We're always fascinated by the different approaches different authors, illustrators and publishers take when it comes to developing amazing natural history picture books for early years.

"Who is in the Egg?" by Alexandra Milton is a brilliant example of how to produce a truly engaging book on a subject that little ones may not have had much exposure to.

How many different animals lay eggs? More than you'd think - and certainly more than just chickens.

In this book, Alexandra keeps you guessing between each page turn by showing an egg, and inviting you to guess who's inside.

Everything from crocodiles to platypuses, birds and even some fish! You'll be amazed and surprised to find out what the different eggs look like and who will come out once that shell breaks!

This is really beautifully done too, I mean it's not very often we can say that a non-fiction natural history book is a truly beautiful work of art but this fabulous book definitely qualifies.

Sum this book up in a sentence: What better way to engage early years with fabulous subjects than in a truly beautiful book with such a simple but genius idea behind it.

"Who is in the Egg?" by Alexandra Milton is out now, published by Boxer Books (kindly supplied for review). 

CATS! Yes cats, we love cats - and we love books about cats so "How About a Night Out?" by Sam Williams and Matt Hunt was definitely right up our street.

In fact, that's exactly where two kitties are headed as they embark on a rhyming romp of a nocturnal adventure across the city.

Just as everyone tucks in for the night, the city is still teeming with life and the two cats discover that there's plenty going on as darkness falls.

But will they get home in time for a slap-up breakfast?

This is a superb book for early years, full of fabulous rhymes and two completely engaging and lovable brave cat characters who join us on a journey across the night-time urban landscape.

Fabulous stuff!

Sum this book up in a sentence: A superb rhyming adventure for two mischievous and brave moggies.

"How About a Night Out?" by Sam Williams and Matt Hunt is out now, published by Boxer Books (kindly supplied for review). 

Here's a resounding message and philosophy we can definitely get behind.

"Everyone Can Draw" by Fifi Kuo is a gloriously colourful celebration of our creative sides.

You may think you can't, but it's true - everyone really can draw and everyone draws in different styles.

Some of us love drawing in black and white while some of us love riotous colours.

Some like to be neat and tidy when they draw, and some of us like to get in an incredible mess (the latter is always more fun though, right?)

Here Fifi makes it sound easy, and the kid-friendly illustrations in here just go to show that anyone can really put pen or pencil to paper and come up with a bold, brassy and colourful illustration all of their own.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A brilliant resounding cheer for all creative kids (and adults) from Fifi!

"Everyone can Draw" by Fifi Kuo is out now, published by Boxer Books (kindly supplied for review)

Here's an interesting book combining some amazing facts about animals, while stimulating children's interest in all things numerical.

In "How Far can a Kangaroo Jump?" by Alison Limentani, you'll find out a whole lot more about many, many animal species that live on our planet - but you'll also learn a lot more about numbers and maths too.

As well as the titular question, you'll also find out how far other animals can jump, leap and bound with a series of gorgeously colourful and detailed illustrations to pique your curiosity.

Perfect for Key Stage One / Foundation based programmes, but also great as a read-at-home title to brush up your animal and maths skills.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A fab way to combine two fascinating subjects in one brilliant exploration of animals and numbers.

"How Far Can a Kangaroo Jump" by Alison Limentani is out now, published by Boxer Books (kindly supplied for review). 

Boxer Books' brilliant new range of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) titles kicks off with a range of interesting and engaging subjects for young scientists everywhere.

The "TechTots Stem Science" range includes a brilliant mix of colourful titles exploring all aspects of science.

For example, Biology and physiology and the mysteries of our weird but wonderful bodies in "Why Do We Poo?" by Harriet Blackford and Mike Henson.

Join forces with Mia, Isla, Oscar and Set to discover the mysteries of our digestive systems, what happens when we eat, and what happens to the waste that's left over.

Fun and engaging illustrations complement the easy-to-understand text, the perfect jump-in point for kids who are interested in biology.

There's also "Where does the Sun Go? Also by Harriet and Mike.

This book delves into the mystery of what happens to the sun at night, explaining the concepts of day and night cycles, and how vital these are to life on earth and our own well being.

The whole range is really nicely produced, with a diverse mix of characters helping to ramp up kids' interest in these fabulous STEM subjects.

Check out the full range over on Boxer Books website: http://www.boxerbooksltd.co.uk

(Both books kindly supplied for review)

We're actually genuinely surprised just how many children's books feature that most essential item of lounge furniture - the sofa. 

Perhaps it's because we spend far too much time with our bums comfortably parked on them that we all become mildly obsessed with finding the perfect one.

And that's how it is in "The Perfect Sofa" by Fifi Kuo.

Panda and Penguin are best pals - but they're in danger of severely falling out as their old sofa finally gives up the ghost. Worn out, not springy enough and full of holes, it's time to go sofa shopping!!

Penguin and Panda have very particular tastes when it comes to finding the perfect sofa. Most of the ones they find are too big, too small, too artsy.

But eventually they find their perfect sofa match! Can you guess what it looks like? Well we're obviously not going to spoil the end of the book for you so you'll just have to curl up on your own sofa with this one!

Fifi's playful illustrations and funny text will win little ones over with a superb little story and two hilarious characters too.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A fun romp and a neat little moral tale about appreciating what you've got, and respecting other people's points of view.

"The Perfect Sofa" by Fifi Kuo is out now, published by Boxer Books. 

For quite some time now, mysterious postcards showing an adorable little girl and a gigantic cuddly bear have been popping through our letterbox. What on earth was going on?

Now we know, because a rather wonderful book (accompanied by even more lovely little postcards) has arrived to brighten up our lives.

We automatically love books that have both friendship and creativity at their core. "Lily and Bear" has a wonderful central character, Lily, who (like both of us) loves nothing better than to draw and paint, scribble and crayon, drawing anything that springs to mind.

(we love the fact that Lisa Stubbs drew on her own children's creativity for the book and also made a feature of their gorgeous artwork in the book and the end-papers too! What a fantastic idea!)

Lily draws Bear, and her life changes forever. Far from being lonely any more, Lily now has a huge furry cuddly friendly companion to play with and go on adventures with (and to draw with).

The message about friendship in the story is reinforced when Bear decides that he'd rather like to do some bear-y things from time to time too, and Lily as a true friend can't wait to go fishing, wandering in the woods and building shelters.

True friends forever.

There's so much to love about this book (from Lily's brilliant dress sense - not a million miles away from Charlotte's - to bear's sheer size yet quite dainty nature). A lovely book that was well worth the wait!

"Lily and Bear" is out today, 2nd April 2015

Charlotte's best bit: Going fishing with Bear!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A gorgeously creative warm cuddly and friendly little book, love it!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Boxer Books)

As Charlotte gets older and demands slightly more wordier fare than some picture books offer, storybook compendiums are a godsend. Short enough that you can cherry-pick a story from them to read before bedtime. Deep enough that she can listen to me read rather than fussing over the pictures (though it has to be said, we both still absolutely love illustrated children's books more than anything).

Jane Ray's collection of stories "The Emperor's Nightingale and Other Feathery Tales" has just had a timely reprint by Boxer Books, with a gorgeous purple cover and an enviable collection of stories and poems with something to appeal to everyone. Some are familiar and well loved ("The Owl and the Pussycat" - be warned though, if you have a really daft sense of humour you're really going to struggle with the last verse on that one), and some aren't so well known but are beautiful stories nonetheless (how utterly brilliant is "Mulungu Paints the Birds"). Jane has brought together a fabulous collection of authors from around the world keeping the bird theme consistent, and dishing up a rare treat - a story complilation that has no weak links (well, none that we could find anyway, they really are all brilliant).

As we said at the top of the review, it's been fun choosing a different story at random over the space of a few mornings or nights when we do the majority of our reading together. Worth checking out if your little ones are also moving beyond picture books and don't actually mind sitting still long enough to hear a deeper tale told well.

Charlotte's best bit: The fabulous African folk tale "Mulungu Paints the Birds"

Daddy's Favourite bit: Oscar Wilde's awesome "The Happy Prince" is in here, always been a fave!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Boxer Books)

Time to go en pointe with Ballet Kitty as she joins her best friends Princess Pussycat and Ginger Tom for their very first ballet class.

Kitty and Princess deck themselves out in their best ballet outfits, but poor Ginger Tom doesn't have anything special to wear. He comes along in his PE Kit and big clumpy trainers!

For ballet-obsessed kids (like Charlotte) this is a great little story and a neat addition to the "Ballet Kitty" range of books that have become quite popular as a slightly less saccharine alternative to Angelina Ballerina.

The best bit about the book is that there's a boy in Ballet Class and Ginger Tom is as full of enthusiasm and energy, and wants to dance his heart out just like the girls do! Hooray!

Though Kitty and Princess don't really like Tom's approach, and his tendency to jazz up his moves with street-dance stuff, soon they realise that he is enjoying himself and he's as happy as - well a cat in a ballet class can be! That enthusiasm and energy rubs off and all three can't wait till their next class.

A great little story, fantastic illustrations and perfect for girls (or boys) who know their pas de deuxs from their Demi Detournees

Charlotte's best bit: Princess Pussycat (she is me!) and Ballet Kitty's lovely ballet outfits

Daddy's favourite bit: Great to see boys included in a ballet story. Nice one Bernette and Sam!

Now here's an interesting little book, and one that had a rather unexpected reception from Charlotte. Watching her read this with my wife was quite fascinating because it's the first time we've sat down with Charlotte and books, and seen her put into practice the structured learning and sound learning she's picking up at school. So it's sinking in, definitely :)

Meoow and the Blue Table is the story of cute little cat Meeow and his animal friends as they play dress-up and let their imaginations soar. They make lovely outfits, and props and then decide to turn the blue table into a castle.

Books that bridge the gap between a story picture book and an actual learning / early readers book are tough to get right. Often, early readers books concentrate on the sterile repetition of words, and the story gets completely lost on the child. Linking early reading skills with large print, repeated word-sounds and large colourful illustrations showing scenarios that are absolutely familiar to a child (playing dress-up, cooking in the kitchen with mummy and daddy, etc) are what mark the Meeow books out and make them stand out from the crowd.

For me, it was a delightful moment that showed me the crack of light behind the door to Charlotte's reading future. It's the first time I've really seen her hungry to learn how to read rather than sitting back and letting us (mummy and daddy) read the story to her. Really impressed with how this book affected that stage and how great it was seeing her do that. Hat tip to Sebastien Braun!

Charlotte's best bit: "The Cow is Me!" (yes, alas we still get this all too often with any books. Charlotte instantly identifies a character that becomes 'her' for the duration of the story, in this case a cow who dresses up as a princess!)

Daddy and Mummy's favourite bit: Seeing Charlotte putting her school work into practice and her learning journey essentials (sounding out different sounds in words like "SSS" or "OO") really sinking in and being used. Top Job, Mrs Smales!