Oh my, it's time for another one of those completely adorable "That's not my" books, and this time it's the turn of our antipodean kuji bears, the gorgeous koala!

"That's Not My Koala" by Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells once again uses the same mega-successful touchy-feely tried and tested formula to deliver a nose-booping koala-powered experience like no other.

Little ones absolutely love exploring the textures in these books, with the simple story wrapped around bright colourful and bold visuals, perfect for tinies just developing their visual acuity.

Can you spot that hidden mouse? He crops up a lot, so keep an eye out for him too!

Utterly love these!

Sum this book up in a sentence: A trip down under for a distinctly antipodean version of the tried and tested book series, absolutely essential as your little ones' first book experience.

"That's Not My Koala" by Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells is out now, published by Usborne (kindly supplied for review)

We can't help ourselves, we have such a soft spot for Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells' brilliant "That's not my" book range, and there's a new one out today.

Are you pink?

Do you like standing on one leg?

Are you partial to a shrimp sandwich?

Then step right up, today sees the launch of the truly brilliant "That's Not My Flamingo" !

These were some of the first books we read to C when she was an absolute tiddler, and though the library copies were always very well thumbed / drooled on, they were such a great introduction to books for her, and such a great way to start off that excitement and engagement that comes from turning each page and discovering something new.

Fluffy wings? Shiny beaks? Yep we love it to bits and we hope that this book range goes on forever, though now C is 11, she still loves these and half her enjoyment comes from trying to dream up new titles that Fiona and Rachel might not have thought of yet.

"That's not my Blobfish! His face is too squishy!" - Make it happen ladies :)

Sum this book up in a sentence: The very best book range for tiny tiddlers, introducing the excitement, anticipation and interaction that comes from sitting down with a great book from a very early age.

"That's not my Flamingo" by Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells is out today, published by Usborne Books 

(kindly supplied for review with the world's greatest tote bag!)

We love quality board books for tiny tiddlers, and we're taking a look at two more brilliant titles coming up from Usborne Publishing.

First is the latest in the mega-successful "That's not my" series from Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells

"That's Not My Mermaid" invites you on an undersea adventure with superb textured board-book pages to tempt little ones into a sensory experience with their first books.

Sturdy and beautifully presented, these books are always a total win with us - and we love recommending them to parents who are looking for a set of collectable titles to introduce their children to the joy of reading.

"That's not my Mermaid" by Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells is out on 7th March 2019 published by Usborne. 

Out on the same date is another treat, this time for unicorn fans...

"Are you there Little Unicorn" by Sam Taplin is a brilliant addition to Usborne's "Little Peep-Through" books, again encouraging exploration, curiosity and interaction.

There are lots of opportunities for littlies to explore and enjoy the colourful illustrations and peep through sections in the book, and let's face it who DOESN'T love a book full of Unicorns?

Great fun for the tiniest of tinies.

"Are you there, Little Unicorn" by Sam Taplin is also out on the 7th March 2019, published by Usborne Books. 

(Both titles kindly supplied for review).

Can you believe that the fantastic "That's Not My" books are celebrating their 20th Anniversary this year?

Wow! These were amongst C's favourite books when she was the tiniest of tinies, and Usborne are rolling out the gold carpet with special sparkly gold-edged-page editions of their best "That's Not My" books - including the one that kicked it all off. "That's Not My Puppy" by Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells.

Wee ones love the multi-textured and tactile pages, and the books are wonderfully chunky and long lasting - standing up to even the most ardent chewing (whether by puppies or kids!)

Absolutely essential for little ones getting into books for the first time, the range is now colossal so head over to the Usborne web site to see the entire range.

Sum this book up in a sentence: An absolutely brilliant first book for any child, and a brilliantly imaginative range of subjects to keep all kids engaged in their first reading experiences, happy 20th Birthday!

"That's Not My Puppy" 20th Anniversary Edition is out now, published by Usborne Books (kindly supplied for review).

Gosh, here's a series that takes us back almost ten years to when we first started exploring books for the first time together...

With a "WHOOP!" of glee, Charlotte greeted this latest book arrival with open arms. Any excuse to get mucky and she's there...!

It's usually quite noisy and hectic at Christmas, but if there's one thing that guarantees a couple of blissful hours of silence, it's an Usborne sticker book. Get your little ones settled with the "Santa's Workshop Sticker Book" and they'll be happy, busy and occupied with over 300 festive stickers to stick into various scenes.

We loved the characters in this, from cheeky little Santas to helpful elves and of course Rudolf and a host of other Christmas favourites too. Find out how Santa decides who's been naughty and nice, and looks at each and every christmas list sent by children all over the world.

Colourful, fun and utterly christmassy!


Charlotte's best bit: The busy little elves working in Santa's toy workshops and sorting offices

Daddy's Favourite bit: As with all the Usborne sticker books, it's just so great to see Charlotte busying herself and completely wrapped up in sticker fun (leaving us to make mince pies and mulled wine!)

(Originally sent to us for review by Usborne Books)

We couldn't have a christmas advent calendar without a christmas 'make' book - and you can always count on Usborne Publishing to have some absolute crackers in their christmas catalogue. Fiona Watt is the doyen of crafty makes and this bumper Christmas "100 Christmas Things to Make and Do" is chock full of utterly brilliant ideas from making an advent calendar, to making brilliant table decorations and all manner of fun christmassy things for little (and large) hands.

The hallmark of Usborne 'make' books is that they're always full of amazing ideas, with clear instructions and illustrations throughout - and above all, the feeling that you really can make everything in the book with fairly modest crafting skills, and without needing to dive out to your local crafting superstore for all the bits you need for the majority of these.

A brilliant addition to anyone's christmas stocking though obviously you'll probably want to dive out and grab one now, and get started with your festive christmas crafting before the first snows fall.


Charlotte's best bit: Making fingerprint robins. So cute!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Painted angels. Such a simple make idea but so effective!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Usborne Publishing)

Happy New Year! Let's kick off 2013 with a cracking review of a fantastic book, one of Charlotte's christmas presents (thanks Uncle Graham!) - and a bit of a sad tale. You see, this book is not only very absorbing - it's also quite absorbent as we found out to our cost during a rather unfortunate car-sickness incident.

So although it's no longer with us (it was too ruined to salvage, alas), it was brilliant fun for the short time we had it.

With a mixture of fantastic themed pages covering drawing, doodling and colouring (as the title suggests), children and adults alike will find plenty to do. One minute you can be drawing fantastic hats and hairdos on funny little characters, the next minute you can be designing the perfect robot - or better still, the most horrendous monster ever created!

It's testament to how brilliant this book is that even the artistically challenged (like Charlotte's Grandad) found themselves drawn (quite literally) to it. This plus a pack of coloured pencils / pens and from time to time a bit of adult help for younger children guarantees hours of fun and stimulation. Just make sure you don't use it in the car after a huge bowl of coco pops and some impromptu dancing on a windy Devon road with no lay-bys.

Charlotte's best bit: Drawing happy / sad / frightened expressions on the 'face drawing' bits.

Daddy's favourite bit: Designing the perfect robotic companion