Yeah I know, unusual for a 10 year old but in "Selfie Sebastian" by Sarah Glenn Marsh and Florence Weiser, we meet a rather dapper fox who just LOVES taking photos of himself on his phone.
He's like just about every narcissistic vain and slightly aloof phone addict you've ever met, on an ongoing quest to take the perfect selfie - seeking out strange locations, exciting activities, beautiful places and landmarks and taking one of those utterly dreadful photos where most of the wonderful vista is obscured by his big foxy fizzog.
But Sebastian can't quite put his finger on what's wrong with every single selfie he takes. Is it the lighting? The angle? Perhaps he needs a silly little goatee beard? Perhaps he needs to hold a Mocha-skinny-coco-latte in one hand while taking a photo with his phone in the other?
Nope, Sebastian finds out what's wrong with his photos entirely by accident, when a friend photobombs him and makes him realise that - as much fun as it is to stare lovingly at your own face - it's far more fun to stare at photos of yourself if your friends are all there too.
Yep, it's another 'friends are great' picture book (we seem to drown in them on a weekly basis) but at least this one has the interesting techy twist of bringing in a subject kids are (sadly) becoming all too familiar with, the obsession with phones and also the obsession with self.
It's quirky, fun, beautifully illustrated in a cool felt-tippy style, but C really didn't get on with it at all sadly, and saw the direction the book was going to take within a couple of pages (obviously it isn't aimed at a slightly sniffy ten year old so younger kids will definitely enjoy it more).
Perhaps her attitude to the core mechanic in the story is our fault, as she's probably one of the only ten year olds in her school that doesn't have her own phone and instagram account and doesn't plaster the internet with smoochy faces every day.
"Selfie Sebastian" by Sarah Glenn Marsh and Florence Weiser is out now, published by Sterling (kindly supplied for review).