis Jobling's writing is crackingly good in this story injected with wisecracks, bone-cracks and crooked crucifixes as Max confronts an ancient evil. Fans of Percy Jackson are going to absolutely lap this one up.

"Max Helsing - Monster Hunter" was released on 5th May 2016 by Orchard Books.


One more, one more as it's out in a couple of days and we absolutely LOVED the first book...

"Alfie Bloom and the Talisman Thief" by Gabrielle Kent is book two in the Alfie Bloom trilogy (you'll have to wait a bit longer for the next one but by the end of Book 2 you'll literally be champing at the bit for it!). Alfie has inherited a fantastic (alright, a rather spooky) old castle and along with it a whole parcel of supernatural chaos. Just as things are settling down after the cataclysmic events in "The Secrets of Hexbridge Castle" Alfie finds once again that his new life is fraught with danger. Loyal (and slightly creepy) butler Ashford has been kidnapped in the middle of the night, and Alfie soon finds himself under siege as Hexbridge Castle comes under attack.

With only his two little cousins and his best friend Amy to help, can Alfie defeat ancient evil before the castle is reduced to dust?

Gabrielle's storytelling is absolutely fantastic, weaving a brilliant fantasy world for us readers to go and play in. So if you think your ideal home would be a creaky old castle, you might want to think again.

"Alfie Bloom and the Talisman Thief (Alfie Bloom Book 2) is out on 2nd June 2016 from Scholastic.

Alright, last one. We're just too good to you! Too good!

Mike Revell's "Storm Walker" is the sort of dark and delicious writing that has us staying up until the wee small hours to devour books like this. Ordinary everyday kid Owen is very much like you. He lives a fairly ordinary life, goes to school, loves footie, plays videogames and hangs out with his best friend Danny getting up to the usual mischief boys do.

Owen's life changes completely however, when he finds himself propelled into an alternate world where his home is about to be devoured by an insidious darkness, and the population of his town along with it.

The next moment Owen finds himself back in familiar surroundings. He has no control over his reality shifts, but somehow knows that only he can stop the darkness from encompassing everything he knows and loves.

Mike's writing is powerful, driven and completely and utterly addictive. It's fairly dark stuff (probably a little bit too dark for Charlotte who knows when something plays on her mind and knows when to step out). I loved it though, and older girls and boys who have a penchant for the darker stuff will literally read the letters off the page, if they find it as page-turningly addictive as I did.

"Storm Walker" by Mike Revell was released on 19th May 2016 from Quercus Children's Books.

Phew! I think we're about book-exhausted for this month's awesome chapter book and middle grade pile. Tune in as June hopefully warms our cockles and dishes up even more brilliant books to read out in the sunshine.

Wolfish Stew by Suzi Moore and Erica Salcedo (Bloomsbury Children's Books)

Sit down for a spell and let me tell you about a fiendish new book called "Wolfish Stew!"

Two awesome little pocket-sized colouring books for busy little bods, new from Phoenix Yard Books

We do love those super-complex colouring books that are all the rage at the moment...

Doodle Girl and the Monkey Mystery by Suzanne Smith, Lindsay Taylor and Marnie Maurri (Simon and Schuster Children's Books)

Creativity is at our core. Never a day goes by without us writing, drawing, colouring or painting...

"What Do Grown Ups Do All Day?" by Virginie Morgand (Wide Eyed Editions)

Ah Wide Eyed Books, we've missed you. We haven't seen a title from this fab publisher in a while so it's something of a treat to take a look at "What Do Grown-ups Do All Day?"

Continuing our "Harold's Hungry Eyes" blog tour stop with the man himself, Kevin Waldron and five things that inspire him.

By now you'll already know that the adorably boggle-eyed Harold, he of "Harold's Hungry Eyes" slid into our Book of the Week slot with ease this week.

But what of Harold's "Dad"? His creator Kevin Waldron has come up with a devilishly good guest blog post on five things that inspire him.

Kevin Waldron grew up in Dublin and studied in London. He now lives in New York with his wife. He shares a studio with Oliver Jeffers and Jon Burgerman also from the UK. Waldron won the Bologna Opera Prima Award in 2009. He has published four picture books to date; The Owl and the Pussy-cat, Tiny Little Fly, Mr Peek and the Misunderstanding at the Zoo and Pandamonium at Peek Zoo.

Take it away Kevin!

Five objects that inspire my work by Kevin Waldron

1. My bike

I cycle in and out of the studio everyday over the Manhattan Bridge. When I’m cycling all I think about is not getting run over - I don’t think about work or bills or deadlines. 

2. Music

I listen to music all day long! Sometimes the only reason I work is to have something to do while listening to music. Here are four albums I’ve been wearing out this month:

3. Animated shorts

Recently I became obsessed with animated shorts. I have always been interested but the deeper and deeper I explored, the more rewarding I found it. This sidetracked me for a while but I really think it has helped my occupation.

4. Movies

I don’t go to the cinema very often but I get through about five movies a week from the library. I’ve been enjoying the work of Karel Zeman recently:

5. Books

I almost exclusively read fiction. I never leave the apartment without a book. Here are the last four books I read:

Up in the Old Hotel (1992) Joseph Mitchell

Under the Net (1954) Iris Murdoch

Madame Bovary (1857) Gustave Flaubert

The Street of Crocodiles (1934) Bruno Schultz

Thank you so much for a brilliant guest post Kevin, and we're wishing you all the best and continued success with "Harold's Hungry Eyes"

Please do check out the rest of the stops on the "Harold's Hungry Eyes" blog tour as there are still more fantastic stops to go!