We truly love anthology books, and it's nice to see more arriving on bookshelves - as we'd often assumed they were somewhat in danger of dying out completely...

Here's an absolutely beautiful keepsake version of a mesmerising poetry anthology for children, first published over 100 years ago.

This lovely edition has been brought bang up to date by Otter-Barry Books, with new illustrations from children's literary legend Michael Foreman and a foreword from Alexander McCall Smith, author of the fantastic "No.1 Ladies Detective Agency" series.

Stretching across many different subjects, but always with a core theme of celebrating a child's boundless imagination, and thirst for adventure and excitement, these beautiful poems have been published and republished many times, and are so well known that their titles have seeped into children's literature and popular culture in so many different ways.

There's adventure on the high seas in "My Bed is a Boat" and "Pirate Story", amazing dreamscapes in "The Land of Nod" and "Young Night-Thought" and so many other classics, that are beautiful to read aloud in Louis-Stevenson's lyrical and lilting prose.

It's a beautiful collection, truly.

"A Child's Garden of Verses" by Robert Louis Stevenson and Michael Foreman is out now, published by Otter-Barry Books (Kindly supplied for review). 

Michael Foreman is something of a legend in children's book circles, but he's also a very well travelled man too...

Michael Foreman is something of a living legend. Two-times Kate Greenaway Medal winner, and with a gift for making each and every book he writes feel like an instant children's classic, how could we possibly resist a new story from him?

In this 150th Anniversary year of Lewis Carroll's classic "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" there's always room for one more version featuring a legendary children's author and illustrator...

Wow, now this is a real blast from the past - and a book that I was recently reminded about thanks to it featuring in the awesome "100 Greatest Children's Books" from Laurence King Publishing.

"The General" celebrated its 50th anniversary back in 2013 and this edition reprinted by Templar Publishing shows just how astonishing and groundbreaking this book was for the time, because re-reading it now as an adult - and re-reading it to my 7 year old daughter, it still feels as relevant and important now as it must've been back in the 60s.

The General - General Jodphur to be precise - is a thoroughly military gent. He runs his army with peerless efficiency and his soldiers are smartly dressed, extremely well trained and hugely disciplined. At night, the general settles down in his study to read about all the most famous generals in history and the campaigns they fought, dreaming that one day people will write books about him and his army too.

Glorious timeless illustrations in "The General"

While out riding, General Jodphur's horse is spooked by a fox as it dashes across their path and the poor General is knocked unceremoniously to the ground. When he hits the fresh sweet-scented grass, something quite amazing happens. The General is not injured but he does not want to get up. He stays there, lying amongst the flowers, soaking up the sheer beauty of the surrounding countryside and woodland.

That night the general can barely sleep, his dreams are troubled by visions of a marching army crushing the wildlife and plant life before them, trampling the wonderful landscape flat. General Jodphur makes a decision - the land must change, and he will be the man to instigate the change. The army will be sent home, sent back to become farmers and fishermen, builders and family men and the army base will be transformed into the most wonderful city with lush green spaces and lots to do. The General's new campaign is not to conquer, but to turn his country into the most beautiful country on earth.

The army become fishermen and farmers once more...wonderful!

As the story continues, General Jodphur's vision slowly comes to pass - but what will happen when generals from the east and west respectively come to see the results of Jodphur's hard work?

Janet and Michael drew up an amazing and empowering story that was 50 years ahead of its time, put together at a time when the cold war still raged, and when at one point it seemed that the world would be plunged into another war as events surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis began to unfold. It's still astonishingly relevant (at times, sadly so) but children today can wholly identify with the book's solid and wondrous messages promoting ecological values and world peace (and in Charlotte's case, wish as hard as possible that the world could eventually end up like The General's world!)

If you've never encountered this book before, and often wonder if "old books" can still light up your child's imagination like a bright beacon, you owe it to yourself and your kids to seek out "The General" - it's a truly inspirational and hugely influential children's classic in every sense of the word.

Charlotte's best bit: General Jodphur's amazing city, picked out in all the colours of the rainbow

Daddy's Favourite bit: As relevant, important and packed with wonder today as it must've been 50 years ago. A truly stunning book!

(Kindly sent to us for review by the utterly awesome Stephanie at Templar Publishing)

We couldn't resist this book. As soon as we saw the cover I knew it'd be coming home with us. We both love mermaids so a story that taps into traditional Cornish tales about "Merrymaids" was too good to miss.

"The Mermaid of Zennor" tells us the story of a young boy and his best friend. They always attend church every sunday, but a mysterious woman who sits at the back of the church catches their eye, and changes their lives forever.

Steeped in local history, both Charles and Michael have produced a tale that feels instantly like something that has been passed down from generation to generation as the older boy runs off to sea with his newly found love - but the two boys paths cross again later on in life.

We're trying not to give away too much because you really should discover the story for yourself. Suffice to say that if we're ever anywhere near Zennor, we'll be dropping into the little church mentioned in the book to see if there really is a chair with a "Merrymaid" carved on it tucked away at the back.

Charlotte's best bit: The lovely Merrymaid babies, all 7 of them!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A charming and instantly accessible story that feels traditional and ancient, but is still a gorgeous story to tell out loud to your little merrymaids and merrymen!

Fortunately, we love books like this, where the flow of the story changes from one page to the next - and a young monkey's fate is decided on the flip of a coin. Unfortunately we don't see nearly enough of them, but it's such a great format, it might inspire other authors and illustrators to try it out. Fortunately young Milo, the hero of this tale is a level-headed chap, so when he's asked to return his Grandma's umbrella to her, it's the start of an eventful journey.

Unfortunately not always an easy one. Milo has to be quick witted and clever in order to succeed. Pirates, little aliens, great big aliens and even dinosaurs get in his way.

Fortunately Milo realises just how useful an umbrella can be in the face of danger (or a good soaking!). Unfortunately an umbrella can only stand up to so much punishment before it ends up in a dreadful state!

Fortunately, Milo's Grandma ends up with something far better than an umbrella at the end of the story. Unfortunately we're not going to tell you what that is, you'll have to read the book for yourself!

Fortunately, Michael Foreman's book is brilliant, Milo and his Grandma are awesome characters, and be honest, who couldn't love a book where giant bullying gas-filled aliens get their comeuppance at the end of a pointy umbrella!

Unfortunately we've run out of space for this review. Fortunately, we're happy to tell you our favourite bits!

Charlotte's best bit: The cute and friendly mini aliens who abduct Milo in their spaceship.

Daddy's Favourite bit: This format is not unfamiliar, but it's wonderfully used to brilliant effect in this story!

Azzi In Between by Sarah Garland (Frances Lincoln Children's Books). Deep, thought provoking, vital.

We've delved into the world of comics and children's magazines for our #ReadItMD13 Theme Week this week, and often dealt with the light-hearted and knockabout world of children's comics. But there is a more serious side to comics that parents and children don't often expect to be there.

The visual impact of a story laid out in comic strip format often feels more cinematic and immediate than in other forms of written and illustrated media. As the emphasis is on dialogue and character, and often seeing through the eyes of the central characters, it's a powerful medium to use to deliver the most important messages of our times.

In the header, you can see the fantastic "Azzi In Between" - a children's book by Sarah Garland that deals with a tough and sensitive issue - that of the plight of millions of refugees around the world, forced to flee their countries for numerous reasons. We meet the strong character Azzi, in some respects an ordinary little girl placed in the most extraordinary circumstances purely because of where she was born.

Approved by Amnesty International, Azzi In Between raises awareness in children (and adults) in an impactive and direct way, triggers further discussion and investigation into what happens when war, famine or oppression affect people's lives.

Sarah's child-friendly artwork and the story's curve between Azzi's initial fairly normal life, and what happens when war arrives on the doorstep, is compelling and gritty stuff but produced in a way that children will understand and digest, and best of all, raise their own questions about long after you've turned the last page.

It's easy to see why this book is held in such high regard and it's not the only comic or children's book that's out there doing this. There are more than you'd imagine.

A Child's Garden by Michael Foreman (Walker Books)

In "A Child's Garden", which we recently borrowed from our excellent local library, the message of hope is beautifully woven into a story that begins with dark and fairly disturbing imagery. A young boy lives in a shattered landscape and an ever-present barbed wire fence reminds him that the world he once knew, a world without boundaries where people were free to roam and enjoy the countryside, has now changed as war arrives and land is divided.

Seeing a tiny scrap of greenery within the shattered landscape, the boy endeavours to nurture and grow the plant - until eventually it turns into a strong vine that envelopes the fence, covering it with leaves and flowers.

Soldiers destroy the vine, tossing it carelessly into a ditch. But soon the vine's seeds, scattered by the soldiers' thoughtless actions, start to grow again and a girl on the other side of the fence soon follows the boy's actions, watering the vine once again until it grows, and springs up on both sides, creating a beautiful garden for children to play in.

The message of hope is subtle but utterly beautifully delivered. At home this is a book that raised more questions than it answered, and proved the point that children's books and of course comics have impact, their messages do sink in, and best of all they stay as the comics and books are demanded and read again and again.

There are just two examples of brilliant comics and books that do this so well. If you have any more, we would dearly love to hear about them so please leave a comment below or tweet us @readitdaddy and we'll add them to this article.

From time to time we manage to spot books in our local library that have been read out during Cbeebies "Lunchtime Hour". Various Cbeebies characters and presenters come along, snuggle up in a comfy chair and read a children's book and some weeks back we remember Andy (tall lanky bloke, terrible hair but jolly and happy) reading out a "Littlest Dinosaur" tale. 

We grabbed this one on the basis of that, and it's excellent fun. A tiny squirt of a dinosaur is the last egg to hatch, and the poor little beast is soon finding life hard in a dinosaur filled world where everyone else is gigantic. 

His brothers and sisters trample the poor little fellah into the dirt when they play games, the neighbours point and laugh and soon the little mite feels completely useless. 

As we all know though, the biggest hearted heroes in children's stories are often those tiny little creatures who are folorn and neglected, and soon the Littlest Dinosaur gets the chance to prove his bravery.

With Charlotte being on a massive dinosaur kick at the moment (see my wife's excellent blog post about the superb Woodstock Museum in Oxfordshire) the littlest dinosaur is a fab family friendly book with great illustrations and one of a series featuring the scrawny but brave little scrap. 

Charlotte's best bit: Commenting on how odd the poor little dinosaur looks when he finally emerges from the egg

Daddy's favourite bit: The Long Neck

Rating: 4 out of 5