"This is my rock. This is where I attend my flock!"

I have no idea why I kept humming that Faithless tune while reading this with Charlotte. Thankfully she's well and truly used to my odd behaviour so just gave me that world-weary 7 year old withering look and told me to get on with the story.

And get on we did - with the story I mean, as we're huge fans of David Lucas (His Toy Museum tales are brilliant!)

In this story a rather mean mountain goat stakes out his territory, the tallest narrowest rock in his locale. The goat shouts "This is my rock!" and has absolutely no patience for anyone who tries to usurp him from his pedestal (we actually felt a bit sorry for the wild wolves who are royally seen off in grand mountain goat style with a butt and a kick and a bleat!)

Life atop the rock is fine for a while, but soon gets lonely. Perhaps the mean old goat needs to change his ways, because a view is not a view unless you have someone to share it with.

As with most of David Lucas' stories, there's a rather lovely little twist that comes in at the end of this book when the goat realises that you can defend your lofty habitat with all the will in the world but sometimes it takes someone smaller and cleverer than you to humble you into submission!

Fantastic story!

Charlotte's best bit: Goat turning into a karate-chopping whirlwind defending his lofty home

Daddy's Favourite bit: A neat little moral tale with a twist. Deliciously illustrated in David's trademark angular style (we loved the bit where the goat actually gets so hungry he starts munching the decorative borders of the page!)

(Kindly sent to us for review by Flying Eye Books)

David Lucas has a gift for tapping into fairy stories that feel like they've been with us for generations. In "Cake Girl" a wicked witch celebrates yet another birthday on her own. Frustrated and sad, she decides to create a life-sized cake girl to keep her company for the day, with the plan to scoff the poor baked lass once the day is over.

The witch constructs a sweet-toothed companion who is beautiful and wise, to dance for her and entertain her. But poor Cake Girl is scared of the witch and definitely doesn't like the sound of the witch's plans for her later on. Eek!

Lucas weaves a wonderful tale of friendship, and how even the most black-hearted soul can be won over by a fair (cakey) maiden and her plaintive cries for mercy. The witch befriends Cake Girl, promises not to eat her, and the two embark on adventures together as the witch discovers that it's much more fun to share fun and laughter with your companions than...well...eating them.

Beautifully drawn, dreamlike and fabulously original, Cake Girl wins the great ReadItDaddy Bake-Off every time.

Charlotte's best bit: Beautiful Cake Girl's newfound ability to change into anything she wants

Daddy's Favourite bit: A wonderful fairy tale that's beautifully simple, and simply beautiful

We like our pirates brave
We like our pirates bold
The Skeleton pirate is both, Hooray
But the skeleton pirate is old.

When a gang of coves get the better of him
despite his cry of "I'll never be beaten!"
to the bottom of the sea they send him
Avast! Aghast! He's eaten!

In the belly of a whale with a big long tale
The Skeleton Pirate dwells
With a beautiful mermaid with lovely long hair
amongst the detritus and smells

"We can't stay here!" the pirate bellows
"I'll never be beaten" he shouts
And with that, a grand plan to escape their grim fate
To talk to the whale, and get out

With mermaid sublime, and a bellowing voice
The pirate appeals to the whale
In a golden ship full of treasure they nip
through the whale's open maw, and set sail!

HOORAY for the skeleton pirate.
What a brilliant bouncy wee book
With a Pirate so bold, do you need to be told
To see for yourself, take a look!

Charlotte's best bit: The beautiful mermaid of course!
Daddy's favourite bit: David Lucas is fast becoming a firm favourite. What a brilliant seafaring tale!

It's one of the most enticing ideas to a child. What happens to your toys when you're all tucked up for the night, safely snuggled under the duvet? We've all seen what happens in Disney's mammoth franchise 'Toy Story' but what happens at the utterly delightful Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green when all those toys, stretching back through history, all wake up as darkness falls and start looking for fun and adventure?

David Lucas' 'Toy Museum' books are utterly wonderful, not only making stars of the museum's exhibits (all the characters you find in this book can also be seen in the museum itself!) but stimulating a child's imagination and introducing them to the magical possibilities of what happens when toys come to life.

In 'Lost in the Toy Museum' the slightly stuffy and straight Laced Bunting, the toy cat, takes roll call and does his usual important duty of making sure the museum's toys are all tickety-book. Exercises, a quick health check and of course the all important history lesson about how the museum was started in 1879 - and...

But wait! The toys aren't sitting and listening attentively, in fact all the toys have run off and disappeared!

Bunting is perturbed and decides to go and look for them. It's a heavy responsibility, looking after all those toys and Bunting takes his job very seriously.

I'll leave it to you to discover what happens next in the book. It's charming and beautifully told, with that air of nostalgia about it (particularly for me, I grew up in London and remember school visits to Bethnal Green and how magical the place was - and still is!) There are more books in the series and they all look fantastic, so we'll definitely be hunting down the rest.

Charlotte's best bit: The beautiful doll with the white dress (who also seems to be one of the naughiest characters in the book!)

Daddy's favourite bit: The book brought back a lot of happy memories of hours spent in the museum. Really must go back there again with Charlotte soon!

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A superb and touching book, The Robot and the Bluebird mixes simple but extremely effective illustrations with a heartfelt story of a robot with a broken heart, feeling that his place in the world is on a scrap heap until he finds he is needed by a lost and lonely bluebird, struggling to migrate for the winter. 

If you're a hard-hearted type, you might not find it as emotionally engaging as a big old softy like me, but the end is beautiful and Charlotte loved the main characters. A lovely little parable beautifully told and wonderfully illustrated. 

Charlotte's best bit: The robot in winter

Daddy's favourite bit: The excellent illustration style. Quite unique but really well drawn. 

Rating: 5 out of 5