One thing we've noticed in ten years of book blogging is that huge success, and becoming a best-selling author also sometimes means that a particular author will end up being placed in the dock, accused of market saturation - their success almost being used against them as a blunt instrument to point out all the things that are wrong with the children's publishing industry.

I think Julia Donaldson has had her fair share of flak over the years, placed firmly in the centre of this over-critical vortex of ill feeling from other authors who feel that her books are often used as the default in any children's book marketing push, that her books automatically leap to the top of any best sellers list whenever their released, that her books are always favoured by TV companies looking to make a few extra bucks at Christmas by releasing a timely feelgood animation of a particular story, alongside a metric ton of accompanying merchandise.

Yes, all those things are true of Julia Donaldson's books (particularly those she collaborates on with Axel Scheffler) but there's no denying that kids absolutely LOVE these books, and the sometimes hateful and cynical bile against them largely comes from adults who should bloody well know better.

We picked up a copy of "The Gruffalo" swiftly followed by "The Gruffalo's Child" and these became bedtime book regulars. Julia's rhyming is pitch perfect, her use of repetition and clever observation and description of her characters immerses a child instantly in the story, and the fact that her rhyming meter is perfect makes these really easy / pleasurable to read aloud.

Ask any kid to describe The Gruffalo and they'll instantly remember the terrible claws, the terrible teeth, the nasty great wart on the end of its nose - and of course owl ice cream, roasted fox and scrambled snake!

We liked both Gruffalo books but it was actually "Stick Man" by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler that cropped up on the blog the most, with the most positive reviews.

There's just something about it - the atmosphere generated by Julia's descriptions and Axel's illustrations, the almost crisp christmassy feel to the story, and the whopping great big euphoric feeling you get right at the end of the book when Stick Man is reunited with his Stick Lady Love and his family, overcoming seemingly insurmountable situations in order to get back home to safety.

We also particularly loved Julia's collaborations with Rebecca Cobb (who we've already mentioned in our #Booky100Keepers list, as one of our all time favourite author / illustrators). JD has also worked with some of the greatest names in kidlit illustration from Charlotte Voake to Nick Sharratt, from David Roberts to Lydia Monks.

If there's one thing I really won't miss about our peripheral involvement in children's publishing, it's that hate-filled cynicism we constantly see on social media whenever a children's author or illustrator makes a massive success of what they do. It's rubbish, quite frankly - and it feels like it's something that we do way too much in the UK. Quite rightly JD took up the mantle of Children's Laureate and spoke of the importance of children's books, and how they're largely overlooked in the media. She spent her tenure as a vociferous spokesperson for the industry and the creatives who keep it alive, and yet still gets tarred with the 'saturation' brush.

Honestly, I really do not understand people sometimes.

Regardless of popular opinion, we've kept most of our Julia Donaldson books, purely because even though C has outgrown them, they're always the books demanded by her little cousins when they come over to stay - and we still think that there's room on the broom for a switch in opinions on JD. Being successful and prolific shouldn't be something we look down on.

Original review links: 

Wake up do, Lydia Lou! By Julia Donaldson and Karen George (Macmillan Children's Books)

Charlie Cook's Favourite Book (10th Anniversary Edition) by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (Macmillan Children's Books)

Departing Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson says "We don't take Children's Books seriously enough" - Oh but we do, we do!

"It's a Little Baby" by Julia Donaldson and Rebecca Cobb (Macmillan Children's Books)

What the Jackdaw Saw by Julia Donaldson and Nick Sharratt (With support from Life and Deaf children's charity) - Published by Macmillan Children's Books

Tales from Acorn Wood - Rabbit's Nap by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (Macmillan Children's Books)

The Scarecrow's Wedding by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (Alison Green Books / Scholastic)

Princess Mirror-Belle and the Dragon Pox by Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks (Macmillan Children's Books)

The Further Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat (Book and CD Edition) by Julia Donaldson and Charlotte Voake (Bloomsbury Publishing)

Joining a fantastic Blog Safari to celebrate the release of "The Ugly Five" by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (Scholastic)

"Spinderella" by Julia Donaldson and Sebastien Braun (Egmont Publishing)

Booky Advent Calendar Day 16: "The Snail and the Whale" by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (Macmillan Children's Books)

The Flying Bath by Julia Donaldson and David Roberts (Macmillan Children's Books)

Charlie Cook's Favourite Book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (Macmillan Children's Books)

Celebrating another important book birthday with the 20th Anniversary Edition of "The Gruffalo" by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (Macmillan Children's Books)

ReadItDaddy's Festive Book of the Week - Week Ending 18th December 2015 - "Stick Man" by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (Scholastic / Alison Green)

Booky Advent Calendar Day 22 - "Stick Man" by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (Alison Green Books)

The Singing Mermaid (Special Edition with Mermaid Toy) by Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks (Macmillan Children's Books)

ReadItDaddy's Booky Advent Calendar Day 13 - 13th December 2013 - "Stick Man" by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (Alison Green Books)

The Paper Dolls by Julia Donaldson and Rebecca Cobb (Macmillan Children's Books)

The Troll by Julia Donaldson and David Roberts (Macmillan Children's Books)

A Squash and a Squeeze (20th Anniversary Edition) by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (Macmillan Children's Books)

Gruffalo Crumble and Other Recipes, based on "The Gruffalo" stories by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (Macmillan Children's Books)

Stick Man by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (Alison Green Books)

The Highway Rat

Fox's Socks

The Gruffalo

The Rhyming Rabbit by Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks (Macmillan Children's Books)

Julia Donaldson is the new Children's Laureate

Room on the Broom

Zog

The Gruffalo's Child

"Flights of Fancy: Stories, pictures and inspiration from ten Children's Laureates" by various authors / illustrators (Walker Books)

The Princess and the Wizard

The tale of an unlikely friendship will be this year's big Christmas animation, so despite the fact this story isn't really a seasonal one, we thought we'd drop it into our Booky Advent Calendar anyway, as it's likely to be another superb piece of animation from Magic Light Pictures.

"The Snail and the Whale" by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler wasn't actually one of the J & A books we read to C as a tiny tot, but we re-read it to review and love the positive message that underpins Julia's gently rhyming story, replete with Axel's amazing colourful illustrations as we've come to expect from this amazing duo.

Snail is a seasnail and he's bored with sitting on his rock. He wants to see the world, and amazingly his wish is granted by an unlikely ally - a giant blue whale.

Soon they begin to cruise the oceans together, taking in the amazing sights and sounds - but when Whale is temporarily confused by some daft humans in their speedboats, he ends up stranded on a beach.

Can a tiny snail possibly help a gargantuan mammal back into the sea and safety once again?

A fab story of friendship, determination and one tiny mollusc's bravery, this is sure to find an appreciative audience in both book and animated form this Christmas.

"The Snail and the Whale" by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler is out now, published by Macmillan Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

The Gruffalo? The Gruffalo? It's 20 years old, don't you know!

Wow, is it really 20 years since Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's gigantic behemoth of a book redefined our expectations of what a humble children's picture book could turn into. The book sold by the bucketload, has been translated into many, many languages across the world, spawned a hugely successful animated film as well as a colossal tidal wave of book-related merchandise.

And it all began 20 years ago with a collaboration that has stood the test of time. Julia Donaldson's pitch-perfect rhymes and singsong story complimented perfectly by Axel Scheffler's bold bright and colourful artwork has ensured this mighty book's success for the last two decades.

It's a book that was one of the first titles we loaned from the library, before I finally relented and bought copies of "The Gruffalo" and "The Gruffalo Child" for C, just so we had our own copies to hand.

We've read it again and again, though in later years C hasn't demanded it as much. Perhaps there's room in the market for a Gruffalo middle grade book or two?

It's the story of a humble but extremely clever mouse, who uses his brains rather than his meagre brawn to successfully trick his way out of being eaten by various forest dwellers such as a fox, an owl and a snake.

Added fun with the anniversary edition as the cover slip folds out into a cardboard play scene. How awesome!

The looming threat of the mythical Gruffalo is enough to see off his attackers - until the delightful twist in the story that turns things completely upside down as The Gruffalo turns out to be very real, very big but thankfully pretty benign.

Kids love this book, parents love this book, and I'm pretty sure the publishers love its mighty sales too! One of the most important and influential picture books ever written, arguably and the 20th Anniversary Edition (with its fantastic cardboard play scene and new process drawings) is an absolute must.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A gigantic steamroller of a book that helped define what we've come to expect from modern picture books with a fantastically clever story, brilliant illustrations, perfect rhymes and a cast of awesome characters.

"The Gruffalo" (20th Anniversary Edition) is available today, published by Macmillan Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

If ever you're asked to name a dream pairing working in children's books today, you'd definitely have to mention Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler for sure...

I had to check my typing in the header of this blog post to make sure I hadn't typed in the wrong illustrator...

Oh now THIS is a genius idea, in fact we're surprised no one had thought of doing this AEONS ago!

I was a bit apprehensive about approaching Charlotte with this one. The moment she saw the cover, I could see her expression setting into that "I'm not reviewing THAT!" look. But...

Yes yes, I know we've reviewed "Stick Man" many, many , MANY times before in our Booky Advent Calendars but he's about to make the leap from book to screen for the BBC's fabulous festive animated feature this year.

The hugely important Life and Deaf Children's Deafness Charity gathered together a children's workshop with deaf children and ex-children's laureate and superstar author Julia Donaldson to collaborate on this fantastic story book. "What the Jackdaw Saw" written with help from deaf children, and illustrated by Nick Sharratt, is a brilliant book that introduces sign language along with a story that really piques a child's curiosity.

Jackdaw has decided to throw a party, and as he flies around town and country, he spies all his friends going about their daily business.

"Come to my party!" shouts Jackdaw, but instead of replying, other animals look at Jackdaw and touch their heads. What on earth is going on?

Again and again Jackdaw meets animals doing the same strange thing. As we bounce along to Julia's perfect rhymes, it was brilliant to see Charlotte really trying to puzzle out what was happening. "Why ARE the animals doing that, Daddy?" she kept asking. I wouldn't reveal anything until the end, when a frustrated and flustered Jackdaw encounters the very reason why all the animals are looking alarmed and touching their heads. We'll let you find out the answer yourselves because we don't want to spoil the surprise!

Once children have finished the story (and have demanded it read again and again, mark my words!) they can have a lot of fun practicing their sign language just like the animals in the story and learning new ways to communicate with children with hearing problems.

Julia Donaldson (herself a sufferer with hearing loss) has pulled out all the stops to produce a thoroughly engaging, thrilling and somewhat mysterious story here that is complimented by brilliant illustrations showing us exactly how to 'sign' some of the things we'll find in the book.

You can find out more about the book, and the Life and Deaf organisation on Macmillan's website for the book: http://www.panmacmillan.com/book/juliadonaldson/whatthejackdawsaw
Charlotte's best bit: Charley's visit to the dentist. Rinse please!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Brilliant fun for tiddlers, beautifully illustrated and told

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

More from Julia and Axel on the blog this week as we take a look at the fabulous Acorn Wood series. Printed in a neat mini-sized hardback format, these pocket-sized and charming tales are adorable and fun - and regular readers of the blog will know just how much my curious 6 year old loves lift-the-flap books.

Rabbit is sleepy, and all she wants to do is take a nap. But try as she might, rabbit just can't get any peace and quiet, other animals are being FAR too noisy!

Little ones are encouraged to investigate what's keeping rabbit awake as each page spread has hidden flaps to lift and explore. The book's sturdy construction can stand up to a fair amount of punishment even under the most fidgety little fingers - it also means it's the perfect book for little ones to take away with them on holiday or to read in the car.

The Acorn Wood range are utterly charming (we absolutely adore Fox's Socks too). They're short and sweet so perfect to read one or two before bed (and let's hope your little ones get to sleep quicker than poor Rabbit!)

Charlotte's best bit: She adores the lift-the-flap books, particularly the fun in investigating what all those noisy little animals get up to as Rabbit wants to snooze

Daddy's Favourite bit: Fun pocket-sized tales, perfectly pitched and presented - absolutely adorable for quite a wide range of ages

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

Like this? We think you'll love these too!

Fox's Socks by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

Paper Dolls by Julia Donaldson and Rebecca Cobb

We couldn't really have a Christmas roundup without one of our all-time favourite Christmassy books. In fact, I think this is actually our favourite Julia Donaldson / Axel Scheffler collaboration - yes we prefer this to both "The Gruffalo" and "The Gruffalo's Child" (which might be tantamount to children's book heresy to state in public, but there it is!)

So why is it the perfect christmas tale?

Oops! Santa never makes the most graceful entrances does he?

It ticks all the right boxes, featuring adorable characters, Santa, crisp freshly fallen snow - and it tugs at the heartstrings a bit. The story of a noble stick man who is separated from his family by accident, and spends almost an entire year trying to get back to them by hook or by crook. Stick Man falls foul of nasty drooling dogs, and even ends up as the arm of a snowman!

Does he make it back in time for Christmas?

For all the effort put in to the marvellous TV adaptations of both Gruffalo books, it stuns me that Stick Man didn't get similar treatment as it really is a magical tale with a goodly dose of festive cheer. We don't get to read it nearly enough as it can really make me quite tearful but then I am a big softy.

Charlotte's best bit: Stick Man's perilous journey on the river, eeks!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Sublime story with a touch of christmas, and almost a tear jerking end that had me reaching for my hankie. Delicious!

Standing on the shoulders of literary giants is no easy task. Julia Donaldson is well established in her own right as a fantastic children's author with a wonderful gift for spinning the most amazing storyworlds from her rhymes. So it comes as no surprise that she's a huge fan of Edward Lear and his awesome mix of nonsense poetry and amazing characters.

We've recently reviewed "The Owl and the Pussycat" with a foreword by Julia, and illustrated by the hugely talented Charlotte Voake, and it was so good to be able to familiarise Charlotte with the original poem, so brilliantly reprinted by Bloomsbury.

So in a slightly disjointed turn of events, this book came out first but we're reviewing it second (now that a special edition with storytelling CD - read by Julia herself - comes with the book) and it's a sequel to the original poem? With us so far? Nope I'm completely lost too.

"The Further Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat" reintroduces us to Owl, Pussycat and a cast of characters popping in for cameos from Edward Lear's other amazing nonsense poems (which we've recently been enjoying through Lear's brilliant poetry collections).

The story concerns the theft of the Pussycat's wedding ring, which was carefully tied around her tail - but stolen by a naughty crow. The Owl and the Pussycat once more set off - this time in a beautiful green balloon - to track down the wedding ring, on a high adventures across land and sea - to the Chankly Bore and beyond!

The new treatment works wonderfully in all but a few places, where the repetition taken from lines in the original poem doesn't quite 'fit' for us, and seems to jar a bit when reading aloud.

It is inventive stuff though as you'd expect from Julia, and Charlotte's illustrations are wondrous. It's also rather nice to be able to sit back and let Julia read the story to us in her wonderful rumbling tones full of excitement and passion for the poem and her own treatment of it.

Charlotte's best bit: The wonderful tea party to round off the tale

Daddy's Favourite bit: The dong with the luminous nose!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Bloomsbury Publishing)

Having previously collaborated on "The Further Adventures of The Owl and the Pussycat", Julia Donaldson takes a back seat to write the foreword for a rather lovely version of Edward Lear's classic children's poem, again with illustrations by Charlotte Voake.

Reading Julia's foreword brought back happy memories of first discovering Lear's poems thanks to my first English teacher, who was extremely passionate and enthusiastic about Lear's work (understandably so). So now the duty passes to me to introduce Charlotte to Lear's amazing word-worlds and fabulous characters, a task made easy with a fantastic book like this.

"The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat" begins the poem, and children are instantly drawn in. As Julia Donaldson so rightly says in the introduction, the book has such a sense of wonder and the start of an adventure from the outset, and if there's one thing children instantly engage with it's the thought that a book is going to take them on a grand quest.

Charlotte Voake's characterisations are as perfect as before, and her gift for imbuing her illustrations with such expression and movement really suits the poem perfectly, setting each scene with brilliant clarity.

We both read the poem through (Charlotte coped admirably with Lear's often tongue-twisting nonsense names, perhaps years of talking about Tombliboos and Ninky-Nonks have stood her in good stead).

She did wonder why I still can't seem to get through the book without a schoolboy titter or two (you know why). This is a really lovely follow up to "The Further Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat" (which is a book we really ought to get round to reviewing on here, we borrowed it from the library a while ago and it slipped through our review schedules somehow).
A perfect homage to a literary genius, and an extremely good way to get your child interested in rhymes and poetry.

Charlotte's best bit: She loved the wedding scene, with the wise old turkey on the hill

Daddy's Favourite bit: A poem that elicits such delight, such a sense of wonder and adventure, utterly timeless and still as brilliant as when I first read it, probably at the same age Charlotte is now.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Picture Puffin)

The Princess Mirror-Belle series makes its transition from early reader to picture book with this stunning and sparkly book from the dream team of Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks.

Poor Ellen has chickenpox and really really want to scratch them. But while mum steps out of the bathroom for a moment, Ellen meets Princess Mirror-Belle who springs out of the mirror and tells Ellen that it's not chickenpox she has, it's Dragonpox! Eeks!

Princess Mirror-Belle is a bit of a know-it-all (Charlotte's description!) and knows exactly how to stop Ellen scratching her spots. A cure is required, with a nice warm bath and anything else that may be to hand! In goes the bubble bath, in goes the toothpaste and even daddy's shaving foam (I really hope Charlotte doesn't get any ideas from this!)

The Princess tells Ellen stories of the land beyond the mirror, where brave knights rescue princesses from dragons and children are allowed to make as much mess in the bathroom as they like!

But what will happen when mum comes back in? Will Ellen's excuse that Princess Mirror-belle caused all the mess hold any water with mum?

With lots of brilliant texture and glitter on each page, and a fairytale feel to the story, this is a great addition to the Princess Mirror-Belle series for younger children who want to see what all the fuss is about. They'll never look at the mirror in quite the same way again!


Charlotte's best bit: Ellen being wrapped up in loo roll. Part of the cure for Dragon Pox apparently!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Rather nice to see Julia Donaldson coming up with a non-rhyming story, and always a pleasure to see Lydia's gorgeous artwork

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

Surely there's no mightier team working in children's picture books than Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler? A new book by this dynamic duo is always a huge cause for celebration, doubly so when a wedding is involved. You have an exclusive invitation to the wedding of Betty O'Barley and Harry O'Hay but first there's lots of preparation to be done.

A wedding dress is required of course, made of the finest goose feathers. Bright sparkly rings are also needed - and also flowers, lots of pink flowers.

Harry O'Hay sets off to pick up the last item on the wedding list, and that's when disaster strikes. Enter to many boos and hisses one Reginald Rake, a foul usurper, a thoroughly rotten cad who steps in and flirts outrageously with poor Betty O'Barley while her fiancee is off on his slow and painstaking quest (never, ever ask a snail for help if you want anything doing in a hurry!)

Reginald Rake is suave, sophisticated, fiendishly charming and can even drive a tractor (or a Gruffactor - bit of a forced bit of fan service there but C loved that little cameo!)

Reginald Rake also smokes hideous cigars but the smoke is too much for him, and he drops the foul thing right at Betty's feet!

(As an aside, it was a bit of a shocker to see a character smoking in a children's book but the whole plot would unravel like a poorly woven loom-band if it wasn't there so we'll have to let it slide!)

As flames leap up in the tinder-dry field, Betty is in mortal danger! Can Harry O'Hay possibly save the day?

As ever, Julia Donaldson's use of rhyme and repetition make this a sing-song of a book to read aloud. Axel Scheffler's sublime artwork is beautiful, colourful and the utterly perfect accompaniment to Julia's writing. The story is charming, perilous and exciting - in fact the book is so highly polished you're almost blinded by its dazzle.

Every bit as good as you'd expect it to be, plus a little bit more! It's not book of the week material for us (I think we'd rather like to have seen Reginald Rake be a bit more fiendish and dastardly - oh and get his comeuppance too!) but your younger readers are going to absolutely love it to pieces!

Charlotte's best bit: Going for a scary ride on the Gruffactor

Daddy's Favourite bit: Buffed to the highest sheen by two of the most talented folk working in children's books today. Absolutely guaranteed to wow your little ones.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Alison Green Books / Scholastic)

It's happy publication day today for a very special book indeed.

A new Julia Donaldson book is always a cause for huge celebration. She is a wordsmith extraordinaire, with her perfect rhymes and engaging stories. Teaming Julia up with one of our favourite artists, David Roberts, is a stroke of genius and we've seen this dazzling duo in action before in the rather fabulous "The Troll" (if you haven't read it yet, check out our review, it's a little smasher - and look out for the troll making a sneaky cameo in this book too!)

Ahhh a flying bath, imagine it, being able to fill up with warm soapy water and then flap off to any destination in the world. Though the bath in this story has a more serious purpose. The helpful little animals (Duck, Frog and Turtle) are like International Rescue. Wherever there's a need for water, they answer the call (and Charlotte absolutely LOVED all the different 'phones' that various thirsty animals use to call in their problems with).

A pig who is in dire need of a shower or a Baboon with his tree house on fire, nothing's too tricky for The Flying Bath!

A wondrous flight of imagination absolutely beautifully written, gorgeously illustrated, and with a fairly nice message about the true value of water across the planet. Absolutely excellent!

Charlotte's best bit: Baboon's Banana Phone and the sneaky Troll making a cameo near the end of the book!

Daddy's Favourite bit: JD makes it look SO easy to produce such memorable and readable rhymes. Likewise, David Roberts' illustrations are absolutely top drawer. What a team!

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

We've made a point of trying to read as many of Julia Donaldson's books as possible, particularly when she teams up with Axel Scheffler for an entertaining story romp. With the usual pitch perfect rhyming, here JD celebrates stories as several crash together in a rather novel way. The story begins with one Charlie Cook reading his favourite book, and as he reads all about pirates, the pirate captain is reading all about goldilocks...who has fallen asleep reading a book all about a brave knight...who in turn reads a book about an awesome frog...and so on, and so on.

I initially thought the idea was quite a good one, flowing stories into one another in this way - but it didn't really strike as much of a chord with Charlotte as I expected it to.

Perhaps in some ways it's a little bit too clever for its own good and children prefer something that doesn't dance around several different themes before looping back on itself at the end.

Still thought it was quite entertaining to read nonetheless, thanks in no small part to Julia's ability to wring a rhyme out of the trickiest situations with consummate ease.

Charlotte's best bit: Is that a Gruffalo picture on Charlie's wall?

Daddy's Favourite bit: Immense fun to read aloud, as are all JD's books!

Every year we wait to see what the BBC are going to do for their big animated festive adventure. We've seen the Gruffalo, the Gruffalo's Child and Room on the Broom but WHY OH WHY NOT STICK MAN?

We love Stick Man far more than we love either Gruffalo books, and it's so steeped with festive atmospherics that it doesn't seem to make much sense that it always gets overlooked (perhaps the toy market is the reason - a plush 'stick man' probably isn't as cuddly as a metric ton of Gruffalo toys, and how on earth would you fit your sandwich box inside a stick man rucksack or trunki?)

Stick Man is the tale of a man - who is a stick, and one day the poor wooden fellow is wrenched from the life he knows - ending up being used for a multitude of different things.

A dog quite fancies playing fetch with him. A boy builds him into a snowman - and that's not the least of poor Stick Man's woes. With each and every embarrasing stick-y situation, the poor fellah is taken further and further away from his stick-thin wife and his twiggy children. At christmas too. It's enough to make you cry.

Thankfully, even though the snow lays deep and crisp and even, Stick Man will not be defeated. Summoning all his sticky strength and courage, he begins the long journey home but will he make it in time for Christmas?

Julia Donaldson's pitch perfect rhymes, and Axel Scheffler's fabulous artwork have never been better in our opinion. BBC, do yourselves a favour and stick Stick Man on the box next year, g'wan!


Charlotte's best bit: Poor Stick Man being snaffled by a mischievous dog

Daddy's Favourite bit: I love the end. It brings a tear to a stick-fellah's eye

Now this book is rather special. Not only is it a brilliant story that combines one of our favourite authors with one of our favourite children's book illustrators, it has a fantastic cause at its heart too.

You may have spotted the paper dolls cropping up everywhere, at your local bookshops, in libraries and anywhere you normally find children's book folk.

There's a good reason for that - and if you dive on through to the Paper Dolls Website you'll find out a whole lot more. For each set of paper dolls you send in to Macmillan for their Guinness World Record attempt, you'll be helping to donate 10p to a very worthy cause - the Save the Children Foundation.

Download this template and get colouring!

Better still your children can even draw their own by using this alternative template too!

Check out some of the dolls other folk have completed!

Contributing to the world's longest paper doll chain while aiding a good cause? You KNOW you want to join in (we already have - visit the website for more information on how to send your completed sheets to Pan Macmillan). Doll sheets can be submitted up till the 31st of August 2013, so there's still lots and lots of time.

Right then, on with the book. Julia Donaldson and Rebecca Cobb? It's a match made in booky heaven isn't it. Combining superb rhyming text with Rebecca's utterly wonderful illustrative style to tell a story of a young girl who, with her mum, makes a string of five paper dolls and embarks on an adventure with them. As the girl plays, and her imagination is unleashed (is there a more powerful creative force on the planet than a child's imagination? I doubt it) the dolls narrowly avoid catastrophe as they dance and play.

But then the book throws you a curve ball. Just when you're happy that this is a lovely story with a carefree young girl and her wonderful cut-out friends enjoying life to the full, something happens. A young boy appears, a young boy (a rather nasty boy if we're truthful) with a pair of scissors.

What happens next is impossible to describe without completely spoiling the book for you - so we're going to take the rare opportunity here of warning you right now that we're going to give away the end. If you do not want to read on, please stop now.

NOW!

Still reading?

Scroll a bit lower


OK you're still here so I'm assuming you've either read it or don't mind spoilers. The next bit rather upset Charlotte because the nasty naughty little boy (older sibling? Bully? It's never made clear but he's horrible whoever he is!) chops the string of paper dolls into tiny tiny pieces, breaking the little girl's heart. What a rotter!

But perhaps the power of a child's imagination is even more powerful than the nasty streak the boy demonstrates. As the rather grief-stricken little girl returns home, folornly, the paper dolls soar into the stratosphere. All the tiny little cut-up pieces reform as the dolls are once again complete, and roam the stars dancing and laughing as they go.

The little girl grows up, and then makes paper dolls with her own daughter (which is a rather touching and lovely way of turning the story around from that horrible bit!)

We thoroughly enjoyed this book. You've already heard us talking about Julia Donaldson's expert rhyming in our review of Wake Up Do, Lydia Lou and she's nailing it here again. But for us the real star of the show is Rebecca Cobb. Her illustrations are truly magical and you'll know just how much we love her work if you take a look at our review of her wonderful book "Lunchtime".

Hope the review has spurred you into action and you're downloading and printing those paper doll sheets out to join in with the record attempt!

Charlotte's best bit: Jacky Backy.

Daddy's Favourite Bit: The little doll with two noses.

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

We sometimes wonder whether Julia Donaldson gets fed up with being inextricably linked to The Gruffalo. Fine book though it is, seeing "By the author of The Gruffalo" on everything Julia does can sometimes grate.

For instance here's a new book by Julia and Karen George, who previously collaborated on "Freddie and the Fairy", a book that is absolutely wonderful in its own right - with no need to be linked to that purple-prickled orange-eyed monster.

in "Wake up Do, Lydia Lou!" we are treated to a tour-de-force of rhyming perfection. Julia Donaldson is an absolute legend - no not because of you-know-who, but because she absolutely understands what it feels like to read books aloud, and makes it fun to do so. Whereas we find a lot of rhyming books clumsily clobbering your sense of rhythm (something that Elli Woollard perfectly described in a #ReadItMD13 piece for us back when poetry and rhyming text was our theme for the week), Julia always manages to develop a 'flow' that whispers through her books like a welcome breeze.

Lydia Lou is fast asleep, and a mischievous ghost wants to wake her up and give her a bit of a spook. But despite the naughty ghost's best efforts, Lydia Lou is soundly in the land of nod and no amount of rattling, woohing or other noises can interrupt her snoozing.

We've seen Julia Donaldson use this method of repetition before in her stories. Repeating the same lines over and over again to build to a climax - which you'll either love or hate. I personally like the approach because it builds anticipation, perhaps even tension - and each time the ghost fails to rouse Lydia Lou you wonder what's going to happen next with each turn of the page.

Special mention to Karen George for her illustrations too - it must be tough being paired with Julia, because it's probably one of those occasions where folk pay more attention to the author's work than the artist's - but here Karen produces wonderful characters (including the world's cheekiest looking teddy bear - just look at his expressions, the little devil!)

Great fun to read aloud. Younger kids might need a bit of a cuddle and reassurance at the theme (yes it's not that scary, but in the current heatwave when you've got the windows thrown open in your child's room, it's worth an extra hug or two to assure them that a noisy naughty ghost won't be floating through THEIR window) but it's an ace book and the first of two JD reviews coming up today.

Charlotte's best bit: That cheeky, cheeky teddy. He looks like he deserves his own book!

Daddy's favourite bit: Julia Donaldson's rhymes are brilliant, her sense of building a story to a tense finale is natural and enjoyable.

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