While we're on the subject of Pirates today, let's dive into another piratical tale - this time from the dynamic duo of Ian (Harry and his Bucketful of Dinosaurs) Whybrow and Russell (The Cow that Laid an Egg) Ayto.

Surreal antics abound as a seemingly ordinary everyday classroom is suddenly flooded, and becomes the backdrop for adventure on the high seas!

Tim and Ted must recover stolen treasure from a band of wonky-toothed (and rather mean) pirates. With Ian Whybrow's frenetic and energetic writing style and Russell Ayto's previous involvement in piratical children's books (The Captain Flynn books with Giles Andreae) you know you're on pretty solid ground with this but is it perhaps one pirate book too many?

Putting children front and centre in this adventure really does make the difference, and we secretly quite liked the fact that the pirates in this book are pretty hopeless and are soon outwitted by the kids.

Good broad appeal to girls and boys too, always a plus for a pirate book particularly when your own girl-pirate at home demands it to be so!

Charlotte's best bit: The Princess and her shouty time-tunnel mouth! WAAAAAHHH!

Daddy's favourite bit: Zany, crazy, a hint of surreality but a good old fashioned pirate yarn at its heart.

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

I had absolutely no idea how fanatical a fan of "Harry and the Dinosaurs" Charlotte was until we spotted this in the library stacks. We already had a fairly teetering pile of books and Charlotte absolutely would not let us leave without adding this to our stack too.

We've previously loved Ian Whybrow and Adrian Reynold's legendary book series so it was great to spot one we hadn't seen before.

In this story, Harry goes for a sleepover at his best friend Jack's house and takes his dinosaur pals along with him. Making sure they've got plenty of comfortable moss to snuggle down in, things are exciting and new and Harry and Jack have lots of fun - until it's time for bed.

A bump in the night and new surroundings make Harry and his prehistoric friends quite nervous when camping out under the stars at night. But thankfully Jack's dad (who looks a little familiar, bald, jolly, loves dinosaurs! Hmm!) is on hand with the perfect solution to the problem!

It's easy to see why the 'Harry' books are so popular with children, they draw them into a world where absolutely anything seems possible and tiny dinosaur friends love all the same things they do. I love the detail in the illustrations and the storytelling is perfect for a before-bedtime read. No jumps or bumps, just gentle stories with massive appeal. Lovely!

Charlotte's best bit: Those very snug looking moss blankets. Cosy!

Daddy's favourite bit: Jack's dad is me! No it is, honestly!

Charlotte's been a fan of "Harry and his Bucketful of Dinosaurs" since preschool, I think she secretly liked the books because two boys she really liked at preschool were completely obsessed with Harry and his adventures.

In "Harry and the Dinosaurs Make a Christmas Wish" we find out what happens just before christmas when Harry gets to play with baby ducklings (awwww) and the dinosaurs are so impressed with how cute they are, they wish as hard as they can that Santa will bring them one of their very own ("do dinosaurs have their own Santa, or do they share ours?" asked Charlotte! Good question!)

As the days slowly tick by towards christmas, the dinosaurs get an egg to look after. But what's inside?

You'll have to read the book and find out, of course. It's so easy to see why Ian Whybrow's "Harry and the Dinosaurs" books are so immensely popular with both boys and girls. Great characters, engaging artwork (and some lovely little cameos / in-jokes while harry is shopping for christmas presents) and every child gets to pick their favourite dinosaur. Perfecto!

Charlotte's best bit: She absolutely loves one particular dinosaur (and it's always the one she draws when she draws dinosaurs, quite frequently) but I can't tell you which one otherwise it might spoil the book :)

Daddy's favourite bit: Bit of 4th wall breaking stuff as Harry is shopping for presents and completely misses the fact that there's "Harry and the Dinosaurs" merchandise on the shelves in the shop :)

It's not often you get to praise a book for having pitch-perfect rhyming text, wonderful illustrations and a superb 'message' at the end of the book (which both adults, and given my recent experiences while on kid's days out, children will identify wholly with). "Hello, is that Grandma?" has all of these and has ended up being one of Charlotte's firm favourites. 

Though this is a 'lift the flap' book it's more appealing to preschool toddlers than younger kids. Each 'reveal' introduces a new animal character or crazy antic, which helps the story bounce along with the rhyming text. 

If your toddlers are anything like ours, they've already mastered the phone (and probably sneakily pinch your mobile for a bit of play acting from time to time) so this is definitely going to be a winner. 

And to all those parents I see glued to their Blackberries, or their iPhones while they're listlessly wandering around at children's theme parks, farm parks or other activities - do what the mummy at the end of this book does and be thoroughly ashamed of yourselves!

Charlotte's best bit: The crocodile. You see, once again children love the baddies!

Daddy's favourite bit: The moral message at the end. Your rubbish phone call about your new shoes, what you ate for lunch or some other meaningless twaddle is not as important as giving your child your attention so DON'T BE SO RUDE! :)

Rating: 5 out of 5 - *Book of the Week*

Charlotte knows that the source of the world's Chocolate Button surplus is located at Grandad's house. So we spotted this book that is a cute little tale about a grandchild going off to stay with their adventuresome Grandad at his Lighthouse home. 

The illustrations are absolutely beautiful in this. The text is a gentle rhyming tale that matches the bobbing of the waves in the story. Did you ever dream of spending a night in a hammock, or going fishing out to sea? Then you'll love this nautical-flavoured tale. 

No chocolate buttons were harmed in the making of this book. 

Charlotte's best bit: Kitty going to sleep wearing Grandad's Sailor Hat

Daddy's favourite bit: The quality of the illustrations. 

Rating: 4 out of 5