I wonder how many parents will be high-fiving each other at the gate this morning as we take a look at one of our favourite 'back to school' books of yesteryear, which is presented in a shiny new paperback version by Hachette.

Lauren Child's "Charlie and Lola" series is superb, and never better than in "I Am Too Absolutely Small for School".

Lola is a bit nervous. She's starting "Big School" and is also trying to convince everyone - even Soren Lorenson - that she's not quite ready yet. But Charlie, her big brother, is there to tell her all the fun things that she will get to do once she arrives.

Suddenly school doesn't seem so bad at all! In fact with all the busy things Lola gets to do, the day whizzes by so quickly.

This was a book I remember reading to C way back when she was starting juniors. Now she's starting Seniors it was fun looking back and remembering what it was like going into Reception classes for the first time!

Superb stuff from Lauren.

"I Am Too Absolutely Small for School" by Lauren Child is out now, published by Hachette Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

Charlie and Lola are timeless characters with endless appeal so it's great to see a fab range of board books getting a dust-down and republish, courtesy of Orchard Books...

The timeless appeal of Charlie and Lola continues in this fantastic counting book for younger children. Just in time for the move up to 'big school' here's "One Thing"...

What better way to kick off #worldbookday than with a review about saving OUR world. The Charlie and Lola books and TV series are so universally loved by children and it's great to see this particular book following one of Charlotte's favourite episodes of the programme.

Charlie starts to teach Lola about 'going green' - no, not hulking out and smashing things but learning how to recycle, and how to respect and look after our beautiful planet. After all, it's the only one we've got.

Lola decides to send for a fabulous 'eco-tree' sticker and poster, for every piece of recycling the tree gets a leaf and soon the fun begins as Lola gets the whole class at school involved.

Without sounding too preachy or too much like an ecology pamphlet, it's an entertaining little story that has a huge amount of worth if used as the jumping-off point for classroom (or even home) activities based around green issues. It would be very easy to reproduce the idea of having a huge 'eco tree' for children to contribute to, and turn this into an activity for everyone to join in with.

We do our bit at home as much as we can (our recycle bin is always ridiculously full - which also comes in handy for those moments when you need to dive into it for crafty stuff!) Join Charlie and Lola on their eco adventures, and create your own too!

Charlotte's best bit: Lola going recycling mad, recycling things that haven't even been used yet!

Daddy's favourite bit: Quite inspirational for kids. There are a few bits where the book sounds a bit 'middle class' but as someone pointed out to me, Charlie and Lola ARE middle class kids.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Puffin Books)

Kids go absolutely wild for Charlie and Lola - mostly thanks to the brilliant TV series, but of course also due in no small part to the great books that preceded the TV treatment. Things have now gone full circle and there are books now based on stories from the TV episodes, including this one - "But Excuse Me That is MY Book"

Lola enjoys going to the library with her dad (sounds familiar) and her brother Charlie of course.
Lola always seems to pick out the same book (also sounds familiar, I think I've lost count of how many times we've borrowed Dr Ted!) but when she pops down to borrow it again, it's missing!

Charlie tries to console her by describing all the other books she could borrow instead. Books about knights, dragons, adventures (typical boy!) or even more books about nature similar to the one Lola fixates on.

Things come to a head when Lola spots another girl with HER book.

There's a lot to love about this, and there's also a few odd little things that could seriously do with ironing out. It would've been cool to see the library in the story absolutely thronging with kids - or even depicted as looking a bit more kid-friendly (most libraries have a vibrant kid's section, always far more comfy and welcoming than the shelves of books in the adult bit).

Charlotte also spotted a problem with the book that I hadn't picked up on. It was subtle, but it was there. She spotted that the other girl in the book was from an ethnic minority (oriental in this particular case) - a tiny point that would be completely overlooked if it wasn't for the fact that the girl (in some children's eyes) was perceived as the 'baddie' of the story (she's not really, she's just a child borrowing a book). It sparked an interesting discussion that highlighted just how careful you have to be when you're involved in any aspect of children's fiction, even things that target very young kids.

We love any book that celebrates libraries and the message here is loud and clear, that there's a world of books out there to enjoy - not just the ones you're familiar with.

Charlotte's best bit: The cheeky monkey book!

Daddy's favourite bit: A wonderful pro-library message. Needs some tweaking though!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Puffin Books)