Day 17 on our Booky Advent Calendar and as the big day gets closer and closer (8 sleeps to go!) we're digging deeper into our Christmas Book Sack to bring you some absolutely brilliant books.

Like "How to Hide a Lion at Christmas", the fourth book in Helen Stephens' whimsical and delightful series.

Iris and her lion go absolutely everywhere together (if you are familiar with the series, you'll know exactly what happened when Iris and the Lion first met, went to school and had an eventful time at Grandma's house!)

When Christmas comes, the family are going away but Mum says the lion must stay behind. After all, you can't take a lion on a train.

Luckily the lion has other ideas. He sets off on a festive, snowy adventure to find Iris - and almost bumps into Father Christmas!

Hungry? Mouth watering? In dire need of CAKE? Well this book may have you suffering from all three by the end...let's meet Dylan!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, our Book of the Week this week contains the GREATEST in-joke / reference I've ever seen in a children's book...

Dylan the Dog is back with a joyous join-in story for little ones.

Cor, there'd be none of this 'dogs on the sofa' in my day, it was strictly not allowed...!

Now for a book that gave us a severe (and inappropriate) case of the rumbly tummies over breakfast one morning. Save "The Best Chip" till last...

Yes yes, I know we've reviewed "Stick Man" many, many , MANY times before in our Booky Advent Calendars but he's about to make the leap from book to screen for the BBC's fabulous festive animated feature this year.

We love a good doggy yarn, and we love a cheeky tweak of the royal cheek as well so when the two are combined, we know we're in for a treat.

Meet Chips - the royal dog with a difference. Most of the Queen's corgis are content to laze around, eating only the finest foods and chewing on the most exquisite chew toys. But Chips prefers slightly chewier (and stinkier) fare. There's nothing nicer to gnaw on than the royal shoe collection.

Chips is a very thoughtful dog, if a little naughty. He only takes a single shoe at a time, and carries them away to a secret hidey-hole to chew at his leisure.

Chips' behaviour doesn't go unnoticed. It's a dashed bad show don't you know, and the Queen issues a royal order - the missing footwear must be found!

Chips looks set to spend his days firmly in the doghouse until one night, a burglar steals into the palace to make off with the royal jewels and silver. A burglar with a big stinky pair of smelly (and very chewy) boots. Can Chips possibly save the day?

Kate Leake's book is huge fun and though Chips is a bit of a shoe-scoffing scoundrel, we couldn't help but love him to bits! Don't miss Kate's first book for Scholastic / Alison Green Books, out now!

Charlotte's best bit: Charlotte was amused (and slightly horrified) at the thought of Chips enjoying the Princess's 'nice and crunchy' glass slippers. "But won't he cut his mouth?"

Daddy's Favourite bit: A royal hound with a difference. We love all the little details in this (particularly in the spread where we see Chips secret stash tucked under the rhododendrons and the queen's lost ring!)

(Kindly sent to us for review by Alison Green Books)

Like this? We think you'll love these too!

The Great Dog Bottom Swap by Peter Bently and Mei Matsuoka

Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham

We couldn't really have a Christmas roundup without one of our all-time favourite Christmassy books. In fact, I think this is actually our favourite Julia Donaldson / Axel Scheffler collaboration - yes we prefer this to both "The Gruffalo" and "The Gruffalo's Child" (which might be tantamount to children's book heresy to state in public, but there it is!)

So why is it the perfect christmas tale?

Oops! Santa never makes the most graceful entrances does he?

It ticks all the right boxes, featuring adorable characters, Santa, crisp freshly fallen snow - and it tugs at the heartstrings a bit. The story of a noble stick man who is separated from his family by accident, and spends almost an entire year trying to get back to them by hook or by crook. Stick Man falls foul of nasty drooling dogs, and even ends up as the arm of a snowman!

Does he make it back in time for Christmas?

For all the effort put in to the marvellous TV adaptations of both Gruffalo books, it stuns me that Stick Man didn't get similar treatment as it really is a magical tale with a goodly dose of festive cheer. We don't get to read it nearly enough as it can really make me quite tearful but then I am a big softy.

Charlotte's best bit: Stick Man's perilous journey on the river, eeks!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Sublime story with a touch of christmas, and almost a tear jerking end that had me reaching for my hankie. Delicious!

Surely there's no mightier team working in children's picture books than Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler? A new book by this dynamic duo is always a huge cause for celebration, doubly so when a wedding is involved. You have an exclusive invitation to the wedding of Betty O'Barley and Harry O'Hay but first there's lots of preparation to be done.

A wedding dress is required of course, made of the finest goose feathers. Bright sparkly rings are also needed - and also flowers, lots of pink flowers.

Harry O'Hay sets off to pick up the last item on the wedding list, and that's when disaster strikes. Enter to many boos and hisses one Reginald Rake, a foul usurper, a thoroughly rotten cad who steps in and flirts outrageously with poor Betty O'Barley while her fiancee is off on his slow and painstaking quest (never, ever ask a snail for help if you want anything doing in a hurry!)

Reginald Rake is suave, sophisticated, fiendishly charming and can even drive a tractor (or a Gruffactor - bit of a forced bit of fan service there but C loved that little cameo!)

Reginald Rake also smokes hideous cigars but the smoke is too much for him, and he drops the foul thing right at Betty's feet!

(As an aside, it was a bit of a shocker to see a character smoking in a children's book but the whole plot would unravel like a poorly woven loom-band if it wasn't there so we'll have to let it slide!)

As flames leap up in the tinder-dry field, Betty is in mortal danger! Can Harry O'Hay possibly save the day?

As ever, Julia Donaldson's use of rhyme and repetition make this a sing-song of a book to read aloud. Axel Scheffler's sublime artwork is beautiful, colourful and the utterly perfect accompaniment to Julia's writing. The story is charming, perilous and exciting - in fact the book is so highly polished you're almost blinded by its dazzle.

Every bit as good as you'd expect it to be, plus a little bit more! It's not book of the week material for us (I think we'd rather like to have seen Reginald Rake be a bit more fiendish and dastardly - oh and get his comeuppance too!) but your younger readers are going to absolutely love it to pieces!

Charlotte's best bit: Going for a scary ride on the Gruffactor

Daddy's Favourite bit: Buffed to the highest sheen by two of the most talented folk working in children's books today. Absolutely guaranteed to wow your little ones.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Alison Green Books / Scholastic)

Every year we wait to see what the BBC are going to do for their big animated festive adventure. We've seen the Gruffalo, the Gruffalo's Child and Room on the Broom but WHY OH WHY NOT STICK MAN?

We love Stick Man far more than we love either Gruffalo books, and it's so steeped with festive atmospherics that it doesn't seem to make much sense that it always gets overlooked (perhaps the toy market is the reason - a plush 'stick man' probably isn't as cuddly as a metric ton of Gruffalo toys, and how on earth would you fit your sandwich box inside a stick man rucksack or trunki?)

Stick Man is the tale of a man - who is a stick, and one day the poor wooden fellow is wrenched from the life he knows - ending up being used for a multitude of different things.

A dog quite fancies playing fetch with him. A boy builds him into a snowman - and that's not the least of poor Stick Man's woes. With each and every embarrasing stick-y situation, the poor fellah is taken further and further away from his stick-thin wife and his twiggy children. At christmas too. It's enough to make you cry.

Thankfully, even though the snow lays deep and crisp and even, Stick Man will not be defeated. Summoning all his sticky strength and courage, he begins the long journey home but will he make it in time for Christmas?

Julia Donaldson's pitch perfect rhymes, and Axel Scheffler's fabulous artwork have never been better in our opinion. BBC, do yourselves a favour and stick Stick Man on the box next year, g'wan!


Charlotte's best bit: Poor Stick Man being snaffled by a mischievous dog

Daddy's Favourite bit: I love the end. It brings a tear to a stick-fellah's eye

What on EARTH is a Snorgh? Well, in truth it's a bit of a grumpy little soul that prefers to live alone in a remote marsh, eat delicious samphire soup (which it keeps to itself) and absolutely, positively never entertains visitors.

Until, that is, a sailor arrives one day and crashes in on the Snorgh's solitary existence uninvited (how rude!)

The sailor, an effervescent and energetic hare soon makes himself at home, sharing the Snorgh's soup and even taking up the Snorgh's favourite chair near the fire. The cheek of it!

Soon though, the Snorgh's life changes completely when the sailor begins to tell tales of his adventures out at sea. Giant islands that turn out to be whales, giant sea monsters that threaten to dash a boat against the rocks, mysterious lands that lay undiscovered as you sail the seven seas.

As they settle down for the night, the Snorgh has a vivid dream. A dream of adventure but instead of the sailor, it's the Snorgh who seeks excitement and discovery.

When the Snorgh wakes up the next morning, eager to hear the sailor finish his tales, he finds the sailor has gone but spies his boat far out to sea. Using his trusty barnacle-covered bath the Snorgh gives chase, and then the real adventure begins!

A great tale of an unlikely friendship and a subtle moral lesson about playing it safe, wrapping yourself up in a mundane existence rather than getting "out there" and finding out what a big beautiful world we live in. We rather liked the Snorgh for all his initial grumpiness (Charlotte had a bit of an issue with the Snorgh's gender, he does have rather beautiful eyelashes so she set her mind to calling Snorgh "She" - which is fine and dandy, doesn't change a thing about the story either!)

Charlotte's best bit: Rich descriptions of samphire soup (which I'm now going to try and cook and let her try) and the lovely Snorgh's eyelashes (oh and the whale island bit is ace!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: A book that feels like a wonderful modern fable, with great characters and lots of excitement to grip little readers (and big ones too!). A brilliant find in our library but it's still in print too, so go grab!

Right alongside our app of the week is this week's book of the week, and again it's a book I can't believe we haven't reviewed before.

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler are, of course, the legendary author/illustrator team behind the phenomenally successful Gruffalo books but secretly I think we actually love Stick Man more.

A little twiggy fellow lives in a tree with his stick lady love and their stick children three (it's almost impossible to read this book or even review it without breaking into a sing-song voice). Through no fault of his own, and due to his rather 'sticky' nature, poor stick man embarks on adventures and mishaps that take him far, far away from home and his loved ones.

Poor Stick Man. He's not just a stick, he's a man after all! But his voice is lost as various animals and other folk all want to use Stick Man for one purpose or another.

You'll have to read the book to find out what becomes of our sticky chum. Beautifully written, superbly illustrated and pretty much as good as children's picture books get. Stick Man is most deservedly our book of the week.

Charlotte's best bit: Spotting the Gruffalo hanging on a christmas tree

Daddy's favourite bit: Poor Stick Man becoming the arm on a snowman.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars, Book of the Week

Now this book is an oddity. Charlotte usually heartily approves of just about anything that the sublime team of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler turn out. But this book? Barely registered on the Charlotte Richter Scale - so what's wrong with it? 


Zog is a young dragon, enrolled in Dragon School and learning about all the things that dragons need to know to set them up in life. Breathing fire instead of snow, flying loop the loops and kidnapping princesses from castles. 


Zog's a bit of a clumsy chap, but with the aid (and extensive medical knowledge) of a young girl, he soars to the top of the class and comes out with top honours. 


I've tried to put my finger on why this doesn't float Charlotte's boat (or mine, for that matter). Perhaps it's a little bit too much like other Donaldson / Scheffler books. Perhaps the rhyming text isn't quite as tight or as memorable as in books like The Gruffalo or even Tiddler. But this book swiftly sank straight to the bottom of our library haul this week which seems a shame because it looked like it could be extremely entertaining. 


Charlotte's best bit: Dragons breathing snow instead of fire


Daddy's favourite bit: The knight at the end. Tell me he doesn't have ulterior motives for shacking up with the medic princess!


Rating: A rather shocking and unexpected 2 out of 5

It's not often you get to praise a book for having pitch-perfect rhyming text, wonderful illustrations and a superb 'message' at the end of the book (which both adults, and given my recent experiences while on kid's days out, children will identify wholly with). "Hello, is that Grandma?" has all of these and has ended up being one of Charlotte's firm favourites. 

Though this is a 'lift the flap' book it's more appealing to preschool toddlers than younger kids. Each 'reveal' introduces a new animal character or crazy antic, which helps the story bounce along with the rhyming text. 

If your toddlers are anything like ours, they've already mastered the phone (and probably sneakily pinch your mobile for a bit of play acting from time to time) so this is definitely going to be a winner. 

And to all those parents I see glued to their Blackberries, or their iPhones while they're listlessly wandering around at children's theme parks, farm parks or other activities - do what the mummy at the end of this book does and be thoroughly ashamed of yourselves!

Charlotte's best bit: The crocodile. You see, once again children love the baddies!

Daddy's favourite bit: The moral message at the end. Your rubbish phone call about your new shoes, what you ate for lunch or some other meaningless twaddle is not as important as giving your child your attention so DON'T BE SO RUDE! :)

Rating: 5 out of 5 - *Book of the Week*