All good things come to an end. Sometimes the greatest things, and if you're the sort of person who doesn't like it when our "Book of the Week" reviews go in a bit heavy with the praise, you might just want to bail out now.

Because "Hilda and the Mountain King", the final graphic novel in Luke Pearson's mesmerising and absolutely vital series is drawing to a close in possibly the most perfect way possible.

We're anxious not to spoil anything for new fans who might have just joined in with the Hilda love, off the back of the hugely successful and universally acclaimed Netflix "Hilda" series (which was, to be quite honest, absolutely a zillion times better than we could have possibly hoped for). But in the last book we were left on one heck of a cliffhanger.

Spoilers ahead folks...if you haven't read "Hilda and the Stone Forest" time to look away....NOW!

Right at the end of the last book Hilda woke up dazed, but realising something rather strange had happened. Hilda was no longer human - in fact Hilda had become...a TROLL!

In her new-found body Hilda is at first horrified, but soon realises that being a Troll isn't all that bad after all - in fact it's almost like getting a whole new raft of superpowers. She feels strong, she can leap tall pine trees in a single bound, and her roar fills the forest.

Most importantly Hilda begins to realise that Trolls aren't just the lonely denizens of the mountains and forests. They have a whole community, and that community is under serious threat.

Meanwhile her poor long-suffering mum has to put up with a rather strange house guest, a baby troll who is even grumpier and moodier (and far more destructive) than Hilda herself!

As you've probably come to expect from Luke, this is a deliciously dark tale, and we're soon introduced to a new set of antagonists - there are forces afoot led by the mysterious arch-mansplaining Ahlberg (a fantastic character who feels like the comic embodiment of every Brexit-voting Gammon you've ever had the misfortune to run across on Twitter) who absolutely will not stop until he and his 'safety patrol' have wiped Trolls from the face of the earth once and for all - including any Troll-shaped girls who just happen to get in the way.

It's up to Hilda to save the day!

We've read this. We've read it again. We've read it so many times just savouring every single morsel, clinging on to it, trying to stave off the inevitable - and the end of a story that, without any exagerration, has become the graphic novel series that I shove in the face of anyone (teachers or otherwise) who claim that comics and graphic novels aren't "proper" reading.

We will, of course, have the second series of the Netflix show to look forward to - giving Hilda a whole new world to play in and expand in, and perhaps there may be the promise of new exciting stories kicking off in the accompanying middle grade novels. But with this, the very last and easily the best of the Hilda graphic novels, we really will have a huge Hilda-shaped hole in our lives if there really aren't to be any more.

Then again, there's the prospect that we have whatever Luke cooks up next to look forward to. Seeing his sterling work and involvement with "Adventure Time" fills us with confidence that, whatever he does, it's going to be awesome. For now though, the Hilda series stands as one of the best ways to show kids that comics aren't just about prat-falls and pies in the face. They can be truly inspirational, glorious and just so durned vital too.

Sum this book up in a sentence: Absolutely unmissably essential reading, and if you've never read or encountered a Hilda book before, we almost envy you, get started with book one and work your way through to this and you'll be experiencing some of the best comic book action on the planet - for kids or grown ups!

"Hilda and the Mountain King" by Luke Pearson is out on 1st September 2019, published by Flying Eye Books / NoBrow Press (kindly supplied for review). 

Time for yet another "WOW" book from those lovely folk over at Book Island, again combining the considerable talents of Anna Castagnoli and Carll Cneut (with translation by Laura Watkinson).

"The Golden Cage" is exactly the sort of brilliant tale we want to see more of in children's picture books, one that doesn't slather on the moral message at its heart like too much butter on too little bread - but one that weaves a story world that is enticing, captivating and draws you straight in (again, largely thanks to Anna's utterly amazing writing style and Carll's truly sumptuous and luxurious illustrations.

The story centres around Valentina, the Emperor's daughter who is a rather spoiled and over-privileged girl. She wants for nothing, yet sends her servants off around the world to collect all manner of birds of all shapes and sizes, colours and hues.

Despite her amazing collection one type of bird completely eludes her grasp.  A bird that talks.

Her long-suffering servants search far and wide to fulfill her impossible quest - and she beheads those who fail.

In Valentina’s palace, heads roll every day! Will the golden cage ever be filled?

We won't spoil the end, suffice to say that Valentina might just learn her lesson. If you adored Carll's illustrations for the gorgeous "The Witch Fairy" (written by Brigitte Minne) you know what to expect with the amazingly details panels in "The Golden Cage" - truly a feast of a book.

We're always instantly attracted to new picture books that have a bit of quirkiness and eccentricity about them, particularly if they present something original and fun.

"The Inner Child" by Henry Blackshaw absolutely sings out to all those parents who (like me) love messing around with lego with their kids, or getting messy with finger painting, or (ahem) love new toys and gadgets and absolutely MUST have them.

Henry's fun book presents this as a self-help manual for kids, informing them of a fact they may have completely missed. Inside every adult there is also a child - and quite often that child springs out at unexpected moments.

Sometimes our inner child expresses our fears and anxieties (but honestly, who could possibly be scared of such adorable kitty cats as the ones in this book?)

Sometimes people's inner children are horrible shouty poopy-butted monsters (again as deftly demonstrated by Henry in this book).

But above all, now and again, it's good to let our inner kids go on the rampage a bit. Have fun, enjoy life, and enjoy the world - you only get one shot at this so even if you get a second chance at enjoying a second childhood, you grumpy adults, just do that thing! A philosophy we can all get behind!

Sum this book up in a sentence: A quirky, original and brilliantly presented story of how we adults aren't always quite as grown up as we pretend to be.

"The Inner Child" by Henry Blackshaw is out now, published by Cicada Books (kindly supplied for review). 

Welcome, welcome to our August Chapter Book Roundup. Yes I know the summer holidays are almost over, and you're probably thinking about starting back at school (arrgh!) or starting school for the first time (eeeeeek!) but our book sack is filled to the brim today, so let's delve in and see what chapter-laden treats are in store.

First up is "Moonstruck: Poems about our Moon", a new poetry compilation from Roger Stevens, with illustrations by Ed Boxall.

This glorious collection contains new poems about our moon from up-and-coming poets, and also contains some fabulous classics from the likes of Percy Bysshe Shelley, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Emily Bronte, proving that the moon has long been a divine source of inspiration for poets and creatives throughout the generations.

New poems from  Roger Stevens, Brian Moses, Valerie Bloom, Mandy Coe, Grace Nichols, Liz Brownlee, James Carter, Jay Hulme, Tony Mitton, Sue Hardy-Dawson and Rachel Rooney are the core part of this glorious book, and there's truly something for everyone in this brilliant piece of work, curated by Roger.

"Moonstruck" curated and edited by Roger Stevens and illustrated by Ed Boxall is out now, published by Otter-Barry Books.

More hilarious fun next from awesome author David Solomons and his new book "My Cousin is a Time Traveller".

Meet Luke, a young ordinary lad with a rather extraordinary cousin - who just happens to be able to travel in time.

She's awesome, amazing and has a keen brain - but has a message for humanity, or at least Luke anyway. Machines in the future have become far too intelligent, and have taken over the world! YIPES! It's up to Luke to fill in the gap left by Zack, who has recently sworn off all his superpowers to become a normal teenage nerd.

Can Luke help his cousin to quell the rise of the machines? Hugely original and entertaining, with lots of laughs along the way, this is an epoch-jumping adventure in the making.

"My Cousin is a Time Traveller" by David Solomons is out now, published by Nosy Crow.

Next, another rather amazing compilation - not of poetry this time, but of short stories written by some of our favourite middle grade and YA authors of the moment.

"Return to Wonderland" is a glorious celebration of the bookworld and works of one Lewis Carroll, and his most amazing creation Alice - and her adventures in Wonderland.

Now, modern authors have used Lewis' original works as divine inspiration for a huge collection of tales, each one building on that world and its amazing characters.

Choose from tales from the likes of Peter Bunzl, Pamela Butchart, Maz Evans, Swapna Haddow, Patrice Lawrence, Chris Smith, Robin Stevens, Lauren St John, Lisa Thompson, Piers Torday and Amy Wilson (phew!) - One heck of a roster, I'm sure you'll agree!

Tumble down the rabbit hole again to find out what happens in Wonderland without Alice there. Is the Queen of Hearts still ruling with an iron fist? Does the Mad Hatter still have to go to tea? And will Tweedledum and Tweedledee ever resolve their argument?

More than 150 years since Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was first published by Macmillan, revisit Carroll's amazing cast of characters – including the Queen of Hearts, the Mock Turtle, the Dormouse, the Cheshire Cat and Alice's Sister in these brand-new stories, that will bring a new generation of readers to Wonderland.

Can Omar stay in his mum and dad's good books long enough to get exactly what he wants for Eid?
In her first YA novel, Costa-shortlisted Kit de Waal responds to classic Moby Dick by tearing the power away from obsessive Captain Ahab and giving it to a teenage girl.

Dinah's whole world is upside down, dead things and angry men and cuts all over her head that are beginning to sting....

Seventeen-year-old Dinah needs to leave her home, the weird commune where she grew up. She needs a whole new identity, starting with how she looks, starting with shaving off her hair, her 'crowning glory'. She has to do it quickly, because she has to go now.

Dinah was going to go alone and hitch a ride down south. Except, she ends up being persuaded to illegally drive a VW campervan for hundreds of miles, accompanied by a grumpy man with one leg. This wasn't the plan.

But while she's driving, Dinah will be forced to confront everything that led her here, everything that will finally show her which direction to turn...

Sizzlingly original, a brilliant take on the classic story but tweaked and twisted into something thoroughly on-point, this is truly awesome stuff.

We're delighted to bring you five new books in OUP / Oxford Children's Books Autumn release schedule.

So let's start with a fantastic cross-generational celebration of how awesome grandparents are in "Tibble and Grandpa" by Wendy Meddour and Daniel Egneus.

Tibble absolutely adores his Grandpa, but sometimes lately Grandpa seems a little distracted.

Grandpa has stopped talking, and sometimes he gets a strange faraway look in his eye.

Tibble is frustrated, because he wants to talk to Grandpa NOW - but he comes up with a brilliant plan to get Grandpa talking again. A fantastic game of "Top Threes" - and before long, Grandpa is reminiscing and remembering - and telling Tibble awesome tall tales once again.

A delicate and brilliant story helping kids understand growing old, even touching on themes of dementia. "Tibble and Grandpa" by Wendy Meddour and Daniel Egneus is out on 5th September 2019, published by OUP / Oxford Children's Books.

Next up, a cool tale with a thought provoking message at its core, the superb "Jazz Dog" by Marie Voigt.

In a divided world of cats and dogs - where dogs only play dog music and cats only play cat music - one little dog chooses to follow the music in his heart, and that means jamming with the cats!
...and how will Winnie work her magic when her wand is 50 times bigger than she is?

We see an awful lot of books that nod and acknowledge the special place that grandparents have in their grandchildren's lives, but in "Old Man of the Sea" by Stella Elia and Weberson Santiago, there are layers and layers of story tucked in between the brilliantly observed cross-generational relationship described here.

At first, Grandpa is a bit of a closed book to the little boy in the story, but as they begin to spend more time together, Grandpa begins to tell stories - real life stories of his exploits as a sailor, and his love of the sea.

The two form a close bond over these stories, for a child the amazing adventurous exploits of their elders aren't always something that it's easy for them to imagine, but in coaxing those stories out of their grandparents, they learn so much about them - and perhaps a little bit about themselves too.

Certainly in this story the boy begins to imagine all the amazing places Grandpa has visited with all the familiarity of a favourite person, as his elder relates tales of falling in love with Europe, Asia, Australasia and the Americas, but each time - except for the last time - returning to his first love, the ocean.

Stella and Weberson work beautifully together on a book that is tinged with summery hues, and just draws you right in.

Such beautiful stuff, pretty educational for little ones too and perfect to share with your own grandparents if you're staying with them over the summer.

Sum this book up in a sentence: "A truly brilliant cross-generational deep sea dive into the relationship between grandparent and grandchild, and all the glorious places there are to visit in our amazing world where stories help to draw both characters together in a heart-melting way."

Ahead of those "Back to School" blues there's still time to indulge in a spot of luxurious book love, and in particular this gorgeous tome filled with the most amazing things from across our planet.

"The Wonders of Nature" by Ben Hoare is a sumptuous collection of animals, plants, minerals and other fabulous things, beautifully captured in fine detail with a series of gorgeous colour plates, and Ben's expert descriptions and facts about each object.

There are over 100 remarkable items from the natural world, from orchids to opals and lichens to lizards, everyone will find something to be captivated by. 

Oooh we like this one. A delicious exploration of the way a child sees their world, and how that world slowly begins to expand until it stretches past the horizon.

In "Small World" by Ishta Mercurio and Jen Corace, meet curious little girl Nanda.

When Nanda is born, the whole of her world is the circle of her mother’s arms. Safe, comfortable and warm.

As Nanda grows, her world grows too and begins to expand outwards. It begins with her family, then friends, the city and then out into the countryside - and Nanda's curiousity and interest grows with it. Nanda notices all the small details, the subtle nuances, colours, smells, tastes and sensations of that world as it continues to grow and grow.

Eventually Nanda is destined to break the boundaries of the world entirely - as she becomes an astronaut her view of the world - as the small blue thing in an inky cosmos - changes forever.

Sum this book up in a sentence: This is beautiful stuff, poetic, beautifully illustrated and a lilting tale to read before bed, thrumming with all the potential kids carry inside themselves as they begin to take their very own place in the world - and perhaps beyond!

"Small World" by Ishta Mercurio and Jen Corace is out now, published by Abrams Books for Young Readers

We absolutely love these brilliant little journals from Mary Richards, and she's got you covered if you're about to start "big school" for the first time, and may have worries and anxieties.

"Take me to School" follows on from the brilliant "Take me to Museums" and "Take me on Holiday" (the previous titles in the series that were very well received).

This time there are lots of school subjects to think about, and as before, a brilliant journal to fill in as your learning journey begins.

A neatly sized book that positively invites you to write and draw in it? (Just don't do this with any of your new school books, OK?)
This innovative, interactive book is divided into five ‘adventure’ chapters. Children can start the book at any point in the school term.

Each chapter is designed to be completed in one week (though it not prescriptive), and is divided into themes that encourage them to explore their surroundings, record their thoughts and draw what they see. As they complete lists, create pictures and answer questions they are prompted to think carefully about their surroundings, engage with their friends and look at their everyday school environment with fresh eyes. With a ‘thoughts and feelings’ section in every chapter, the book encourages positive thinking and a growth mindset.

Quirky, easy to navigate and brimming with interesting facts about schools throughout history and around the world, this book is a must-have for every primary school age student – don’t leave home without it!

Table of Contents
All About This Book • Thinking About School • School Activities • School Day •
Classroom • Teacher • Friends • Mealtimes • Playground • Thoughts and Feelings
Blank section for recording notes

Sum this book up in a sentence: a fantastic pocket-sized journal that lays out your school adventure in easy-to-complete sections, stimulating your imagination and helping you along with your first tentative steps in your big school adventure.

"Take me to School: a School Journal for Young Explorers" by Mary Richards is out now, published by Agnes and Aubrey Publishing (kindly supplied for review). 

Imagine being Jon Snow as a boy...well OK that's a bit of a stretch, but in "The Boy Who Knew Nothing" by James Thorp and Angus Mackinnon you'll meet a young boy who truly doesn't know anything at all.

From the day he was born he was always told his head was an empty vessel, but when the boy meets a new friend living in his wardrobe, he's determined to find out just what his new friend is.

Not even his parents know (and right there is the real crux of what this book is really about, there's a rather nicely subtle moral about how much attention we - modern parents - are NOT giving to our kids) so the boy and his new pal both set out on a grand quest of discovery!

James and Angus work together so well, delivering a bouncy rhyming slice of surreality that feels like a 1960s trip-fest (we've previously likened their books to the animated Beatles "Yellow Submarine" movie), with superb character designs, a great little twisty tale, and of course a ton of originality and charm. Superb!!

Sum this book up in a sentence: A great story that reveals where knowledge truly comes from, and a nicely subtle kick in the pants for helicopter parenting!

"The Boy Who Knew Nothing" by James Thorp and Angus Mackinnon is out now, published by Templar (kindly supplied for review). 

Our Chapter Book of the Week this week is something that I'd had my eye on for a while, and picked up on a whim as a way of trying to explain to C why "Daddy" used to be completely obsessed with a cranky, often unreliable piece of gaming tech that became a huge, huge reason why a lot of folk my age ended up working in some form of computer-based job.

"Speccy Nation" by veteran games journalist and comic author Dan Whitehead might well have a few choice moments that you might want to filter out for your own kids, but it does give a rather personal view of what it was like back in the heyday of British gaming, when an entire cottage industry sprang up around geeky folk who could somehow make the Sinclair ZX Spectrum do some truly amazing things when it came to videogames.

Across the pond while Americans were still obsessing over the Atari 2600 and the NES, we were getting our teeth into typing out wobbly bits of game code from the back of magazines, or listening to the electronic screech of games loading into the black and rubbery machine via cassette tape.

Dan has drawn up an initial list of 50 games that truly defined that microcomputing era of greatness, ranging from the utterly sublime and surreal Manic Miner (a game that C has got mildly obsessed with beating, but can't seem to get past the Solar Power Generator - HAH!) through to the greats from game studios such as Ultimate Play the Game and Imagine Software.

Dan's anecdotal writing about these games mirrors my own experience of a lot of these titles, and his memories sound an awful lot like my own as well (and I'm pretty sure there'll be a lot of 50-somethings out there who will feel the same way). What I wasn't quite expecting was that C would find this book as fascinating as I did, though there were an awful lot of moments where she would shoot me the side-eye and call me an old saddo when I got that misty faraway look in my eye from remembering just how tough the phanton biker was to beat in "Wheelie" by Microsphere.

"Speccy Nation" might not be a historical book full of blow-by-blow accounts of how these games came to be, but it (and its follow up volume Speccy Nation 2) do bring back happy memories of a time when it felt like your imagination could blissfully fill in the sensorial gaps that modern games try and fill in for you, all courtesy of a machine cooked up by a true British eccentric in every sense of the word.

"Speccy Nation" by Dan Whitehead is out now. Self published (self purchased, not provided for review). 

Wait a second, this isn't supposed to happen is it?

We're constantly being told that children's books are being watered down, that we exist in some sort of weird nanny state where 'dark' children's books have fallen by the wayside to be replaced with saccharine-sweet stuff instead.

Yet our Book of the Week this week, "Ghost" by Illustratus isn't just one tale, but 13 darkly delicious and wholly spooky stories crammed into one of the most visually impressive and gorgeously presented books we've had the pleasure of reviewing this year.

The book sets out its table from the moment you see the front cover, and inside it continues to run icy cold fingers up and down your spine in 13 tales that - if you read the book in the darkness of the night - may well have you hearing more than just the odd bump or rattle of chains.

"Ghost" is perfect for folk (particularly kids) who love to think that there's more to our world than just the things we think we know. Something other-worldly, supernatural, spectral and Karen deftly plays on this with exquisite expertise in all of the writing tricks that differentiate a truly dark and mind-blowing book from just jump-scare fodder.

Stories, poems and folk-tale-like storytelling tied together by an impressive set of original illustrations from the talented Illustratus studio mark this book a cut above the rest, leaving the scariest stuff right until the very end.

If you get much sleep after this, we'd be very surprised (of course, unless, like us, you're the sort of person who yearns to spend a night in a haunted house!)

Perhaps not one for younger kids but my 11 year old absolutely ate this up. If you think that dark books are 'done' think again, this one's an absolute belter.

Sum this book up a sentence: A divine anthology designed to prickle your senses and tickle your curiosity about the supernatural, with tales brilliantly tripping deftly between the real and surreal.

"Ghost" by Illustratus is out now, published by Chronicle Books (kindly supplied for review). 

Before all the controversy surrounding the Disney 'live action' remake of "The Little Mermaid" kicks off, let's immerse ourselves in a truly gorgeous version of the original Hans Christian Andersen story, retold here by Geraldine McCaughrean with glorious new illustrations from Laura Barrett.

"The Little Mermaid" tells the story of Ariel, a mermaid with a wanderlust and a natural curiosity about her world - and the world of humans.

When she falls in love with a prince, the little mermaid persuades an evil sea witch to replace her tail with legs so she can live on land. 

No matter what we call them, whether they're "Grandma" or "Nanny", "Nanna", "Grand-Mo" or simply that strange old lady who smells faintly of cauliflower, we do love our gorgeous grannies!

In the brilliantly funny "Encyclopedia of Grannies" by Eric Veille, newly translated by Gecko Press, here's everything you could possibly need to know about your grandmothers, Nannas, Grannies or Gransches.

Exactly how old are they?

What do they do all day?

Why do grannies always tell us to speak up? Why do they have creases on their faces? Are grannies flexible? How do you cheer up a sad granny?

...and one of our favourite questions (which really does need a proper answer) - Where are those busloads of grannies we always see actually heading to?

Eric explains all in such a charming, funny and completely chaotic way that we were chortling all the way through this one (particularly at the aforementioned 'things you'll find in a Granny's bed' section, which for some reason includes a cauliflower pong).

Our favourite booky girl is back, and it seems like only yesterday Lulu was getting ready to head to Nursery.

But now, like a lot of children (and in particular one of C's cousins) she's ready for big school.

In "Lulu's First Day" by Anna McQuinn and Rosalind Beardshaw, Lulu is wondering what school will be like.

Will it be lots of play and lots of booky fun like Nursery?

Will she make new friends?

Lulu is excited but a tiny bit nervous as well, but luckily her family are on hand to reassure her - and everyone gets up super-early to make sure Lulu's first day is a special one.

It's almost impossible to hear the word "Nits!" without feeling your scalp itch. Even if, like me, you have a totally barren scalp, you still feel like the little critters are making their way through your lovely, lovely thatch.

But ah, here's a book that isn't just about nits, it's about that first crush.

"Nits!" by Stephanie Blake once again begins with Simon - but this time he's not quite the brash and effervescent character he normally is. Simon is quiet, thoughtful - and deeply and hopelessly in love.

The object of his affection is Lou, a girl in his class. She's beautiful, she has lovely yellow bows on her ears - but alas Lou is in love with Mamadou rather than Simon.

The thing is there's something else about Lou. She's absolutely lousy with nits!! Will this change the course of Simon's affections? Or perhaps provide him with a chance to prove that love conquers all, even nasty little insect infestations.

We enjoyed this, even though it's so short you can literally polish it off in 5 minutes flat before bedtime. Not as brilliant as Stephanie's other titles, but still awesome (itchy) fun.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A tender love story that will make you scratch your head furiously while reading it (or while typing up a review of it, in fact!)

"Nits!" by Stephanie Blake, with translation by Linda Burgess, is out now, published by Gecko Press (Kindly supplied for review). 

"Oooh they've got a bit about Fibonacci sequences in here!" shouted C excitedly as she intercepted this latest book parcel.

"Fibo-whaaa?" I replied. I am number blind you see, to me, maths is one of life's great mysteries - and I'm really glad that C has not taken after her old man in this instance.

"The Language of the Universe: A Visual Exploration of Mathematics" by Colin Stuart and Ximo Abadia had succeeded in its first intention then, to hook in young readers who might (like me) hear the word "Maths" and run a mile.

C is actually extremely good at maths in school though it's probably her least favourite subject. This fascinating visual dictionary of the history of mathematics stretches back through time to Ancient civilisations who first developed a deep understanding of numbers and sums, right through to the modern day and our heavy reliance on algorithms, heuristics and formulae to make the modern world function as it does.

Colin and Ximo make good use of a ton of amazing mathematical facts, brilliantly illustrated in sharp graphical style, to win your kids over. Let's take a closer look inside at some of the page spreads to see what's cookin', maths-wise.

Truly the language of the universe, there are mathematical constants, even out in space.

Kids are naturally curious, and this book does a fantastic job of stimulating that curiosity by describing the wonders of mathematics, and how even the simplest equations have rocked our world.

Maths even plays a part in the creative world.

It's a brilliant all-ages book, a fascinating insight into a subject that many kids may not enjoy, but will find new fascination with after dipping into this.

Triangles, triangles everywhere!

Sum this book up in a sentence: A truly fascinating and brilliantly presented guide to mathematics, produced in a way that doesn't instantly turn kids off.

"The Language of the Universe: A Visual Exploration of Mathematics" by Colin Stuart and Ximo Abadia is out on 22nd August 2019, published by Big Picture Press (kindly supplied for review). 

David Bowie once asked about it, and we've become increasingly obsessed about it too ever since the Curiosity Rover started making its trepidacious way across the rocky surface.

"Life on Mars" by Jon Agee is a brilliantly fun book that begins in the not too distant future, when a young astronaut decides to visit the red planet to answer the question once and for all.

So is there life on Mars? He brings a box of cupcakes just in case, but after a long wander around the (seemingly) barren landscape, the astronaut loses heart.

His friends were right, there's just nothing there.

But we, the readers, are in on the gag as a huge martian creature silently and surreptitiously follows the astronaut as he wanders, gets lost, then finally relocates his spacecraft - and his box of cupcakes, and jets off for home.

But hang on a minute, there's a twist...!

We, of course, won't tell you what it is - but it's a brilliant little moment and once again it's great to see Jon's titles coming back into print courtesy of Scallywag, this is a short but sweet little book perfect for bedtime astronautics.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A fab space adventure with a twist in the tale right at the end.

"Life on Mars" by Jon Agee is out now, published by Scallywag Press (kindly supplied for review). 

Bodies are amazing things, and in "Odd Science - Stupendous Body" by James Olstein, you'll get to find out just how incredible we really are. Yes even you!

So what makes us and our bodies so amazing?

There are tons of amazing facts crammed into this book.

For example, why do we get brain freeze when we eat cold ice cream?

How much energy do our hearts generate every day?

How much food will our bodies process in the space of our lifetime?

All these questions and many, many more are answered, with a cool sense of humour threading through the book, largely thanks to James' awesome illustrations.

Sum this book up in a sentence: Find out just how amazing your body really is in this fact filled and awesome book in the brilliant Odd Science range.

"Odd Science: Stupendous Body" by James Olstein is out now, published by Pavilion Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

Time for more fun in the garden, from the author of "I Saw a Bee!"

Rob Ramsden's awesome eye for colour and illustration, and his gentle storytelling encouraging kids to get outdoors once again comes to the fore in "We Found a Seed".

A little boy and girl are playing in the garden one day when they find something interesting. A tiny little seed. 

Wait a minute? Isn't this a book about Dinosaurs? So why is there a chicken on the cover?

Find out inside the brilliant "The Truth About Dinosaurs" by Guido Van Genechten, a brilliantly entertaining book for early years kids who absolutely love these prehistoric scaly beasts.

Guido is our tour guide on a time-travelling globe-spanning exploration of all things Dino, from the very first species that upped and roared around in swamps and wetlands millions of years ago, to the big and chompy dinosaur superstars that kids may be more familiar with.

It's a fun storified version of what life would have been life for different dinosaurs.

About that chicken though. Want us to tell you what that's all about?

We won't - because we'd rather you went out and bought this fantastic book instead and discovered the truth about dinosaurs for yourself!

Sum this book up in a sentence: A fantastic storified view of the rise and fall of the dinosaurs, from a genius storyteller and illustrator.

"The Truth About Dinosaurs" by Guido Van Genechten is out now, published by Five Quills (kindly supplied for review). 

THE DEATH OF SQUIRREL GIRL! Yeah, thought that might grab your attention but in the fantastic 10th collected volume of "The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Life is Too Short, Squirrel" North and Charm kick you right in the hooblies from the get-go, opening things at SG's funeral.

But wait a second, who are those two mysterious guests dressed as giant bass?

Why is Tony Stark delivering a rather odd eulogy?

...and just where the hootin' heck did Brain Drain get that bloody awesome Human League T Shirt.

As you've probably guessed, and it's not much of a spoiler (I mean it's right there on the cover, for frick's sake!), there's an impostor at work and it's up to The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl to figure out this unholy mess.

Dovetailing quite nicely with recent events in the Marvel Movie Universe (and if that isn't a big enough spoilery-hint at who's really masquerading as SG), North and Charm pour on the brilliant in Marvel's flagship comic-that-still-stuns-us-that-it-hasn't-been-made-into-a-frickin'-movie-yet.

Both of us literally inhaled this comic in one glorious breath, and though we keep hearing those vicious rumours that The Unbeatable SG may well be hanging up her squirrely headband, and tucking her tail firmly into her pants for good at some point in the future, we're going to continue to enjoy these awesome comics as long as we can.

Sum this comic up in a sentence: Utterly brilliant from start to finish, one of the most intelligent and brilliantly written / drawn kid-friendly comic series out there just gets better and better (but yeah we still miss Erica Henderson, how could we not!)

"The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Volume 10: Life is too short, Squirrel" by Ryan North and Derek Charm is out now, published by Marvel Comics (self purchased - not provided for review). 

We are very much liking the trend at the moment for gloriously produced anthology books, particularly ones that tap straight into folklore and tales we're already completely fanatical about.

"Nordic Tales" by Ulla Thynell brings together 16 amazingly diverse and completely magical tales from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Denmark.

As you'd expect from that collection of countries, there's a rich heritage of both oral and written storytelling, and the utterly glorious landscapes you'll find in these places lend themselves well to mystical and atmospheric storytelling.

Working from translated and transcribed works from the 19th Century, Ulla has drawn the stories together with some utterly stunning illustrations as themes range from mystical princesses to brave warriors, mythical beasts to places where other worlds meet.

It's a thing of beauty this book, not just because of the stories or the illustrations but because of the presentation too. Cloth bound with a ribbon marker to keep your place, this is absolutely perfect for before-bed storytelling, perfect for children who want something a little different than the normal bedtime reads.

Stunning, stunning stuff!

Sum this book up in a sentence: A hugely atmospheric and gloriously imaginative body of work, bringing together classic folk tales from Scandi and Icelandic locations in one utterly brilliant book.

"Nordic Tales" by Ulla Thynell is out now, published by Chronicle Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

Our first Book of the Week this week definitely shows what you can do if you break that horrid, horrid rule about '500 or so words' in a children's picture book.

The fabulous "The Runaways" by Ulf Stark and Kitty Crowther might be a lot wordier and longer than your average 'before bed' book, but it's worth investing the extra time and effort in, just because it's such a brilliant and beautiful story.

The story examines the cross-generational relationship between Gottfried Junior and his cantakerous but beloved old Grandfather. As rough as the sea, but becoming more and more frail in his old age, Grandfather suffers a fall one day and ends up in hospital.

Grandfather hates being in hospital, and pleads with his grandson to do one more thing for him before he passes away. One last visit to Grandfather's old house to attend to one or two last things.

How could any grandson resist a plea like that? So the two hatch a grand plan of escape, intricately plotted but superbly clever.

As Grandfather's important tasks unfold, the story takes on a touching turn that will tug at your heartstrings in the emotional finale.

We've long campaigned for picture book and chapter book creators to 'ditch the moralising' but this story shows how you can create something truly magical that has layer upon layer of strong messages we can all identify with, at any age. Thoughts of our own youth and vitality, versus thoughts of our autumn years and our mortality, and the desperate need to 'put our house in order' before we go.

It's just so beautifully written, and of course you don't need us to tell you just how amazing Kitty Crowther's illustrations for Ulf's text are, she's colossally talented and the pencil-like illustrations here are just so deliciously rendered with exquisite detail and feeling.

Can you tell we're totally won over by this?

Sum this book up in a sentence: A truly wonderful and thought-provoking story that shows what you can do when you're given room to stretch your word count, describing every delicious little detail of a grand cross-generational adventure.

You. Yes specifically you. It's all your fault. For every person I hear moaning that Disney is A) taking over the planet (or more specifically, the entertainment industry and B) they're remaking / rebooting everthing, I feel like wrapping this article in a baseball bat and clocking them around the head with it...

The Lion King Has Edged Out Frozen As the Highest-Grossing Animated Film of All Time, More Proof That Disney’s Monopoly Is Inescapable and Nothing Mat...

Every time a new Disney project is announced, it's got to the point where I'm no longer surprised to find that the most hyped movies in their upcoming schedules are all ones that we've either seen before, or are seeing in a slightly different form - and the ones that make gigantic box office revenues are either sequels, remakes or reboots.

The animated-movie-remakes-into-CGI-snore-fests is a trend that seems to have garnered a fair amount of traction but so is mining the rich seam of every company's IP that Disney hoovers up in their land grab of the industry.

I used to think that it was worth making a fuss about the lack of middle grade and YA-based movies and TV shows being made, instead passed over for stuff like a new Home Alone franchise, a (god help us) new "Night at the Museum" film (when the corpse of the last one is still warm). The problem is you again, yes you movie-goers. You really don't seem to like movies based on cool books.

Why is that? Is it that there's a huge majority of readers like us out there who would rather read the worst book ever written than watch the best movie of that book they can make?

There have been some pretty high-profile movie 'bombs' based on utterly fantastic books ("Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" and "Mortal Engines" are just two recent ones that spring to mind) so it's easy to see why big studios are no longer taking risks. They hoover up the movie rights to books (mostly to stop their competitors from ever 'making bank' with them) but often those scripts stay unwritten, those movies never reach pre-production, and we're left with the situation as it is now.

Books are particularly problematic though. Even if an author or publisher has some involvement in a project, it's not often with enough influence to stop some really bad decisions being made in the execution of that movie. In one hand you've got the aforementioned fans of the book who absolutely won't entertain anything that doesn't fit with their own mental image of what a filmed version of that book should be like. On the other hand you've got a stack of cinemagoers who have no idea that the original book even exists, and need to be wowed by something that hooks them in. That's even before you get to the part where the original book is completely unfilmable, unless you've got infinite amounts of money to waste trying to explore the 6 or 7 movies, or the expensive TV show you'd need to make in order to do the original material justice.

It feels like the movie industry long ago realised that all people really want are more movies like the ones they've watched a zillion times before, which is why so many movie franchises long outstay their welcome (I can think of no other solid reason why we ended up with 5 (FIVE!!!!) terrible "Transformers" films.

So no more moaning about Disney's approach. I'm not defending them, I'm not sticking up for them, I'm telling you that you're very much part of the problem because you will keep going out and paying good money to watch this stuff.