Nary a roar to be heard, nor a sweet musical note!

In "The Dinosaur Who Lost Her Voice" by Julie Ballard and Francesca Gambatesa, you'll meet huge hulking great big spotty dinosaur Milly Jo.

Milly Jo has a beautiful singing voice, but when a storm rages and brings down a tree, it falls on top of Milly (owch) and despite her escaping injury, she can no longer sing! 

I've always wondered how contemporary artists feel when they get to take on something of a 'dream gig'. The pressure must be immense, to not only do justice to a well-loved character, but to ensure that folk know it's your work as well as the author's.

"Flat Stanley" revives the classic character (who is nearly as old as me, wow, that's old!) created by Jeff Brown, with all new illustrations from a megastar in kidlit, Rob Biddulph.

Rob's trademark bright flat colours work perfectly for the story of a little boy who, one night, ends up the victim of an unfortunate accident. his bedside pinboard falls on him, flattening him out.

When Stanley wakes up the next morning, his little brother realises that he's as flat as a pancake! Eep!

Stanley is determined to make the best of his new-found dimensions, but soon realises that other kids can be pretty cruel if you're 'different' in any way.

But luckily little bro comes to the rescue with the aid of a bike pump!

It's a thoroughly original and hugely inspirational story that heralds from an era when children's picture books were going through as much of a golden age as they are now. The story still feels so fresh and fun, more so than ever now Rob's given it a new lease of life with superb detail and a ton of character.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A fantastic and welcome return to a well-loved children's character brilliantly reinvented for a whole new generation of kids.

"Flat Stanley" by Jeff Brown and Rob Biddulph is out now, published by Egmont Publishing (kindly supplied for review). 

We make no apologies for being well and truly into the christmas spirit. It tends to kick off early at ReadItDaddy Towers and we're already eyeing up the Christmas Decorations, readying ourselves for the festive season.

Book wise we've seen SO MANY brilliant christmas books that we're devoting our entire run-up to Christmas to them, but before that let's take a look at a gorgeous selection of books from Pan Macmillan and Egmont Publishing, each and every one of which would make a perfect gift for the book lover in your family.

First there's the utterly adorable "Grandpa Christmas" by Michael Morpurgo and Jim Field. A master storyteller, an illustrator who charms us to bits with his glorious illustrations, it's like the best christmas present ever! "Grandpa Christmas" tells the story of Little Mia who, along with her family, love to read their Christmas Letter from Grandpa every year.

Grandpa's letter urges everyone to think about how we can look after our beautiful world, and treasure all the wonderful things in it. At a time of year when it's so easy to take things for granted, this poignant christmas message is a truly wonderful piece of work from two immensely talented superstars in kidlit. Put it at the top of your picture book buying list this christmas!

"Grandpa Christmas" by Michael Morpurgo and Jim Field is out now, published by Egmont. 

Fortnite? What's that? Pff, we still prefer the delights of Mojang's Minecraft, and Egmont have all your survival needs covered in the stupendous "Minecraft Survival Collection" - a bumper selection of Minecraft books to keep you busy worldbuilding (and surviving) over the yuletide season.

With exclusive tips from the developers at Mojang, the Minecraft Survival Collection might just save your life! The Guide to Exploration will teach you how to thrive in the Overworld. The Guide to the Nether and the End will teach you how to survive in each of these dangerous dimensions. The Guide to Enchantments and Potions will teach you how to enchant your equipment and brew useful potions. The Guide to Farming will teach you how to be self-sufficient in everything from food to hostile mob drops (plus, if you're like us, who can resist building a huge farm full of cute animals and their babies

I grew up with the Mr Men Books, and later I couldn't wait to introduce the Mr Men and Little Miss books to Charlotte. We've collected quite a few now, and it's always cause for great excitement when a new one arrives.

Particularly this latest adventure for the Mr Men and Little Miss crew. They're on a day trip to London with Mr Busy, and are taking in the sights of our glorious capital (which is also one of our favourite real-life destinations too!)

Mr Bump ends up coming a cropper in the fountains at Trafalgar Square. Mr Uppity insists on not using public transport, opting for a chauffeur driven limousine around the capital instead. As for Little Miss Splendid, will she still feel like the queen of bling when faced with the real queen's crown jewels? And what happens when Mr Tickle is let loose on a bus?

It's a fabulous travelogue and story for little ones covering some of our favourite bits of London in crazy chaotic Mr Men fashion. Roger Hargreaves' legacy of fun characters continues with his son Adam now writing and illustrating the books, and bringing them bang up to date with fabulous stories like these.

Charlotte's best bit: Mr Tickle livening up a boring bus journey!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Poor Mr Bump falling headfirst into the fountains at Trafalgar Square

(Kindly sent to us for review by Egmont Publishing UK)

The major draw of Minecraft for us is building! As we've previously mentioned in our other Minecraft articles, imagine having a near-infinite construction set to play with, and a vast landscape to build in and you can certainly see why delving into the secrets of "Minecraft: The Official Construction Handbook" has a lot of appeal.

The book taps the knowledge of one of the top UK construction teams, FyreUK, for amazing tips, tricks and some truly stunning building!

FyreUK's amazing buildings are really eye-catching

Using this book, you'll learn to unlock the holy grail of block building, setting up the perfect pad for Minecraft Steve to live in and feel safe in when monsters and shambling nightmares come out at night.

Helpfully detailing the components you'll need, with clear screenshots to show you how to get started with some of the simpler projects, you can really let your imagination fly. FyreUK specialise in producing architectural feats of wonder, from amazing palaces and castles, to windmills and sailing ships.

Another brilliant addition to Egmont's official Minecraft range (and our favourite of all the Minecraft handbooks!)

Charlotte's best bit: The amazing interiors in the Royal Palace model. Love those thrones!

Daddy's Favourite bit: So many brilliant tips from how to make floating islands, to using parts for purposes other than intended!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Egmont UK)

Babar the Elephant in his oh so natty green suit, bow tie, spats and crown combo. A real fashion guru!

Wow, did you know Babar the Elephant is celebrating his 80th Anniversary this year? The hunt is on to help find original Babar fans. Have you grown up loving Babar's antics in book form? Do you remember the TV version (I do, just about!)

Have you passed on a love of Babar the Elephant (originally written by Jean De Brunhoff and translated into his first English Language book way back in 1933!) to your own children?

If the answer is "Yes" to any of those questions, time to get Tweeting @Babar_UK or drop into Facebook www.facebook.com/OfficialBabarUK to celebrate the theme of '80 years of sharing' along with Babar's publishers Egmont Press.

12 million copies of the Babar books have been sold worldwide and the books have been translated into 17 languages. There are now 42 Babar books available. If you've never checked out this stylish Elephant's antics, then it's time you did!

Please join in if your parents or grandparents remember Babar and have any great stories or memories to share.