Meet Mango, a rather cool and wonderfully kind little girl whose world is about to change thanks to a rather exotic new friend. He's not a pig though so what is he? Come on inside and find out more...

Joy.

Unparalleled unmitigated joy.

That's what you can expect whenever you read a book that Clara Vulliamy has had a hand in. Clara's "Martha and the Bunny Brothers" books epitomise why she is so well loved in children's literature circles, why parents and teachers adore her, why kids worship her and why her books are always met with outbursts of gleeful giggles by us at ReadItDaddy Towers.

As the sun still continues, what better way to kick off your reading this summer than by joining Martha, Pip and Monty for "I ♡ Holidays". Load up the GORGEOUS blue Camper Van and set off to the seaside with Martha and the Bunny Brothers, ensuring that you pack all the things you'll need.

Martha has her very own suitcase (just like Charlotte!) and crams in everything for a day at the beach (just like Charlotte, though we do draw the line at Charlotte packing her entire kitchen set for impromptu beachside catering).

You can almost feel the waves tickling your toes, the sand crunching under your heels and the warm sunshine at the turn of each page. We always love Clara's attention to detail in her illustrations (it goes without saying that I was completely head over heels in love with the camper van - but Charlotte was much more a fan of the lollies and ice-creams page, completely unable to decide which to choose between the traditional Mr Whippy with a flake, or the Fab, or the Tangle Twister or the Mini Milk!)

Martha is impatient to swim in the sea, but there are so many things to do at the beach, will she ever get the chance to go for a swim with those busy little bunny brothers or will the stormy clouds chase everyone from the place?

We love the way the Martha / Bunny Brothers books are put together. Kids love lists, they also love books that are laid out in a way that invites curious investigation. Watching Charlotte with these is always interesting, as she explores each page not wanting to miss any of the exquisite little details Clara always works into her stories.

We're off on our hols soon, and I can guarantee that this book will be tucked into our suitcase for bedtime reading. We'll try to make sure we don't get it too sandy!

"I ♡ Holidays" featuring Martha and the Bunny Brothers, published on the 3rd July 2014 from HarperCollins Children's Books. Grab your copy now!

Here's a special postcard from Martha and the Bunny Brothers (courtesy of their lovely "mum") to wish you all a happy summer!


Charlotte's best bit: Trying to decide which ice cream or lolly she likes best (Our answer: whichever one she can get messiest with!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: A wry grin at the holiday traffic (groan!) and the "Are we there yet?" bits - oh and sheer love for that camper van (If I ever do get one and one day I swear I will, I'm going to stick a big bunny face on the front!)

Don't forget to check out all the other wonderful blogs on the tour this week...

Tuesday: Smiling Like Sunshine

Wednesday: The Book Sniffing Pug

Thursday: Child Led Chaos

Friday: Mini Book Worms

(Thanks again to Clara and HarperCollins Children's Books for supplying a review copy and the awesome postcard!)

What can we say? What CAN we say? We had the toughest of tough choices this week to choose between a fabulous cat (well, Tiger) book or a book featuring a dashing doggie duo - we couldn't separate them so once again you're treated to a double helping of Book of the Week goodness! You lucky people!

When I first heard that Shirley Hughes and Clara Vulliamy were teaming up for a book, I nearly fell off my chair. This is the sort of news that makes a children's book blogger deliriously happy. Mum and daughter, both hugely talented, collaborating on something that - as we followed, teetering on the edge of our seats with every twist and turn during the book's development - shaped up to be something truly special.

And special it is. For starters it features utterly wonderful classic cars woven into the story of Dixie O'Day, a rather dapper gentleman dog and his (slightly rough around the edges) sidekick Percy. Both enjoy a good biscuit dunked in their tea (Dixie likes a custard cream while Percy is like Charlotte, completely hooked on Jammie Dodgers - bless 'em!), both enjoy a drive out in the countryside in Dixie's fabulous classic Ford Zephyr soft-top, and both definitely love a good race.

The format of this book is special too. We've been clamouring about early chapter readers featuring full illustrations throughout for quite a long time. Previously we've seen very few of these (in fact the only other examples I can think of in Charlotte's collection are the sublime "Claude" series from Alex T. Smith and the utterly brilliant "Harry and the Lady Next Door" by Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy-Graham) but the genius of "Dixie O'Day in the Fast Lane" is splitting the book into five bedtime-sized chapters that can be enjoyed over the space of a week. So you get the bonus of a longer book, divided into bite-sized chunks, but with a little more depth and substance than your average picture book. HOORAY for this format, please please please can we have some more?

Lou Ella, she's like a female Terry-Thomas. A thoroughly bad egg! (LOVE that Diner though!)

We loved the 'background info' and exquisite extra details in the book, which echoes Clara's wonderful "Bunny Brothers" series. The Q & A with Dixie was lovely, as were the various activities and games to play on long car journeys.

But what of the story itself? Dixie and Percy seem to inhabit a world that you really would want to live in. A world where Zoom lollies taste so mouth-wateringly perfect that you instantly crave another after you've finished one. A world where badgers run the local 50s-themed diner and garage, or where waspish neighbours (actually Lou Ella was Charlotte's favourite character - "She is me!" she proudly bellowed, though I don't think she's really that bad!) will stop at nothing to win a local car race.

On the cars in this book - poor Clara has had to listen to me 'droning on' about cars on Twitter for ages but she clearly knows her stuff. We did love Dixie's fabulous Ford but we also rather loved Lou Ella's racey E-Type Jag-alike, and the mouse with his tractor / cheese caravan. Weirdly though, intentional or not, this car was like greeting an old friend again...


...purely because it reminded me of my absolute FAVOURITE toy car from childhood - this little beauty, the Corgi Jet Car:


(I don't think mine had a droopy nose like that though, eeks!)

Charlotte loves this book, because it's exciting, thrillingly paced, and though she proudly claims she's Lou Ella, I think she's got a secret crush on Percy who is welcome to share her mini snack-time Jammie Dodgers any time.

Oh - and one final thing, best bit of the book by far is what you'll find at the end - the welcome confirmation that we will be seeing more of dashing Dixie O'Day and Percy in "The Great Diamond Robbery" next. HOORAY!

Charlotte's best bit: Lou Ella. Fashion icon, but definitely not the sort of person you'd want to live next door to or be in a race with! Boo Hiss!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A genius format, a brilliant story, two of the most talented ladies in the business (who just happen to be mother and daughter) working together in an absolute dream of a book. Don't hang around, go and live life in the fast lane with Dix and Perc!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Random House / Bodley Head)

(Check out the Twitter hashtag #iheartbedtime for more brill reviews!)

There have been lots of happy discoveries since we first started blogging about books way back in 2010 but some authors and illustrators somehow manage to escape our notice, purely by accident. I can't quite believe we've never had the pleasure of reading a Clara Vulliamy book before now, but I'm happy to say we have now rectified that situation in the best possible way - taking a look at Clara's new "Martha and the Bunny Brothers" book "I Heart Bedtime".

As a supporter of our #ReadItMD13 Campaign, and one of the very nicest people you could possibly chat to on Twitter, we've been quite interested to see what her books are actually like so when we were lucky enough to be involved (in our own small way) with the launch of this book (launch day is TODAY by the way! Hooray!), the most exciting part was actually getting to finally read something we'd already heard so much about.

For the uninitiated (who, like us, need to become initiated pretty durned quickly!) Martha is the big bunny sister to the two busy little bunny brothers Monty and Pip. When Martha's best babysitter-from-next-door comes to look after the bunnies one evening, Martha is determined that Monty and Pip are going to snuggle down to bed so that she can spend some time with Grace-Next-Door before her own sleepy dreamtime.

What can you do when the bunny brothers are such busy (and mischievous) little scamps though? Perhaps a little song might help...?

Coming to the very latest of Clara's 'Martha and the Bunny Brothers' books without seeing the others, we can really appreciate the amount of work (and love) that has gone into putting together a nicely packed and very satisfying story that's not just perfect for bedtime, but for any time at all.

Of course, we are now on a mission - to catch up with Clara's other MBB books, and to also take a look at The Lucky Wish Mouse books and all the other wonderful characters this extremely talented lady comes up with.

Charlotte thinks she's an absolute superstar, not just because she chose the 'right' Disney Princess in our interview with her that you may have seen earlier in the week, but also because Clara made Charlotte her very own little bedtime 'Martha'.

Charlotte's best bit: Even though I did it utterly truly awful justice, Charlotte actually rather loved Martha's Bedtime Song (see a much much better version of it on Clara's website here!)

Daddy's favourite bit: I love the way the story is laid out and the really busy little details all throughout the book. A great intro for us to Clara's work, and definitely a book that's made us look forward to catching up with "I Heart School"

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

Martha Hearts Bedtime!

It's launch week for Clara Vulliamy's latest (and we think greatest!) "Martha and the Bunny Brothers" book "I Heart Bedtime". We are very fortunate to have Clara guesting on our blog, answering some of our trickiest questions and we really appreciate her taking some time out of a very busy launch schedule to pop in and say hi.  Take it away, Clara!


ReadItDaddy (Daddy):  Hi Clara and congratulations on your new book "I Heart Bedtime" which looks fantastic. Tell us a little bit about it and what inspired the story?


Clara Vulliamy: 

Thank you very much! In I Heart Bedtime, Martha is trying to get her bouncy bunny brothers Monty and Pip into bed EARLY, so she can have some extra special time with best babysitter Grace-next-door. But this is a something of a challenge…

Bedtime is a fabulous theme for a book – it’s a daily family saga of sometimes epic (and exasperating) proportions, and it’s full of detail and different routines. Funny, sweet, and – in the bunny household - utterly chaotic.


ReadItDaddy (Daddy): We're massively grateful for all the support you've given our #ReaditMummiesandDaddies2013 campaign (you are a star!) Can you tell us why you think it's important for parents to read to their children?

Clara Vulliamy: 

I’m proud to be on board!
Getting children hooked on reading begins a lifelong love affair with books. Reading aloud to them, when they are babies and small children and when they are older too, does several incredibly important things:
it draws them in to the thrill of the story and develops their powers of imagination and observation,
it tells them that YOU love books too (there’s no better advertisement than that!),
and it’s a love thing - showing them that, for these few moments, there’s nowhere you’d rather be than right here.


ReadItDaddy (Daddy): I love your artistic style, describe a typical day when you're busy creating!

Clara Vulliamy: 

I start working early – the family ‘workers’ have left the house by 7.30 – so I’m at my desk with a strong coffee pretty much then.
If I’m writing, there’s lots of end-of-pencil-chewing, staring out of the window, day-dreaming. I might spend all morning writing one sentence and all afternoon rubbing it out.
But if I’m illustrating it’s much more delicious – squeezing out paints, cutting and sticking… think nursery school but not on one of those agonizing tiny chairs.


ReadItDaddy (Daddy): Finally from me before I hand over to Charlotte (and this is the killer question) name 5 books you'd take to a desert island!

Clara Vulliamy: 

That IS a killer! Only 5??

I would take:

• Babar for his elegant green suit and spats;
• Winnie the Pooh for my great pal Piglet;
• A poetry anthology for some learning-by-heart;
• His Dark Materials for the soul;
• ...and an A to Z of London to remember all the places I love. 

ReadItDaddy (Charlotte): Do you have any bunnies at home as you really draw nice bunnies.

Clara Vulliamy: 

Thank you so much, Charlotte!
I love drawing bunnies, especially their soft pink noses and their long ears (that are a great way to show feelings – droopy for sad, perky for happy).
I did have a bunny called Mistletoe, but now I have two guinea pigs called Delilah and Maccabees. They keep me company and love to chat ALL THE TIME!


ReadItDaddy (Charlotte): What's the hardest thing to draw?

Clara Vulliamy: 

I used to think that cars were the hardest. The cars I drew looked like potatoes on wheels. But just recently I’ve been doing a book that has LOTS of cars in it, and I have loved doing them!
But I still can’t draw a tractor or a train…


ReadItDaddy (Charlotte): Who is your favourite Disney Princess (or other Princess)?

Well – I hope this is right, I THINK she’s a princess – my favourite is Snow White. It was one of the first films I ever saw at the cinema, and I thought she was very pretty. And I thought the witch was absolutely terrifying. There are lots of rabbits in that film, too!

(Charlotte says "Snow White is MY favourite too! She's the most beautiful Disney Princess!)

Huge gigantic massive thanks Clara for popping by to say hi to us and for answering our tricky questions. We wish you all the very best with your book launch!

"I Heart Bedtime" by Clara Vulliamy and published by HarperCollins Children's Books is out on the 28th March 2013. We'll be reviewing it very very soon so keep an eye out for our verdict! In the meantime if you'd like to win a copy, pop on by our competition page! Tweet us something Bunny  and Funny with the hashtag #iheartbedtime for a chance to win !

I Heart Bedtime by Clara Vulliamy. We heart it a lot too!

Thanks to the lovely folk over at HarperCollins Children's Books (and also thanks to the lovely Clara herself) we've got a very special prize competition for you to win Clara's latest (and most brilliant) Martha and the Bunny Brothers book "I Heart Bedtime" along with something VERY special, made by the lovely Clara herself. Your very own tiny dinky and gorgeously made Martha Bedtime Bunny!

I Heart Bedtime and Martha

Time to snuggle down!

Awww, fast asleep!

So cute!

Simply tweet us (@readitdaddy) your funniest bunniest tweet on Twitter using the hashtag #iheartbedtime or RT this competition. We'll pop your entries into our Jack Skellington mug (assuming they all fit!) and pick a winner by the end of Wednesday 27th March 2013.

We'll then DM the winner and hopefully you'll have some Bunny magic to look forward to before you settle down to scoff lots of choc over the holidays.

(The competition is now closed and congratulations to our winner Damyanti Patel! Your prize is on its way!)

Does your child's bed look like this just before they go to sleep?

We're very proud to have a lot of wonderful people backing the campaign to get more mummies and daddies reading to their children in 2013.

Clara Vulliamy, author and illustrator of, amongst many others, the brilliant "Martha and the Bunny Brothers" series of books has written a blog post sharing some thoughts and wisdom on the subject:

Sunny Side Up - Clara Vulliamy's blog

Brilliantly written and a rallying cry. Please drop by and make a comment.

This is the sort of thing that drives the campaign beautifully. Clara, you're a star!