To folk my age, David McKee was always synonymous with the awesome Mr Benn, a children's TV show. It was only when C was born that I realised that this amazingly talented fellah was still going, and still producing some of the most incredible children's books including the subject of today's #Booky100Keeper entry.

There's one book that crops up again and again whenever you ask kidlit obsessives to name their favourite picture books.

"Not Now Bernard" is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, arriving all the way back in 1980 when I was too old for it - but just in time for me to read aloud to my younger brother.

Back then the message was probably way ahead of its time, and in fact the 40th anniversary edition has been updated to feature Bernard's ignorant parents doing the very thing that drives me absolutely crazy when I see it while out and about with my own daughter.

Parents on mobiles. Blissfully ignoring their kid, not giving them any attention, just like the parents in this story.

Bernard is constantly told "Not Now, Bernard" whenever he tries to talk to his mum and dad about a nasty purple monster that has taken up residence in the garden. Bernard decides to talk to the monster, and it's then that we're given a short sharp shock that feels completely at odds with anything you'll see in very few modern picture books. That 'snap' moment where the main character is done away with (in this case, scoffed up, every last bite, by the monster).

We've seen loads of well meaning but hopelessly rubbish analysis of this book over the years. What its true meaning is. Is Bernard the monster? Are his parents? Does he really get eaten? Does his mum really not realise that her son has been replaced with a monster?

Let's face it, we really don't need all that hogwash and I'm not entirely sure we needed the book to be 'messed with' for the new anniversary edition either, but as it stands - or rather as it stood, "Not Now, Bernard" is a masterpiece in subversive storytelling that delights kids every time they encounter Bernard's monstrous demise.

McKee is a bit of a marmite fellah. Some folk really love his books and understand entirely what their intent and their message is. Others go overboard in picking apart those messages, instead interpreting them as somehow menacing, subversive and harmful to children. Those folk are the sort of book folk who probably happily dictate to their child what they should and shouldn't read, and will probably never instil in their child a love of reading - or any form of that child finding their own way into books that they truly love, rather than being told to love.

Looking down the McKee books we've reviewed, particular favourites are "George's Invisible Watch" (which McKee collaborated on with his son Brett), and the sublime "The Hill and the Rock" which is a rather lovely and original morality tale that, like most of McKee's books, delivers its message subtly and rather beautifully.

More included below from this truly talented fellah, who deserves his place as a true kidlit icon.

Original Review Links: 

George's Invisible Watch by David and Brett McKee 

ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week - Week ending 15th November 2013 - "Isabel's Noisy Tummy" by David McKee (Andersen Children's Books)

A spooky Halloween Re-Review of "Not Now, Bernard" by David McKee (Andersen Children's Books)

Big Top Benn by David McKee (Tate Publishing Ltd)

Denver by David McKee (Andersen Children's Books)

The Hill and the Rock

Not Now Bernard

Two Can Toucan

Elmer and the Hippos

The King of Quizzical Island (with Gordon Snell)

Three Monsters

This one's a relative newcomer to our shelf of "Keepers" but you couldn't wish for a better combination of creatives to work on a book that chronicles the life of one of the most influential gothic horror writers that ever lived.

"Mary and Frankenstein" by Linda Bailey and Julia Sarda combines the fantastic life story of Mary Shelley with the truly fitting and utterly mesmerising illustrations of Julia Sarda in a biography that does a huge amount to raise the profile of Shelley amongst younger readers.

We've often championed darker books on the blog, and of course quite a few dark books are in our #Booky100Keepers list but when you consider just how amazingly influential Mary Shelley's Frankenstein actually was, and how even to this day it continues to inspire horror fans, writers, directors and illustrators, it's fantastic to find a children's book that really does Mary's story proper justice.

Mary was a daydreamer as a child but always liked to create stories, but while on retreat with Percy Bysshe Shelley (who would become her husband), John Polidori and her sister, Mary dreams up the horror tale to end all horror tales as a storm sweeps in across Lake Geneva.

The rest, as they say, is history. Mary and Percy's relationship may have been stormy but he acted as her agent, and ensured that "Frankenstein (or the Modern Prometheus)" became a publishing sensation - and of course a world famous tale of a monster and his master, brought to life in a truly terrifying way.

We've said it before in the course of these articles and we'll say it again. Julia Sarda can do no wrong, and with Linda's deft and descriptive writing, this is one of the best ways to give your kids a few chills down their spine, and a very unusual picture book well deserving of a place in our list.

Original Review Link: 

ReadItDaddy's First Book of the Week - Week Ending 5th October 2018: "Mary, Who Wrote Frankenstein" by Linda Bailey and Julia Sarda (Andersen Children's Books / Tundra Press)

Ah! Another rule breaker! How we love them so, and in "The Liszts" by Kyo Maclear and Julia Sarda, you'll meet a very strange bunch of folk indeed.

Mama Liszt, Papa Liszt, Winifred, Edward, Frederick and Grandpa Liszt make lists all day long. Even their cat makes lists, but when a peculiar and eccentric stranger worms his way into their home, he's definitely NOT on any of their lists at all!

There is order in this chaos. The order...of LISTS!

I swear Winifred has the same vinyl collection I had as a teen. Nina Hagen and Bowie and Kraftwerk, oh my!

This week's picture book of the week is a powerful and stirring piece of narrative non-fiction from an author and playwright who uses his immense talent to talk to a younger audience than usual.

The result is the stunning "The Undefeated" by Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson.

It's a stirring piece of work, discussing the amazing figures in black history, with a spotlight on African-American history in particular.

But the book does more than just list those noted figures, this book is designed to show that ordinary everyday people's lives matter just as much as the artists, athletes and activists described in this book, and the injustices against them deserve to be discussed with youngsters, not hidden from them.

Powerfully poetic, mighty and memorable, this is the sort of book we can't champion enough - a vitally important piece of work for people of colour the world over, and for their kids who want to see more of their own history than current early years books can manage. 

Oh dear, look at this fellow, I mean just from looking at the cover of our Picture Book of the Week this week, the truly brilliant "Gnome" by Fred Blunt, you can guess the sort of demeanour the central character in this hilarious children's story has.

He's grumpy. He excels at being grumpy, and all he wants to do all day is be in a constant grump about pretty much everything.

So when a witch politely asks this grumpy bearded grumbler to stop fishing in her pond, you can guess what his response is.

A firm "NO!"

In fact parents at this point will probably cock a wry eyebrow, particularly if their kids are like our daughter at the moment, and automatically say "No" as their default answer to everything.

Fred brilliantly captures the comeuppance of this curmudgeonly fellah with a truly satisfying (and quite brilliantly 'dark') pay-off at the end, in a story that is filled with gigglish humour from start to finish.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A brilliant cautionary tale for would-be sourpusses, that grumpy ways and saying "NO!" can backfire on you quite spectacularly!

"Gnome" by Fred Blunt is out now, published by Andersen Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

Eve Coy's books are a sheer delight, always beautifully written and drawn, but also rather wonderfully observed.

"The Huffalots" is a brilliant little book all about siblings - and it also works for our own huffalot at the moment who is entering those tween years of sticking to her bed like glue, avoiding baths wherever possible, and turning tiny little insignificant crises into giant insurmountable tantrum-fuelled issues.

Back to the book, and the brother and sister in Eve's book begin the day as "Huffalots" - they're grumpy, they love saying "No" a lot - and they bicker like cat and dog.

But as the day continues, they become "Huffalittles" - Slowly coming round to the fact that they actually enjoy each other's company after all.

Then there are further transformations - into "Lovealittles" - almost cuddly but still with a fractious edge, then eventually "Lovealots" where they're all soppy and happy and cuddlesome. Awww.

But by the end of the day there's a big huffalot - Mum isn't having a brilliant day. Can the two turn her into a lovealot too?

There's so much to love(alot) about this book, from the instantly classic-feeling artwork, to the gentle story. Maybe your own huffalots might be lovealots by the end too!

Sum this book up in a sentence: A beautifully written, illustrated and observed book from an immensely talented lass who sums up the ups and downs of children's lives (and those of their parents) so perfectly.

"The Huffalots" by Eve Coy is out now, published by Andersen Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

Another brilliant little eco message wrapped around a warming story about the relationship between grandson and grandad now in "The Bug Collector" by Alex G Griffiths.

George loves bugs. In fact he loves bugs so much, and is so inspired after a trip to the local natural history museum with his grandad, that he goes a little crazy, capturing all the bugs he can find in his back garden at home.

The problem is - George has completely stripped the garden of all its interesting insect life! Not a buzz nor a chirp from anything, and all the poor bugs that he's captured look thoroughly miserable sitting in their jars in George's room.

Thankfully Grandad is on hand to help George make the right choice - freeing those bugs so that they can carry on enjoying their lives once again.

The subtle and brilliant message of the story is one that children will wholly understand and perhaps even identify with and the great grandfather / grandchild generation-spanning relationship is really nicely described. We also really loved Alex's scritchy-scratchy artwork, perfectly suited to the story.

The book also goes one step further, with some brilliant facts and information about all the insects in the book, and the vital part they play in maintaining our garden ecosystems. We really do need our beautiful bugs after all.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A book for any children who've ever thought about keeping bugs as pets, some things are best left where they are, kids!

"The Bug Collector" by Alex G Griffiths is out now, published by Andersen Children's Books (kindly supplied for review).

Here's an absolutely perfect book for summer shallow-dippers who (like us) love nothing better than seeing what life is teeming in shoreside rockpools.

In "Clem and Crab" by Fiona Lumbers, Clem finds a new friend nestling in a pool. The poor little fellah's habitat is filled with rubbish though, so Clem decides it's time for a bit of a beach cleanup!

Clem decides that all the disused plastic and rubbish would make a brilliant art project, so puts it all in her bucket - but unknown to her she's carried home a bit of a stowaway! The crab, its poor pincer trapped in a plastic bag, has come along for the ride too.

But would a crab be truly happy, taken away from its seaside home?

Clem's teacher soon shows her that taking Crabby back to his rockpool is a better thing to do, but when Clem arrives at the seaside she sees something truly amazing.

We won't reveal quite what that amazing sight is, suffice to say that the story shows children how easy it is to make a few small differences to our beautiful sealine habitats, picking up any rubbish we might find (as timely and important a message as ever).

It's a delightful story that doesn't layer on its message in too heavy-handed a way, and Fiona's illustrations are as gorgeous as ever, evoking those childhood seaside holidays with ease.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A lovely story wrapped around a simple eco message that we can all do our bit to make a difference to preserving the life and the beauty along our shorelines.

"Clem and Crab" by Fiona Lumbers is out today, published by Andersen Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

This week's First Book of the Week made both our jaws drop through the floor the moment we clapped eyes on it...

I love the way this book pulls a gentle bait and switch on you, right from the front cover onwards...

Two of our absolute children's book HEROES have combined mighty forces for a whole new take on that classic nursery rhyme...sizzling stuff!

Sometimes we need simple well constructed children's books just to remind us that they are the perfect conduit for awesome life messages...

How do you feel today? Are you happy? Sad? Grumpy? In a bad mood perhaps?

This is a story that sang out to us with the sweetest voice possible with such an inspired and original idea...

It's been quite a while since a picture book has given us both that shocked and surprised 'O' of a face, and made us laugh out loud at the same time...So gotta be a book of the week then!

Shhh! Can you hear something? Listen, it's the sound of a rather delectable children's book...

It's fair to say that having a fiery temper will come back and burn you on the bum before long...

Oh dear, poor little Flynn just wants to get to sleep in his brand new bed. But mum and dad aren't convinced...

I am so, so jealous of Meg Mclaren's skills...This week's Book of the Week is the sublime "Pigeon P.I"

Uh-oh! Someone's having a bad day, a day that starts with a kite...and a bear!