A fabulous story with a message that (sadly, in this day and age) may seem all too familiar to a lot of us...

Sometimes it's virtually impossible not to fall completely in love with a book after just one single reading. Our second Book of the Week this week made us feel just like Albert...

What on EARTH is a Slodge? Crawling out of the undergrowth as this wonderful story opens, we puzzled over this strange but happy little creature but definitely want to tell you all about her! The Slodge is the star of a new tale from storytelling genius Jeanne Willis, and illustrative ubermeister Jenni Desmond. Put two of our favourite picture book talents together and magic happens as the happy carefree Slodge makes her way through the world.

Her world. Let's be clear about this.

The Slodge is free to explore, to gambol through the undergrowth, to sigh in wonder and amazement as the moon rises and the sun sets, to climb trees and eat their luscious fruit. But one such foraging mission doesn't go according to plan as The Slodge realises that someone else has crashed in on her blissful life.

Who is this miscreant? This invader? Who cares - The Slodge definitely does NOT want to share.

It takes a moment of peril and danger to make our lovely little squishy green girl that perhaps being alone is fine, but being able to share an amazing world with an equally amazing friend is utterly fabulous.

We love the way this book wraps up - with a joyous page spread celebrating the diversity of life and how we truly do take for granted how we share our space in the world with a zillion other amazing creatures. But as we said at the top of the review, The Slodge is definitely the star and we absolutely ADORE her, squishy and green as she is!


Charlotte's best bit: The Slodge climbing trees (as all girls love to) to scoff a sweet fruit

Daddy's Favourite bit: A lovely little moral tale from two of the most exciting talents working in children's picture books today. Unmissable!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Little Tiger Press)

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Oooh now here's a real treat! We absolutely loved Jenni Desmond's feline debut with "Red Cat, Blue Cat" and I remember spotting an early mysterious mention of "Backstage Cat" back when we were reviewing the book and interviewing the lovely Jenni.

Now the mystery is revealed, and in this collaboration with children's book superstar Harriet Ziefert, once again we have completely fallen in love with Simon, the slightly naughty but supercool moggy in this book.

A theatrical superstar goes everywhere with her beloved cat, and usually he's quite content to be pampered in the dressing room while his mistress sings for her supper on stage.

However, one day when the door's left open a tiny crack, Simon ventures out into the world backstage. It's a world unlike any other, full of odd sights and sounds (and probably smells) and Simon is very intrigued.

But things get a lot more interesting when Simon spots something that really shouldn't be there. A mouse, scurrying amongst the scenery.

Chaos ensues as Simon begins to chase the mouse, not just backstage but on stage too! Can Simon steal the limelight and what will his owner (not to mention all the stage hands) say!

Harriet Ziefert's entertaining story gives Jenni Desmond plenty of scope for doing something she is an absolute expert at - conveying the sense of busy chaotic and frenetic action that takes place when cats start to misbehave. It's also an interesting insight into the inner workings of a theatre production as we get to find out that the star isn't the only person involved.

An utterly beautiful book combining Ziefert's concise and expert observations with Desmond's utterly beautiful illustrative style.

Charlotte's best bit: Simon getting an enormous cuddle (and his expression!)

Daddy's favourite bit: Such a frenetic pace, I almost imagine Jenni scribbling away furiously as she visited theatres to start the sketches for this. Love Ziefert's storytelling style too. A winning combination of talent and a superb book, don't miss out on opening night!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Mat Archer / Blue Apple Books)

That's right, Jenni Desmond's excellent book Red Cat, Blue Cat (published by Blue Apple Books) is out today! You can read our review of the book or our interview with the lovely Jenni here but you'll definitely want to go and grab a copy pronto. So, what are you waiting for? Bounce like a blue cat and hop to it!

This week, we're doing our first interview on ReadItDaddy! Exciting stuff! Jenni Desmond, the Author / Illustrator of "Red Cat, Blue Cat" has kindly answered some quite tricky posed by us (including a serious character assassination question from Charlotte!)

Before we show you that article and tell you a bit more about Jenni, here's our review of "Red Cat, Blue Cat", kindly supplied to us by Blue Apple Books.

Red Cat is a frisky bouncy little feline, and Blue Cat is intelligent, creative and thoughtful. Occupying different floors of a huge house, Red Cat and Blue Cat mostly keep out of each other's ways. But when they meet, chaos ensues!

Jenni Desmond has obviously had ringside seats at many a catfight, her illustrations perfectly capture the absolute frenzy of a cat-scrap. Fur stands on end,  the moggies screech and yowl and scratch, and generally the best place to be in a cat fight is about 10,000 miles away from it.

But Red Cat and Blue Cat have a secret. Each wants to be more like the other, and so they try to think up various ways to achieve this. First by merely changing colour, then by altering their behaviour.

This doesn't change what happens when they meet, but a pivotal moment in the story will show Red Cat and Blue Cat precisely why they behave the way they do.

It's a finely tuned tale that uses the two characters extremely well, to provide a moral tale of jealousy, conflict and (eventually) friendship.

The way the book ends actually made Charlotte practically jump up and down on the spot with glee (naturally we're not going to tell you what happens in the end but we're hoping it means more Red Cat, Blue Cat adventures in the future).

Jenni Desmond's illustrative style is eminently attractive and such a good fit for the story. It goes without saying that we highly recommend this beautifully presented book and are glad to see that there's always room in the cat-basket for another children's picture book featuring everyone's favourite felines.

Charlotte's best bit: Greedy Red Cat scoffing blueberries (and making a huge mess)

Daddy's favourite bit: The superb, chaotic (and sometimes quite scary) cat fights in the book. Absolutely perfectly captured.