Some author-illustrators make our hearts almost sing with joy whenever they release a new book. One such gifted individual is Helen Hancocks, whose picture books are an absolute delight, striking the perfect balance between being gloriously involving and entertaining, and as clever as a Vixen who went off to Fox University and got her degree, doctorate and PhD.

Cats are a thing for us. You will probably see it as a recurring theme on the blog that we coo, and cheer every time a book comes along that features a devilishly smart feline and Helen's glorious "William" series is an absolute delight.

In "William and the Missing Masterpiece" the International Moggy of Mystery is hot on the trail of a mysterious art theft in the cool and cosmopolitan city of Paris.

It doesn't take long before William uncovers clues that lead straight to the thief. What we really loved about this book (apart from William) is Helen's gorgeous nods and references to famous works of art, all given her own unique storytelling and artistic touches to fit in with the story - and for me a great place to start off C's own interest in art and artists, showing her the real-life paintings which Helen based her own versions on.

William's second adventure "William Heads to Hollywood" is equally glorious, this time tapping into the whole Hollywood scene in such a fantastic way, and again working in dozens of fabulous characters, references and just utterly brilliantly clever stuff as William is hot on the trail of another devious miscreant, who this time has made off with all the annual awards.

Teaming up with glamour-puss Audrey Mieowski, William is quite the cat about town as he rubs shoulders with Hollywood royalty before nabbing the naughty award thief.

Helen draws on so many influences that tick all the right boxes for us, producing a book that feels like Roman Holiday - and a really fab read that's full of sunshine and colour, like most of Helen's books.

Lastly we wanted to mention another of Helen's cat books, well - cats are in it but the star is a rather strange goggle-eyed little chap...

"Penguin in Peril" is a fabulous chase-romp featuring three naughty cats who are so hungry they turn to a life of crime. Their plan: Kidnap the best fish-nabber in the business, making off with a poor Penguin from the local zoo.

Thankfully penguins are pretty slippery customers so as the cats make off with their captive, the penguin escapes - leading to a hilarious chase through the city until a helpful bird comes to the penguin's rescue, and sees those three naughty kitties tucked up safely behind bars.

Once again there are so many brill little details in this, and who could fail to love a book about cats AND penguins!

We've included review links to all the books we've featured by Helen, and look how many times she's fetched up in our Book of the Week slot..! Wow!

This week's second book of the week is SO cool and hip, the fabulous story of a legendary singer - here's "Ella, Queen of Jazz" by Helen Hancocks...

A dog book written by a dog (with some typing and illustration help from willing humans) actually FOR dogs? Cool! Book of the week round two!

A rather happy little girl once posed in the garden, dressed as Audrey Mieowski from this fabulous book...


Charlotte leaped on "William Heads to Hollywood" by Helen Hancocks, the sequel to another book of the week fave of ours from one of our favourite author-illustrators. Helen Hancocks' "William and the Missing Masterpiece" was a delicious cheese-fest mystery of a story introducing us to William, debonair stylish international moggy of mystery.

William's career as a cat detective is in a bit of a slump. Cases are too easy and in "The Case of the Missing Hat", William actually finds the missing headgear atop the daft man's head!

"Silly man" said Charlotte.

But soon a tricky case lands in William's lap and he jets off to Hollywood to meet the divine Miss Audrey Mieowski, stunning starlet and renowned film star. Mere days before the world's most glittering film award ceremony, a dozen Golden Cuckoo awards have gone missing.

Audrey and William are soon hot on the case, with only a hair pin and a few feathers to go on they're soon on a madcap chase through the studios and boulevards in glittering Hollywood, stopping for a quick snack and a visit to the fair as the tension heats up. It's almost the night of the awards ceremony, can William and Audrey track down the missing Golden Cuckoos before it's too late?

In Helen's stories, we adore the attention to detail and this brings us back to her books again and again as there's always something new to spot. William and Audrey make such a fantastic team, and we loved spotting our favourite penguin from "Penguin in Peril" cropping up for a few sneaky cameos (and as I said on Twitter, the "Furlini" gag made me want to hug the book with glee! Love it!)

"William Heads to Hollywood" is yet another triumphant masterpiece from Helen, and as ever we're waiting with baited breath to see what young white-socked William gets up to next. Adore, adore, adore this book!

Charlotte's best bit: She loved helping William to spot the missing Golden Cuckoos, and also loved the fab cameos in the story from Helen's other books (Penguins, YAY!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: that "Furlini" ref just slayed me. What a fantastic story, William is such a DUDE!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Templar Publishing)

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"William and the Missing Masterpiece" by Helen Hancocks (Templar Publishing)

"Penguin in Peril" by Helen Hancocks (Templar Publishing)

It's a hard life sometimes, being an international cat of mystery. One plans a holiday but before one can even pack a pair of kipper slippers, one's special services are required.

Helen Hancocks has an uber-sharp wit, a fabulous eye for a canny pun or two and in this cheese-fest of a story, William - the aforementioned detective cat - is called upon by Monsieur Gruyere to solve the most dastardly crime of the century, the theft of the Mona Cheesa.

Monsieur Gruyere is at his wits end, but William jets to Paris to get right on the case. It's not long before he realises that National Cheese Week, a mysterious stranger and an art contest are all somehow tied in with the theft.

We've had quite an arty week, soaking up Helen's fabulous reworkings of famous paintings in this book (The wonderful Book Sniffer let us in on a secret - lift up the flyleaf cover of the book for a surprise!) It was actually great fun diving onto the Internet to show Charlotte the real paintings that Helen based some of her mogtastic versions on (particularly loved the cat version of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" and a rather nifty homage to fromage in her version of "Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe")

Back to the case and William decides on a stake out, with an eye on the art contest, surely the dastardly thief is sure to show his or her colours. Will William solve the crime and be back home in time for a brie baguette?

Everything about this book tickles our fancy, from the brilliantly funny story to the cheesy works of art. Charlotte also loved the various cameos by a certain black-and-white flippered chap (You know who we mean!) and I had a ball spotting the myriad art references Helen has worked into the story (see how many you can spot!)

Utterly, completely brilliant, and actually a really nice jumping off point if your child is interested in art, enjoys the story and wants to discover more. By the way, we think the real William is as dapper as his book counterpart - and we hope Book William is ripe for more cheesy adventures in the not too distant future.

Charlotte's best bit: Spotting all the different cameos by a very well loved character from Helen's other book (no spoilers!)
Fave cheese: Big fat Mozzarella!

Daddy's Favourite bit: So many giggles and guffaws, and absolutely loved all the classic art reworked in Helen's own style. Dare I say "Brie-lliant!"
Fave Cheese: Shropshire Blue on a nice crusty sourdough roll

(Kindly sent to us for review by Templar Publishing)

We love cats but we know them all too well. As soon as our backs are turned, they're probably up to no good, usually in the pursuit of a full belly before another 16 hours of napping.

In Helen Hancock's brilliant debut children's book "Penguin in Peril" a trio of hungry moggies hatch the perfect plan - to kidnap a helpless penguin from the zoo in order to convince him to fill their larder with bucketloads of fish.

The penguin, however, has other ideas - and soon a haphazard and frenzied chase ensues as the penguin rushes to escape his feline kit-nappers.

A story with a breakneck pace, beautifully illustrated with tons of humour and wit, "Penguin in Peril" proves once again that Templar really do have an eye for talent and we'll be keeping our eye firmly on Helen in future!

Charlotte's best bit: Tracing the penguin's escape route back to the zoo through twisty little underground tunnels.

Daddy's favourite bit: The ultimate fate of the cats once captured. Serves them right :)

(Kindly sent to us for review by Templar Publishing)