I wonder what it is about penguins that makes them the perfect characters to sum up what it feels like to be an outsider, struggling for acceptance in a newly adopted country.

We recently reviewed "Polar Bear Island" by Lindsay Bonilla and Cinta Villalobos which also featured Penguins moving into the aforementioned idyllic snowy destination.

Now in "Meet the Penguins" by Mike Brownlow we once again find out that "different isn't always bad" - and the core message, though very similar to Polar Bear Island, is delivered in a slightly different way.

So let's meet those penguins! They really want to make some new friends. But does anyone want to play? 

Oh, the fun Mike and Simon must have designing these books. We've seen ten pirates suffer a grisly fate, ten princesses prim and proper and now it's the turn of "Ten Little Monsters"

I almost cackled out loud when I first heard that a third "Ten Little" book from Mike and Simon was on the way. Mainly because if there's anything close to a three-headed "Children's Book Trope", it'd be a beast wearing the head of a pirate, a princess and a dinosaur.

So logically "Ten Little Dinosaurs" stomps along, hot on the heels of "Ten Little Pirates" and "Ten Little Princesses" and we really, really couldn't be happier.

Why? Well these books are utterly and completely brilliant for starters. Mike produces the most pitch-perfect rhymes, while Simon draws up a storm with hilarious, chaotic and hugely funny illustrations to compliment Mike's words. We first join our ten little lizardy characters as they're nestling with their big fat dino mummy. But busy little dinosaurs don't stay put for long, so they set off on a grand quest to explore their world.

The prehistoric world is fraught with danger though and it's not long before we're counting down, just as we did with the other books, as each of the little dinosaurs succumbs to a different fate.

Snatched by a Pterosaur? Swooshed by an Ankylosaurus? Charged by our favourite - the Triceratops. This is no life for a cute and cuddly colourful little dinosaur. Will they live happily ever after?

It's a work of genius. Part counting book, part dino-info book, part comedic knockabout rib-tickling story but completely funny and brilliant. We're very rarely won over by books that carry the same theme through three successive titles but "Ten Little Dinosaurs" pulls off the hat trick with aplomb and is as fantastic as its predecessors. Just watch out for that squishy dino poo! Ew!

Charlotte's best bit: Charlotte always loves to spend the entire time choosing a favourite dinosaur (and then changing her mind about - oh - ten times throughout the book!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: It's another "Ten Little" triumph for Mike and Simon. We're having a private bet with ourselves on the next ten things that will crop up courtesy of Mike and Simon!

(Kindly sent to us for review by)

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Ten Little Pirates by Mike Brownlow and Simon Rickerty (Orchard Books)

Ten Little Princesses by Mike Brownlow and Simon Rickerty (Orchard Books)

When this book arrived through our letterbox, and Charlotte ripped open the packaging with a squeal of glee, I rather unfairly caught sight of the cover and groaned inwardly.

"Oh no, it's pink!" I thought.
"Oh no, it's about princesses!" I grumbled.
"Oh no, it's going to end up as a book of the week without a doubt!" I moaned.

There's a famous phrase about not judging a book by it's cover, and that is definitely the case whenever that cover contains the names Mike Brownlow and Simon Rickerty because you can always guarantee that you're going to have a good chuckle at the contents. So pessimistic Daddy soon gave way to chuckling, chortling, snorting daddy as Charlotte and I settled down to read Ten Little Princesses.

Don't be fooled by the cover. Don't be fooled by the fact that Mike and Simon have already produced "Ten Little Pirates" and don't assume that this is a cash-in sequel, it's actually funnier than "Pirates", possibly even more tongue-in-cheek.

Ten little princesses set out from the castle to attend the ball, and just like in "Pirates", some pretty nasty things happen to the poor damsels as they head out on their travels. Slowly but surely ten become nine, then eight, then seven - and you get the idea. But it's the way the princesses are (somewhat ruthlessly) dispatched that made both of us cackle with glee. We won't give away the ending (but look away now if you don't like spoilers, it's OK, no one dies!)

On one level it is very similar to "Ten Little Pirates", granted - but we felt a little less upset about a stack of pirates meeting a grisly end. Here it's quite amusing how Mike and Simon have pulled together several well known fairy-tale princesses and reinforced just how dark their tales are when you look at them closely, and in fact I kept thinking about "The Gashlycrumb Tinies" by Edward Gorey while reading this (which coming from me is high praise, I love Edward Gorey's work to bits!)

Mike Brownlow and Simon Rickerty work so well together that we can't wait to see what they come up with next. After enjoying "Ten Little Pirates", we're really blown away by how great this is - even if you (like me) are naturally predisposed to running a mile every time you see something pink and princessy.

In a nutshell, buy this book simply because - if anything - it pokes a lot of fun at the usual prissy "not exactly feminist" princess books kicking around, and is hugely entertaining on so many levels. Brilliant and highly recommended, and a huge lesson to me that I should take Charlotte's word for it more often before leaping to conclusions!

Charlotte's best bit: She fell in love with spotting all her favourite princesses popping up in the story, but was overjoyed to find that "her favourite" won out in the end (We won't reveal who!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: A choice lesson in not taking a book by it's cover, it's crackingly brilliant and entertaining, dark in places and utterly hilarious. Highly recommended indeed!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Orchard Books)

"OH NO, NOT PIRATES AGAIN!" said Charlotte as we popped "Ten Little Pirates" out of its padded envelope ready to review. But despite our description of being slightly burned out on piratical adventures we couldn't resist the bouncy almost sing-a-long book.

Ten little pirates, as happy as can be, set sail for adventure but in the grand tradition of countdown books, with each turn of the page something happens whittling their numbers down to...1.

Mike Brownlow's rhymes flow beautifully in nursery-rhme-like verse while Simon Rickerty's fantastic and colourful illustrations provide the visual thrills.

We were quite surprised as we read the book that those cute little pirates seem to come to more than one sticky end as things progress - but we wouldn't really be spoiling anything to tell you that all's well that ends well so don't worry if your favourite pirate is scoffed by a shark or gets blown to smithereens by a dastardly man-o-war.

A fab counting book, a hilarious and funny adventures, and the absolute joy for any child (or adult for that matter) is picking their fave pirate on the cover and seeing if they make it unscathed!

Charlotte's best bit: One little pirate being lured away by a pretty mermaid. Ooh la la!

Daddy's favourite bit: Faultless rhymes make this a real joy to read, and brilliantly funny illustrations mean you won't get too burned out on another piratical jaunt. Yo ho ho!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Orchard Books)