Here's an adorable little board book that might be an early shoe-in for a surprise Mothers Day pressie very soon!

Good Morning, good morning! It's the end of February (wow, the time passes by so quickly!) and we're here once again with another fantastic roundup of chapter books, catching up with all the books we haven't managed to squeeze onto the blog in our Book of the Week slots.

First up, a new book from Pete Begler and published by Curious Fox. It's a fantastic mighty-girl dose of mythical magic in "The Fearless Traveller's Guide to Wicked Places" and it's the sort of dark mystical book that we're instantly drawn to!

The book begins with twelve-year-old Nell Perkins who grows up in a world where magic is the norm.
Young hero John Drawbridge has moved to Widemoat Castle to learn to become a knight. And there is a LOT to learn...How to charge with a lance on horseback without falling off. Why the spiral staircases always go up in a clockwise direction. How to defend the castle against invading parties. Why the plates served at banquets are made of stale bread (and why you shouldn't eat them...).
For as long as she could remember, Diva lived at 11 avenue Le Play in Paris, France. For as long as he could remember, Flea also lived in Paris, France - but at no fixed address. When Flea flaneurs past Diva's courtyard one day, their lives are for ever changed.
Teejay (which stands for Toad Junior), Mo and Ratty are exploring the ruined grounds of Toad Hall.

A double header for this week's Chapter Book of the Week winner, in fact both books were a huge hit with Charlotte...

Our Book (or books) of the week this week collect together the first 'modern era' 8 issues of one of the greatest superheroes ever to nibble a filbert...

For the last few weeks we've been attempting to follow "Sugar Free February" - an idea kicked off by Cancer Research UK and picked up by the Chris Evans Radio 2 show, but also endorsed by health experts as a way to live a little better.

Food is something of an obsession for kids, and for folk in children's publishing, whether they be authors, illustrators or cake-scoffing PRs (c'mon, we know who you are!)

Let's face it, no one can quite read through a copy of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" without salivating at Roald Dahl's deliciously scrumdiddlyumptious descriptions of the various treats that Mr Wonka makes in his factory, and what book launch goes unaccompanied by a huge book-shaped cake? But is there really any way to treat treats as treats and live a better way?

We try to maintain a fairly healthy lifestye at ReadItDaddy Towers, mixing exercise and a good diet (being non-preachy non-smug vegetarians helps a little bit with the latter) but the no-sugar thing has been a startling revelation in so many ways.

The toughest bit was working out decent nice-tasting alternatives to the stuff we normally eat. Take your breakfast for example. Think you're eating a lovely healthy cereal just because it isn't dotted with hundreds and thousands or laden with chocolate? Think again because even the humble weetabix is stacked with added sugar (and if you are like I used to be, you can't eat that horrible stuff without adding even more sugar to it).

We started to eat porridge, purely because it seems to be one of the few breakfast staples that A) fills you up and B) doesn't have a truckload of extra sugar added to it (but of course you need to make that from scratch, which is huge fun when you're already stretched for time in the morning on a normal school day - YAY!)

Then lunches. The next big challenge was to find enough to eat, because anyone knows a tiny little salad pot really isn't going to cut the mustard in the middle of a working day. We kept the salad, opted for wholewheat pittas (again try finding THOSE without any added sugar, you can but you've got to looked DAMNED hard as virtually every single bread product has - yep you've guessed it - well over a gram of added sugar for every 100g).

One of the toughest changes - coming up with an alternative for this stuff!

Again we managed to do a mix of pittas, salad, low fat cheese, eggs and nuts (no added salt) to keep the nibbles away.

Dinners weren't a problem - the easiest way to cut sugar out of your dinner diet is to make everything yourself from scratch (I say the easiest way but again, who the hell has time to do all that in the few scant hours they get in the evenings after school / work?)

We've trialled lots of quick meal ideas and somehow we're not starving to death. Avoiding ready meals is a key change to this because again they're all flipping laden with added sugar, regardless of what you go for.

The effects have been quite startling though. Losing 8 lbs in the first couple of weeks meant that I had to reel in my belt a lot (coupled with HIT sessions and the usual exercise regime of making sure we walk our socks off at the weekends and always take a good screen break for a walk during the day helps keep the spare tyre down).

Weirdly also I noticed my skin was changing. Not quite so horrible grey and sallow, not quite so dry (though stuck in an office atmosphere it's extremely difficult not to get dry skin), almost glowing in fact (even my wife noticed, which really was the strongest indicator that there'd been some sort of a change as she's the poor unfortunate person who has to stare at my fizzog day in day out, poor woman!)

It's had an impact on Charlotte too. All the rubbish you've always been fed about needing sugar for energy (mostly by well-meaning grandparents who say that sort of thing as a good excuse to stuff you full of junk) really is rubbish as she's got just as much get up and go as she's always had (more so in fact) and aside from the usual school-induced tiredness, she's weathered the no-sugar challenge quite well with only a few blips (worst thing about no-sugar February? Having two birthdays in February where you really do have to fall off the wagon - particularly as birthday this year involved a visit to Cadbury World!)

The real overall aim is not to become one of those horrid whiny preachy diet bores, but to slowly but surely factor in a lifestyle change so that sugar (if we eat it at all) becomes a rare thing, not an everyday thing. It has meant we've turned into label-staring zombies when we do our weekly shop but the health benefits are real, measurable and surprisingly become apparent very quickly indeed.

You can find out more about No Sugar February through the Cancer Research Campaign Website here: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/support-us/find-an-event/sugar-free-february

Goodness me, this one's going to take you on a real rollercoaster ride of emotional highs and lows...!

Awww, how could you resist that gorgeous little smiler on the front cover of this endearing book!

Kids absolutely love growing things, but sometimes it's difficult to be patient when all you're looking at is a big brown pot of soil...

Two beautiful new books relating the stories of Jesus have been added to the gorgeous range available from innovative publishers Otter-Barry Books.

"Lost and Found" gathers together 8 parables from the stories of Jesus including A Tale of Two Houses,  Neighbours,  Lost and Found,  Fair Pay,  The Jealous Brother, Sowing and Growing,  Come to the Party and  Forgiveness.

Mary Hoffman retells the eight parables showing how Jesus used storytelling to explain God’s idea of truth, fairness and love.

With beautiful, atmospheric illustrations by Jackie Morris, this is a perfect introduction to the teachings of Jesus.


Also in the range is "Walking on Water: Miracles Jesus Worked"...

Once again Mary retells stories such as Water into Wine,  A Netful of Fish,  Weathermaster,  Through the Roof,  The Biggest Picnic in the World,  Is it a Ghost, Remote Control,  Saying Thank You and Back from the Dead. Some stories will be familiar to children, but some may also feel new and fresh.

The nine stories of the miracles Jesus worked, when he overturned the laws of nature, life and death to show God’s great love for humanity, are gorgeously presented in this luxurious book - again with beautiful illustrations from Jackie Morris. 

This week's Chapter Book of the Week contains all the sass, spice and influences of some of our favourite book series, but sets sail beautifully on its own tack. Meet The Bland Sisters...!

Awww, look at this adorable little fellah. Doesn't every kid want a hamster at some point in their lives? This week's Picture Book of the Week is "The Hamster Book"...

One of the things that constantly surprises (and sometimes delights) me is the subject of this week's ReaditTorial. Trends. Those weird mystic patterns of consumer behaviour that apply to just about anything you can spend your hard earned cash on, that feel like they're born of some mystic set of mathematical equations, or some amazingly complex marketing exercises involving truckloads of media exposure across just about everything you cast your eyeballs over.

This applies to children's books too of course, and over the years of writing this blog we've been quite often overloaded with a certain type of book which leads us to muse how interconnected the children's publishing industry and the network of commissioning editors, agents and publishers really are.

At the moment (hence the header image of "Harriet the Spy") it's all about the kid detective, the snoop, the curious child who just can't help sticking their nose into a mystery. We've seen many, many titles arriving this year all in a cluster, across both picture and chapter books and it certainly seems to be a white-hot topic for middle grade titles in particular.

There's actually nothing wrong with this, the majority of the books we've seen have been absolutely scintillating stuff - showing that at least the authors and illustrators behind the books aren't just stamping out a set of variables from a well-established mould. Each brings their own nuances to the kid detective / mystery genre, but we're definitely seeing a lot of commonality - for example (and again, I must point out that these are NOT bad things to see in kid books):

1) A huge huge upsurge in female lead characters as opposed to male. Picking a selection of books I'd guess there are around 80% that feature a plucky young girl as the main hero in the story

2) Again a huge rise in the number of historical detective tales, predominantly England / Scotland in the Victorian era / turn of the 20th Century being 'the place and time to be'

3) Most of the mysteries are beautifully intricate tales that keep you guessing. Very few are dry moral tales (hooray!)

4) There is a rise (but a woefully small one) in the number of young detective / mystery books featuring characters of colour rather than the usual staid boring white middle class cliches.

5) There is also a very small rise in the number of central characters in young detective / mystery books NOT being well-to-do. Working class or poor characters are featuring in greater numbers and this is hugely important for a lot of reasons - not least of all that children's books in general could seriously do with a class overhaul to avoid becoming too 'elitist' (but that's a subject for another ReadItTorial!)

These books are a huge hit with Charlotte mostly because girls and Victorian England feature in them (despite all our efforts to ensure that genre isn't an issue and to encourage her interest in other periods of history) but also because they are books that keep their cards pretty close to their chest until the very end in most cases - and this is great because it keeps her reading them until she's finished, something that's pretty difficult when you've got the distractions of new books arriving almost daily.

As we've 'grown up' with the blog, and passed through all the other trends (remember when you couldn't move for pirate books? Princess books? Books about kids and friendships?) we're always waiting on tenterhooks to find out what the next big blossoming trend will be. For the moment though we're happy that the world's obsession with Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie is subconsciously leeching into the world of children's books in a truly positive way.

Michelle Robinson and Tom McLaughlin are back with their adorable little chick hero who's expecting a new arrival...!

It's actually been a very long time since we've read a "Princess" book - but this is Alex T. Smith so we're prepared to make exceptions...!

Bouncing bear-flavoured rhymes abound in a new book by Sian Wheatcroft. Can there be anything better than a bear?

There's a mystery to solve, and this time the crumbs are distinctly...gingery? Call for Sky Private Eye!

Child's Play always have an eye for fabulous books for early years and they're getting 2017 off to a very busy start with two brand new books for younger children.

In "My Tail's Not Tired" by Jana Novotny Hunter and Paula Bowles, you'll meet the most mischievous and adorable little monster ever!

Little Monster has a lot of energy and every single part of her body likes to move in different ways.

Children will love joining in as Big Monster and Little Monster wiggle and wriggle their way through the day, with a tail that won't stop waving to and fro, eyes that won't close, legs and feet that love to jump and bound, and of course a wiggly monster bottom!

But what happens when it's time for bed? Will Little Monster ever settle? Poor Big Monster is getting worn out!

A fabulous book for children to join in the actions with, and a fun read-aloud story.

"My Tail's Not Tired" by Jana Novotny Hunter and Paula Bowles is out now, published by Child's Play. 

We also loved "Quiet!" by Kate Alizadeh. It's a busy noisy house and one little girl can hear all the noises happening all around her.

Take a moment or two out of your busy day to stop, listen and hear all the sounds that the house makes. Is that the fridge whirring? Are the radiators singing? 

This week's chapter book of the week comes with a huge glee-filled "YESS!" Dave is back!

A few weeks ago we talked about this fantastic Book of the Week winner on our first ever Podcast. If you listened in, thank you SO much - and if you wanted to know more about the book here's our proper review!

We're huge fans of Origami - the whole family loves making paper models and the cleverer and more challenging the model, the better!

Ahhh, now THIS is right up our street. If there's one thing both of us enjoy it's getting out the poster paints and creating great art...

Hello there Easter Bunny. You're a little early aren't you, we're barely washing down the last of our Christmas cake!!

A fabulous book full of joie de vivre, that's how we described Sophy Henn's wonderful "Edie"in our review (which you can find here just in case you missed it earlier!) and we're very lucky to be joined on the blog today by Sophy herself.

We've come up with a few questions for Sophy so let's get straight under way! We each came up with five questions so here are my five...!

Hi Sophy, thanks for talking to us!

My pleasure! Thank you both for having me!

Tell us a little bit about yourself

Heavens! Well, I am an author and Illustrator who lives in slightly sunny Sussex. I have a dog called Buster, and I am mainly a mum. I like reading, jumping around, Peanuts, rock pooling and chocolate raisins, among other things.

Sophy at her desk, busy as ever!

"Pass it On" by Sophy Henn

Sophy Henn is back with an all new character set to steal your heart. Here's "Edie" and she's lovely!

We love a fantastic and original detective yarn or two here on the blog, as you've probably noticed.

Doubly so if the detective in question is a mighty young lady who knows her own mind.

We're happy to share with you the new cover with art by super-talented Lisa Horton for "Rose Raventhorpe Investigates: Black Cats and Butlers" by Janine Beacham!

In the story, young Rose is drawn into a mystery as several butlers - including her own faithful man friday - are mysteriously murdered.

Rose must try and untangle a densely woven plot or two against the atmospheric backdrop of Yorke.

Can Rose get to the bottom of the mystery, before she too ends up like Argyle?

This stunning debut by Australian author Janine Beacham is definitely one for the curious, who love stories that are a little dark and a little different.

In Janine's own words, here's the story behind Rose Raventhorpe's debut adventure...



When I was a kid I found a competition on the back of a cereal box. WIN A BUTLER FOR A WEEK, it said. ‘Tell us why you would like a butler!’

It sounded fun. I asked my mum if I could enter. ‘A butler would never come here!’ she said.

We lived on a dairy farm in Western Australia. We had haybales, cows, chickens, swooping magpies, and poisonous snakes. It was great, but it was not butler-like territory. The idea of a butler cleaning our house, serving a posh dinner, and saying ‘yes, Madam,’ appealed to me. We didn’t have a lot of posh things.

So I entered the competition. I wrote about the butler being able to help my mother. It wasn’t a very good entry. I didn’t win.

But the idea stayed with me. What if a butler did come to a house like ours? What would he do? What would my ideal butler be like?

I imagined a butler called Heddsworth. He would be English, because all the butlers in books and TV and movies were English. He would be very polite. He would call me Miss. He would polish the ute, and feed the farm dog from a silver bowl. And, I decided, he would be an excellent swordsman and shot.

I tried to write a story about this, but it lacked something. What I liked most about Heddsworth was his duelling skills. And he had nobody to duel on a farm. So I put the story aside.

Many, many years later, I read the Harry Potter books. They were inspiring. If JK Rowling could make such a success of a book about wizards, maybe I could write about duelling butlers!

So I tried a new version of the story. This time I set it in Victorian England. I needed a plot, and a young protagonist. A murder mystery would do. A butler would be killed – the heroine’s butler.

I had a new story, but it STILL wasn’t all that good. What was missing?

I went on holidays to the UK, and a friend told me I should visit York. I did. As soon as I stepped off the bus into the city, I saw a cat statue on a wall. And I had an epiphany. This was where I would set the book! My heroine would be called Rose, because she was from York. The butlers would live in an alternative version of York. Yorke with an E!

I added grave-robbers, and a magician, and underground tunnels and cat statues with eerie powers. I rewrote and polished and thought and wrote. And the story that came out of a cereal box became my first published book.

What does it take to make us "Book Happy"? It's the new Hygge, I'm telling you...!

Our Book of the Week this week may have been out for quite a while but it's a truly stunning non-fiction title that deserves another look...

Our Chapter Book of the Week this week is the third book in a delightful little series about a girl and her best friend (who just happens to be a Puffin!)