"Messy Mason" is a character most parents will instantly recognise (particularly us at the moment, if you've stood on countless Lego pieces or have sat there peeling stickers off a wooden floor too many times to count, you'll love this!) - a thoroughly messy little guy who lists tidying his room right at the very bottom of his priorities.

Despite some gentle cajoling from Mum, Mason just can't get motivated enough to tidy his room and on the rare occasions he does, it never stays tidy for more than a day or so.

An all too familiar scene!

So what's the answer?

Mum tries the usual parental standards (bribery, shouting etc) but sometimes the only way to learn a lesson is to learn it the hard way, and learn it yourself - as Mason finds out one day when a discarded tube of paint is trodden on.

Yonit's story is a good way to trigger off conversations about taking responsibility, or thinking of others - and Charlotte is at an age where we're slowly (but surely) getting past the shouting and tantrum stages towards her understanding and taking into account the feelings of others.

We still don't have the world's tidiest house but with the aid of Yonit's book, perhaps we can show her why Mason realised in the end why tidying was important to the others he shares a space with.

You can pick up the book via Amazon's Kindle Service.

Charlotte's best bit: She giggled when Mason got squished with purple paint.

Daddy's favourite bit: A great trigger for conversations about responsibility and motivation.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Yonit Werber)

Here at ReadItDaddy, now we're all e-book empowered, we love finding picture book ideas that cleverly use the functionality of the Kindle / iPad to good effect.

Charles and Rachael Vald's book "Clara's Ugly Monster" is a little treasure, using the touch screen of tablet devices to encourage children to delve into the book and find the 40 hidden sounds that are threaded throughout the story.

It's best demonstrated when handed over to the experts. Here's a great little video of Charlotte (Charles' daughter - not the 'blog boss') and her brother discovering the sounds for themselves:


You can find the book on iTunes here: Clara's Ugly Monster (Free Sample)

iTunes Full Version: Clara's Ugly Monster Enhanced Version (99p)

(It's also on the Kindle Store and available worldwide)

We're coming at you thick and fast today with our reviews in a bid to catch up after a few days off sick. The divine @thestrollingmum found this rather neat little e-book while browsing the iTunes App Store and it's the sort of thing you'd absolutely love to see more aquariums, zoos and other places begin to do more of.

Seattle Aquarium has put together a lovely little story about a Sea Otter called Edwin, but it's not merely a heart-warming tale of an otter worrying he's not as impressive as the other Seattle Aquarium animals and aquatics, it's a great little demonstration of how stories can serve as a jumping-off point for exploring our natural world and learning valuable facts about the creatures that live in it.

The developer of this app / e-book, Nat Duffy, has obviously taken the very best hooks from picture books and spliced them together with great little video clips from the aquarium itself (with lots of cute animal clips to keep youngsters happy). Excellent illustrations and a fairly engaging story help to underpin the Seattle Aquarium's committment to work in conservation and animal care so it's far more than just a 'glossy' way of advertising a day out.

Best of all, it's a free download (and is also available as a static PDF if you want to explore the pages on a desktop computer) but doesn't feel like it's lacking in quality, like a lot of free apps seem to.

Charlotte's best bit: Animals going to sleep. Awww.

Daddy's favourite bit: A brilliant mix of video, sounds and a great story compliment each other perfectly.

Edwin the Super Duper Otter (on iTunes)

I am rubbish at winning arguments, though the household democratic decision to buy a tablet PC for e-books, browsing and other reasons was 2 to 1 against and I was the 1.

So we are now embracing the digital age here at ReadItDaddy as we now have the capacity to finally review e-books. And what a corker we picked for our first e-book review, the sublime "Dixie" by Grace Gilman and Sarah McConnell.

I've never really liked the idea of the monochrome Kindle - but with the Kindle Fire seemingly never coming to the UK, and the plethora of Android tablets not quite hitting the mark yet, we ended up buying an iPad. I've been bitten by the Apple bug at work, but have always shied away from buying any more of their kit for home after my iPod 2nd Generation ended up being more or less outdated in the short space of a couple of years after I bought it (it still works as a music player, but try running any apps on it now!)

The iPad's e-library app is lovely, a virtual bookcase provided as a free download from iTunes once you get up and running. Like the Kindle store, you can instantly grab a whole bunch of free e-books from iTunes, including this lovely little offering from HarperCollins.

Dixie the dog is a loveable character and when his best friend Emma tries out for the school play, Dixie is disappointed to find she gets so wrapped up in her preparations to play 'Dorothy' in 'The Wizard of Oz' that she doesn't have time to play doggie games. Dixie rather naughtily makes matters far worse but will   Emma make a splash in her school play in the end?

The book is lovingly presented in e-format and very easy for even the youngest children to flick through. It goes without saying that any bold, colourful children's book is going to be a better bet on a colour tablet than on anything monochrome (though Dixie is available in Kindle format). The aid of the touch screen to flick through the book and pan around the illustrations helps bring the experience alive for youngsters (that's assuming, of course, that you don't mind their sticky jam-covered fingers poking and prodding your iPad!)

With many authors and illustrators making the move to get their books published (or reprinted) electronically, embracing the rather novel experience of looking at a book this way has made us realise that the 'gimmicky' idea of a tablet for children's development isn't that gimmicky after all, and though I still have my own concerns about e-book vs printed books, Dixie is definitely worth a look - particularly as it's free at the moment.

Charlotte's best bit: Emma trying on the the Ruby slippers

Daddy's favourite bit: Slick presentation of the book, very easy to use even for little fingers.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars