Scribbles and Ink are best friends, but it wasn't always that way. A scribble-loving sketching cat and a paint-loving artist mouse, the two haven't always seen eye to eye - as you'll see from our previous Scribbles and Ink review...!

Thankfully all that is behind them now - or is it - when a drawing / painting competition is announced, to draw or paint the best dinosaur in the world, the doodling duo set to work creating their best efforts.

As we know, dinosaurs are pretty tricky to draw. Scribbles has a go and comes up with something that looks a bit like a plucked chicken. Ink has a go and draws a perfectly oval egg! What on earth can the pair do to improve their chances of winning the grand prize in the competition, a day out at Mudsville getting covered in oozy sticky mud!

That's just the start of their troubles though - because Scribbles and Ink's artwork has a habit of coming to life! Eeek!

This fun knockabout tale had plenty of 'snort out loud' moments for Charlotte, and this dynamic duo are a great inspiration when cracking out the pencils and pens for a spot of drawing. Can you draw a fantastic dinosaur? We'd love to see your efforts!

Charlotte's best bit: "My Boo Boo Baby!" made her laugh out loud!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Fun format (mini chapters), great characters and some lovely laughable rivalry (felt a bit like being back at art college watching Scribbles and Ink politely snip at each other!)

(Kindly sent to us for review by Mat at PGUK / Blue Apple Books

Books that make your child think, and ask a dozen or so questions afterwards are wonderful. Books that make both you AND your child think, and have you diving off to the Internet or to encyclopaedias for more research into their topics are truly magical. Here we find out a little bit more about Meteorites, those earth-bound chunks of space rocks so beloved of disaster movie makers.

Back in 1992 a sizeable Meteorite made a real mess of someone's car in Peekskill, NY.

Owch! This is going to be one interesting insurance claim!

The book tells the story of just how that happened - from the Meteor's movements out in space, to its eventual planetfall - becoming a meteorite, and the near miss those folk had in Peekskill before the meteorite finally ended up as a prize exhibit at The Smithsonian Institute (amongst other places). Jessie's art is child-friendly and brilliant, and it's fantastic to see such detail in the spreads as the visitor from another world tracks right across the US before reaching its final destination.

Duck!

We found the book fascinating and our research into the Peekskill impact (and others) equally enthralling. Finding out the age of the rock (around 2 billion years old) caused lots of oohs and ahhs as did the photos of the impact and the meteor itself.

A fabulous book from the "how did the" series published by Blue Apple Books.

Charlotte's best bit: Some amazing space science relayed in a brilliant and engaging way. Truly magical!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Fascinating photos at the end of the real meteorite impact! Glad I wasn't driving that car at the time!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Mat at PGUK / Blue Apple Books)

Sometimes the simplest ideas can work so beautifully in children's books if all the elements that make a fab read are in place. In "It's Time to Say Goodnight" we meet a happy little chap who wanders around the farm where he lives, greeting all the animals and characters he meets along the way. Out in the urban jungle he even finds time to say good morning to all the trucks, cars, buses, trash men and other things he sees on his travels.

Being such a busy little chap does mean that once he's finished, it's actually starting to get dark - so it's time to say goodnight instead of good morning!

We love Harriet's rhymes and Barroux's simple but beautiful artwork and wonderfully drawn characters.

A fabulous little book full of discoveries, that is destined to become a favourite book for younger readers...

...And with that, we'll bid you a very good night!


Charlotte's best bit: Goodnight to the chickens! Goodnight to the Ducks!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A simple idea, some lovely rhymes and beautifully simple but nicely put together.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Mat at PGUK / Blue Apple Books)

We rather like monsters, you may have picked up on this on the blog. We talk about them a lot, we devour any new monster books so a fab multi-coloured and accessible monster counting book is bound to get a thumbs up.

"Monster Needs One More" encourages children to count and add using a cast of wonderfully inventive monsters who 'always want one more'. Whether it's hugs or their favourite treats, these monsters are demanding little devils but immensely loveable with it.

We've previously looked at Harriet and Natalie's fab "Monster Be Good" and "Monster Needs One More" continues the theme in grand style.

Charlotte and Daddy Need One (million) more monster book!

Charlotte's best bit: Monster wants one more cuddle!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Fab colourful illustrations and a lovely counting book. Monstrously good!
(Kindly sent to us for review by Blue Apple Books / Mat at PGUK)

We're dipping back into the Balloon Toons range as part of our celebration of comics and magazines for #ReadItMD13. This is a tiddly little comic that packs a massive punch, and contains some of Charlotte's most favourite things.

1) Princesses
2) Animals
3) Princesses that can become animals
4) Super powers!

So mix that heady cocktail together in Pranas T. Naujokaitis' brilliant and action-packed strip and let mayhem commence. We learn all about the Animal Princess, a gifted girl who can assume the form of various animals just by donning the cutest little animal onesies you've ever seen.

Faced with terrible peril and some of the most dastardly foes known to man (or princess), our heroine defends the Waffle Kingdom. Just as long as she's not forced to wear that HORRIBLE PINK DRESS! Bleuchhh!

As you've probably guessed, this is the sort of comic that I beg, nay PLEAD parents of plucky adventuresome girls (like Charlotte) to go and pick up. There's no winsome staring into mirrors, trying on pretty clothes until a handsome rich Prince happens by, this is action-packed stuff that will be an instant hit with girls (and boys) who love dressing up as superheroes and kicking up dickens!

Brilliant stuff, go get!

Charlotte's best bit: The Radically Awesome Animal Princess's transformation sequences. RIP!

Daddy's favourite bit: A refreshingly different Princess heroine always goes down a treat at home, and RadAn (as we call her for short) is mighty in all the right places. Awesome stuff! Ka-POW!

(Kindly sent to us for review by the awesome Mat at PGUK / Blue Apple Books)

We're celebrating brilliant comics and magazines as part of our #ReadItMD13 (ReadItMummiesandDaddies2013) campaign so we thought we'd look at some comics that are suitable for the very young. It's actually a bit of a struggle to find truly child-friendly comics that demonstrate perfectly how a comic strip narrative can deliver a combination of a great story when coupled with strip-format visuals.

In "My Friend Fred, the Plant" - a book from the Blue Apple "Bubble Toons" range by various authors and artists, you have two characters and a plant - and that's it. But because of the format, and because of the exchange of dialogue between the two main characters, you get a tale that describes perfectly that "imaginary friend" thing that some children go through, here symbolised by a fun-loving ginger moggy who befriends a lovely sunflower.

Another cat is passing by, and wonders just who the ginger moggy is talking to. When ginger tells him, he scoffs at first but when he's tasked with looking after Fred (the plant), things take an unexpected turn.

The fun here is in the exchanges between Ginger and Fred (Do they dance? You'll have to read the book to find out!) Children will love the two sides of the 'disagreement' as the uber-cynical cat doesn't believe Ginger's claims that he can converse with Fred. Soon though, the cynical cat learns that friendship can sometimes be weird, but it's strong and worthwhile nonetheless.

Kanako Usui's Kawaii art style compliments the easy flowing text, and this book is tidy and tiny enough to tuck into a back pocket or an overnight bag for those long summer stays at relatives or friends.

We'll be taking another look at the Bubble Toons range very soon. Definitely check them out if you're looking for a nice easy way to introduce children to a comic strip format.

Charlotte's best bit: Cynical cat's panic when Fred starts to wilt in the sun.

Daddy's favourite bit: A great easy read (comic strips aren't always the easiest thing to read aloud), and a nice little moral tale.

(Kindly sent to us for review by the awesome Mat at PGUK / Blue Apple)

Merely having the word "Monster" anywhere in the title or on the cover of a children's picture book is a guarantee that Charlotte will love it. Monsters (to her at least) represent those slightly subversive, quite often naughty and sometimes quite scary characters that are staple fodder for children's book writers and illustrators.

Browsing the portfolios of most children's illustrators, you're bound to find a few monsters in there - so what can "Monster Be Good!" bring to a genre that's already stuffed to the gills with monstrously good books?

Natalie Marshall's monsters are easily identifiable by most children. Sometimes they're messy, quite often they're crabby and all display quite monstrous behaviour - and we loved her designs for each type. The book may be pitched at a slightly younger audience than Charlotte but nevertheless she loved the huge and bold colour illustrations, interesting page spreads and the inference that there's a little bit of monster in all of us.

We look forward to seeing more from Natalie really soon!

Charlotte's best bit: Scary monster!

Daddy's favourite bit: Great retro-style illustrations and some wry digs at kid behaviour.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Blue Apple Books)

As Charlotte starts to read and write more, it's great to find books that blur the boundary between being a "School Book" and a "Home Book" - Making the learning process fun and engaging enough to feel like they're playing, not working.

"Read and Write Rhyming Words" by Harriet Ziefert and Yukiko Kido successfully does just that with a series of K-1 standard exercises wrapped lovingly around some brilliant and cute illustrations. There's a ton of activities in the book ranging from simple 'fill in the missing word' puzzles to more complicated rhyming exercises.

Children have an ear for rhymes so it was a lot of fun to hear Charlotte coming up with a mix of real words and her own silly made up stuff. We rather liked the idea that the first thing this book tells you is to 'break the spine' (Owch) and make it easier to use (and you will need to do that, as children have little patience for a book that's clunky or clumsy to write in). Thankfully the book is sturdy enough to stand up to a bit of punishment, and if you use a pencil you can write directly into the book and rub out / start again to give it a little more of a lifespan.

A fun and engaging book that compliments the sort of things Charlotte is currently learning at school, and far more easier for her to get to grips with than her writing journal has been this Easter holiday, for sure!

Charlotte's best bit: Coming up with rhymes for "Pig"

Daddy's favourite bit: Great cute illustrations and nice page layouts to make children feel more like they're having fun than doing school work

(Kindly sent to us for review by Blue Apple Books / PGA)

So who is the mysterious Barroux behind Blue Apple Books' new groovy little doodling book? We did a bit of research and found out that Barroux is a very talented illustrator from France who shuttles to and from the US to create his fantastic mix of cartoon artwork and genius designs.

In collaboration with Blue Apple, Barroux is imparting some of his knowledge to you, dear scribbler, so you can become a pattern and mark-making genius too!

On those rare occasions where Charlotte is allowed to draw on books, she loves stuff like this - where the flow of the book takes you from simple pattern forms like drawing triangles and squares, to filling in the next colour or shape in a sequence before finally letting your imagination loose on a variety of pages that let you add patterns to crazy animals, or plants, or even the wonky tie of a smartly dressed guy.

Once children gain more and more pattern and mark-making confidence, it will definitely have an effect on their own drawings or illustrations they do from scratch. Far from being a stale and boring art lesson, Barroux aims to make art fun and accessible to all - and this book does precisely that so even adults can have a go and have a lot of fun too!

Crack out your best colouring pencils and pens, and draw patterns with Barroux - and watch the hours fly by!

Charlotte's best bit: Finishing off the Fox's groovy scarf

Daddy's favourite bit: It's very difficult not to sneakily draw in this book when Charlotte's asleep! Very difficult!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Blue Apple / PGA)

Oooh now here's a real treat! We absolutely loved Jenni Desmond's feline debut with "Red Cat, Blue Cat" and I remember spotting an early mysterious mention of "Backstage Cat" back when we were reviewing the book and interviewing the lovely Jenni.

Now the mystery is revealed, and in this collaboration with children's book superstar Harriet Ziefert, once again we have completely fallen in love with Simon, the slightly naughty but supercool moggy in this book.

A theatrical superstar goes everywhere with her beloved cat, and usually he's quite content to be pampered in the dressing room while his mistress sings for her supper on stage.

However, one day when the door's left open a tiny crack, Simon ventures out into the world backstage. It's a world unlike any other, full of odd sights and sounds (and probably smells) and Simon is very intrigued.

But things get a lot more interesting when Simon spots something that really shouldn't be there. A mouse, scurrying amongst the scenery.

Chaos ensues as Simon begins to chase the mouse, not just backstage but on stage too! Can Simon steal the limelight and what will his owner (not to mention all the stage hands) say!

Harriet Ziefert's entertaining story gives Jenni Desmond plenty of scope for doing something she is an absolute expert at - conveying the sense of busy chaotic and frenetic action that takes place when cats start to misbehave. It's also an interesting insight into the inner workings of a theatre production as we get to find out that the star isn't the only person involved.

An utterly beautiful book combining Ziefert's concise and expert observations with Desmond's utterly beautiful illustrative style.

Charlotte's best bit: Simon getting an enormous cuddle (and his expression!)

Daddy's favourite bit: Such a frenetic pace, I almost imagine Jenni scribbling away furiously as she visited theatres to start the sketches for this. Love Ziefert's storytelling style too. A winning combination of talent and a superb book, don't miss out on opening night!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Mat Archer / Blue Apple Books)

Charlotte LOVES a good dinosaur book, and this is a very good dinosaur book but with a twist. It's also a very good alphabet learning book where each gigantic and ferocious dinosaur is beautifully illustrated using the letter it begins with, concrete poetry style.

Packed to the gills with facts and figures about dinosaurs, it's also a very good reference book for children who are just beginning to learn about our prehistoric chums and all the different species discovered in fossil records (though if you believe the press at the moment, books like this need rewriting on a daily basis as we slowly discover that quite a few Victorian palaeontologists were completely bonkers and prone to making things up rather than basing their research on fact - yikes!)

Nevertheless dinosaurs are an intriguing subject, and this book is a unique and novel way of bringing together superb graphic design and early learning in one brilliant package.

Just in case anyone's tuning in from big toy manufacturers. Girls like dinosaurs too, so please stop targetting your dino-based toy ranges at boys exclusively. Thanks.

Charlotte's best bit: She still thinks that the Pterosaurs (the flying dinosaurs) are the very best. Lots in here to love.

Daddy's favourite bit: The Allosaurus and his A-teeth! Ace!

(Kindly supplied to us for review by Mat Archer / Blue Apple Books)

Sharing a house with a Princess isn't easy. We know this only too well at ReadItDaddy Towers as our own little Princess, Charlotte (she tells us quite forcefully she's a princess but we haven't tried the 'pea' test yet).

Princess Rosebud (or Rosebud as she's known most of the time) likes things 'just so'. Her cuddly toys are exquisitely arranged on her freshly made bed, she likes to draw and paint (but makes sure all her pens and pencils are properly lined up first) and she's good at practically everything she turns her hand to.

But like our own little Princess, sometimes it only takes the slightest thing to cause a giant royal meltdown.

When dinner does not go according to plan one evening, Princess Rosebud explodes quite spectacularly. But learning the story of the Princess and the Pea, Rosebud realises that the uncomfortable lump in her mattress means something after all!

This book is beautifully presented, with a huge sprawling fold-out story segueing nicely with the main plot. Harriet Ziefert's observations on child behaviour are spot on and Travis Foster's humorous cartoon drawings are brilliant.

If you've got one or more little princesses at home, you'll love this book to bits (as will they).

Charlotte's best bit: Princess Rosebud's great collection of toy animals and dolls

Daddy's favourite bit: Brilliantly observed and the foldouts are fantastic too!

(Kindly sent to us by Mat Archer / Blue Apple Books)

This rather smashing pair of books, packed full of sticker fun and colouring pages have that magic effect on Charlotte of keeping her completely absorbed for hours on end. At the moment she's absolutely bonkers about anything to do with drawing, colouring and stickering so Jessica Secheret's books "Kokeshi Dolls" and "Dolls of the World" are excellent value.

Kokeshi Dolls

These collectable Japanese dolls come in all shapes and sizes, and this book celebrates the collectable phenomenon with brilliant colouring pages, letting your child's imagination and fashion design skills loose.

The stickers can be used in each scene to compliment the outfits and your child's colouring skills, and there are more than enough to use in their own drawings once they've finished with the book.






Dolls of the World

During the summer, we were driven practically out of our minds by "It's a Small World" at Disneyland Paris. Every time Charlotte heard that 'Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock' we had to go on the ride and sit through that earworm tune. In fact just typing about it, I can hear that happy little ditty.

"Dolls of the World" instantly reminded Charlotte of the "It's a Small World" ride and she loved all the various national costumes, and the scenes from countries around the world.

I've a small niggle about this book, just a minor one, the scenes and characters were often so big that it was rather difficult to find room for the stickers included with the book. Each set of stickers had a specific page they 'belonged' to, but Charlotte (being a little perfectionist) didn't want to stick the stickers over any other elements of the page. Just a small drawback but again the stickers can be used in children's own drawings so it's still a nice book.

A great duo of activity books that are excellent quality and educational too.

Charlotte's best bit: She really loved the Norwegian girl ("She is me!") and Mio, the pink Kokeshi Doll.

Daddy's favourite bit: The sheer silence accompanying Charlotte's complete and utter absorption in these two books, broken only by her asking questions about the various costumes and countries in the Dolls of the World book.

Charlotte gets busy colouring in costumes from Egypt.

(Books kindly supplied to us for review by Blue Apple Books / Mat Archer)

Now here's a brilliant little idea that sneaks a little smidgeon of educative exercise into a tiny stocking-filler-sized box, with an absolute ton of innovative ideas for early learners or doodlers like me who just seek a bit of inspiration from time to time.

Deborah Zemke's Pocket Pack Alpha Doodles and Doodles 2 Do encourage children (and adults) to sketch different animals, objects and people by using alphabet characters and numbers as the basis for the drawings.

Did you know you could make a cool little snail out of the number 19? You do now!

What we liked about these was that the instructions are clear and easy to follow, despite the size of the cards - and they serve as a great jumping-off point for larger drawings and artwork using the same ideas.

They're also great for taking on car journeys, or sneaking into a child's going away bag if they're off to stay with grandparents or family.

Charlotte's best bit: Drawing a numerical giraffe and a fantastic swirly-shelled snail

Daddy's favourite bit: Charlotte's at an age where she really loves drawing and scribbling, so anything that encourages her to look at different ways to draw, and things to draw that aren't the usual 'girl, house, princess' type stuff really does get the thumbs up.

(Kindly supplied for review by Blue Apple Books)

Our most excellent friends at PGUK / Blue Apple Books have sent us a rather fantastic and eye-catching book to take a look at. Simms Taback is a name I've not come across before, but it's easy to see why his graphic design skills and children's books are much sought after. Sadly, Simms Taback died in 2011 but some of his best loved books are being reprinted and re-released, along with some new books not previously released.

Bold, colourful illustrations are stock in trade of Simms Taback's works, and in this fantastic fold-out Dinosaur book, dinosaur-obsessed children (like Charlotte, who admits to loving the Pterodactyl and Triceratops the most) can guess which dinosaur is slowly being revealed as each massive page unfolds into a giant-sized dinosaur picture.

It's sad to think that such a talented individual is no longer with us, but his ideas and his books will most definitely find a whole new appreciative audience. Keeping things child-friendly without piling on tons and tons of text and factual information, 'Dinosaurs' is a great book for kids who are just beginning to learn about our lumbering prehistoric ancestors.

Charlotte's best bit: "Triceratops looks cute!"

Daddy's favourite bit: Love the idea of the fold-outs. Not sure how long they would last with a less careful child but a brilliant idea for a small format book to extend out like this.

(Kindly supplied by PGUK / Blue Apple Books for Review)

Scribbles is a cat who loves to...scribble! Ink is a mouse who loves to paint and ink. The two live side by side but absolutely detest each other's work.

Ethan Long's artistically inspired book finds out what happens when the two clash spectacularly, and decide to play a series of artistic tricks on each other after they get fed up with constant cross-critiques and arguments over who is the best artist.

I love the busy feel of this book and the two characters who remind me of a good few illustrators I know (and love).

For youngsters, it's the classic combination of cat and mouse, which gently draws (oh god, pardon the artistic pun) them into a world of appreciating some of the finest pieces of art ever to adorn a wall.

The great thing about this book is that it becomes a jumping off point for children to go and investigate the stories and the circumstances behind Scribbles and Ink's final pieces (we won't ruin the surprise for you but this was definitely my favourite bit of the book). Charlotte's already fairly arty and knows exactly what she likes ("Not your drawings daddy, your drawings are silly!") so it was great to be sent a book that delved deeper into the art world in a really child-friendly way.

Look out also for Scribbles and Ink's next book "Scribbles and Ink - Doodles for Two" which is more interactive and encourages children to try out some artistic tricks and techniques for themselves with helpful tutorials from the terrible twosome.

Charlotte's best bit: Scribbles the cat. She preferred his etchings.

Daddy's favourite bit: The beautifully drawn homages to famous artists at the end of the book. So brilliant!

(This book was kindly supplied to us for review by PGUK / Blue Apple Books)

That's right, Jenni Desmond's excellent book Red Cat, Blue Cat (published by Blue Apple Books) is out today! You can read our review of the book or our interview with the lovely Jenni here but you'll definitely want to go and grab a copy pronto. So, what are you waiting for? Bounce like a blue cat and hop to it!

In the second of our medical-related ABC books kindly sent to us by Blue Apple Books, we visit the Doctor's Surgery for another funky A to Z.

Of the two books (this and ABC Dentist by the same team), Charlotte preferred ABC Doctor. Possibly because there are a couple of panels that are a teensy weensy bit grim and gross but educational and factual at the same time.

As with ABC Dentist, Liz Murphy's cool little collage-enhanced retro artwork is a brilliant fit for the book. Harriet Ziefert consulted with real life MDs to ensure that all the facts and illustrations aid learning and are a good fit for children who want to know more about what goes on at their local surgery or clinic. It's particularly great if your children absolutely hate visiting the doctor's and want the assurance that they're there to help even when they're sticking a needle in your arm!

Charlotte's best bit: The X-Ray Page. Not really sure what it is about Charlotte and X-Rays, I think she's channeling Rontgen!

Daddy's favourite bit: Again, Liz Murphy's illustrations are top notch and such a good fit for this book.

Blue Apple Books were kind enough to send us some excellent Harriet Ziefert books. We've already looked at '40 uses for a Grandpa' so next on our reading list is ABC Dentist - Healthy Teeth from A to Z.

For most of us, a trip to the dentist is often accompanied by a pain in the mouth, swiftly followed by a severe pain in the wallet. Our dentist is lovely though and Harriet Ziefert's book will allay the fears of anyone who is putting off that check up, hoping that the nagging toothache will somehow disappear on its own.

Liz Murphy's illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to this A to Z of dentistry, mixing painted panels with collage work and lots of fun and colourful characters. You'll learn about the structure of teeth, what an orthodontist does and why it's important to brush and floss.

Educational, fun and absolutely brilliant for a good age range, ABC Dentist is a book you'll find children want to return to again and again, even if they really aren't that keen on visiting the real thing!

Charlotte's best bit: White Teeth, Yellow Teeth and the page on X-Rays.

Daddy's favourite bit: Liz Murphy's awesome illustrative style instantly makes this book approachable and fun.