The Colouring Book of Cards and Envelopes: Amazing Animals and Beautiful Birds / Unicorns and Rainbows by Rachel Cloyne, Rebecca Jones and Nosy Crow (British Museum / National Trust / Nosy Crow Publishing)

Here's a pair of activity books we can really get behind and shout loudly about - mostly because we firmly believe the art of letter writing is not dead!
Nosy Crow's fantastic range of colouring books with cards and envelopes is such a fantastic idea. In "The Colouring Book of Cards and Envelopes: Amazing Animals and Beautiful Birds" Rachel Cloyne delves into the British Museum's amazing collection of artefacts for inspiration for a truly stunning set of cards and envelopes to encourage your youngsters back into letter writing.

For us, we've always encouraged Charlotte to write to her relatives - particularly the older generation - who really love receiving something in the post rather than just a few lines in an email.

She really loved the "Unicorns and Rainbows" edition, still being slightly obsessed with

These books not only keep your little ones completely occupied for hours as they colour in and design the cards, there are stickers to use too, and once they've finished their work of art they can pull out and send them to their rellies and friends (don't forget the stamps, of course!)

We've now got Charlotte busy writing some letters to Aunties and Uncles, Grandads and Grandmas. Really wish we'd spotted these at the start of the summer as they'd be perfect for taking away on holiday for those inevitable rainy days.

"The Colouring Book of Cards and Envelopes: Amazing Animals and Beautiful Birds / Unicorns and Rainbows" by Rachel Cloyne / Rebecca Jones are both out now, along with several other brilliantly themed books in the same range. Published by British Museum / National Trust / Nosy Crow (kindly supplied for review).