Sometimes, books ended up in our "Keepers" list not just because they're thoroughly entertaining books, but because they evoke such happy memories and with "Mrs MacReady was Ever So Greedy" - the first of the "Ever So" books by Julie Fulton and Jona Jung, this was one of the first books actually sent for review by a publisher.

We couldn't quite believe people would want to send us real actual proper books for us to write about, but it's a heck of a book, just bouncy, brilliantly rhyming and thoroughly entertaining from start to finish.

By today's standards it'd probably be seen as none too politically correct to have a story about a gluttonous woman who just won't stop eating, until she's the size of the Millennium Dome. But we always ended up sympathising with poor Mrs M, who just loved food a bit too much. Easy to see why as Jona Jung's illustrations (and the truly fab end papers) do make your tummy tumble a lot.

Mrs M starts out relatively svelte - but it won't last...

As well as the illustrations, Julie has a gift for making this book a lip-smacking story to read aloud and C demanded it again, and again and again (and yes indeed, like nearly all of our keepers, we still read it to this day for a giggle).

Those little piggies are right to look worried!

My wife often wonders why certain books haven't been donated (or thrown out) years ago but we can't bear to part with this one. Julie and Jona produced several "Ever so" titles for Maverick (most of which we reviewed and loved to bits) but this is the only survivor, just because it's brilliantly entertaining stuff. We've included links to the others though for completeness, and because Julie is so awesome!

Original Review Link: 

Mrs MacReady Was Ever So Greedy by Julie Fulton and Jona Jung (Maverick Arts Publishing)

ReadItDaddy previews "Tabitha Posy was Ever So Nosy" by Julie Fulton and Jona Jung (Maverick Books)

Miss Dorothy-Jane was Ever So Vain by Julie Fulton and Jona Jung (Maverick Publishing)

Daniel O'Dowd was Ever So Loud by Julie Fulton and Elina Ellis (Maverick Publishing)


Also brilliant from Julie / Patrick Corrigan and published by Maverick:

"Mister TV" by Julie Fulton and Patrick Corrigan (Maverick Arts Publishing)

Wow! Can it really be ten years since we first encountered awesome Maverick Arts Publishing? We share the same 10th anniversary year and I'm tickled to see that Julie "Ever So Series" Fulton is still writing for them, and alongside Patrick Corrigan has come up with a superb book celebrating the life of John Logie Baird.

In "Mister TV" this awesome duo chronicle the life of this tinkerer and inventor, who single-handedly changed the world with the invention of a mechanical televisor - the first device to transmit and receive a picture, and the forerunner to later electronic devices that perfected this amazing invention.

Logie Baird was always inventing as a child, though not always with the desired end result - but the lyrical storytelling details his inquisitive nature and his quest to come up with his own versions of gadgets, constantly refining and improving them until at last he came up with his breakthrough invention, the telly - something that still plays such a huge part in our daily lives.

Logie Baird later went on to conduct experiments in 3D TV and colour TV, and is widely recognised alongside others as "The Grandfather of Television".

It's great to see Maverick still publishing awesome books, and this brilliant account of John Logie Baird's life is well worth nabbing if your kids love science and love to learn more about the historical figures behind some of the world's greatest inventions.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A truly fabulous storytelling biography of one of the most innovative, inquisitive and clever inventors and his breakthrough work on bringing modern television to the masses.

"Mister TV" by Julie Fulton and Patrick Corrigan is out now, published by Maverick Arts Publishing (kindly supplied for review). 

Nope it's not the story of three reptilian dancers eating Bruce Forsyth, it's the hilarious tale of three crocs who'll do anything to get into Zebra's party....

Glorious rhymes, groovy illustrations and a crazy but cool lady scientist? Oh I think we're going to like this one a lot...

London is a huge, vibrant city and a favourite destination of ours. I lived there for many years but it was only when I moved away that I got to do the 'tourist bit' of visiting all the attractions and enjoying the way the city has changed immensely over the last 30 years.

In Fin and Zoa's latest Dog Detectives adventure, the two intrepid doggie investigators Jack and Poco Loco (based on Fin and Zoa's world-travelling rescue dogs themselves) are tasked with locating the missing ravens from The Tower of London. After a mischievous game of hide and seek, the birds are nowhere to be seen and as legend tells, if the ravens of the tower are lost, the kingdom will fall!

Chasing all over London and catching some of the wonderful landmarks, Jack and Deputy Poco Loco are soon hot on the trail, aided by a helpful punk rat.

Great artwork, and lots of learning opportunities abound in this lovely book. If you're planning a visit to London or if you've recently been, this book will strike a chord with you and your children as you find out lots of interesting facts about the landmarks, the history and the culture of our capital. The fast-paced story is excitingly woven into the learning experience in such a cool way that a lot of other books should definitely be taking their cues from the Dog Detectives series.

Charlotte's best bit: Wait a minute, doesn't Thor look a bit like Where's Wally?

Daddy's favourite bit: Sumptuous illustrations, loved the London Underground bit!

Rating: 4 and a half out of 5 stars

Fresh from reviewing "The Fearsome Beastie" we were extremely lucky enough to get a sneaky peak at Giles Pale-Phillips and Gabriele Antonini's excellent followup, "Tamara Small and the Monsters' Ball".

As you know, we like a bit of monstrous stuff here at ReadItDaddy and Charlotte makes a bee-line for anything monstery. She loved "The Fearsome Beastie" but a book with a little girl as the central character and not just one monster but a whole plethora of monsters was always going to be very popular.

Tamara Small wakes up one night when a monster steals in through the window and whisks her off. But don't panic just yet, Tamara is in safe hands as the monster is taking her to the infamous Annual Monsters' Ball. What do monsters do at a ball? What do they eat and drink? What will become of Tamara? Well you're going to have to wait until October 1st to find out but we think Giles and Gabriele have managed to trump "The Fearsome Beastie" by some considerable margin.

We're now glued to Maverick Books website to see if they can keep up this fantastic streak of quality children's picture books. So far they're knocking it out of the park, and we've already noticed that Julie (Mrs MacCready) Fulton and Jona Jung have another book coming out (Tabitha Posy was Ever So Nosy) too.

You'll most definitely like Tamara Drew though, betcha!

Charlotte's best bit: Cake made of... :)

Daddy's favourite bit: Without a doubt, the breakdancing Werewolf.

(No rating as this is a preview)

Not to be confused with the bus-driving ace mechanic from Balamory, this particular Mrs MacCready loves to eat and lives to eat. Scoffing down plate after plate of gorgeous scrumptious food, she pays no heed to her rapidly expanding waistline until one day the only thing that fits her is a ratty old string vest.

Poor Mrs MacReady!

This fantastic little book from Julie Fulton and Jona Jung is crazy, funny and wonderfully irreverent. Like the other Maverick Arts books we've reviewed, there is a moral message mixed with the excellent rhyming text and colourful illustrations, but don't let that worry you too much. Kids love characters like Mrs MacCready and they particularly love anyone who can get away with scoffing all the things kids are constantly told are bad for them! We've often heard that one children's author or another is "The Next Roald Dahl" but Julie Fulton nails that essential mix of craziness and the macabre so effectively, she deserves that particular plaudit more than most.

Absolutely brilliant, loved every morsel of this one!

Charlotte's best bit: Mrs MacCready eating cherries (with worms still inside! Ew!)

Daddy's favourite bit: Mrs MacCready's interfering neighbours trying to hide her from prying eyes.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

We've been meaning to do one of these for a while so now we've finally got round to it, we thought we'd do our first cross-blog 'hug' with the excellent ChildLedChaos Blog and the Friday Pick{ture Book} slot. Clicking on the lovely shelf of books down there will take you to the blog and the rules and regs for how you can join in. 
So let's kick off with another one of the Maverick Books we were recently sent, the rather fun and wibbly "Grandma Bendy" by Izy Penguin. 
What? You didn't know penguins could write and draw? This one can, and she's woven together a torrid tale of a bad grandma turned good. You see Grandma Bendy isn't just a little old lady who watches daytime cookery shows, owns 200 cats, and calls you "George" even though your name is Phil, no she's extremely flexible and bendy, like a septuagenerian Mr Tickle!
She wasn't always sweet and lovely though, Grandma Bendy has a dark past which unfolds as you read the book. We won't spoil it for you but Grandma Bendy is a lovely little book and the first we've come across from Izy. We would certainly love to read more adventures featuring Grandma Bendy so lets hope this is just the start of a successful series. 
Charlotte's best bit: Grandma Bendy as 'Young Lady' Bendy. 
Daddy's favourite bit: Rather cool treatment of the idea of the black sheep of the family making good. 
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Click the image below to visit Child-Led Chaos and the Friday Pick{ture Book} Meme Theme

The lovely folk at GPP PR and Marketing tweeted us @readitdaddy recently to ask if we'd like to review some books. Lo and behold, four lovely books arrived in the post yesterday and this was the one Charlotte instantly seized on.

Worry-wort parents might want to look away now.

Because, oh my...oh my oh my....

 ....this is a tricky one to review.

"The Fearsome Beastie" is the sort of book my lovely other half @thestrollingmum blanches at whenever we bring home monstrous books from the library. A recent winner of The People's Book Prize, this book really doesn't pull any punches (or axes!). Most monsters in books are rather pleasant folk who start off shouting, gnashing and snarling and end up rather placid, even friendly. The fearsome beastie in this book isn't like that at all. He prowls at night, he likes to eat young children and he thinks nothing of tricking them into trusting them before he gobbles them all up.

There's a message here though, and it's a very strong stark message about 'monsters' that's woven between the gently rhyming text, and the (sometimes rather graphic but beautifully done) illustrations.

Personally I wouldn't recommend this as a bedtime read (in fact I wouldn't recommend this 8 hours either side of bedtime or nap time) and I'm gobsmacked that one particular picture panel made it through editing intact but Charlotte wanted to read it again as soon as we'd finished. If you don't baulk at the thought of your children reading something that feels like a 'warts 'n' all' classic children's fairy story, this is very much cut from the same cloth.

Maverick Books are definitely a force in Children's Publishing to keep an eye on though. Superb high quality book beautifully presented.

Charlotte's best bit: Of course she liked the 'shock' bit the best (and I'm sure your kids would too!)

Daddy's favourite bit: The fact that this doesn't shy away from letting a monster be monstrous, menacing and downright nasty.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars