Fresh from learning all there is to know about Unicorns, it's time for a new adventure for a curious little girl who has acres of confidence and self-belief

"Sophie Johnson: Detective Genius" by Morag Hood and Ella Okstad picks up Sophie reassuring us that criminals don't stand a chance when she's around.

There's only one girl who can unpick the threads of any complicated mystery. But Sophie might not be quite the great detective she's cracked up to me - and anyone (as old as me) that remembers "Hong Kong Phooey" might recognise the setup here, when Bella the dog actually turns out to be a zillion times better at solving and preventing crime than her "Boss".

While Sophie is focused on the case of the missing lion's tale, she misses a far more nefarious crime taking place at the hands of three inept burglars. Thankfully Bella, the "Good dog" is on the scene to avert a near disaster.

C actually didn't get on with this book at all, but I thought it was quite a neat little switch-around of characters - and certainly great for kids who might know a Sophie-like character themselves.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A great little detective romp from a dynamic and creative kidlit duo.

"Sophie Johnson: Detective Genius" by Morag Hood and Ella Okstad is out now, published by Simon and Schuster Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

The invisible cat is back and this time he's naughtier than ever! "Squishy McFluff Meets Mad Nana Dot" is the third adventure for Squishy and his extremely mischievous owner Ava. Regular 'Squish' fans will know that Squishy is Ava's invisible (imaginary) friend, and often encourages Ava to do the naughtiest things.

Ava's long suffering mum has a rather large tummy and am imminent new arrival means that Mum and Dad must dash off to hospital, packing Ava and Squishy off to stay with Mad Nana Dot. A lovely short-sighted but well meaning old lady, Dot thinks nothing of playing house host to Ava and her moggy though without her glasses she's never quite sure whether she can see Squishy or not.

Ava and Squishy don't take long before they're up to their usual tricks (as if filling the shed up with water wasn't naughty enough). A trip to the hairdresser's for Nana spells disaster and there's also a narrow squeak at the fishmongers too!

We laughed rather guiltily all the way through this - if you're the sort of parent who gets rather sniffy about books that highlight, nay almost encourage terrible behaviour in your younglings then look away, this will turn your hair white not green!

(Kids love it though, anything that allows them to live vicariously through a mischievous character usually ticks all their boxes!)

Charlotte's best bit: Almost from start to finish, Ava and Squishy's naughty tricks had her snorting with laughter (though I'm rather glad Charlotte is nothing like Ava at home!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: Please please PLEASE don't try the hair chemical mixing thing at home!!! Not even if your invisible cat tells you it's OK!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Faber and Faber)

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Squishy McFluff the Invisible Cat by Pip Jones and Ella Okstad (Faber and Faber)

Squishy McFluff in Supermarket Sweep by Pip Jones and Ella Okstad (Faber and Faber)

Kids are naturally drawn to characters in books who - to put no finer point on it - get away with being very VERY naughty indeed! Vicariously, kids love 'living' a character that can do as they please, particularly when they take a child in the story along for the ride.

We've seen this as one of the key factors that pirate books are so successful. Pirates run around all day nabbing treasure, drinking (non alcoholic) vegetable drinks and generally getting up to no good.

We have been delighted by the exploits of Squishy McFluff and his 'innocent' owner Ava. Whenever Squishy is around, chaos ensues and Ava haplessly stands by as events unfold. Of course, parents knowingly nod and wink at these brilliant stories, identifying the very factor that Pip and Ella have observed so well.

But the factor is the root of the first question Charlotte asked about Squishy McFluff. "Is he real, daddy?" - and there you have to pause as a dutiful parent, wink, and say "What do you think?"

"Squishy McFluff - Supermarket Sweep" is the second outing for the daring and mischievous invisible cat (do check out our review of "Squishy McFluff The Invisible Cat" from earlier in the year). Ava and Squishy are having fun in the garden until Mum drops a bombshell. It's time to visit the supermarket, AGHHHH!

Now, at this point in the story we smiled a little as we know only too well what a supermarket trip means with Charlotte in tow. When we could pop her into a trolley it wasn't so bad, but now she insists on steering the trolley (into everything and anyone who gets in the way) and that's even before we start hunting for things to feed her with!

Pip and Ella have perfectly reproduced shopping hell. Ava thinks she's managed to wriggle out of the trip by feigning a mystery illness for Squishy, but Mum seizes on this opportunity to ask Ava to leave Squishy tucked up at home, hopefully heading off any potential supermarket shenanigans before Squishy and Ava have a chance to hatch any plans.

Loading Ava into the car, Mum doesn't realise that Squishy the Invisible and not-really-ill-at-all cat has sneaked in too, and it doesn't take long for Ava and Squishy to render the car immobile by flicking all the switches and pressing all the buttons.

A few (seething) hours later, poor mum manages to get the plans back on track and off to the supermarket they go. Surely Ava and Squishy will have worn themselves out a little. Perhaps not, as true chaos unfolds amongst the stacked tins and vegetable racks as Ava and Squishy have their very own ideas about what should go in the trolley. Out with the health foods, in with the ring donuts, lollipops and sherbet dippers! YAY!

We'll leave the story there, because you're going to love the rest and we don't want to spoil it for you. We think Ava's exasperated mum deserves a medal (or at least the phone number of an invisible cat neutering service!) and though we normally love cats very much, we're definitely not sure we'd ever give Squishy house room. There's huge potential for more books in this fabulous series (hint hint Pip and Ella) and Charlotte absolutely could not get enough of Squishy and Ava's misbehaviours (hey that almost rhymes, whoah!)

As rip-snortingly brilliant as the first book and we truly can't wait for more! Lovely work Pip and Ella!

Charlotte's best bit: She loves Squishy, which is worrying because I'm really not sure we could find house room for such a naughty invisible pet!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Chock full of subversive snort-inducing behaviour from Squishy and Ava, with so many things that'll make parents wryly nod in agreement (and probably grin a lot too!) We love Squishy, come back soon!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Faber and Faber)

There seem to be an awful lot of books hitting our review schedule at the moment that deal with a fairly sensitive subject - imaginary friends. I had one as a kid called Pooki, and like the little girl, Ava, in this book, Pooki was more a good way of getting into (and excusing my way out of) mischief than being a perfect pet or companion.

Ava discovers Squishy McFluff one day in the vegetable patch, and instantly takes a liking to the invisible kitty (sensibly always shown as a mysterious transparent moggy). Ava goes everywhere with Squishy. He's extremely easy to look after (as invisible cats are - not as demanding as their real-life counterparts, for sure!) and at first Squishy is welcome at home. But then things go awry. Squishy is not beyond a bit of mischievous behaviour and soon Squishy starts to cause havoc, and Ava is always very quick to point out that Squishy is to blame - not her!

It takes a rather understanding and dapper 100 year old, Great Grandad Bill, to point out to Ava that Squishy should learn to comport himself as an elegant feline not a moggy miscreant. After all, it's not very cat-like to draw on walls with felt tips, or trash the house on a regular basis.

Charlotte is beginning to demand heftier literary fare and Squishy McFluff joins the ranks of early chapter readers that she's really taken to like a duck to water (or indeed, an invisible cat to an invisible plate of invisible tuna). The format (largely illustrated with plenty of interesting text) is nicely sized and Charlotte loves sneaking off with the book to read bits on her own (and laugh out loud at Squishy's rather naughty antics).

Dealing with a delicate subject isn't easy, this book not only manages to intricately describe Ava's imaginary friendship but also it lovingly pays tribute to our elders too. Great Grandad Bill (whose real-life counterpart receives a well-deserved dedication at the start of the book) is wise and level headed. Not too shabby for a centenarian.

What a gorgeous and thoroughly entertaining book, truly!

Charlotte's best bit: Of course, it has to be the bit where Mum thinks she's stroking Squishy's ears when really she's lovingly stroking his bum (Charlotte read the book before I could sit down and read it with her and I could hear her delighted cackle of laughter right from the other end of the house!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: A very nice treatment on the "imaginary friend" - sensitively and delicately told, and marvellous to read out loud thanks to tight and flowing rhymes. So glad to see that the next book, "Supermarket Sweep" is on the way.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Faber and Faber)