This week's Chapter Book of the Week is a welcome return to a period in history and a set of characters that we've come to adore...

With my usual terrible timing, I bemoaned the fact that there were no really brilliant ghost stories for kids any more. I remember ghost anthologies and quite terrifying ghost collections like these when I was a wee whippersnapper...(I mean just LOOK at the cover of this typical example of awesome 70s spookiness!!)

"Ghosts, Spooks and Spectres" edited by Charles Molin

About a week after I'd typed up a huge rant about a lack of truly scary ghost stories for kids, "Lockwood and Co - The Screaming Staircase" dropped through my letterbox with a loud 'thunk' and from page 1 I was completely and utterly hooked. Here was a modern wordsmith carving out a ghostly alternative reality where ghosts roamed through the land, held back by agencies such as Lockwood's. Most importantly "The Screaming Staircase" was told from the perspective of Lucy, a girl with a heightened set of psychic powers who joins Lockwood and George to take on a truly complex and terrifying case.

By the end of the book (I won't spoil it too much, because I REALLY want you to read it) I was left breathless. Jonathan Stroud had written the sort of story I absolutely ate up as a kid, and still love as an adult, weaving a supernatural tale with tension, excitement and quite a few heart-in-mouth moments.

I couldn't wait for a sequel - and since it has arrived, I've gone through twice and am about to dive in for a third time (yes, it is THAT good). "The Whispering Skull" hails the return of Lockwood, George and Lucy - once again at odds with the flashy and thoroughly unpleasant Fittes Agency who seem to stick a size 10 boot in Lockwood's business at every turn. Despite Lockwood's optimism and verve, Lockwood and Co are once again in the doldrums after a short spell of riding on the successes of their last case.

It's going to take something truly spectacular to restore the company's fortunes, but with Fittes nipping at their heels, will they be able to put to rest the troublesome spirit of a Victorian doctor and rescue a powerful artifact before nefarious forces can bring that power to bear on London? Or will the Skull in the Glass Case (seen in Lockwood 1) have more than a coincidental impact on the agency's future?

Stroud's masterful method of injecting tension and excitement into every chapter, creating a ton of atmosphere and ghostliness, really puts him right at the top of the stack of modern writers able to carve out supernatural stories in a genre that really is making a huge comeback. His characters are brilliant (in fact I often find I love sketching Lockwood, George and Lucy just for fun purely because they are such an awesome team) and it's great to find a book series that truly puts me in mind of the fantastic fantasy and horror writers I loved when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s.

A vital addition to your collection if you love living on the spooky side of life.

"Lockwood and Co - The Whispering Skull" by Jonathan Stroud - Out Today from Doubleday Children's Books.

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

Originally published a few years ago, and republished on the 26th September - but now with fabulous new artwork by Emma Yarlett, Lieutenant Colonel Christopher MacGregor's fantastic book "My Daddy's Going Away" is a very special book indeed.

Christopher developed the book to help children cope with the long-term absence of their mums and dads who are in the armed forces, and proceeds from the book contribute to Combat Stress charities.

It tells the story of Daddy rocketing off to distant shores - the twist here is that the family are wonderful bluey-green aliens (with fabulous long blue tails), the allusion is representative of what it must feel like for kids when their parents do the same in the line of duty.

Our child narrators here see their daddy off in grand style, before reminiscing about all the fun things that they do (including, hooray, daddy reading books to them at bedtime).

With an introduction from HRH The Prince of Wales, it's a book that feels like it's been written from the heart by someone who has gone through the situation themselves, and expertly imparts to others what it feels like for both the children and the parents when they're separated in this way.

We've been fans of Emma Yarlett's artwork ever since she exploded onto the children's book scene with her fabulous "Sidney, Stella and the Moon" gaining her a well-deserved book of the week. Here, she packs every page spread with exquisite detail and her tweaking of the original characters from Christopher's book are wonderful and spacey.

We're pleased to hear that more will be arriving soon, as the talented duo will be working on "My Mummy's Going Away" - So look out for it in the not too distant future.

Charlotte's best bit: All the little things that the kids help daddy pack for his trip away

Daddy's Favourite bit: Touching, heart-felt and beautiful book supporting a worthy cause, and with a message for all of us - that separation from your children for ANY reason is hard on both parties equally.

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

A new Anthony Browne book is always a treat. Browne is the sort of author-illustrator who knows exactly how to describe the feelings a child goes through in ordinary everyday life, then picture them allegorically in ways that children just "get".

Here we meet Joe, a young boy who is off to a schoolfriend's birthday party for the first time. Parents by now are knowingly nodding, recalling what it was like the first time they dropped their children off at such an event. Who was actually more stressed? You or your children? (in our case, probably me!)

Unfortunately Joe is a little muddle-headed and has lost the party invitation. He knows which road his friend lives in but doesn't know which house number!

In each page spread we see Joe and his mum looking at each house in turn, peeking through the windows for any signs of a party. The first house they come to seems to have a fairly ordinary old couple living in it, enjoying some quiet time in their lounge. But this is Anthony Browne we're talking about. Look closer, are they really as ordinary as they appear?

From then on it's a fantastic romp as we discover who is through each window - and see Browne's expertise at producing the most fantastic artwork, evocative of so many classic painters I love and have gradually introducte Charlotte to as well. There are nods to Magritte (as there usually are in Browne's lovely books) and even Brueghel. Scenes of surreality that don't exactly put Joe's mind at rest. What if the party is awful? What if no one talks to him?

This is a truly special book and does not disappoint. We really love Browne's dark works, this is perhaps not quite as dark and disturbing as Browne's books like "The Tunnel" but it's still a bit of a tweak on the nose for our innermost fears, addressing and dispelling them in turn.

If we had to choose which party we got an invite to, I think we'd go with the Snakes and Ladders one! It looks fun!

Charlotte's best bit: The bad boy's party (where one unfortunate individual ends up being squashed into a teapot!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: Browne's amazing Brueghel-esque Snakes and Ladders game. Surreal but oh-so brilliant!

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

Oh my aching memory. I know we've had this book before from the library and I was SURE we'd reviewed it but nope, somehow this absolutely fantastic (and quite hilarious) little tale managed to get through the "ReadItDaddy" weekly reading pile without being covered.

So we're not only going to rectify that, we're going to give it 'Book of the Week' because it's quickly become the most requested book from the stack of 10 we snagged from the library on our last visit.

A poor hapless (and nameless) little chap sits next to Jennifer Jones in class at school, and she just...won't...leave...him...alone. It's a funny and cute story about that phase most boys go through where they think girls are a bit of a pest, and all that 'kissy huggy' stuff is a right royal pain in the posterior. Secretly though, shortly after it's also when boys discover their fledgeling egos buried under their brash unwashed exteriors, and of course you can probably guess how the book goes (but as ever, here at ReadItDaddy we're only going to give you the slightest flavour of what to expect!)

Frieda Wishinsky's rhyming couplets are hilarious, and Neal Layton's crazed child-like scribblings really grow on you and are absolutely fitting for this book (if you've ever seen any of Cressida Cowell's Emily Brown books, you'll already know his work and probably already love it).

Thoroughly recommended but your boys might think it's a bit too gushy and girly (until the end of the book at least!) Needless to say, my daughter loves it to bits.

Charlotte's best bit: Imagining that Jennifer Jones is her and that the boy is "Prince Jacob" from Preschool.

Daddy's favourite bit: Layton's crazy mix of child-like drawings laid over photo and picture montages, and the way he draws bears!

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars, book of the week