Another creative mind worthy of inclusion in our #Booky100Keepers list is none other than Mr Alex T. Smith, creator of the fantastic "Claude" series, and of course a brilliantly funny middle grade author of the superb "Mr Penguin" books.

We were lucky enough to meet Alex at a book signing and he's a truly lovely guy but his work is something else.

With the "Claude" books, these were some of the early readers that C really took to when she began her solo reading journey. Breaking up chapter-length texts with superb (and quite often saucy) illustrations, Alex drives each story along beautifully. The stories of Claude - a pooch filled with a wonderful sense of joie de vivre - and his floppy sidekick Sir Bobblysocks, are always brilliantly funny, almost like a clean version of "Carry On" movies for kids. Claude seems to always end up at the centre of a weird mystery or bizarre theft, or sometimes just a baking competition or a talent show. But with his Tardis-like beret, packed for every occasion with anything an adventuresome pup might need in an emergency, he's like a more sassy version of Paddington, seemingly always in the right place at the right time for a grand adventure.

We also really loved the Mr Penguin books. You'll believe a diminutive black and white flightless bird could become a competitor to Indiana Jones, hurling himself into dangerous situations and crazy quests - not just for fortune and glory, but to make the world a better place.

These books are again perfect for readers who feel confident enough to read on their own but still like a good dose of illustration throughout their stories.

We've covered Alex's collaborations on the blog too, with such luminaries as Caryl Hart (another hugely talented and favourite author of ours), the late Richard Adams (he of Watership Down fame), and Anne Cottringer.

He's also a superstar on Twitter (let's face it, Bake Off wouldn't be Bake Off without ATS's tweet-alongs).

He truly has the midas touch when it comes to kidlit, so check out the links below for a metric ton of reviews of Alex's work (blimey, HOW many Book of the Week wins?!)

Original Review Links: 

Booky Advent Calendar Day 4 - "Santa Claude" by Alex T. Smith (Hodder Children's Books)

ReaditDaddy's First Book of the Week - Week Ending 6th November 2015 - "Claude Doodle Book" by Alex T. Smith (Hodder Children's Books)

A Jolly Booktastic Outing to London's 'Discover Story' venue with an awesome group of bloggers to see the truly brilliant Alex T. Smith

ReadItDaddy's First Book of the Week - Week Ending 10th June 2016 - "Claude All At Sea by Alex T. Smith" (Hodder Children's Books)

Chapter Book Roundup - March 2015 with Claude, Matilda and Kittens!

Claude in the Spotlight by Alex T Smith (Hachette Children's Books)

Foxy Tales - The Cunning Plan by Caryl Hart and Alex T. Smith (Hodder Children's Books)

"Princess Primrose" by Alex T. Smith (Scholastic Children's Books)

ReadItDaddy's Chapter Book Roundup - August 2015 - "Monsters, Penguins, Bobbly Socks, Wild Woods, Dorks and Stone Circles"

ReaditDaddy's Second Book of the Week - Week Ending 11th March 2016 "Claude - Going for Gold by Alex T. Smith (Hodder Children's Books)

ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week - Week ending 25th October 2013. "My Mum Has X Ray Vision" by Angela McAllister and Alex T. Smith (Scholastic Books)

"Claude: Anyone for Strawberries?" Based on the Claude stories by Alex T. Smith (Hodder Children's Books)

ReadItDaddy's Third Book of the Week - Week Ending 9th November 2018: "Mr Penguin and the Fortress of Secrets (Mr Penguin Book 2)" by Alex T. Smith (Hodder Children's Books)

The Adventures of Egg Box Dragon by Richard Adams and Alex T. Smith (Hodder Children's Books)

ReaditDaddy's Chapter Book of the Week - Week Ending 6th October 2017 - "Mr Penguin and the Lost Treasure" (Mr Penguin Book 1) by Alex T. Smith (Hodder Children's Books)

Booky Advent Calendar Book of the Week - Week Ending 21st December 2018: "How Winston Delivered Christmas: An Advent Story in Twenty-four-and-a-half Chapter" by Alex T. Smith (Macmillan Children's Books)

Foxy and Egg by Alex T. Smith (Hodder Children's Books)

Foxy Tales - The Road to Fame and Fortune by Caryl Hart and Alex T. Smith (Hodder Children's Books)

ReadItDaddy's Chapter Book of the Week - Week Ending 29th November 2019: "Mr Penguin and the Catastrophic Cruise" by Alex T. Smith (Hodder Children's Books)

Eliot Jones, Midnight Superhero by Anne Cottringer and Alex T Smith (Scholastic Children's Books)

Bella and Monty in "A Hairy Scary Night" by Alex T. Smith (Hodder Children's Books)

"Claude on Holiday" by Alex T. Smith (Hodder Childrens Books)

Welcome to our March edition rounding up some of the amazing and awesome chapter books and early chapter readers we've been casting our eyes across over the last few weeks. And we're starting off with a long-time blog favourite penned by an awesome booktastic chap! Alex T. Smith's "Claude" series has been a favourite of Charlotte's for quite some time now and she constantly talks about the time she met Alex and got her copy of "Claude in the Spotlight" signed.

We've been catching up with the series courtesy of Hodder and join Claude on Holiday and Claude in the City in two further adventures, accompanied by his Tardis-like beret and his ever-faithful and dapper companion Sir Bobblysock.

In "Claude on Holiday" Claude and Sir Bobblysock are off for some desperately needed R & R to a lovely seaside resort. Strictly no adventures and no crazy antics, just sun, sea and sandcastles! Of course things don't always go according to plan for Claude and Sir! Excitement and adventure are never far behind, and as Claude settles in for a well earned rest, nefarious ne'er do well pirates seem set to scupper their hols! EGAD! Claude may be a little dog, slightly on the plump side, but he's a brave soul and so dive in to find out whether sharp-witted Claude and Sir Bobblysock can outwit those dimwit salty coves! Yo ho!

"Claude in the City" by Alex T. Smith (Hodder Children's Books)

"Claude in the City" returns Claude to slightly more cosmopolitan climes as Mr and Mrs Shinyshoes disappear to work for the day as usual, leaving Claude and Sir Bobblysock to plan their next grand adventure. Claude rather fancies hitting the town in fine style, visiting the sights, stopping by a cafe for a much needed sticky bun and a cup of Earl Grey but as seasoned Claude fans will know, excitement and adventure are usually around the next corner. There's a terrible robbery in progress and Claude ends up hopelessly mixed up in the caper! Smart doggies like Claude aren't foiled by gruff robbers though so it's time to swing into action!

It's easy to see why Charlotte loves these stories so. Alex has a keen wit (anyone who has ever followed him on Twitter can't help to hoot with laughter at his commentaries on popular TV shows as they air, particularly Downton Abbey!), his illustrations are utterly brilliant and the Claude stories achieve the perfect balance between picture book fun and chapter book depth. We love them to bits!!

Who could possibly follow an act as classy as Claude?

"Matilda" by Roald Dahl (Puffin Books)

Only one of the world's most best loved children's books. Matilda has been around since I was a wee whippersnapper but now Charlotte is getting her teeth into more wordy fare as she reads to herself at bedtime, she's ready to jump headfirst into the amazing book worlds of Roald Dahl. What better place to start than with the story of Matilda, a little girl with a huge intellect and a deep love of books.

Matilda's family don't share her enthusiasm for literature (in fact her parents are downright boorish). Despite this, Matilda finds her way to her local library and falls in love with all the books she finds there, rapidly working her way through the children's section before discovering the delights of The Secret Garden and Charles Dickens!

Matilda's rotten parents eventually send her off to school, and she meets the wonderful Miss Honey - a big hearted teacher who realises Matilda's potential, and also shares her love of books. Unfortunately the school's headmistress is one of the most terrifying characters ever created in children's literature. The huge, the hulking, the temperamental Miss Trunchbull - Ex-Olympic shot-putter and all round big fat horrendous bully.

Can Matilda's sharp intellect and quick wits help solve a mystery from Miss Honey's past? Will Matilda ever be free of her annoying parents and brother?

You'll have to read on and find out. It was quite something to see three girls in Charlotte's cloakroom at school drop-off all reading their own copy of Matilda the other day, testament to just how brilliant Dahl's books are and this book in particular! What a great place to start a life-long love affair with Mr Dahl's fantastic work!

One more before we go? Oh there's always room for one more....!

"The Secret Kitten" by Holly Webb (Stripes Publishing)

You'll have to wait a couple of weeks till you can enjoy "The Secret Kitten" by Holly Webb, but this is the amazing 30th book (30 BOOKS! 30!) in her wonderful animal stories series. Centred around a young girl named Lucy who goes to live with her Gran, it's a touching tale of a lonely little girl who finds solace in an unexpected friend. Gran doesn't like animals but Lucy can't help but fall in love with an adorable stray kitten she rescues and begins to look after in secret. Will Lucy's annoying brother find out? What will Gran say!

Holly Webb's animal stories are perfect for Charlotte's age group (and like Matilda, we've seen lots of kids toting books from the animal stories series at drop off and pickup times at home). Charlotte read through the story fairly quickly and gave it a huge thumbs up, wanting to track down more of Holly's astonishing collection so we'll be looking out for them very soon! "The Secret Kitten" is out on 6th April 2015 from Stripes (Little Tiger) and you can find out more about Holly's brilliant books on the Little Tiger / Stripes Website.

That's a wrap, tune in next month for more chapter book goodies in April's roundup!

In our valiant quest to track down as many books about super-heroes as possible, we've discovered a little gem nestling amongst the library stacks. The talented twosome of Angela McAllister and Alex T. Smith have created a book that wonders..."What if someone in your family, nay what if your MUM was a secret superhero?"

When a young boy, Milo, suspects his mum has X-Ray vision, he sets out to prove it. Somehow, mum always seems to know when he's up to no good. Using too much bubble bath, bouncing on the bed, even sneaking the kitchen pots and pans out into the garden for a bit of messy play. Mum seems to just KNOW!

She seems to be able to see through walls and ceilings, but Milo's best friend isn't so sure - So Milo hatches a plan to prove her super-hero status once and for all.

The delicious twist comes mid-way through the book - Mum is actually a real-life superhero and while Milo struggles to get her to reveal her super-powers, she's actually out there saving the world, righting wrongs and saving a lovely old lady from a nasty fall! She really is super!

Tight, pacey writing from Angela - coupled with Alex's adorable illustrations (he certainly knows how to draw delectable super-mums as well as rather cute multi-talented Tardis-beret-wearing dogs!) made this a must-read for us, and was in demand again and again.

We all know mums are superheroes, here's a book that shows just how fabulous and super they really are!

Charlotte's best bit: Just like her mummy, this mummy doesn't miss a trick!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Huge superhero crush on mum when she's "in costume" - She's a fox!!

Too quick for the camera! Charlotte and her new friends loving Discover Story's 'Noisy room'

The Venue: 

Discover Story

The Awesome Bloggers: 

Zoe and her children from "Playing By The Book"

Helen and her children from "CApptivated Kids"

Polly and her children from "The Little Wooden Horse"

The awesome Elli from "Taking Words for a Stroll"

Oh and us, ReadItDaddy and "The Strolling Mum"

With superstar guest Alex T Smith!

After a crack-o-dawn start, team ReadItDaddy bumped on a very bumpy bus to That There London and to Stratford to meet the others. Amazingly, with good fortune (and some rather good spotting from Ali, the strolling mum) we all met up as intended and after a spot of lunch, headed off to Discover Story.

At the moment, this imaginative booktastic venue is space themed, but first we thought we'd explore upstairs and check out the various cool areas to play and run around in (and boy, can those kids run around - faster than my camera could track them anyway!)

Soon we headed downstairs into Discover's fabulous "Space Zone" for a journey to the stars. The kids loved donning their special space jackets, and exploring the alien planets and craters of the zone before taking part in a more interactive 'workshop' (with lots of blasting off and counting down!)

Charlotte discovers a groovy little robot chum in the Space Zone.

We were also at Discover on a special mission, to see a living legend in children's books in action.

Alex T Smith, creator of the fabulous "Claude" series of children's books gave a special talk and also let us into a few rather brilliant secrets (in particular, a sneaky peek at Claude 6 - "Claude Hits the Slopes" which NO ONE ELSE had seen before the day, not even Alex's own nephews!)

Alex T Smith showing us how to spot a sneaky ghost!

It was a brilliant talk, with Alex showing the gathered children how to draw Claude and become illustrators themselves (adults were also invited to take part, and I sneakily drew my Claude with a Tardis on his head as I'm sure this is what his Beret really is!)

Alex also signed our copy of "Claude in the Spotlight" and we even got to meet the REAL Sir Bobblysocks (sadly, missing his fabulous glasses alas).

It was absolutely lovely to meet the other bloggers (I was so nervous I think I babbled and mumbled a lot), and it was really brilliant that all our children had a ton of fun, and got on wonderfully together (listening to their conversations and hearing their fantastic imaginations at play was truly awesome).

So watch out world, we'll definitely be doing it again soon!

The Olympic Park - Just a stone's throw away from Discover Story

I can't quite believe we've never encountered Claude before, Alex T Smith's brilliant doggie creation who - along with the mysteriously enigmatic Sir Bobblysock - gets into all sorts of exciting scrapes and adventures.

So what does the aerodynamically-shaped pooch get up to this time?

Claude slips out into the big wide world when his owners, Mr and Mrs Shinyshoes leave for work one morning. Along with his best friend and sidekick Sir Bobblysock (a rather dashing and well presented sock, if a little bobbly and woolly), Claude once again aims to experience life in the hustle and bustle of the urban metropolis.

There is much for a young dog to take in. Cafe culture and high tea, but soon Claude is drawn to the sounds of music and a ballet class as young children practice for a big show later that day.

Never one to shy away from adventure and excitement (despite Sir Bobblysock's silent protests and pithy stares), Claude tucks into a small emergency lunch (stashed in his capacious Tardis-like Beret, of course) and is soon in the thick of a cake stealing plot as thick as a layer of royal icing!

Can Claude save the day and be home in time for a well earned rest?

Alex T Smith's a master of making children giggle like drains, and adults also love the sheer joy of reading Claude books out loud to their kids (well I certainly did!) The book had all the right ingredients for Charlotte. Crazy characters, ballet shenanigans and of course suave socks who look rather dapper in a half-windsor tie. What's not to love!

Can't wait to read more Claude, what a happy discovery!

Charlotte's best bit: After watching too many episodes of Scooby Doo it didn't take her very long to figure out who the culprit was in the story! They might've gotten away with it if it hadn't been for that perishing dog (and his sock!)

Daddy's favourite bit: In my mind's eye Alex has secretly drawn an intricate cutaway drawing of Claude's beret, detailing all the little compartments and containers where he keeps all the emergency stuff he needs for his adventures. So cool!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Hodder / Hachette Children's Books)

Look, up in the sky, is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it's su...oh wait, no it isn't it's Eliot Jones, Midnight Superhero. By day he's a mild-mannered kid who likes to play with his toys and read books - but as soon as the clock strikes twelve he leaps into action, ready to right wrongs, rescue cats from trees and of course save the world!

In this busy, energetic and frenetic book Anne Cottringer introduces us to the diminutive superhero and his knack for being in just the right place at just the right time. Coupled with Alex T Smith's hyper-busy panels packed full of fizzing detail, Eliot Jones makes up for his pint-sized stature by whizzing all over the place like a ginger-haired atom bomb.

I love the retro art feel to this, and of course most children will love a superhero that doesn't spend all his time biffing baddies on the chin. A superhero who is a kid just like they are.

Brilliantly paced and hugely entertaining.

Charlotte's best bit: Eliot Jones E-stamped undercrackers!

Daddy's favourite bit: Lovely retro artwork and an almost crazed energy to it. Definitely one to read to your youngsters when they're running around like mad things rather than trying to settle down before bed.