This one originally came as a recommendation from awesome Catherine over at the fabulous Story Snug blog and we were utterly delighted with it - and it still gets read today.

It feels like the sort of book I loved as a kid too, purely because it's a work of whimsy that doesn't feel the need to cram a 'message' down your throat like so many other picture books you won't find in our #Booky100Keepers list.

The story opens with a bus driver, a chap who is well and truly stuck in a rut. He gets up at the same time every morning, goes to work at the same time every morning, and sets off on time in his big red bus.

Only...one morning something changes. Thanks to some traffic the driver sees another road, a road he's never gone down before - and soon he and his passengers are embarking on a mystery tour to 'who knows where' aboard the bus (kids don't actually worry about the fact that some of the folk on the bus need to get to work or school, they just go along with the story without questioning the mechanics of it, and I ADORE that about this book).

As the driver picks up more and more passengers, they all begin to realise that the bus is getting a bit crowded. But never mind, they're an inventive lot and help to build another deck on the bus, and another, and another - until the bus eventually reaches the sea.

Journey over? Not a bit of it! The bus is retrofitted with the ability to float, and eventually to fly in the book's big fold-out surprise reveal. For all we know that bus is still rolling along too!

Over the course of the ten years of writing this blog we've always craved stories like this. Stories that spur kids' imaginations and let them fly. Books that don't make a pretence that they're imparting some nugget of wisdom that your common sense wouldn't have already told you (and if there's one huge criticism I'd make of the current UK picture book market, it's that it's utterly and completely bloated with horrid little books that deem to tell you - or your kids -  how to live a better life or to be a better person). This book does none of those things. This book merely sets out to entertain you and boy, it sure does a good job of that.

Original review link

https://readitdaddy.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-hundred-decker-bus-by-mike-smith.html

DFB add another brilliant title to their "First Names" series with the awesome "First Names: Malala Yousafzai" by Lisa Williamson and Mike Smith.

This is the story of a young girl who wanted something that most of us pretty much take for granted. Malala wanted to go to school.

In her home country of Pakistan, girls were expected to stay at home, raise families and be rarely seen and definitely not heard but Malala and her mother and father had other ideas. Her parents wanted the very best for her, with her father setting up his own private school for both boys and girls.

With the rise of the Taliban in Pakistan, Malala's world completely changed, becoming unrecognisable from what she'd known her whole life, as harsh laws were imposed, and women were even more subjugated than they were before. Malala's strength of spirit and tenacity came to the fore, as she was adamantly defiant of the harsh regime in her country, and strove to change things. When she was shot for the mere 'defiant act' of wanting to go to school, her story became known internationally - and it wasn't long before Malala used her intelligence and bravery to do the very thing she'd always dreamed of - to start making changes for the better not just for the girls and women of her country, but for all children, ensuring that their basic rights to an education and to comfortable living conditions were recognised more widely.

This is a truly brilliant and highly detailed account of this young girl's life to date, her influences and heroes, her acts of kindness and bravery, and her amazing undaunted spirit.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A really excellent addition to DFB's brilliant "First Names" range, filled with amazing details about Malala's awe-inspiring struggle to raise the profile of human rights worldwide.

"First names: Malala Yousafzai" by Lisa Williamson and Mike Smith is out now, published by David Fickling Books (kindly supplied for review).

Our stunning pair of books sliding into our Book of the Week slot this week are from a range that really wowed us when it first appeared last year, with two fantastic "First Names" books about Elon Musk and Emmeline Pankhurst.

We're pleased to see two followup books on the subject of two more amazing people, one a natural showman and another a genius pilot.

Starting with "First Names: Harry Houdini" by Kjartan Poskitt and Geraint Ford, find out more about one of history's greatest showmen ever.

Harry Houdini the brilliant escape artist thrilled the world with his death-defying stunts and awesome showmanship.

Find out how he was inspired by a man with no head, why he kept asking to be put in jail (and how he got out again) and why he dangled upside down from a crane 120 feet up in the air.

Get to know Harry on first name terms in this highly illustrated and brilliantly written new addition to the First Names range.

"Harry Houdini" by Kjartan Poskitt and Geraint Ford is out now, published by David Fickling Books.

The second book is "First Names: Amelia Earhart" by Andrew Prentice and Mike Smith, covering the amazing life and career of Amelia, who fell in love with flying at an early age, at a time when pioneers of the air were usually male not female.

Amelia became a world-famous daredevil pilot who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. 

Center>



Our first book(s) of the week this week are the first two titles in a fantastic new range from David Fickling Books.

The new "First Names" series aims to introduce famous figures who have excelled in their chosen fields, or inspired generations of men and women to get behind important movements and campaigns.

Starting off with Elon (Musk) and Emmeline (Pankhurst) the books are fantastically engaging, brilliantly written and attractively illustrated - taking you through the life and works of famous people.

Starting off with Elon (Musk) you'll learn how this innovative entrepreneur put his mega-mind into play, coming up with some of the most revolutionary inventions and ideas of the 21st century.

Elon Musk is a firm believer that humankind needs to make better use of the planet's natural resources to power us through the next era of our development. Endorsing the use of solar power, electric vehicles and even pioneering voyages into space to perhaps one day colonise other planets, he's an amazing inspirational character that kids will love learning about.

Emmeline (Pankhurst) hardly needs any introduction at all.

She fought a tough battle to win the vote for British women and inspired others around the world to do the same. In her early life you'll find out why she hated school, how she had to take lessons in stone throwing, what she thought when her daughter spat at a policeman and an awful lot more besides.

Get to know Emmeline  and Elon on FIRST NAME terms!

The books are truly brilliant, full of amazing facts and information delivered in a way that will pique children's curiosity and hopefully inspire them to become the next Elon or Emmeline themselves.

"First Names: Elon (Musk) and Emmeline (Pankhurst)" are both out now, published by David Fickling Books (kindly supplied for review). 

Thanks to our good friend Catherine over at StorySnug for recommending this one. Narrowly missing out on our "Transport" theme from last week, our copy of "The Hundred Decker Bus" by Mike Smith arrived over the weekend and we've been reading through it again and again.

The story starts off as the bus driver prepares for an ordinary driving day. He drinks his cup of tea, slides on his jacket and pulls out of the bus station precisely on time. He picks up the same passengers every day, and travels the same route - but a mysterious side road catches his eye. What would be at the end of that mysterious road? Time to find out!

His (very understanding) passengers don't mind the diversion, and soon the bus is sailing through country lanes and past beautiful fields, picking up lots of new passengers on the way. When the bus stops at the sea, the journey doesn't end there. Soon the bus is on board a ferry, sailing for distant lands.

Sailors decide that a mystery journey sounds fun - but the bus is already full! What can be done? With a swift bit of expert engineering the sailors add Deck 3 to the bus - and the scene is set for more adventures, more passengers and even more decks!

We loved the way the story built up to a brilliant climax as more and more detailed little decks are added, more passengers clamber aboard for an adventure - and there's an absolutely HUGE fold-out page to be enjoyed once the bus gets to 100 decks tall.

The fun doesn't last forever. As you'd imagine, the poor bus suffers from the extra load and breaks down - but can something or someone pitch in at the last minute to help out? (We'll let you find out the answer for yourself in this fab book).

There are so many brilliant bits in the book (a bus with its own swimming pool! Wow!) and Mike's eye for detail is awesome. We enjoyed our journey aboard the 100 decker bus and so will you!

Charlotte's best bit: Going swimming in the deep end (and looking at the butterflies out of the window)

Daddy's Favourite bit: Fun, detailed and a wonderful fold-out that's taller than I am! A truly fantastic journey!