Some people (not us) start their Christmas Shopping as the first leaves start to fall, and the conkers start to thump onto the ground. We're too disorganised to even consider starting our christmas shopping this early but we do start thinking about christmassy booky goodness and in particular, brilliant children's picture books with a festive feel.

"Belle and Boo and the Very Merry Christmas" is a welcome return for Belle of the bob-hair and her awesome rabbity friend Boo. They're deep in the throes of christmas planning, working out what presents to buy and what good food to eat. Soon, Christmas Eve approaches - but one thing is troubling Boo. Are all the other animals having an awesome christmas too?

Boo, with Belle's help, decides that it's time to give all the animals a christmas they'll never forget - a very merry christmas indeed!

Teaching the values of giving and friendship, looking out for others less fortunate than ourselves, this charming little story is absolutely perfect for reading while snuggled up in front of a crackling fire, slightly warm mince pie on one side and a glass of mulled wine on the other - with your little ones on your knee.

Mandy Sutcliffe's stories and illustrations are so fantastic and timeless that it's sure to become a children's favourite for years to come. We also rather liked the inclusion of Belle and Boo-themed christmas decorations to lace around your Christmas Tree.

"Belle and Boo and the Very Merry Christmas" is out now, get in the festive mood with Belle and Boo!

Charlotte's best bit: Boo's brilliant idea for a christmas meal for all his animal friends

Daddy's Favourite bit: A warming feel-good christmas cracker!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Orchard Books)

We're back once again on the Orchard Books Blog tour for Belle and Boo, and here's the second of our sticker book reviews.

This time we're looking at a few of Belle and Boo's favourite things. Stripy lollies? Check! Picnics? Check! Beautiful bunny hats and cool clothes? Check check check!

Again, as with the Dress-up Belle and Boo book, this book is chock full of interesting stickers (over 200) to stick all over each beautiful scene, and all the things we said about "Play Day" apply here too. If your children love stickers, love cute and cuddly scenes and long for hot summer picnics and fun outdoors then this is a great activity and sticker book to take away on holiday (which is exactly what we're doing right now).

Charlotte's best bit: Setting out the perfect summer picnic

Daddy's favourite bit: Lots, and lots, AND LOTS of stickers! Hooray!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Orchard Books as part of the Belle and Boo Blog Tour)

Don't forget to visit the other brilliant folk on the tour for the rest of the week!


Monday 8th July – Read It Daddy! (Oh yes, that's us!) (http://readitdaddy.blogspot.co.uk/)

Tuesday 9th July – Lovely Loll at Story Seekers (http://storyseekersuk.wordpress.com/)

Wednesday 10th July – 'The Don' of children's books, the incomparable Book Sniffer!

Here's the first of our Belle and Boo reviews to celebrate the awesome "Belle and Boo Blog Tour" week we've been included in.

And what better way to start than with a sticker dressing up book - the sort of book that is a complete siren song to Charlotte, who absolutely loves anything to do with fashion, dolls or cute bunnies. Beautifully presented, it's your chance to dress Belle and of course Boo in a variety of groovy outfits, with tons of accessories and other stickers to make each scene come alive.

We're relative newcomers to the Belle and Boo phenomenon but it's great to see Charlotte enthusiastically attacking these books with gusto (you'll see our "Belle and Boo - My Favourite Things" review coming up very soon on the blog).

The things we always look for in a sticker book are all ticked off here:

1. Sticky stickers. I know this sounds like a no-brainer but you'd be surprised how many sticker books seem to use flour-and-water glue rather than something a bit more sticktastic. These stick a treat
2. Easily detachable sticker sheets. An absolute MUST, you should be able to get the stickers out of the centre pages of the book so that the child can use them on the pages they're supposed to (but then again there's also an argument for letting them run riot and stick stickers on any old page, of course!)
3. Appeal once the book is 'done' - It always seems a shame to have to throw these things away once they're finished but in the case of Play Day you have a story to read even once the stickering is done and dusted, and lots of scenes to look back on so it's worth keeping around. 

Belle and Boo Play Day by Mandy Sutcliffe (Hachette Children's Books)

It's blog tour time, and this time we're teaming up with Orchard Books, and some of the best bloomin' book folk in the country to look at a very special duo, the sublime Belle and Boo as part of a blog tour. Hooray!

Belle and Boo are the subject of a range of books by Mandy Sutcliffe, from Orchard Books (including the Belle and Boo Play Day Dress up sticker book pictured above).

Coming up are two reviews of the sticker activity books but we'd like to introduce you to the other fabulous folk who are also on the tour (and are some of our favourite book bloggers as well, how cool is that!)



Monday 8th July – Read It Daddy! (Oh yes, that's us!) (http://readitdaddy.blogspot.co.uk/)

Tuesday 9th July – Lovely Loll at Story Seekers (http://storyseekersuk.wordpress.com/)

Wednesday 10th July – 'The Don' of children's books, the incomparable Book Sniffer!