ReadItDaddy's First Book of the Week - Week Ending 30th August 2019: "The Inner Child" by Henry Blackshaw (Cicada Books)

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).