We've been lucky enough to see so many new and emerging talents begin their careers and achieve stellar heights of fame and popularity while we've been  reviewing books here.

Almost four years ago, "The Bear and the Piano" by David Litchfield caught our eye. I'm a sucker for any book that is visually stunning the moment you clap eyes on the cover, and is even more visually stunning once you get into the story itself.

This book doesn't prepare you for the good solid whump to the heart it delivers as you read the tale of a bear who discovers a strange object in the wood.

He approaches it, and discovers that it can make sounds. The most beautiful sounds imagineable. From there on, Bear falls hopelessly in love with the piano and the music that he plays - though rough and ready at first - soon becomes a beautiful sound to all the creatures who live in the forest.

Fame beckons the bear, and though he soon achieves the dizzy heights of stardom, he remembers who he is, and where he comes from - and once again returns to the forest to play for all his family and friends.

I swear that when we read this book aloud for the first time, the book is so immersive that you could almost hear music as you read. The illustrations glow with David's trademark gift for filling his scenes with colour, atmosphere and light, they are works of great beauty, helping to convey his gentle storytelling style in a truly impressive often heart-wrenching way.

We also really loved David's "Lights on Cotton Rock". This time the story reminded me of my own UFO-obsessed youth. I'd get wrapped up in reading the books of Erich Von Daniken, or magazines like "The Unexplained" so this gentle story of a young girl's quest to be visited by extraterrestrials, waiting her entire life if necessary, really struck a chord.

Again it looks so good, and it's the sort of book that perfects a similar trick to most Pixar movies - simultaneously allowing you to wholly identify with its central character, and feel for them as their life's wish is fulfilled. It's a truly beautiful, beautiful book.

Original Review Links of David's fantastic books and collaborations with others: 

ReadItDaddy's Second Picture Book of the Week - Week Ending 7th April 2017 - "Grandad's Secret Giant" by David Litchfield (Frances Lincoln Children's Books)

"When I was a Child" by Andy Stanton and David Litchfield (Hodder Children's Books)

ReaditDaddy's First Book of the Week - Week Ending 6th May 2016 - "The Bear and The Piano" by David Litchfield (Frances Lincoln Children's Books)

A fabulous "This or That" interview with the creators of "The Marvellous Moon Map" published today by Red Fox Picture Books. Over to you Teresa and David!

ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week - Week Ending 7th September 2018: "The Bear, The Piano, The Dog and the Fiddle" by David Litchfield (Lincoln Children's Books)

ReadItDaddy's Third Book of the Week - Week Ending 6th September 2019: "Lights on Cotton Rock" by David Litchfield (Frances Lincoln Children's Books)

ReaditDaddy's Second Book of the Week - Week Ending 6th October 2017 - "The Marvellous Moon Map" by Teresa Heapy and David Litchfield (Red Fox Picture Books)

The usual September bookapocalypse has descended on us with mighty force, meaning that this week we just had to squeeze in one more extra-special "Book of the Week" winner. A book that quite literally took our breath away.

"Lights on Cotton Rock" by David Litchfield once again proves that just about everything David turns his hand to ends up being kidlit gold.

In fact, this book might well have usurped "The Bear and the Piano" as our fave DL book yet.

The story begins with a young girl, who (rather like me as a kid) spends a lot of time gazing up at the night sky. Is there anybody out there in the inky void of space? Are we truly alone in the universe?

Heather believes there are others out there, and maintains a nightly vigil. One night she uses her torch to blast signals out into the night sky, and it seems someone was watching - as a vast colourful spacecraft descends into the quiet forest glade - something Heather has wished for since she was a little girl.

But despite this world-shattering event, it's all over far too soon - and the spacecraft leaves once again. Will the spaceship ever come back? And if it does, will Heather be ready to leave everything she has on earth behind?

Where to start with this one. I mean, you could start with the amazing expressions on Heather's face as her deepest wish comes true - only to be cruelly taken away from her, leaving her wondering if she'd dreamed the whole thing.

You could continue as Heather lives out her earth-bound life...continuing on despite the amazing thing that happened to her. Growing old, having a family of her own, but still gazing up at the stars and hoping.

You could also talk about "that bit" - which we really don't want to ruin for you - where Heather makes a decision that underlines and underpins the whole point of the story in such a beautifully emotive and heartfelt way.

Or you could just go on, and on, and on, and on about how utterly stunning and beautiful this book is. I don't think there are any other illustrators working in children's picture books who have such a delicious and brilliant artistic way of working with light and dark the way David does, and his character expressions are just *chef's kiss*. It's like a gorgeous homage to movies I loved as a kid, spliced perfectly with a bang-up-to-date core message about the things that end up meaning more to us than the things we sometimes break ourselves in half wishing for.

Just so, so good!

Sum this book up in a sentence: Honestly, picture books like this don't come along very often so grab this one with both hands, it's truly out of this world.

"Lights on Cotton Rock" by David Litchfield is out now, published by Frances Lincoln Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

For this week's Chapter Book of the Week, I thought I'd let Charlotte type up her thoughts, as she's been thoroughly absorbed in this one since picking it up during Ross's recent visit to her school for World Book Day.

So without further ado, here's Charlotte's thoughts on the sublime "Christmas Dinner of Souls" by Ross Montgomery (with cover art by David Litchfield).

This book is about a boy called Lewis. 

We always love a surprise in our picture books, and the surprise in "When I was a Child" by Andy Stanton and David Litchfield stems from our expectation that Andy is great at putting together rib-tickling stuff like "Mr Gum" and who could forget "All aboard the Poo Bus".

But who knew he could also tweak at our heartstrings with a truly fabulous celebration of Grandmother / grand-daughter relationships that reminded us of C's own bond with her own grandmums.

This heartwarming story is told from the grandma's perspective as she tells her granddaughter stories about what life was like when she was little.

With utterly glorious illustrations by that uber-talented fella David Litchfield, this one's perfect for grandparents who love nothing better than curling up on the sofa with their grand-kids or great-grandkids to reminisce about their childhood, or just to tell a few tall stories.

Sum this book up in a sentence: Heartwarming and beautiful storytelling complimented by truly gorgeous illustrations, this one has "Win" written all over it!

"When I was a Child" by Andy Stanton and David Litchfield is out now, published by Hodder Children's Books. 

Our first Book of the Week this week might just give YOU a funny feeling in your tummy. Read on and you'll find out why...

Our Second Picture Book of the week is just the sort of lovely book we adore at this time of year. Perfect for cuddling up with on chilly nights when the moon is full...

We're celebrating the publication of a fantastic book, the first collaboration between two of our fave kidlit folk.

Teresa Heapy and David Litchfield have combined their considerable talents, coming up with a beautiful tale of friendship, determination and a fantastic quest. "The Marvellous Moon Map" is out today, but before you dash off to pick up a copy, we're lucky enough to have Teresa guesting on the blog, submitting herself to a "This or That" grilling, ReadItDaddy style.

Teresa and David have come up with some fantastic answers to our tricky questions, so let's dive straight in!

Q1 - Welcome to the blog, tell us a little bit about yourself and your new book

Teresa:
I’m a children’s author - hooray! What a wonderful job to have. I’ve written the four Very Little picture books (including the award-winning Very Little Red Riding Hood), illustrated by Sue Heap, and I’ve got three new picture books coming out next year, which is very exciting.

In The Marvellous Moon Map, Mouse wants to find the Moon, so he makes a Marvellous Map and sets off on his own. But when he gets lost in the dark Woods, he finds he really needs his friend Bear to help him along the way. And he needs his Map too - but not in the way he thought he would!...

The story was inspired by lots of different things - a show in which I acted (where I had to make lots of paper boats!), various pieces of music and a particular phrase of my daughter’s. I’m so proud of the book. David’s illustrations are completely stunning and it’s a joy to be working with him.

I’m David. I’m an illustrator and I draw pictures in my attic. I loved drawing The Marvellous Moon Map. Teresa’s story is so incredibly sweet and it was a very happy experience turning her words into pictures.

Q2 - Chocolate or Cheese?
Teresa:

This week's second Book of the Week has been hotly anticipated ever since we saw the first tweets about it, and it does not disappoint...Here's the delightful "Grandad's Secret Giant" by David Litchfield...

Our first Book of the Week this week was one of those books we just knew would be special the moment we set eyes on the cover. We weren't disappointed...