Hooray! Hooray! It's happy publication day for a book that we actually wished for not too long ago. If you look at our review of "How to Babysit a Grandad" by Jean and Lee, you'll see that we hoped that there'd be a Grandma-based follow-up to keep Charlotte's Grandma happy - and here it is!

The great news is that it's every bit as fun, well observed and pays proper homage to grandmas just like "grandad" did.

A little girl is going for a sleepover at Grandmas, ahem... I mean a little girl is going to babysit her Grandma for the weekend and has lots of wise advice on what youngsters can do to keep an energetic and active elderly relative busy for the entire time.

Reading stories (YAY!), feeding ducks (we loved the cameo in this bit from the dynamic duo who starred in "How to Babysit a Grandad!") and dressing up are all part and parcel of keeping Grandma happy and contented. As with Grandad we also happen to know that straying from the usual strict diet is a must!

Jean and Lee have come up trumps with a brilliant book, just in the nick of time for Grandma Day as well! I have a sneaky feeling that this one will end up staying permanently at Grandma and Grandad's house, it's a great little bedtime read.

"How to Babysit a Grandma" by Jean Reagan and Lee Wildish is out today from Hodder Children's Books.

Charlotte's best bit: She loved cuddling up with Grandma and this one, a brilliant follow-up to "How to Babysit a Grandad"

Daddy's Favourite bit: Another belter from Jean and Lee, huge doses of belly laughs at the brilliant observations in this.

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

Here's a book I've heard an awful lot about in the past, but until now, haven't actually had the pleasure of reading. Excited squeals from Charlotte as she picked this out of the library stack made me sit up and take notice. "Look at this poor boy, everything's got cracks in it!"

As we read, Charlotte's understanding of the story grew beyond her initial elation to feeling sorry for the boy. "Mum and Dad Glue" tells the story of a boy who is desperately searching for a solution to what's wrong with mum and dad. They don't love each other any more, they argue and fight instead of cuddle and kiss - and the poor lad heads to the local hardware store for a pot of "Mum and Dad Glue" to try and mend what is broken.

In his world, the huge cracks that Charlotte spotted are dotted all over everything. Wise words come from an unexpected source, showing that although mum and dad don't love each other any more - their love for him is not diminished.

A touching and extremely sensitive way of helping children cope with separation / divorce. It's nice to be able to find out what all the fuss is about, and also join others in thoroughly recommending this beautiful little book.

Charlotte's best bit: At the end, after the boy hears some encouraging advice...his world changes.

Daddy's Favourite bit: A touching and sensitive way of helping children overcome divorce / separation anxiety.

I always loved stories about the paranormal and weird creatures as a kid, and I've passed on a bit of that bizarre fascination to Charlotte - who always loves a good monstery tale.

In "Spaghetti with the Yeti" by Charlotte and Adam Guillian, with illustrations by Lee Wildish there are monsters a-plenty and we join a young boy who - like a tiddly little Peej - is fascinated by the abominable snowman, ol' Sasquatch, Bigfoot himself - otherwise known as THE YETI!

Boldly, the little lad sets out on a grand quest to track down the Yeti once and for all, and prove he exists. Armed with all the essentials a young explorer would need, backpack, compass, tin of spaghetti, he is soon on his merry way.

Meeting several other monsters along the way (and taking them in his stride), our gallant and youthful hero almost gives up the ghost. Yetis are quite hard to track down after all.

Will he find his enigmatic quarry in the end? You know what we're going to say, you'll have to read the book to find out.

Clever rhymes, hilarious (and it's fair to say, very spotty!) monsters and some brilliant little details in Lee's illustrations, it's definitely a great book to add to any monstery book collection.

Charlotte's best bit: "At least the Yeti eats PROPER spaghetti" observed Charlotte. "Proper out of a tin!" (kids, eh?)

Daddy's Favourite bit: A lovely little nod to a character in a certain paranormal-based TV show at the front of the book, which tickled my fancy, oh yes!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Egmont Books UK)

As everyone knows, Grandads are fairly high maintenance and need a LOT of looking after. So it's a jolly good job that Charlotte is so brilliant at looking after hers. Now, armed with a whole book crammed with new tips and tricks thanks to Jean Reagan and Lee Wildish's "How To Babysit a Grandad", she'll be even more of an expert.

It is of course vitally important to assure Grandads that Mummy and Daddy WILL be back at the end of the day to pick up their little ones. (This obviously offsets any anxieties that the young tearaways might be staying for a sleepover).

Good nutrition is important too. Ice Cream and chips have their nutritional merits and can maintain good energy levels to see busy and hyperactive Grandads through a hectic day.

Role playing can add to a Grandad's nurturing environment, particularly when Grandad is dressed as Captain Hook or perhaps even a giant bunny.

This lovely book plays switch-a-roo with the child and the Grandad in such a charming and amusing style that Charlotte's face was a picture while this was being read to her. Being naturally bossy, she absolutely could not wait to try all these hints and tricks out on Grandad. As we'll be picking her up from Grandad and Grandma's house this evening, we bet Grandad will be really pleased this book dropped through the letterbox!


Charlotte's best bit: Making dens and playing pirates, and eating things you're really not supposed to eat!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A lovely bit of table-turning here in a fab and fun book. Hoping for a "How to Babysit a Grandma" very soon!

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

Last year, we were fortunate enough to be included on the Red House Picture Book Awards Blog Tour, hosting a piece by Andrew Weale - author of this very book!

Now we're finally getting round to reviewing Spooky Spooky House, thanks to the lovely Zoe at "Playing by the Book" for sending us a copy to take a look at.

With a spooky haunted house, lots of 'reveals' in the shape of lift-the-flap bits, and monsters, ghosts, ghoulies and slime by the bucketload I thought Charlotte would love this and she did. I felt it was a bit...disapointing and I can't quite put my finger on why. Perhaps it was the constant 'tease' of the big reveal at the end (a heat-sensitive black panel which you have to 'warm up' to reveal the horrible character stalking the reader throughout the book - but in practice something we really struggled to get to work - we should've used Zoe's idea of getting a hot water bottle for the purpose, but used a hot radiator instead, OWCH!) meaning that story was sacrificed to be replaced by a sort of "are you scared yet? How about now, how about NOW?" type of thing as the running thread for Spooky Spooky House.

There's an essay (or at least a very lengthy blog post) in what scares kids or what's deemed spooky. It's not purely about the visual, it's not even about the 'BOO!' behind a liftable flap. In Charlotte's case it definitely wasn't this book - because despite loving the theme and the reveals and the panel at the back (and of course the sinister stalking character), to her it was as spooky as a timid dormouse hiding in a teapot. Of course we don't exactly want to traumatise our children (particularly before bedtime) with nightmarish visions that will keep them awake all night, but spooky is as spooky does - compare and contrast this with the utterly superb (and quite similar) "Haunted House" by Jan Pienkowski. 

Or perhaps even...that bear...under the stairs...

Charlotte's best bit: The big reveal. Once we got it working!

Daddy's favourite bit: A Wham reference at the start of the book made me giggle.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Zoe at Playing By The Book. We owe you one, Zoe!)

"Hot Snot
Bogey Pie
Mix it in with a dead dog's eye
Drink it slowly
Eat it quick
Wash it down with a cup of cold sick!"

I thought I'd just share that with you, because if you've got a soon-to-be-five-year-old at home they'll probably find that hilarious, and will endlessly repeat it to you for the rest of the day. I apologise but if they liked that, they'll most certainly like "The Grunt and the Grouch" by Tracey Corderoy and Lee Wildish. Gross books are like nectar to kids, and the grosser the better. In this story The Grunt is a rather antisocial monster who likes living alone, but now and again likes to go and cause mayhem and havoc in his local town. He's smelly, he's dirty and his idea of haute cuisine usually revolves around mouldy gone-off things.

So when he comes home to find a party invitation on his doormat, the Grunt is less than pleased. He's even gruntier than ever when he finds The Grouch camping out in his garden having a fine time with the world's grimiest picnic.

Over time, the two become friends but just as The Grunt starts to really like The Grouch he leaves suddenly! Oh no!

For once, the Grunt is a bit lost and misses his new-found friend madly. Will the two be reunited?

This is such a fabulous little tale, full of squelchy squirty stuff but ultimately with a rather touching message underneath that layer of slime. Beautifully told by Tracey, who is fast becoming one of our favourite children's writers (and is an absolute STAR on Twitter btw) and superbly illustrated by Lee, it's the first in a whole series of Grunt and Grouch books so keep a bloodshot eye out for them, they're excellent!

Charlotte's best bit: The Grunt's perfect breakfast. Ee-ewwwwww!

Daddy's favourite bit: Ahhh you can't help but love a bit of grossness. I love these two, they're like Morecambe and Wise, only slightly stinkier and more prone to wiping bogies on each other! Bless!