"Aww, poor Heidi!" - This was at one time one of my wife's childhood catchphrases, as her mum read to her this well-loved children's classic nestling into our Book of the Week slot this week.

"Heidi" by Johanna Spyri, retold here by Jeanne Willis with gorgeous new illustrations from blog fave Briony May Smith is much, much more than just a lovely edition of a classic book. It's a book that comes to life as you read, a tale that speaks of idyllic childhood days spent in the crisp clear air of the mountains, but also a twinge of tragedy as Heidi is taken away from her loving grandparents to live in the city.

Missing the mountain life, her goats and her best friend Peter, it's not long before Heidi manages to make a new friend. But there's always a dream of returning to the mountains at the back of her mind. Will Heidi get her most heartfelt wish? 

Heidi's new life in the bustling city of Frankfurt is a far cry from her beginnings in the mountains.

"Grumpy" Grandpa isn't so grumpy after all.

Our second book of the week is something very special indeed, celebrating a movement that arose from humble beginnings, but with a core aim that is still as relevant today as it was back at the turn of the 20th Century.

"Scouts: The Stories that Built a Movement" with a foreword by the chief scout himself, Bear Grylls, isn't just a celebration of Scouting as it stands today, but digs deep into scouting history to show how Lord Baden Powell began the movement way, way back in 1907.

The very first scout camp was on Brownsea Island, a place that is still in use by the scouts and guides, brownies and cubs, rainbows and beavers today.

We have a specific reason for being completely thrilled by this book's existence. Both my wife and I were part of the scouting movement (me as a cub, her as a brownie, guide and later a guide leader) and we always wanted C to join the movement as soon as she was old enough.

She progressed through Rainbows to Brownies and is now still in the Guides, and without a doubt the opportunities that have arisen from membership, and the amazing gains in her confidence and abilities have been in no small part due to the nurturing and development that is the heart of the modern scouting movement.

I would truly have liked the book to have slightly more of a balance for both the scouting and guide movements but there are sections in here that show the opportunities have always been open equally to both girls and boys, for kids of all creeds and abilities - stretching around the world to international scouting movements that at home and abroad have seen some of the world's most famous celebrities sharing stories later in the book of their own experiences as scouts or guides.

The book goes a long way to addressing some of the criticisms that have been levelled at the movement over the years. Misconceptions that it drums people into being religious or militaristic, things that we've never seen or experienced in the many years C has been a member.

It's something that she'll be able to take forward with her into all aspects of her life, and this book pays homage to scouting's origins, and the plans for the future to keep the movement as relevant and as fun for kids as it has always been.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A brilliant celebration of the scouting movement, a fascinating slice of history and anecdotes from many celebrities to whom scouting represented a happy time in their lives.

"Scouts: The Stories that Built a Movement" with a foreword by Bear Grylls is out now, published by Studio Press (kindly supplied for review).

Our first book of the week is a poetry compilation that stretches arms across the world to embrace and celebrate the natural wonders, the amazing beauty and the glorious creatures our planet plays host to.

"Poems from a Green and Blue Planet" edited by Sabrina Mahfouz and illustrated by Aaron Cushley is more than just a celebration of these things, it's also at times a solemn and all too timely reminder of just what we stand to lose if we don't dig in and do someting about climate change.

The selection of poems, haikus, prose, rap and lyrics has been carefully selected by Sabrina to show our planet at its best, most glorious and most stunning.

From poems that evoke and celebrate the passing of the seasons, to verses about amazing creatures, there's truly something for everyone in here - and even just reading down the contents list, you can feel all the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end at the sheer diversity and amazing variety of subjects covered in this beautiful, beautiful book.

With truly stunning illustrations from Aaron, this is one to treasure and keep for generations to come.

"Poems from a Green and Blue Planet" edited by Sabrina Mahfouz and illustrated by Aaron Cushley is out now, published by Scholastic Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

80 (seriously!!) years ago, the entire landscape of comics changed and in our third Book of the Week this week we're celebrating the mighty Marvel universe - not the billion-dollar money machine that is the Marvel Movie Universe - but the very comics that captured my imagination as a kid, and have been inspiring comic fans for generations.

"Marvel Museum: The Story of the Comics" is a colossal book packed with amazing information about the Marvel Comics Universe - and the pivotal figures that shaped characters that have now become such a huge part of our pop culture, that even non-comics folk know who they are (yep, even my wife could probably name a handful of MCU characters purely on sight, but confesses that her deep love for Wolverine is possibly largely to do with a certain Mr Jackman owning that role).

Comics aficionado Ned Hartley has brought his immense knowledge of all things Marvel into a book filled with gorgeous colour plates of comic covers and panels, here presented in a large format book that really brings those stunning early colour comics to life in a whole new way.

Along with Stan Lee, Jack "King" Kirby, Steve Ditko and many others, Marvel became a force to be reckoned with, producing comics like nothing anyone had ever seen before, and a diverse universe of characters that truly represented something for everyone, quite often championing causes and equality in a way that is still reverberating in importance today.

I love you 3000, Iron Man!

As a pair of self-confessed Marvel geeks, C and I absolutely loved this book, filled with amazing information and anecdotal nuggets that feed into the mythos that has sprung up around the "Bullpen" (as Stan Lee's studio of talent became known), with fascinating early glimpses of characters, timelines and tons more.

Our favourite Marvel character struts his webby stuff - The Amazing Spider-Man

Luxuriously bound in hardback, with fantastic chapter and end-papers, this is a fabulous gift for any Marvel or comics fan, one that you'll keep dipping into again and again.

Sum this book up in a sentence: Absolutely essential for the Marvel fans in your life, a superbly written and beautifully presented history of the mighty Marvel comic studio that spawned a billion dollar movie industry.

"Marvel Museum: The Story of the Comics" by Ned Hartley is out now, published by Studio Press (kindly supplied for review). 

Oof, this week's first Book of the Week is another emotional whump in the guts, but a beautifully simple and extremely sensitively handled story about loss and grief.

"Mum's Jumper" by Jayde Perkin takes up the story of a young girl whose mum goes into hospital, but sadly never returns.

As the story unfolds, using very simple language but strikingly effective illustrations, Jayde helps to describe what children feel like when they lose someone close to them.

The feeling doesn't go away, it follows them around like a cloud, and sometimes they feel like they want to scream, cry, get angry, or just curl up into a ball - all at the same time.

Sometimes though, memories are like a jumper that you can cuddle and wear. In the story, the little girl wears her Mum’s jumper as a way to keep her close, bringing back memories both happy and sad. 

Wait a second, this isn't supposed to happen is it?

We're constantly being told that children's books are being watered down, that we exist in some sort of weird nanny state where 'dark' children's books have fallen by the wayside to be replaced with saccharine-sweet stuff instead.

Yet our Book of the Week this week, "Ghost" by Illustratus isn't just one tale, but 13 darkly delicious and wholly spooky stories crammed into one of the most visually impressive and gorgeously presented books we've had the pleasure of reviewing this year.

The book sets out its table from the moment you see the front cover, and inside it continues to run icy cold fingers up and down your spine in 13 tales that - if you read the book in the darkness of the night - may well have you hearing more than just the odd bump or rattle of chains.

"Ghost" is perfect for folk (particularly kids) who love to think that there's more to our world than just the things we think we know. Something other-worldly, supernatural, spectral and Karen deftly plays on this with exquisite expertise in all of the writing tricks that differentiate a truly dark and mind-blowing book from just jump-scare fodder.

Stories, poems and folk-tale-like storytelling tied together by an impressive set of original illustrations from the talented Illustratus studio mark this book a cut above the rest, leaving the scariest stuff right until the very end.

If you get much sleep after this, we'd be very surprised (of course, unless, like us, you're the sort of person who yearns to spend a night in a haunted house!)

Perhaps not one for younger kids but my 11 year old absolutely ate this up. If you think that dark books are 'done' think again, this one's an absolute belter.

Sum this book up a sentence: A divine anthology designed to prickle your senses and tickle your curiosity about the supernatural, with tales brilliantly tripping deftly between the real and surreal.

"Ghost" by Illustratus is out now, published by Chronicle Books (kindly supplied for review). 

Our first Book of the Week this week definitely shows what you can do if you break that horrid, horrid rule about '500 or so words' in a children's picture book.

The fabulous "The Runaways" by Ulf Stark and Kitty Crowther might be a lot wordier and longer than your average 'before bed' book, but it's worth investing the extra time and effort in, just because it's such a brilliant and beautiful story.

The story examines the cross-generational relationship between Gottfried Junior and his cantakerous but beloved old Grandfather. As rough as the sea, but becoming more and more frail in his old age, Grandfather suffers a fall one day and ends up in hospital.

Grandfather hates being in hospital, and pleads with his grandson to do one more thing for him before he passes away. One last visit to Grandfather's old house to attend to one or two last things.

How could any grandson resist a plea like that? So the two hatch a grand plan of escape, intricately plotted but superbly clever.

As Grandfather's important tasks unfold, the story takes on a touching turn that will tug at your heartstrings in the emotional finale.

We've long campaigned for picture book and chapter book creators to 'ditch the moralising' but this story shows how you can create something truly magical that has layer upon layer of strong messages we can all identify with, at any age. Thoughts of our own youth and vitality, versus thoughts of our autumn years and our mortality, and the desperate need to 'put our house in order' before we go.

It's just so beautifully written, and of course you don't need us to tell you just how amazing Kitty Crowther's illustrations for Ulf's text are, she's colossally talented and the pencil-like illustrations here are just so deliciously rendered with exquisite detail and feeling.

Can you tell we're totally won over by this?

Sum this book up in a sentence: A truly wonderful and thought-provoking story that shows what you can do when you're given room to stretch your word count, describing every delicious little detail of a grand cross-generational adventure.

How do they do it? Those fabulous furry Etherington Brothers? I mean how on earth do they put together such amazing content on their blog, on Twitter, on DeviantArt and on Instagram?

 Both Lorenzo and Robin's tutes have become a mainstay for both of us - Me, because I just can't resist drawing hot dog / snack vans / daft vehicles and C because she still holds out hope that one day Lorenzo will put together the perfect kitten-drawing tutorial (C'mon dude, make it happen! We believe in you!)

In the meantime though, in this week's second Book of the Week "How to Think when you Draw volume 2" you'll find another colossal collection of diverse drawing tutes and prompts, ranging from awesome character creation tutorials through to my new fave topic, environmental and background subjects. After all, what's a perfectly drawn character without a drawn world to live in?

As ever, Lorenzo's sense of humour and stylish but sensible guidelines are absolutely perfect, but above all the reasons Lorenzo had for creating these books, and all the thousands and thousands of tutorials is a good solid reason - if you get everyone drawing and creating, then the whole world's surely going to be a far better place for all us creative types.

Let's have a look at a couple of sample tutes from the book:

Wow, you got a mouth on you, buddy!

Composition is key to a perfect pic!

Look up, look down, look all around!

These books are becoming nigh-on essential purchases each time a new collected volume comes out, and although you can get all of their fabulous tutes for free (FREE FOR GOODNESS SAKE) show 'em some love by joining one of their kickstarters and you really won't be disappointed. One polite request though, a 'writers only' book from Robin? Would that be a thing at some point in the future because dang that would rock!

Sum this book up in a sentence: Another mammoth collection of truly amazing art tutorials that will really get your grey matter working more creatively.

"How to Think when you Draw Volume 2" by The Etherington Brothers is out now, self published (self purchased, kindly supplied for review). 

Pairing one of the most magical and influential children's stories of all time, with one of the most incredible illustrators working in children's books today is, quite honestly, a stroke of genius.

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll and Julia Sarda may well be yet another edition of the classic story, but it's Julia's illustrations that you've come for this time round, and though you may own about a zillion copies of this book in all its various forms (and like us, might think that no one can better the original John Tenniel illustrations) you might just change your mind once you see the 30 new pieces Julia has worked on for this book.

You're probably already familiar with the story of a young girl who daydreams about adventures, but is drawn into the chaotic and crazy world of Wonderland after a chance meeting with a talking white rabbit.

Following the rabbit into a deep hole is just the beginning of Alice's adventures as she meets some truly strange and wonderful characters like the caterpillar, the cheshire cat and of course the Queen of Hearts and her rather strange entourage.

Those illustrations though, let's tease a few below:






Personally we think Julia should illustrate EVERYTHING and we make no apologies for making this our Picture Book of the Week this week, even though technically it's a chapter book. You will not want to miss this one, it's a real keeper!

Sum this book up in a sentence: Lewis Carroll's chaotic and crazy story is beautifully brought to life by Julia's glorious art style, filled with detail and charm.

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll and Julia Sarda is out now, published by Two Hoots Books (kindly supplied for review). 

Our stunning pair of books sliding into our Book of the Week slot this week are from a range that really wowed us when it first appeared last year, with two fantastic "First Names" books about Elon Musk and Emmeline Pankhurst.

We're pleased to see two followup books on the subject of two more amazing people, one a natural showman and another a genius pilot.

Starting with "First Names: Harry Houdini" by Kjartan Poskitt and Geraint Ford, find out more about one of history's greatest showmen ever.

Harry Houdini the brilliant escape artist thrilled the world with his death-defying stunts and awesome showmanship.

Find out how he was inspired by a man with no head, why he kept asking to be put in jail (and how he got out again) and why he dangled upside down from a crane 120 feet up in the air.

Get to know Harry on first name terms in this highly illustrated and brilliantly written new addition to the First Names range.

"Harry Houdini" by Kjartan Poskitt and Geraint Ford is out now, published by David Fickling Books.

The second book is "First Names: Amelia Earhart" by Andrew Prentice and Mike Smith, covering the amazing life and career of Amelia, who fell in love with flying at an early age, at a time when pioneers of the air were usually male not female.

Amelia became a world-famous daredevil pilot who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. 

Our second Book of the Week is a really fantastic resource for children and parents, to help them navigate the minefield of mental health issues that arise as kids pass from tweens to teens, thus making it absolutely perfect for coverage on our blog.

"How not to Lose it - Mental Health Sorted" by mental health expert and presenter Anna Williamson comfortably covers a broad range of subjects in an expert and informed way.

Whereas we've seen many books that are well meaning, but not always written by folk who are qualified and experienced. As well as being a television presenter, Anna is a qualified Childline counsellor and ambassador for the Princes Trust.

Drawing on real-life cases and issues that children face, Anna has put together a fantastic book along similar lines to her "Breaking Mum and Dad" but with more of an emphasis on the increasing pressure and mental health issues that children are now facing at an increasingly early age.

Sophie's graphics help to make the book feel more friendly and approachable

The book covers anxiety, worry, depression and fear, but also covers relationships, issues around self-esteem and has loads of extra resources and external links so that kids can get the help they need.

One thing Anna does that others seem to fail to do is taking "Me" out of the equation. We've seen so many self-help guides for kids that just feel like the person writing it would rather talk about themselves or their own experiences, whereas Anna draws in cases as examples and helps kids and parents to decode and understand each issue in a really effective way.

Anna is here to help!

There are so many excellent points and observations here that it's hard to pick just one great example that impressed us, the whole book works brilliantly either as a reference to dip into, or as a cover-to-cover 'map' of the sort of things children regularly experience in conjunction with their own mental health worries or stresses.

We are all complicated, wonderful human beings and yes, we all do have mental as well as physical health to consider in our daily lives.

Hugely impressed with this one!

Sum this book up in a sentence: A vital mental health resource from someone who really feels like they speak with friendliness, authority and experience.

"How not to Lose It: Mental Health Sorted" by Anna Williamson and Sophie Beer is out now, published by Scholastic (kindly supplied for review). 

Our Book of the Week this week once again collects together a stunning slice of science - but this time with a pinch or two of prestidigitation thrown in...

"Science is Magic" by Steve Mould is for all the kids like us who could never quite do fancy card tricks, or make rabbits appear out of top hats.

With the appliance of science, Steve shows us how to perform some simple experiments at home that can truly bring science to life, and make it seem like magic (well, technically it IS magic but you'll know what we mean once you dig into this fantastic book).

From the author of "How to be a Scientist" comes a new collection of simple experiments and mesmerising science facts that show you exactly why the tricks contained in the book work in the way that they do.

Stunningly illustrated and really simple to follow for a range of ages, this is once again brilliant stuff from Steve.

Magical lights in the sky? Science has an answer for that...

We rather love Steve's sense of humour that creeps into the book and makes science even more fun (as if it wasn't already the most fun thing anyway!)

A simple magic trick using nothing but your own fingers and a bit of muscle power!

Stun your friends (not literally, there are no tricks in the book like that, trust us!) and astound your parents with a set of tricks you can try out on them that should work every time!

OK, definitely do NOT try this one at home!

Sum this book up in a sentence: An astounding, astonishing collection of amazing science facts, experiments and explanations for kids who love science and want to impress the socks off family and friends, courtesy of magician Steve Mould!

"Science is Magic" by Steve Mould is out on 7th March 2019, published by Dorling Kindersley (kindly supplied for review). 

It's time for our first Book of the Week for 2019, a truly amazing book that gathers together some of the most iconic designs ever created for children.

"Design for Children: Play, Ride, Learn, Eat, Create, Sit, Sleep" by Kimberlie Birks and Lora Appleton really is the sort of book you can completely lose yourself in.

It seems creators are usually at their most playful and whimsical when designing things for children to enjoy, whether they're simple designs that just make sense or functional designs that do something we've taken for granted in such a simple yet innovative way.

As a complete design nerd, I have loved leafing through this luxurious book filled with brilliant toys, amazing beds and chairs, clever methods to engage kids with learning and ways to encourage picky eaters to enjoy mealtimes.

We seemed to have our daughter at a time when clever designs were everywhere, and yet looking through this book it's very clear that talented folk have been creating amazing things for kids for a very long time.

Great for bathtime or bedtime, cloud-shaped designs for your little dreamers

It works as the sort of hefty coffee table book your visitors won't be able to resist browsing through. It also works as a way of highlighting just how many things you've either had yourself as a kid, or have bought for your own kids actually came about.

Bet you wish you were pint-sized again, just so you could try these out!

It's reminiscent of a certain Scandi store's catalogues, but gathers together stunning photography with some simple facts about each object, and a little bit about the creators of these amazing things too.

So cute!

Thoroughly engrossing and enjoyable this.

C's favourite object: The cool wooden cars with glorious aerodynamic shapes

Daddy's favourite object: Everything by Brio. I still adore those little wooden train sets and would probably fill the house with them if I was allowed to.

"Design for Children" by Kimberlie Birks and Lora Appleton is out now, published by Phaidon (kindly supplied for review).