We sat and thought, nay cogitated over what could make the perfect recipe for a review of this wonderful book. Take a pinch of opinion, a couple of giggles, a few choice words and some melted chocolate. What? Doesn't everything require the addition of melted chocolate? If not, why not?

Charlotte sat down to read "Recipe for a Story" by Ella Burfoot with her Auntie Mel, and it was quite delightful to hear their laughter as they made their way through the ingredients list. The story is baked to perfection, left to rest a little while before being devoured by hungry book folk such as ourselves.

We join a little girl who ponders over the perfect list of ingredients to throw into her story mix (though we both think we may have developed some sort of a food-like intolerance to certain punctuation - those semi-colons always stick in the gaps between our teeth!)

We love Ella's writing style (and we REALLY love the exquisite little details she includes in the illustrations here too). A lilting sing-song of a book that will become a huge favourite 'recipe' we'll want to cook again and again.

Charlotte's best bit: Chaotic cooking but just the way we like it!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A delicious tasty book-based read-aloud treat!

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

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Darkness Slipped In by Ella Burfoot

Ella Burfoot has a taste for monster tales or tales tinged with darkness - but never fear, the monsters in this book are fairly colourful and happy chaps.

Which is more than can be said for poor Louie, who finds their monstrous behaviour a bit much to bear at times. Monsters eat messily and noisily. Monsters don't really like sleeping when everyone else does, so they're always making a noise or creating havoc. Monsters don't like colouring in colouring books, and much prefer to colour on the walls with Louie's crayons.

As you'd imagine, Louie gets very fed up with this outrageous behaviour and writes a note to the monsters telling them to go away.

Peace at last! Or so Louie thinks. You see life's always fun when you've got three monsters around, and Louie's life suddenly becomes a bit too quiet, a bit too ordered and - well - boring!

Can he win his friends back?

We never ever get tired of monster books, even ones where we're fairly familiar with the storyline as we are with the friendship dynamic of "You're a pain in the neck, but without you things just aren't the same" - it does crop up in so many children's books but here, delivered by three cheeky monsters, it's a fun romp!

Charlotte's best bit: Monsters playing (somewhat cruel) pranks on Louie. How rude!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Loved Ella's monster designs and it's a nice lightweight story, no "Darkness Crept In"-style pre-bedtime scares here, hooray!

Alright, no more grumpiness, here's a book that is an utter delight and again this was one of Charlotte's choices, so you have to take the rough with the smooth.

Betty, a brave little girl, ventures out into the snowy landscapes on an utterly perfect snow day. With sledge in tow, Betty soon begins to find very odd things nestling amongst the snowdrifts.

A big clumpy pair of boots...with bizarre animal track soles?

A big floppy flappy coat way too big for her?

A very odd looking pair of gloves?

What on EARTH is going on?

Luckily, plucky Betty soon gets to the bottom of the mystery and meets a tiny little character who reveals himself to be - THE YETI! Eeek! The scourge of the snowscapes, the meanest toughest most scary...er...little guy.

Betty and the Yeti soon find out that there's more to life than running around scaring people, and friendship is a wonderful thing.

We loved this book, for the imagery and the wonderful positive messages it conveys. We also secretly wished that the recent pathetic dusting of snow that was gone in a blink had stayed long enough for us to dress as Yetis and stomp around the neighbourhood!

Charlotte's best bit: The Yeti's big clompy boots. Stomp Stomp!

Daddy's favourite bit: Utterly love the message this book conveys, in such a crisp, clean and beautiful way. Bit like the first fall of proper snow. Lovely stuff Ella!

Most children go through a phase of being 'afraid of the dark' and in Ella Burfoot's book "Darkness Slipped In" the darkness is reimagined as a playmate, a spiky-headed shadowy figure that isn't to be feared. Daisy, the young girl in the book, isn't the least bit afraid of the darkness as he envelops her room. They have a merry dance, and play, until Daisy starts to get sleepy.

The book treads a mighty fine line between allaying a child's fears of what night-time holds and giving them too much to think about once they settle down into their bed and the unfamiliar domain of darkness turns their snug surroundings into a shadowy realm.

I'd certainly baulk at reading this to Charlotte anywhere near bed-time (perfect for bright sunny days like we've had over the weekend though). It's beautifully illustrated, the characters are engaging (though Darkness still looks a little too sinister and mysterious at times, and his all-enveloping arms taking away Daisy's teddy were a bit much for Charlotte). It's a good attempt to produce something that shows there's nothing to be scared of once the lights go out, but children's minds don't quite work that way, and merely showing that Darkness is a happy little chap who likes a bit of a dance won't actually go as far as mollifying a child's dreamed-up demons if they have trouble sleeping at night.

Charlotte's best bit: Daisy's lovely dress and cute teddy

Daddy's favourite bit: The depiction of the darkness - worked for me but possibly still too scary for kids.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars