Call us complete softies (you're complete softies!) but we cannot resist Alison Edgeson's warm, fuzzy, cuddly and devastatingly cute animal characters - particularly her bunnies. In "Dear Snowman", the cutest bunny of all is the star - and one snowy winter's day he builds a fabulous snowman to be friends with. Dressed in a jaunty woollen hat and scarf, he's absolutely perfect and great fun to play with.

Sadly though, one morning our little bunny wakes up to find his best friend has completely disappeared! Where has he got to? Thanks to a rather lovely mum, who explains that Snowmen often go on their travels when it's not wintry and snowy, Bunny keeps in touch by postcard and learns all about the fabulous adventures his snowman pal has in distant countries. Riding on a camel through the desert (which is quite perilous when you're made of snow!) or having his hat stolen by cheeky monkeys in the rainforest. Snowman sees lots of interesting things but is always careful to mail a postcard to his best friend, who knows that once the winter snow returns - so will Dear Snowman!

This book gives us such a warm cuddly glow and though there's no snow on the ground, we can imagine how great it's going to be when it snows - and when we can snuggle up in front of the fire in the lounge, wrapped up in a lovely cuddly blanket with a huge steaming cup of hot chocolate and this book - before we build a dear snowman of our own.

Charlotte's best bit: Snowman riding a camel. "I've done that!" she squealed (and she has too!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: Warm, cuddly, cute and sweet, a wintry tale that's absolutely perfect to read to your little bunnies as they snuggle up on a cold winter's evening.

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

A wonderful flight of imagination in a book that eases a child's fears about starting school for the first time. As Ruby and her mum walk to school, Ruby imagines all the amazing things that she sees out of the corner of her eye. Something floating down the river as she crosses a bridge - crocodiles perhaps? An old abandoned house with flapping curtains - home to a crew of friendly ghosts?

Kathryn White and Miriam Latimer have come up with a brilliant and imaginative story as Ruby tells her mums about the things she sees, and mum gently points out what those things probably really are. Secretly though we love Ruby's version of events far more!

Charlotte's best bit: A ghostly haunted house, or is it? (Charlotte says when she grows up she wants to live in a haunted house!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: A lovely gentle imaginative tale to assuage fears young children might have about starting school or fears of the unknown.

Crocodiles are always superbly effective "villains" in children's books and the croc in "Click Clack, Crocodile's Back" is no exception. He's a bully, he's sneaky, he's sly and most animals are at the top of his menu every day.

The animals soon tire of his antics and decide that the only way to sort Croc out is to work together, and prove that even the nastiest bullies can be dealt with without resorting to their tactics.

In Kathryn White's book, humorous rhyming text is used in conjunction with Joelle Dreidemy's marvellous animal illustrations to convey a fairly serious underlying message, that there are far better ways to deal with nasty folk than playing them at their own game. I really like the fact that using brains rather than brawn, the animals come up with the perfect way to divert Crocodile from his snapping and sneaky subversion.

We've seen the theme many times before (as I said, Crocodiles make such effective bad guys and there are so many books that use them in a similar way - take "The Selfish Crocodile" by Faustin Charles or Kathryn White's other croc-based book "Here comes the Crocodile" as further examples). Here though I think we rather admired the fact that the real stars of the stories are the other animals.

It may not be intended as an anti-bullying message but it most certainly feels like one, wrapped subtly in an entertaining and funny rhyming story.

Charlotte's best bit: Crocodile's natty dress he's unintentionally tricked into wearing

Daddy's favourite bit: Superb book, really entertaining and with a quite subtle message on how to deal with disagreeable folk (or crocs). Love it!

Now here's a brilliant idea. Mix a fantastic christmas story with a superb letter writing kit (that's not just handy for those long, long, LONG lists to Santa, but can also be used to thank all those lovely relatives that spoil you rotten at christmas with a lovely festive letter) and you've got 'Dear Santa' from Kathryn White and Polona Lovsin.

When a christmas letter goes astray and is found by a cuddly little bear, an adventurous journey begins to make sure the letter finds its way to Santa Claus in time for christmas.

Bear enlists the help of his best friend Rabbit, and soon they're crunching through the snow on their ambitious mission.

Polona Lovsin's illustrations are absolutely perfect for this time of year, and Kathryn White weaves a tale of high adventure, keeping things suitable for a range of ages, particularly the very young.

Really great idea this, and yet another top quality christmas book from those lovely tigery folk.

Charlotte's best bit: She's completely head over heels in love with Rabbit. Awww.

Daddy's favourite bit: What a stroke of genius! Great little notelets and envelops perfect for letters to santa (oh and mum and dad, grandma and grandad, nanny and dodo and everyone else too!)

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

Imagine what it must be like to never have seen snow or galloped around in the lovely crunchy white stuff? I distinctly remember the first time we had real proper snow and Charlotte's reaction to it, one of those childhood expressions that can only be brought about by something as wildly different to a youngster's perceived view of the world as a fall of snow.

The little bear in "When Will It Snow?" pesters his mum about it until she reveals that as winter comes, bears must think of hibernation, tucking up snugly until spring. But little bear just wants to stay awake with his friends, to learn what snow is really like.

He stares to the sky and wishes, but all too soon it's time to go - and the poor little bear worries that his friends will forget all about him while he sleeps.

What happens in spring? You'll have to read the book to find out, of course.

Fitting in nicely with our festive round of reviews, "When Will It Snow" delights youngsters with a gentle story of wonder and friendship and how the world changes once the first snow arrives. Once again we tip our hat firmly to Alison Edgson (who doesn't in fact have 8 arms, just two very fast-working ones - or so she told us on Twitter!) and to Kathryn White for weaving such a cuddly tale perfect for those chilly winter nights.

Charlotte's best bit: The end of the book (which obviously we don't want to spoil)
Daddy's favourite bit: A story that deliciously describes friendships and how even a break from those you love and cherish doesn't change how they feel if they're true friends. Lovely!

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