Aw, just the ticket for the long summer holidays but sadly not out until the 7th September. BUT a good way of beating the 'Back to school" doldrums for creative kids, with a new range of fantastic activity books from top creative Marion Deuchars.

Marion's tutorial and art books are always brilliant and we started off by taking a look at "Let's make some Great Art: Animals" which was very much my daughter's cup of tea, being mildly obsessed with animals of all shapes and sizes.

Learn how to draw, paint, collage and create a ton of brilliant animal-based art with easy to follow guides and lots of encouragement to get straight into drawing directly in the book (something we're always a little nervous of, but don't worry, this book positively begs you to do so but just don't get any ideas about doing that to your other books, OK kids?)

Tons of fun and some brilliant results made so easily that you'll feel like a "proper" artist!

"Let's Make Some Great Art: Animals" by Marion Deuchars is published by Hachette on 7th September 2020. 

Also out on 7th September is "Let's Make some Great Art: Patterns"...

Marion encourages you to let your mind wander by creating some truly awesome patterns and doodles with whatever art materials you have to hand.

Patterns appear all around us, in our lives, in nature, everywhere! So let's draw up a storm with some esoteric mesmeric designs that can be used for all sorts of things from purely decorative forms of art, to decorating your school books, project folders or even your top secret diary!

Marion's enthusiasm and effervescence really shine through in this book, and anyone with any artistic skills, whether beginner or experienced, will find an activity in this book to suit.

Brilliant stuff!

"Let's Make some Great Art: Patterns" by Marion Deuchars will be released on 7th September 2020, published by Hachette. 

(Both books kindly supplied for review)

C'est si Bon! Our second Book of the Week this week is a real refreshing sunny little treat, perfect for kids who are just beginning to learn French at school, and featuring one of the most engaging and happy little characters we've had the delight of encountering in a long time in PBs.

Meet Monsieur Roscoe, star of "Monsieur Roscoe on Holiday" by Jim Field, the super-talented illustrator behind those "Oi Frog / Dog / Log / Platypus" books.

Monsieur Roscoe is off on his summer holidays, and whenever he meets his friends, they always greet each other first in English and then in French - giving kids the opportunity to learn some key phrases and useful words in that divine language (I'm currently going through the grown-up methods of learning French and it's a language that is SO easy to fall in love with, so this book is a double delight!)

Jim's gorgeous bright illustrations underpin Monsieur Roscoe's journey as he sets off on his travels. We loved the fact that this book felt a lot 'busier' than Jim's normal work, almost akin to the fabulous Richard Scarry books I loved as a kid, and packed with lots of additional things for kids to observe and spot (see the back of the book for hints and tips on what to look for in each page spread).

So let's have a look inside. Oooh my you're in for a treat with this one...!

Introduce yourself, Monsieur Roscoe!

A whole host of animal characters crop up in the book, and we spent hours just looking at each gorgeous highly detailed illustration (plus plenty of time practicing our (admittedly terrible) levels of French!)

Even the rain won't put off our happy hound! Il Pleut indeed!

The thing that got us most excited about "Monsieur Roscoe" is that we can instantly see the potential for this to end up as a huge series. More books with more French would be ace, but we could also see Mr Roscoe perhaps being joined by other buddies speaking other languages. That would be just perfect!

Fave scene, the campsite!

It's whimsical, charming, educational and downright perfect, in fact as we already said on Twitter, this is easily our favourite thing of Jim's. What a talented chap he is!

Sum this book up in a sentence: A truly fantastic first book to begin a learning journey for children wanting to speak a little French with brilliant illustrations, a whole host of engaging animal characters and a ton of polish applied to it.

"Monsieur Roscoe on Holiday" by Jim Field is out now, published by Hachette Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

It feels like a weirdly different landscape for schools at the moment, but one thing that never goes amiss is a good dose of awesome advice from someone who knows what they're talking about.

Entering senior school can be a daunting prospect for youngsters and in "Go Big: Survive and Thrive in Secondary School" the nation's favourite head teacher Matthew Burton (star of Educating Yorkshire) is on hand to dispense teacherly wisdom in a really nicely presented and digestible form.

In fact we wish we'd had this book a few months ago when C herself began her senior school journey. Just about everything you can think of is covered here, from homework to leisure activites and clubs, from lesson planning and exams to mental health issues, bullying and even careers advice and ways to gear yourself up for what you want to eventually do when senior school comes to an end.

This book format is really great, as it feels like the sort of book that'll tuck nicely into your school bag to be referred to, maybe even scribbled on once you get to senior school yourself. Even though we're still not sure what's actually going to happen come September when kids may be heading off to Senior School for the first time, it's still worth having a look inside as this book is invaluable for those worried about the whole process.

Cutting through some of the common myths and rumours about senior school

Oh grud, exams. I mean does anyone actually like them?

I still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up.

Sum this book up in a sentence: An awesome self-help guide for kids about to enter secondary school, written by a head teacher who really knows what he's talking about!

"Go Big" by Matthew Burton is out now, published by Hachette (kindly supplied for review).

As with many of the books in our #Booky100Keepers Countdown, James Mayhew's "Katie" books stretch across our bookshelves, with multiple titles still lovingly kept and read, re-read and enjoyed even to this day.

From "Katie and the Starry Night" to "Katie in London" and "Katie's London Chrismas" there are many titles to choose from but it was "Starry Night" that inspired C to enjoy amazing art to such an extent that she still has a copy of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" as a framed print on her wall thanks to James.

The Katie books are brilliantly realised, comfortably 'disposing' with Katie's sleepy Grandma fairly early on in each story so that Katie (and quite often her cousin) can go on adventures through the world of art, or through the amazing landmarks of London and Scotland and many other places, in gorgeously dreamy and exciting tales.

We've always loved books that have 'leaked' into our real-world everyday lives, and I loved the fact that when we took C to Trafalgar Square as a tiny, tiny tot the first thing she looked for was Katie's scarf tucked around one of the stone lions (sadly the Lion seems to have lost it as we couldn't see it!)

When authors / illustrators can inspire kids to this extent, it's no wonder we want to keep their books around. James' storytelling and illustration skills are sought after for good reason, and he's done an excellent job (with a little help / encouragement from us too of course) to turn C into a real fan of amazing art. Thank you James!

Original Review Links:

Katie's London Christmas

Katie and the Starry Night

Katie and the British Artists

Katie's Picture Show

Katie in London

It's launch day for a whole ton of awesome books, and we're delighted to finally see "Pests" by Emer Stamp arriving on shelves, ready to rock your reading world.

A gorgeous, funny, charming and original book, filled with Emer's brilliant humour - and a whumping great big dose of "awwwww" as well!

We jumped the gun a bit because we couldn't wait to tell you all about it back in January - ReadItDaddy's Chapter Book of the Week - Week Ending 31st January 2020: "Pests" by Emer Stamp (Hodder Children's Books)

...but it's now properly out, with a superb glow-in-the-dark cover perfect for tucking up with before you curl up in your mousey bed!

"Pests" is the story of a busy little mouse named Stix. 

I wonder how many parents will be high-fiving each other at the gate this morning as we take a look at one of our favourite 'back to school' books of yesteryear, which is presented in a shiny new paperback version by Hachette.

Lauren Child's "Charlie and Lola" series is superb, and never better than in "I Am Too Absolutely Small for School".

Lola is a bit nervous. She's starting "Big School" and is also trying to convince everyone - even Soren Lorenson - that she's not quite ready yet. But Charlie, her big brother, is there to tell her all the fun things that she will get to do once she arrives.

Suddenly school doesn't seem so bad at all! In fact with all the busy things Lola gets to do, the day whizzes by so quickly.

This was a book I remember reading to C way back when she was starting juniors. Now she's starting Seniors it was fun looking back and remembering what it was like going into Reception classes for the first time!

Superb stuff from Lauren.

"I Am Too Absolutely Small for School" by Lauren Child is out now, published by Hachette Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

There's just something so appealing about stories that feature tiny little folk, and anyone who's loved "The Borrowers" will utterly fall in love with "Flock (A tree keeper adventure)" by Gemma Koomen.

It's a daydreamy and magical little story of the folk who look after and maintain our trees. Mostly silent and hidden, if you look carefully enough amongst the branches you might just spot them at work and at play.

The story centres around a young tree-keeper, Sylvia, who loves to let her imagination soar.

Sylvia prefers to be alone rather than play noisy games with the other Tree Keepers. 

I think if we could have chosen one author-illustrator to write the perfect eco-message book, it'd be Neal Layton.

The illustrator of the fantastic "Emily Brown" books (with Cressida Cowell) and author-illustrator of several brilliant stories, Neal's trademark collage / doodle style is absolutely perfect for "A Planet Full of Plastic".

This is a subject that has really hit home in recent years, particularly with us - and we like to consider ourselves as a family who take recycling seriously, but get completely frustrated by how much single use plastic appears in our weekly shop.

"A Planet Full of Plastic" moves through the history of this 'miracle' material, and how the world fell completely in love with the convenience of it - at the cost of the stuff sticking around far longer than intended, and beginning to take a toll on our planet, our oceans and all the animals that live here (including us of course!)

Plastic doesn't age, doesn't rot and in some cases can be recycled a finite number of times before it becomes useless, even dangerous.

Plastic was fantastic - but now we need to look at new ways of moving on from using it everywhere

Neal's book is entertainingly illustrated and brilliantly written, balancing the quite often serious and harrowing topics surrounding plastic pollution with a lighter touch of humour to try and show just how crazy the world's obsession with plastic really can be.

Best of all, kids will find a rallying call to action - simple things that they can do to cut down on the consumption of plastic, or to tidy up our beaches and habitats making the world a nicer (and healthier) place for all animals and plants, fish and fowl, and humans too.

Blue Planet II highlighted the horror of plastics in our oceans and how many animals die from consuming the horrible stuff

This is such a fantastic book, brilliantly suitable for classroom projects and school work based around  changing just a few things to cut our plastic consumption. But it's also great for home too, containing tons of facts and advice to help kids who want to make these changes themselves (and recruit their families into bucking their ideas up too!)

Absolutely awesome stuff as usual from a hugely talented writer-illustrator.

Sum this book up in a sentence: One of the best books on a subject that is really hitting the headlines at the moment, raising awareness with kids who are absolutely determined to get behind eco issues.

"A Planet full of Plastic" by Neal Layton is out today, published by Hachette (kindly supplied for review). 

We still love a tickly tiddly picture book that's great for tiny toddlers and we've been taking a look at a couple of beauties coming soon from Hachette / Hodder Children's Books.

First up is another book in the hugely popular "I Love My" series by hugely talented duo Giles Andreae and Emma Dodd.

"I Love my Birthday" is a glorious celebration of glorious celebrations, and tells the story of a very special birthday indeed!

There are presents to open, lots of good things to eat and party games to play. Can you picture your perfect birthday? I bet it looks a lot like this...

Blueberry pancakes and kisses from mum? Pretty much perfect!

"I Love my Birthday" by Giles Andreae and Emma Dodd is out now, published by Orchard Books.

If there's one thing kids love as much as their birthdays, it's their cuddly toys and our second book comes from "Kipper" superstar Mick Inkpen, introducing us to a new lovable character.

"Threadbear" may be a bit old and worn at the seams, but he's still a beloved toy. One thing that's never been right with him is his tummy squeaker. It's never, ever worked but perhaps a bit of magic from a certain red-clad white-bearded gentleman renowned for working magic and giving presents might help?

"Threadbear" by Mick Inkpen is out now, published by Hodder Children's Books. 

We're joining in a rather special blog tour to herald a rather super book we've already covered on the blog. You can read our review of "King Flashypants and the Evil Emperor" but we're also featuring a bit of an insight into the characters you'll find in this hilarious new book for children.

WHO’S WHO IN KING FLASHY PANTS

King Edwin
Edwin isn’t an ordinary boy. He is a king, with a throne, and his own crown, and a castle with secret passages and everything.

Megan the Jester
Edwin’s favourite jester. She’s really good at falling over and singing a song about a cat.

Minister JillEdwin’s right (and left) hand minister. She can write two letters at once, one with each hand. Handy.

Emperor Nurbison
Foo Hoo Hoo Hoo! Emperor Nurbison is an evil emperor. He wears a black coat, black tights, black boots, and has a little goatee beard and a super-evil, evil castle.

Globulus
Globullus is evil Emperor Nurbison’s servant. He’s the shape and size of a beach ball.

Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins. Sheer picture book perfection!

We're very excited about this book, can you tell?

"Rosie's Walk" is an utterly fantastic and legendary children's book by one of the most amazingly talented children's authors in the world, Pat Hutchins. Pat's tale of an unassuming hen out for a brisk constitutional is a masterpiece of storytelling as we see a wily fox succumb to cruel karma in various comedic ways as he tries to pounce on the hen as she passes by. I fell in love with this book as a tiny wee whippersnapper and couldn't wait to share it with Charlotte when we found a copy nestling between the stacks in our local library. Know what? It's still as fantastic today as it was all those years ago (and you've gotta love that groovy 70s artwork, maaaan!)

News that a sequel was coming had us checking and double-checking our peepers. A sequel? From Pat herself? Are you KIDDING?

No we're not, and in fact here is the awesome cover of "Where oh where is Rosie's Chick"...

Where oh Where is Rosie's Chick by Pat Hutchins.

Hachette have very kindly sent us a brilliant interview with Pat herself, including some insights into her fab art technique revisited here for the new book.

On the original inspiration: ‘I lived in New York for two years with my husband, Laurence. I couldn’t work whilst I was out there because I was a “secondary alien” according to the US government. This was actually great because it gave me the time to concentrate on my illustration. I wanted to write a book about animal noises, which I took in to see a publisher, who pointed out that the most interesting character was the fox who said nothing. I went home and thought about that and from there sprung Rosie’s Walk – the name Rosie is a friend’s pet hen when I was young. I envisioned the book as a sort of silent, funny, film, one where the audience or readers are in on a secret that Rosie doesn’t know – a ‘he’s behind you!’ idea. It’s special not only because it was my first book, but because I had my first son on the same week that the book was published!’

On Rosie’s distinctive palette: ‘I used a ‘pre-separated’ art technique which starts as black and white, and then you layer over different sheets of different colours on top. That’s where Rosie’s Walk’s palette comes from – so obviously for the orange, I layered over red and yellow… When I began Where, Oh Where, is Rosie’s Chick? I was going to include some blue, but it didn’t seem right.’ On returning to Rosie 47 years after initial publication: ‘I only wanted to re-visit Rosie if the story made sense – I didn’t want to create something just for the sake of it. But Rosie having a chick makes sense, and always gives Rosie a way to have another walk without just repeating the same story.’

On the success of Rosie’s Walk: ‘I only lived in New York for two years, so it’s funny that the book is sometimes seen as an American book. I did include a woodchuck in the book for the American audience… It was a lovely surprise when the book was successful so quickly – I was thrilled with my £250 for writing the book, I didn’t expect anything else! It’s really very nice that it’s still read and enjoyed today.’

About Pat Hutchins: Pat Hutchins was born Yorkshire, the sixth of seven children. She won a scholarship to Darlington School of Art in 1958 and continued studying illustration at Leeds College of Art, graduating in 1962. She worked for advertising agency in London to 1966 when she married Laurence Hutchins and moved to New York City for two years. There she worked on writing and illustrating her first picture book, Rosie's Walk, published in 1968.

Pat Hutchins has written novels for early readers, some illustrated by husband Laurence and more than two dozen picture books. Her work is widely acclaimed; she won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1974 for The Wind Blew.

Pat Hutchins also played the role of an artistic narrowboat owner in the classic children's television series, Rosie and Jim. She has two children and four grandson

My mother said that I never should, ever go down to the deep, dark wood. The little girl in this story didn't heed silly advice like that, and as the story opens it feels like it could be yet another "Red Riding Hood" tale.

But bear with it (or should we say "wolf with it") as this deliciously dark little tale has a neat little twist or two all of its own.

It does feature a big bad wolf, it does feature a seemingly innocent little girl all on her own, and there is lots of talk about scoffing and eating by the aforementioned wolf but there's where the comparisons end as the tale unfolds with a riotous end.

Of course we're not going to ruin that ending for you, but appearances can be deceptive so as the little girl and her wolfy friend fend off all the other denizens of the deep dark wood, it's quite awesome that as time goes on, the wolf seems more frightened than the child! Nice that!

Neatly told with lots of brilliant read-aloud bits. Dark enough to make Charlotte cuddle up close when reading, but laugh her head off at the end. A great early start to our new year's 'dark' list!

Charlotte's best bit: Is the wolf really going to scoff the little girl up, every last bite?

Daddy's Favourite bit: Great to read aloud, and a belter of a neat twist at the end. Love it!

Like this? You'll love these...

The Dark by Jon Klassen

Darkness Slipped In by Ella Burfoot

The Spider and the Fly by Tony DiTerlizzi

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

Here's a rather smashing little book that teaches children to overcome their toilet-training fears, as we meet a rather cheeky little monkey who happens to live aboard Noah's Ark. When his potty goes missing one day, just as the little fellah urgently needs to go to the loo, he searches high and low to no avail.

Monkey is worried about sitting on the "big toilet" but there's nothing to be afraid of, and being extremely brave he manages to learn how to sit comfortably and do what comes naturally.

We loved David Wojtowicz's fun characterisations, and Smriti Prasadam-Halls' fantastic way of showing that going to the loo is nothing to be worried about.

A fabulous idea for a book, so if your little one (like ours) has some anxiety issues with toilet time, help them learn to love the loo like Monkey!

Charlotte's best bit: Where Monkey finally finds his potty!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Definitely a novel and rather great idea for helping children overcome loo anxiety. Huge applause for that!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Hachette)

A book that celebrates a love of stories, and libraries - and mixes it with supernatural spooky goings on? What's not to love?

David Melling's "The Ghost Library" tells the story of a little girl, Bo, and her love of books. One evening as she's snuggling down with her favourite story about a witch with really stinky feet, there's a cold wind, a howling noise, and before she knows what's happening, Bo is whisked off to...THE GHOST LIBRARY!

But it's an odd sort of library. There are no books, in fact the ghosts who run it only temporarily borrow children's books to stock their shelves - and as Bo demonstrates, children are very good at hanging onto their books!

The three ghosts responsible are hugely apologetic, but make the best of the rare occasion of having visitors to ask Bo to tell them a story. Soon they realise that perhaps the best way to fill the library would be with stories of their own, and all the ghosts rally round to fill those shelves.

We loved the fact that at times, the story dips out into wordless 'comic strip' spreads that allow Charlotte to tell the stories in her own words. The power of wordless books is definitely undeniable and sometimes it's hilarious to hear what children say when they're presented with a series of images, and start to put their own story to them.

Melling's trademark inventiveness with characters and situations shines through. We loved the fact that the ghosts sometimes appear to be 'stuck' in the scenery, half poking out of walls and protruding through the empty library shelves. The real star though is Bo, a book-loving little girl not a million miles away from my own little bookworm. Lovely!


Charlotte's best bit: Narrating the story of the witch with really stinky feet in her own words.

Daddy's Favourite bit: Great characters, and how could we possibly NOT love a book that champions stories and libraries - however ghostly!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Hachette)

Giles Andreae, legendary rhyme-meister and Emma Dodd, fabulously talented illustrator, have collaborated on quite a few "I Love" books and there's a special seasonal one on the way very soon too (watch out for an upcoming review when things start getting a bit more festive!)

In "I Love You", we see things from a child's perspective - a tantalising glimpse of their world and the things in it, and why they like them. Mummy, Daddy, beloved pets and of course chocolate (who doesn't like chocolate? Oh that's right, Grandad but he does like cake!)

These books make great little gifts and they're also nice as a snuggle up book just before bedtimes.

We Love Giles and Emma!

Charlotte's best bit: I Love Bunnies!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A great little early reader, perfect gift for a loved one to read to their youngsters!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Hachette)

Written in conjunction with The International Children's Heart Foundation, here's a book with a huge thumping heart full of loveliness. Nicholas Allan (who we normally associate with slightly cheekier book fare like the superb "The Queen's Knickers" and "Cinderella's Bum") has woven a gorgeous tale around Babette and Bill, two inseparable friends. Nicholas, having grown up with a heart condition, is backing a campaign to raise awareness of congenital heart conditions, and offer the same standards of care to children in other countries. A fantastic and noble cause indeed!

Babette and Bill do everything together. Babette loves to run in the park (and drags a sometimes-reluctant Bill along for the journey). They're always ready to enjoy a game, a gastronomic feast or perhaps just some quiet book-time (Hooray!)

But when Babette falls ill one day, and ends up in hospital, poor Bill is at a complete loss.

None of their usual games are as much fun when you're on your own, nor is cooking up a feast for one.

Fortunately Bill and Babette share a bond, a string of hearts - and the strength of love that links them together. So Bill is at Babette's side as she recovers in hospital, and gets stronger and stronger every day until one day they can enjoy their fun and laughter together once again.

Gentle, touching, beautifully told and wonderfully drawn in Nicholas' trademark style, it's a book treasure this - and with a fantastic cause being supported, there's a huge amount to love about "The Big Hearted Book". The book will be released on 1st August 2013.

Find out more about the International Children's Heart Foundation here.

Also, if you fancy something rather special linked with the book, join in with The Big Hearted charity auction with some of the biggest names in children's books contributing to special heart-themed works of art (the list of names reads like a "who's who" of our favourite people!)

Charlotte's best bit: Bill being grumpy about getting up in the morning (we know the feeling!)

Daddy's favourite bit: Beautifully told, beautifully drawn and with no pun intended, a subject that's obviously very dear to Nicholas Allan's heart. A classic and for a wonderful cause. Go buy it!

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

I can't quite believe we've never encountered Claude before, Alex T Smith's brilliant doggie creation who - along with the mysteriously enigmatic Sir Bobblysock - gets into all sorts of exciting scrapes and adventures.

So what does the aerodynamically-shaped pooch get up to this time?

Claude slips out into the big wide world when his owners, Mr and Mrs Shinyshoes leave for work one morning. Along with his best friend and sidekick Sir Bobblysock (a rather dashing and well presented sock, if a little bobbly and woolly), Claude once again aims to experience life in the hustle and bustle of the urban metropolis.

There is much for a young dog to take in. Cafe culture and high tea, but soon Claude is drawn to the sounds of music and a ballet class as young children practice for a big show later that day.

Never one to shy away from adventure and excitement (despite Sir Bobblysock's silent protests and pithy stares), Claude tucks into a small emergency lunch (stashed in his capacious Tardis-like Beret, of course) and is soon in the thick of a cake stealing plot as thick as a layer of royal icing!

Can Claude save the day and be home in time for a well earned rest?

Alex T Smith's a master of making children giggle like drains, and adults also love the sheer joy of reading Claude books out loud to their kids (well I certainly did!) The book had all the right ingredients for Charlotte. Crazy characters, ballet shenanigans and of course suave socks who look rather dapper in a half-windsor tie. What's not to love!

Can't wait to read more Claude, what a happy discovery!

Charlotte's best bit: After watching too many episodes of Scooby Doo it didn't take her very long to figure out who the culprit was in the story! They might've gotten away with it if it hadn't been for that perishing dog (and his sock!)

Daddy's favourite bit: In my mind's eye Alex has secretly drawn an intricate cutaway drawing of Claude's beret, detailing all the little compartments and containers where he keeps all the emergency stuff he needs for his adventures. So cool!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Hodder / Hachette Children's Books)