We couldn't resist sneaking in just one more book of the week before we take a bit of a break over Christmas (but don't worry, articles and reviews will still be popping up between now and January so stay tuned!)

Steve Antony has established himself as a bit of a superstar this year. His second book "The Queen's Hat" rocked our socks off back in April, with a wonderful celebratory mix of crazy chase antics, regal tomfoolery and a lovely touristy whirl around our beloved capital.

It's been really great to see other folk loving the book as much as we have - and they're going to fall in love all over again with Steve's latest book.

Put it this way, we knew we were going to love it from the moment we saw the star's dour and quite serious expression on the front cover of the book. Mr Panda may look slightly grumpy but he's a stickler for good manners. So when Mr Panda decides to offer a huge tray of (quite mouthwateringly delicious) donuts to his friends, you'd expect there to be a bit of a bunfight.

"Manners maketh the man" said my wise old Nan, and she was right - but it seems that none of Mr Panda's friends have ever been taught about good manners and politeness. They're rude, grabby and they're definitely NOT going to be sampling Mr Panda's fare with an attitude like that.

It takes an utterly adorable lemur to show people how it's done. In fact the rather delicious moment when Mr Panda hears a please, and a thank you caused us to cackle with glee - largely due to Steve's utterly fab way with expressions (Mr Panda is a deadpan superstar, we LOVE him!)

We read this again, and again, and again (and as it turned up first thing in the morning we ended up in a mad rush to get to work and school - but hey, some things are worth being late for!)

So Steve effortlessly cruises into our Book of the Week slot once again, this book is an absolute hoot but more importantly it's something of a rarity - there really aren't enough books around that encourage politeness and good manners, and certainly none that deliver their core message in such an utterly brilliant way. Hooray for Steve and Mr Panda!

Charlotte's best bit: Lemur's look of blissed-out sugar-fuelled satisfaction after a ring-donut feast! (She adored the fact that he could thread all the donuts onto his tail and just scoff them at leisure)

Daddy's Favourite bit: Steve is swiftly establishing himself as a children's book superstar, comparisons to Jon Klassen are justified - with the tiniest tweak of his pen he can imbue the characters in this story with huge personality, none less so than Mr Panda himself! Love his deadpan expressions and utterly love each reaction to animal rudeness. Thoroughly well deserved as one of our final book of the week winners of 2014

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

Like a super-exploding box of TNT this absolutely STUNNING book exploded through our letterbox and caused a huge amount of fuss. Egmont's "Minecraft: Blockopedia" is no ordinary Minecraft book, it's a block in itself and has to be a real contender for "Book Design of the Year".

Clad in a black monolithic box that screams Stanley Ku-brick (see what we did there?) at you, it's a real treat for the eyes before you've even opened the cover (and the whole forced perspective design has royally messed with your senses.

So what's inside? A block-by-block breakdown of the world's most popular game. Kids love it, adults secretly run off and play it when the kids are asleep, and it's become something of an obsession as the game has spawned merchandise, Lego (which is a real head flip - a game about building spawning a bunch of sets for building things with) and of course lovely lovely books.

Open up this fantastic book for deep knowledge about Minecraft's world. Ice? Nice!

There are two schools of thought when it comes to learning all the intricacies of Minecraft (and it is a game that looks deceptively simple, don't be fooled by the graphics - inside the game beats the heart of a living breathing world that's just waiting for you to shape it in whichever way you choose). Some folk stick to learning their 'craft online, with the various wikipedias, youtube videos and other sources of info. That feels a bit too much like cheating to us. So with the Blockopedia you'll get the inside track on every type of block and material in the game, plus a few you may not have even encountered yet (so be warned, there may be spoilers ahead but they're well posted!) but won't necessarily be shown the best methods of how to short-cut the game (aside from one tiny instance of learning a very quick way to make stone which is absolutely ingenious!)

We'd never even seen a daylight sensor before. Now we know what they're for and how to use them!

Charlotte seized this book and that was the last I saw of it for a while, as she'd tuck herself up in bed at night with it (and her torch - though thankfully not the Minecraft 'flaming' kind) teasing nuggets of information the next morning that 'silly old daddy' won't know. I was petrified that the book might get damaged as the hexagonal pages are a bit tricky to get hold of as you're flipping through, but the book is beautifully presented and made of sturdy stuff so it'll last a lifetime if treated right.

Really though, it's all about the detail in this - it's exhaustive, knowledgeable and authoritative, a real "must buy" for your own little Minecraft obsessives. Perfection comes at a price though, but hunt around for a good deal on this one and you'll find lots of retailers lopping a tenner off the hefty £30 RRP. Put it this way though, it's not just a book it's a real collector's item in its presentation box, so if you want something that's going to really up your game as well as be something that looks utterly gorgeous laid on your coffee table fooling people into thinking you've left a real life minecraft block there, then this is definitely for you!

If you'd like to see more from Egmont's amazing Minecraft book range, do check out our Minecraft Theme Week for more!

Charlotte's best bit: Charlotte is obsessed with The Nether at the moment, and loved learning about the best ways to stay alive in that particularly inhospitable environment thanks to this awesome book!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Utterly amazing, beautiful, stunning - we almost ran out of superlatives for this one. It's like "The Knowledge" for Minecraft fans, wrapped up in a truly jaw-dropping book design. Whoah!

(Kindly sent to us for review by those awsome folk at Egmont UK - our deepest thanks!)

'At Midnight, when all good folk should be abed, the Night Post rides forth to serve the dead.’ - Victorian Poem

When a book truly becomes a shared experience, it's like a glorious reminiscence. "Hey I saw that bit!" or "Did you spot the..." - delicious energetic chatter ensues when you share stories.

Wordless stories are tricky to get right. You want to be able to convey a plot, a flow, a path through without relying too heavily on the illustrations leading people by the nose - more gently coaxing them in the right direction.

So when we first saw a few early glimpses of "Night Post" by Benjamin Read and Laura Trinder a few weeks ago ahead of its launch, we knew it was going to be something special. You see, straight away it tapped into that idea of a shared experience where observation, curiosity and also a good dose of familiarisation with fantasy all combine together to give anyone reading this wonderfully original wordless story a bit of a head start.

You've probably already sneaked a few glimpses of the book's amazing illustrations via our spotlight preview article from Halloween...

Wonderful wonderful witches! One of our favourite spreads, can you spot your favourite here?

...Night Post is a glorious homage to many fantasy stories but at its core it's the story of a seemingly ordinary everyday postie, who tucks his daughter in at night with a kiss, says goodbye to his wife, picks up his lunch and then heads out to work. Though, instead of heading for the normal post room, this postie has a special key that unlocks a door leading to...The Night Post. Here is where all the mail for (shall we say) "alternative" customers ends up and of course must be delivered just like the traditional mail.

As you'd expect, some of those recipients are a little bit 'out there' From ghouls to ghosts, from witches to sirens, it's a very tricky mail round fraught with danger. But our heroic postie knows how to deal with just about everything the underworld can throw at him on a very busy and hazardous night.

Back to that original point about observation and shared experiences, this book surely can't fail to appeal to just about everyone who's ever picked up a book in the last 100 years or so. Benjamin and Laura's lovingly crafted references and homages to children's characters and stories both old and new never fails to impress. Charlotte gobbled this book up greedily, her sharp little eyes far better at spotting familiar characters than my tired old ones (for instance, she spied Nemo and Dory, tucked away in a scene where Sirens, mermaids and The Creature From The Black Lagoon have taken over the local Lido!)

We also rather liked the Postie's unflappable demeanour, slightly cheeky in fact. Stealing a chunk of lollipop from the Witch from Hansel and Gretel's garden (and once again Charlotte pointing out who that witch looks like! He also comes out of a very familiar looking wardrobe with what looks suspiciously like a box of Turkish Delight!

It's a truly fantastic book, one that we can't stop thinking about and also one we won't stop going on about until you've gone and bought a copy (which you can do via the Improper Books website, or from quality indie comic sellers!)

This is the first publication we've seen from Improper and if it's an indication of the sheer quality of the titles they're publishing, we're going to be camping out on their doorstep to see what they come up with next.

You need this book, you really do! If you have any love for children's fantasy stories, you're going to find so many things in this that will give you goosebumps!


Charlotte's best bit: Too many to choose from but she truly loved spotting a certain magic carpet and lamp nestling in a treasure-filled cave, and also spotting the "Room on the broom" witch soaring through the skies!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Brilliantly clever, original, funny and tinged with a taste of the macabre that just sang out to us like those Sirens in the swimming pool. Utterly glorious to go through this again and again, picking up on all the characters you might've missed the first time round. We absolutely cannot wait for Benjamin and Laura's next collaboration!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Improper Books)

"Night Post"

Written by Benjamin Read

Illustrated by Laura Trinder

Published by Improper Books

I got home, it was late and dark outside but as soon as I opened the front door I was almost knocked flat by Charlotte, clutching this book.

"Book of the week!" she proclaimed so a little later after dinner, we snuggled up before bedtime and lost ourselves in the world of one Homer Henry Hudson.

Homer, a rheumy-eyed British Bulldog is the enchanting central character of this extremely special book. It's astonishing to think that this is Zack's first children's book (and please, PLEASE don't let it be his last) but from the outset we were completely knocked out by his illustrations in this fabulous story.

We will gush on a bit so bear with us. The illustrations aren't the only thing that won us over. Zack wears his story telling heart on his sleeve as Homer Henry Hudson shows us around his amazing collection. Every object holds a story, and soon we learn that Homer Henry Hudson might look like he's past his best, but what an astonishing past he has.

HHH meticulously describes each object in his collection and delights in the way visitors marvel at the various things in his museum. Reading each tale, our hero begins to sound like an astonishing dog. Part Indiana Jones, with a whiff of Doctor Who about him (we loved his Tom Baker scarf and Fedora) HHH ventured to every corner of the world, rescued princesses and dug deep into the earth to unlock its secrets.

Zack's influences are varied and delightful, and thrummed a deep chord of recognition with me especially. In one part of the museum I loved the fact that there's a superb homage to Rene Magritte. In another scene (blink and you'll miss it) an image that took me right back to my childhood and a book I haven't read in years, Kit Williams' sublime "Masquerade" (wouldn't it be just too fantastic to imagine Homer Henry Hudson doggedly deciphering the clues of that magnificent book and making off with the golden hare!)

Of course it's easy to leap straight to the conclusion that the rich and stunning visuals in this book wowed us, dazzled us and contributed to our decision to give this our highest accolade but Zack's descriptive prose as I adopted a gruff bulldog-like voice to read Homer Henry Hudson's narrative just flows off the page like honey on biscuits. Dang it, it really is as great as it sounds, we promise you.

Lose yourself in a long luxurious read of this, and then go back in again for another, and another, and another look to spot all the glorious references and author's nudges to his influences (oh man, that Sushi museum scene just completely blew me away as soon as I recognised who the other patrons were - see if you recognise them!)

I said we wouldn't gush on too much about it but wow, just wow! You see Charlotte was right to be excited - it's a book of the week without a doubt.

Discover more about Zack's brilliant book over at his fascinating blog.


Charlotte's best bit: She loved Henry's cracked old building (and the story behind how it came to be where it was) but most of all she utterly and completely loved spotting things she recognised and also rather liked Homer Henry Hudson's diving suit

Daddy's Favourite bit: What a glorious book! You could spend a year finding tiny little details in this that'll make you smile and say "Wow, I remember that!" but you'll truly love the way this reads, and Homer Henry Hudson's gentle self-deprecating modesty at how he acquired his truly amazing collection! We absolutely cannot wait for Zack's next book. He's up there with the greats!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Zack Rock / The Creative Company)

We've often described Frances Lincoln's range of books as future family heirlooms, they are the sort of books that should be revered and treasured (and of course read, read and read again!) in equal measure.

We're always drawn to anthologies on the blog. For me, it's the pleasure of reading a collected set of verse that makes me wryly grin "I remember that from school!"

For Charlotte it's the chance to be introduced to those traditional nursery rhymes and poems, but also to find out more about verses and rhymes from around the world in a book that truly celebrates diversity and the rich storytelling traditions of other countries.

Elizabeth Hammill has gathered together a glorious collection of nursery rhymes, some old, some new, some familiar and some not - and for children's book enthusiasts the fun doesn't stop there. For this book also gathers together 77 of the world's most celebrated children's illustrators (including pretty much all of our favourites!) to bring their own visual styles to each of the rhymes.

Not that there was ever any doubt that these folk are like superstars to Charlotte (and me too!), but it was quite something to go through the book enjoying the rhymes and have her pick out and name illustrators (and quite often the books they're famous for), identifying them with ease. Tucked within the pages you'll find the likes of Axel Scheffler, Shirley Hughes, Clara Vulliamy, Shaun Tan, Rebecca Cobb (YAY!) and so many others that you'll instantly recognise, plus a whole slew of artists who you may not be familiar with but will want to go off and discover more work by.

The nursery rhymes are such a pleasure to read aloud, particularly at the moment as Charlotte seems to have fallen completely head over heels in love with poetry and verse (and spends a lot of time giggling over the works of Spike Milligan, Edward Lear and one of our fave Twitter folk Colin West).

This is described as a treasury of nursery rhymes and it truly is a treasure. What an amazing book! Make sure this finds its way into your little ones' christmas stocking and they'll still be enjoying it, reading it and absolutely loving the socks off it next christmas too!

Charlotte's best bit: "Doctor Foster" wonderfully illustrated by Axel Scheffler

Daddy's Favourite bit: Far too many to pick just one favourite but absolutely loved Rebecca Cobb's illos for "Wee Little Boy" and "Polly Put the Kettle On" - Pitch perfect depictions of kids at play. What a truly astonishing book!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Frances Lincoln Children's Books)

"The Queen's Hat" by Steve Antony (Hodder) - Well deserved Kate Greenaway Nominee and former Book of the Week!

We couldn't resist squeezing in just one more book of the week this week, purely because to both of us this book sang out with such a glorious colourful voice, and a core idea that struck a chord with both Charlotte and I in different ways.

To me, the daydreaming boy in this story is me as a child. I would spend hour after hour daydreaming, doodling, drawing and sketching (and in fact that's something that hasn't changed a bit in adulthood either, I'm pleased to say!)

To Charlotte, the boy's daydreams are a cornucopia of colour and imagination, the scenes he dreams up (including the utterly gorgeous 'star creation' scene that's lovingly tucked underneath the slip cover of the book itself) are dazzling and gorgeous to behold.

In the story, the boy's daydreaming isn't always looked on favourably, until a certain lesson at school allows the boy to open up his imagination and let it fly.

There are so many moments in this that made us want to hug the book with glee when the boy is concocting the most amazing creations in his head, and the final scene in the book is just exquisite. Do not miss "The Wonder" - it truly is one!

Charlotte's best bit: That amazing star factory. Who knew that stars were created with such loving care!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A glorious book with a message that sang out loudly to us in dulcet tones that daydreaming is fine, don't ever stop doing it!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Templar Publishing)

Our Second Book of the Week really shows how books can compete with all-bells-and-whistles apps on tablets and smartphones by providing a truly interactive experience that doesn't involve charging your device, doesn't involve temper-tantrums at bedtime when it's time to switch that device off, and has an utterly awesome story and set of puzzles to dig into.

Meet Detective Dick Paws and his latest case, the mysterious disappearance of The Golden Cat. Paws needs a bit of help with this tricky case so it's over to you, dear reader, to piece together some fiendish clues and observations to catch the culprit.

A busy scene from "Detective Paws" - Solve the clues with keen observation!

With an ingenious mix of detective mysteries, pop-up-book paper mechanics, fold out panels and lift-the-flap surprises, this book absolutely had it all bang on for Charlotte who loves this sort of thing and though some of the puzzles weren't too taxing, it seemed to be perfect for the 6-8 year old age group, possibly even younger with a bit of help from mum and dad.

Dick Paws is a great character, and though we can well imagine the amount of effort involved in producing such a fantastic and involving book as this, it'd be awesome to see it become a series.

There are so many neat touches (like having a notebook that folds out at the back of the book to help you through each clue and scene) but we don't want to spoil too much for you. This is one of the most original books we've seen in a long time, and it's well worth getting your magnifying glass out, your raincoat, and your trilby - and sniffing out this brilliant book.

Visit John's website at http://www.oleary-irsara.com/john.htm

Charlotte's best bit: She loved playing with the "identikit" bits (swapping faces to try and figure out who the culprit was) and also the brilliant map and notebook bits

Daddy's Favourite bit: What a fantastic and high quality book from John and Tango. Definitely worth getting hold of!

(Kindly sent to us for review by John O'Leary and Tango Books)

Time for a truly gorgeous book, and one that's once again meant we've needed to double up on our awesome "Book of the Week" nominees. We've been following the awesome adventures of Plum for ages, via Twitter and directly on the awesome Plumdog Blog. Emma Chichester-Clark, aided and abetted by Plum, writes and paints a fantastic visual blog from a doggy perspective following the adventures of her intrepid Whoosel (That's part whippet, part poodle, part Jack Russell, whew!)

Now, we'll readily admit we're predominantly cat-people here at ReadItDaddy but Plum is truly irresistible, and for a long time we wondered how Emma managed to see things from Plum's point of view so perfectly.

Well the answer is obvious, Emma and Plum share a doggy-human psychic link the like of which we haven't seen for a very long time. In fact here's the thing, Plum's musings and Emma's expert storytelling and illustrative eye reminded me of a book I was given as a child - a book that has sadly disappeared in umpteen house moves and is virtually untraceable aside from this paltry offering via the internet...

Cold Noses by C.B Poultney.

C.B Poultney and Emma Chichester-Clark both have the enviable knack of being able to convey their dog's thoughts in a way that makes them completely irresistible to us mere mortals. C.B wrote about a brilliant Scottie called Sir Roderick Dhu (and Patrick, his rather aloof and sneering moggy friend). Both Roderick and Plum became narrator, storyteller and star of their own wonderfully crafted fables (in fact it's quite eerie comparing the two at times, I'd love to imagine that Rod and Plum would be firm friends).

But Plum is the star of this particular show. Plum delights us by engaging in all manner of dog behaviour (including a lot of rather unsavoury 'rolling in things that pong') but talks to us - through Emma's exquisite gift of expression and scene-setting - in a universal language that young, old and canine will utterly want to devour in one huge sitting.

We've followed Plum through doggy misbehaviour - un-stuffing stuffed toys, or leaping headlong into pongy, smelly or very wet things, through heartache (when Rocket disappears to France - the cheek of it!) and when a nasty dog injured Plum (I distinctly remember almost bursting into tears on Twitter when I heard about this). It's become essential reading and I'm very happy to report that Plum continues to blog almost daily, hooray!

Collecting together the blog posts is an absolute stroke of genius and for ages we'd secretly hoped it was going to happen. Now it has, we're greedily hoping for a volume 2 (and 3 and...oh you get the picture) because it's such a fantastic read (in fact on the day it arrived, I sat down meaning to quickly leaf through before letting Charlotte loose on it (advisable as there's a single tiny sweary s-word moment I recalled from the blog that parents might want to stick a sticky label over in the book before letting their little ones leaf through) and nearly made myself late for work cackling out loud at some of Plum and Emma's antics!)

It's definitely not just for the dog lover in your life, but for anyone who truly loves seeing someone doing what they really enjoy the most - telling stories and painting gorgeous scenes that make us want to leap headfirst into the book and live there alongside Plum, Emma and Daddy. Of course, the real stroke of genius is Emma rather neatly seeing herself (and other humans) through Plum's canine gaze. It's so mesmerisingly well observed.

Take our advice, put it on your 'to-buy' list now. Just do it, you really do not want to miss out on Plum's doggy booky debut.

"Plumdog" by Emma Chichester-Clark, came out yesterday (2nd October) from Jonathan Cape Publishing.

Charlotte's Favourite Plum Adventure: She loves the one where Esther comforts Plum after a nasty incident with a snarly dog threatening to 'bite her stupid face off'. She liked the "crazy native mother nature" snowman (blush!) but most of all she LOVED Plum meeting mouse superstar Maisie and not being fooled for a second :)

Daddy's Favourite Plum Adventure: I am with Plum's daddy on the 'going for long walks' thing. I do that too (gradually slow down until I'm about ten miles behind everyone else!) Also laughed out loud about Plum being told "bad girl, bad dog" but hearing "la la la la" in her head instead (Charlotte does this too!)

(Kindly sent to us for review by Jonathan Cape Publishing)

This very special book isn't out for a few days yet (the official release date is October 1st) but we wanted to make it book of the week, so we're sneaking in a little early with our review. In this centenary year of the start of World War 1, we've seen many books both fiction and non-fiction that have given children a valuable insight into "The Great War" and the immense sacrifice generations of soldiers made in order to achieve peace.

John Hendrix's masterful story is fictional, but based on a real event. During the first year of the war, a shaky cease fire happened during the christmas period of 1914 and this story tells the tale of a soldier, Charlie, writing home to his mother about this astonishing event.

For a few short hours no bullets were fired, no shells - and British and German forces met in the middle of no mans land. Both sides achieved a temporary detente, exchanged christmas gift, even erected christmas trees above their trenches.

One quote from the book sings out and this was the quote that Charlotte seized on. "Why can't we just go home and have peace?" - in the story this line is spoken by one of the German soldiers to Charlie. Charlotte has been listening to the various news reports on the chaotic conflict in Gaza, and because of that she could draw parallels between what's happening today in our time, and what happened 100 years ago.

War is an uncomfortable subject for parents to discuss with their children, but books like this help. Books that try to demonstrate that underneath the conflict and the high ideals there are people at ground level who repeat that line like a mantra whenever fighting breaks out or some new atrocity happens in their own back yard.

A truly stunning book, thought provoking and atmospheric. John's writing and research is deep and thoughtful, heart wrenching in places as the detente dissolves and we learn that in the years to follow the shaky truce was never successfully repeated as the horrors of war eked away at both sides and their resolve.

The illustrations too are truly special (reminding me a lot of Raymond Briggs' artwork, which is definitely no bad thing). But reading Charlie's words in the story has deep impact, deep enough to make this one of the most impressive books published on the subject of WW1 in this centenary year.

Charlotte's best bit: Learning more about the conflict after we'd read the story, going through John's exhaustive glossary of terms and well researched history of the truce itself.

Daddy's Favourite bit: A truly brilliant book in every respect that will help parents and children learn more about WW1 and the amazing truce that existed for such a short amount of time, but gave early hope that humanity could put aside conflict in the name of something better.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Abrams Chronicle Publishing)

This fabulous book took me right back to my childhood. You see, "Christmas Books" when I was a wee whippersnapper usually meant things like the excellent "Fleetway Annuals" or books that you knew you'd be tucked away with for most of Christmas Day, through Boxing Day and probably beyond.

Imagine then a book that promises a whole YEAR of stories and things to do. Impossible without it weighing enough to give poor Santa a hernia! But somehow Shirley (make her a DAME already! She deserves it!) Hughes has come up with precisely this. A big satisfying and weighty tome that contains a veritable treasure trove of gorgeous things, like opening your presents on Christmas Day 365 days of the year.

Without exaggeration or flattery, there are very few authors / illustrators who could accomplish such a feat and as soon as we dipped into this book, and found stories like the sublime "Ella's Big Chance" (a book we've raved about previously on the blog!) and adorable poems to keep your little ones enthralled.

If that wasn't enough, Shirley's come up with a year's worth of utterly brilliant activities to try out with your little ones. Watch out for a follow-up piece from us very soon where we try out some of Shirley's amazing ideas ourselves (and probably get covered in glue and glitter in the process!) and if you do pick up the book yourself and make some of the things inside, we'd LOVE to see your pics as would Red Fox!

All in all this is the sort of gorgeous book we'd love to unwrap on christmas day, or for that matter at any time of the year. Wonderful!

Charlotte's best bit: Falling in love all over again with the brilliant "Ella's Big Chance"

Daddy's Favourite bit: A fantastic book that is an absolutely perfect idea for a christmas stocking stuffer, bound to keep your little ones busy way beyond boxing day. Fa-bu-LOUS!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Bodley Head Publishing)

Oh boy, it's doubling up time again. The first of our Book of the Week nominees for this week has been a riot, and we do love a cheeky penguin / monkey combo!

Sometimes the simplest ideas for a story can evolve, blossom and bloom into books that are absolutely brilliant. It takes a touch of magic though, that almost indefinable 'something' to turn a great idea into a truly awesome one. Such is "Blown Away" by Rob Biddulph.

Including penguins in a book is a great start. Penguins rock. Penguins seemingly have infinite capacity for comic capers and in this story Penguin plus kite equals hilarity. Like a crazy reverse-version of "The Enormous Turnip" Penguin Blue and his three pals are soon dragged off their feet by Penguin Blue's new kite. Other animals spy their plight and try to join in to stop the three hapless normally flightless birds taking off into the skies.

Polar bear, though plump and weighty, isn't up to the job. Nor is Seal or Narwhal. What happens when the friends are whisked off to sunnier climes on the powerful breeze? More to the point, how on earth will they ever get back to the icier climes when they unexpectedly land on a jungle island?

We read this, then re-read it, and again...and again and again until we'd soaked up every single gorgeous and glorious morsel of it, every tiny little detailed tweak of our funny bones that this book so expertly delivers. Rob obviously knows how to write stories to keep his three little girls endlessly amused, and it's great that it also works on my little girl (and me) too!

Fantastic work Rob, cannot wait for more!

Charlotte's best bit: Charlotte became quite obsessed by Monkey and his backstory. Though he doesn't technically appear till half way through the book, he was undoubtedly the star in her eyes (she loves his 'teeth chattering' bit when he gets stranded in the cold after stowing away!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: A simple story, turned into something quite beautifully detailed and hilariously funny. He probably gets this a lot but yep Rob, we were blown away by how great this book is!

(Kindly sent to us for review by HarperCollins Children's Books)

It's getting to be practically impossible to just have one book of the week. You've already seen our review of the third awesome "Murilla Gorilla" book but we have to squeeze one more Book of the Week in this week, making room for a rip-roaring robot tale that has tickled our circuits and thrilled our transformers this week.

Chris Judge's "Tin" is the story of a robot called, yep you've guessed it, Tin - and Tin is tasked with looking after his mischievous little sister Nickel for the day.

What could possibly go wrong? Nickel is a tiddler, a toddler, barely able to crawl so she'll never get into any trouble, surely?

"INCORRECT" (say that in your best robot voice). Poor Tin soon realises that little sisters are trouble, huge trouble (I speak from experience here, right Mel?) and soon Nickel grabs hold of a floating balloon and is whisked off into the air, with Tin (and his faithful robo-doggy Zinc) in hot pursuit.

A perfectly paced chase with all manner of excitement, hilarity and near misses begins, as poor Tin tries desperately to catch up with Nickel. Played out across a fantastic robotic backdrop as the chase heads towards Robo-City, we couldn't get enough of Chris's brilliant characters and setting for this exciting tale - and we guarantee that your little ones will love it to pieces too.

We're really, truly hoping that Chris has more in mind for his robot characters - surely Tin and Nickel could turn into a brilliant series of books, there's so much scope and potential in the characters and the settings that it left us absolutely buzzing for more. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!

Charlotte's best bit: The Robo-Zoo and animals, she spent ages coming up with brilliant ideas for new animals and exhibits

Daddy's Favourite bit: There really aren't enough robots in children's stories, this is an absolutely sublime story full of excitement and a cracking pace, that left us wanting more at the end. Get down to your local robo-stockist and pick up a copy, BZZZT!

(Kindly sent to us by Andersen Children's Books)

Oops, we're just inundated with so many brilliant brilliant books this week that we're going to have to double up our Book of the Week nominations. First though, sliding into our Book of the Week (or should that be "Ook of the Week!") slot with ease, it's the triple for Jennifer Lloyd and Jacqui Lee's utterly sublime simian detective supreme, Murilla Gorilla.

Murilla is the number one detective on the savannah, even if it does take a little while for her to get out of bed in the morning, get organised and get on the case. We've loved her haphazard cases in "Murilla Gorilla Jungle Detective" and "Murilla Gorilla and the Lost Parasol" and we wondered if it would be possible to do a third book that was as funny as the others.

We needn't have worried. Jennifer Lloyd and Jacqui Lee's cool creation still makes us snort with laughter as this time she looks into the case of the holey hammock. Looks into, through and under as poor Okapi discovers that someone has damaged his stock.

Despite a rumbling tummy, Murilla uses all her detective skills to solve the mystery.

Some might argue that these books are pretty formulaic and a bit samey, but they always manage to provide giggles and amusement as Murilla's rather outlandish detective style always seems to bear fruit (perhaps more by accident than design) and her disguises are always a complete hoot too.

"Murilla Gorilla and the Missing Mop" is up next in 2015. We're wondering if Murilla will be stopping by our "Book of the Week" slot again soon, or whether Murilla might be too busy either solving cases, scoffing banana muffins or (more likely) snoozing under a tree.

Charlotte's best bit: Murilla's completely bonkers Fish disguise. Crazy!

Daddy's Favourite bit: I cannot get enough of the Murilla books, purely because they're so much fun to read aloud and 'act out'. Superb!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Simply Read Books)

Charlotte (like most 6 year old girls) lives and breathes the Disney movie "Frozen". If she's not watching the movie or listening to the soundtrack, she's singing the songs or imagining herself as Anna or Elsa.

When Chronicle kindly offered to send us this glorious and luxurious book to review, we couldn't wait. I'm a long-time fan of Disney's amazing artists who seem to be able to conjure up the most magical and everlasting characters in animated cinematic history with ease. Charlotte was interested in seeing how each character developed, how movies evolve from scripts and storyboards into fully fleshed-out animated spectaculars. In short, Charles Solomon's fantastic book, with contributions from brilliant Disney concept artists, animators and even Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee (the movie's co-directors) and Jon Lasseter (a movie legend and the creative genius behind so many amazing Disney and Pixar movies) is thorough, in-depth and an essential purchase.

It's not just for fans of the movie. For children, it's a gorgeously produced insight into what it takes to turn an initial idea into a highly polished and finished feature. For would-be illustrators and animators it's an invaluable resource that gently tweaks apart all the elements we know from the finished product, and discusses and visualises in great depth the way writers, artists, animators and everyone involved in the movie work together to produce such awesome work.

Every tiny detail is examined and discussed to provide a definitive insight into Frozen's art direction. Research and location filming is detailed to show how artists draw their inspiration from the real world. Character art is examined in great depth showing why some ideas were rejected fairly early on (originally, Elsa was quite a dark and menacing character more in line with the original Hans Christian Andersen story) and why some ideas were adopted right from their initial first hastily scribbled drawings through to the final renders used in the movie.

It's a huge weighty hefty tome and though it comes at a price, you'll definitely see why once you delve into it. Full colour photo plates are used throughout, and it's fantastic to hear artists and directors talking at great length about how passionate and excited people were to work on the movie - almost as passionate and excited as a certain little 6 year old is whenever she hears the opening bars of "Do you want to build a snowman?"

Definitely a huge thumbs up from Charlotte. The book has barely left her side since it arrived!

Put it on your christmas list, it's a fabulous peek behind the silver screen at the magic that happens to bring animated movies we know and love to sparkling effervescent life.

Charlotte's best bit: Though the initial sketches and designs for "Dark Elsa" are quite menacing, Charlotte really loved that spiky pseudo-gothic look. She also loved Marshmallow beginning life basically as a giant Olaf!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A thoroughly absorbing and gloriously luxurious look at one of the biggest Disney movies of all time. Absolutely essential if you're interested in movies, animation, illustration and character design. Or even just love Frozen to bits!

It was love at first sight, at first read.

Often with the "Book of the Week" books, we know they're going to slide into our hallowed and honoured slot with ease the moment we lay eyes on them. In some cases, a book that looks gorgeous and glossy can sometimes disappoint once you dive into it, but that was definitely not the case with "On Sudden Hill" by Linda Sarah and Benji Davies.

The story of two (and then eventually three) little boys who spend idyllic summers playing and using their imaginations. Birt and Etho's favourite game is to drag their huge cardboard boxes up to the top of Sudden Hill and use those boxes for all sorts of fun games. Boxes can become anything. A medieval castle, a spaceship or just a great place for two friends to hang out and chatter long into the summer evenings until the light grows dim.

Then something unexpected happens. Shu sees Birt and Etho playing and wants to join in. He's even got his own box, and at first Shu is most welcome. But Shu and Etho spend more and more time together, and poor Birt feels pushed out, isolated. Birt smashes his box to bits and starts playing on his own, or staying in and drawing and while Shu and Etho still call on their friend, Birt no longer wants to play with them.

Can Shu and Etho win Birt round?

Children's books often evoke an atmosphere that's unique, making us recall our own childhood, or even (as is the case here) our own friendships as kids and how sometimes even the most simple dynamic could change irreparably if someone new came around and two became three. This is lovingly examined with Linda Sarah's gorgeously written story that dances with whimsy and melancholy in equal measure.

For any writer to be paired with Benji Davies must feel like winning the lottery too. Benji's artwork is utterly enchanting and fits the story like the most comfortable pair of slippers. It's ironic that the book is called "On Sudden Hill" when it really reminds me of the same carefree atmosphere that a lot of Hayao Mizayaki's movies evoke.

When the questions followed, it was another unexpected bonus. Questions from Charlotte on why Birt does the things he does when a new friend joins in, and why he smashed his beloved box. Children's books that spark questions like these obviously make adults think long and hard about taking their own relationships for granted too and that's no bad thing.

A stunning book, every single bit as good as it looks.

Charlotte's best bit: Shu and Etho's amazing way of 'winning' Birt round.

Daddy's Favourite bit: Heart warming, touching, melancholy in places, deep and complex. If anyone ever asks you why you - as an adult - read children's books, slap a copy of this across their lap and make them read it. Maybe then they'll understand.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Simon and Schuster Children's Books

Moving from political cartoonist to children's book author is no mean feat but Gabriel Alborozo has managed it with aplomb. You'll probably recall how we raved about Alborozo's superb "The Acrobat". Switching publishers to Bloomsbury, Alborozo has come up with a fabulous tale about colour - or rather, at the beginning of the story, a lack of it. A little alien lives on a grey world full of grey folk. The buildings are grey, the grass is grey, the trees and animals are all a zillion shades of grey. There's no colour to be found anywhere but one day the alien spies a greeny-blue planet through his space telescope and decides to investigate.

The alien lands on earth, and marvels to the wondrous colours that can be found everywhere. With a sneaky sideways glance, the alien comes up with a plan - Drain all the colours from everything and take them back home to his own planet.

The alien sets about his dastardly deed, sucking the green from the grass and trees, the yellow from flowers and even the colour from a little child's balloon before whizzing off in his flying saucer back home.

But he casts a look back at what he's done. Turned the earth into the same cold barren grey landscape of his own planet. Surely there must be a way to undo his dreadful deed and put things back to normal?

We won't reveal how the story plays out but this is that rare thing, a truly original children's book that warms the cockles of your heart as well as telling a moral tale.

Alborozo's talent both with writing and illustration really sings out from ever colourful (and not so colourful) page. This book has been demanded again and again by Charlotte and if there's a better recommendation than that, I've yet to see it.

Charlotte's best bit: The alien's "Sneaky I've got a plan" face and she was also rather sweet on the little boy in the book and very sad about what happened to his balloon!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Like Alborozo's other children's books, a truly stunning and original book with a sweet and sublime message at its heart. Truly lovely!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Bloomsbury Publishing)

The mighty, the magnificent, the masterful Tor Freeman is back, this time with a superb book that's part hidden object challenge, part story but all brilliant! Time to meet the latest busy little animal creation from one of our favourite author illustrators.

Digby Dog is the busiest dog in town. No parcel too big, no letter too small as Digby dashes around ensuring the post is on time. Charlotte wriggled with delight reading this as we both tracked down those tricky customers and the other hidden objects Digby needs to find in each scene.

(Charlotte was also convinced she saw The Toucan Brothers - from Tor's utterly brilliant book of the same name - tucked away in a scene in this tale!)

Some books are quite overwhelming in the amount of detail they pack in. In "Digby Delivers", each scene is so packed with tiny little moments of brilliance, in-jokes and entertaining mini-scenes that play out in the background or as part of the main story itself. In places the book reminds me of the genius of Richard Scarry, at other times it feels a little like "Where's Wally" but Tor takes the core theme of finding things to help Digby to another level entirely, this book really is THAT good!

Digby rounds off his busy day by delivering a very special parcel to his daughter. Can you guess what it is?

An utter delight and a truly brilliant book of the week.

Charlotte's best bit: She loved the "Kew Gardens" scene and the crazy scientists too. So many brilliant little things to see in both these scenes.

Daddy's Favourite bit: So many things to love (I loved the poster homage to Rosie the Riveter). Tor Freeman taps into the hidden object formula, bringing along all her brilliant storytelling and illustration skills to create something truly spectacular and special here, do not miss Digby, he really does deliver in this tale!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Macmillan Children's Books)

Brighton Alumni (yay!) Sophy Henn's debut picture book for Puffin book plopped through our letterbox the other day and we've been cuddling it ever since.  Yesterday was publication day for "Where Bear?" but we just had to make it book of the week, it really is something rather special.

A boy and a bear - so many books take this simple premise and run with it, so coming up with an original and engaging story around this set-up is pretty tough but Sophy has managed it with aplomb.

We meet both boy and bear when they're tiny - but as the years pass, boy grows but bear also grows - rapidly getting far too big to stay at home with the boy. So what can they do? Find somewhere new to live? But where bear? Where!

The boy struggles at first. Bear doesn't want to live at the zoo, or in a dank cave. But after frantic searching and a lovely blue lolly or two, boy and bear hit on the perfect idea.

We won't spoil the book by telling you where Boy and Bear end up but Sophy's subtle message tucked neatly in between furry bear and boy is rather touching and lovely, and important too - We took it as a missive on animals in captivity, perhaps even a look at how our relationship with animals is often a tricky thing to balance (I could go into a huge ramble about zoos and safari parks, or even farm parks and how they jar a bit but let's concentrate on this fab book instead).

Sophy's art is deliciously gorgeous. Sophy's writing is taught, informed, engaging and the use of repetition makes this a read-aloud joy (particularly if, like me, you like to adopt a nice gruff voice when Bear shouts "Noooooo!" at each suggestion the boy comes up with of a new place to dwell).

Charlotte's best bit: Charlotte pointed out that blue lollies that the bear and boy eat (and the bear spills down his lovely white fur!) are bubblegum flavour. So now you know!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A hugely impressive debut for Puffin from Sophy. Keep an eye on her, she's going to be stratospherically huge in children's picture books, mark my words!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Picture Puffin)

When this book arrived through our letterbox, and Charlotte ripped open the packaging with a squeal of glee, I rather unfairly caught sight of the cover and groaned inwardly.

"Oh no, it's pink!" I thought.
"Oh no, it's about princesses!" I grumbled.
"Oh no, it's going to end up as a book of the week without a doubt!" I moaned.

There's a famous phrase about not judging a book by it's cover, and that is definitely the case whenever that cover contains the names Mike Brownlow and Simon Rickerty because you can always guarantee that you're going to have a good chuckle at the contents. So pessimistic Daddy soon gave way to chuckling, chortling, snorting daddy as Charlotte and I settled down to read Ten Little Princesses.

Don't be fooled by the cover. Don't be fooled by the fact that Mike and Simon have already produced "Ten Little Pirates" and don't assume that this is a cash-in sequel, it's actually funnier than "Pirates", possibly even more tongue-in-cheek.

Ten little princesses set out from the castle to attend the ball, and just like in "Pirates", some pretty nasty things happen to the poor damsels as they head out on their travels. Slowly but surely ten become nine, then eight, then seven - and you get the idea. But it's the way the princesses are (somewhat ruthlessly) dispatched that made both of us cackle with glee. We won't give away the ending (but look away now if you don't like spoilers, it's OK, no one dies!)

On one level it is very similar to "Ten Little Pirates", granted - but we felt a little less upset about a stack of pirates meeting a grisly end. Here it's quite amusing how Mike and Simon have pulled together several well known fairy-tale princesses and reinforced just how dark their tales are when you look at them closely, and in fact I kept thinking about "The Gashlycrumb Tinies" by Edward Gorey while reading this (which coming from me is high praise, I love Edward Gorey's work to bits!)

Mike Brownlow and Simon Rickerty work so well together that we can't wait to see what they come up with next. After enjoying "Ten Little Pirates", we're really blown away by how great this is - even if you (like me) are naturally predisposed to running a mile every time you see something pink and princessy.

In a nutshell, buy this book simply because - if anything - it pokes a lot of fun at the usual prissy "not exactly feminist" princess books kicking around, and is hugely entertaining on so many levels. Brilliant and highly recommended, and a huge lesson to me that I should take Charlotte's word for it more often before leaping to conclusions!

Charlotte's best bit: She fell in love with spotting all her favourite princesses popping up in the story, but was overjoyed to find that "her favourite" won out in the end (We won't reveal who!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: A choice lesson in not taking a book by it's cover, it's crackingly brilliant and entertaining, dark in places and utterly hilarious. Highly recommended indeed!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Orchard Books)