Moving from one excellent witchy series to another in our #Booky100Keepers list, the "Winnie the Witch" books by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul were early favourites of C - and that rare thing, a series of books that she discovered herself without any prodding or cajoling from me.

Back when our blog first began, I started trying to keep a list of the books we regularly borrowed from our local library, mainly to try and avoid C picking the same books every week. I was lucky enough to be working flexibly at the time, getting every wednesday off. So wednesday became library day and that's how this whole thing started out.

Trying to discourage a 2 year old from picking the same books isn't as easy as it sounds, and in fact these were nearly always in our pile, and thankfully by the time we started blogging there were plenty of excellent Winnie the Witch books to choose from.

The huge appeal of these books for C were largely down to Korky Paul's scritchy scratchy illustrations, and this set out a pattern we'd see again and again in the books that we ended up loving (and keeping). There's so much detail in there, everything from little jokes and nods at popular culture, to cameos from Korky's other books, even to cameos for Valerie and Korky themselves.

Of course no book is just about the illustrations. Valerie's stories were always funny and she never ceased to amaze us with how many different ways she could cook up to get Winnie and Wilbur into trouble (and thankfully out again).

As much as kids love to read about themselves in children's books, they also absolutely LOVE to read about adults stuffing up - and Winnie isn't some masterful mistress of magic, in fact most of the time her spells go awry, her house is a mess, and poor Wilbur is usually on the receiving end of misplaced spells or other chaos in each story.

One of C's early favourites was "Winnie in Winter" - a tale that sees Winnie tinkering with the seasons themselves as she and Wilbur get fed up with the constant cold and snow.

But when she tinkers with bringing summer early to her garden, the poor creatures who live there don't know whether to hibernate or stay up, and soon everyone wants a piece of the sunny action - and Winnie's garden ends up looking like every green space does at the moment as we watch hordes of crazy people ignoring the COVID-19 lockdown and social distancing stuff.

Winnie has no choice but to restore the balance of nature, bringing the wintry weather back again. At one point we were borrowing this book every week for about a year, that's how popular it was.

It's testament to how popular these books are that our second most accessed review on the blog was an article about Winnie's 25th birthday with over 1800 unique hits (not too shabby for a book blog done in our spare time).

C once met Korky and was delighted when she mentioned her blog and he knew exactly who we were. I think it went to her head a bit as she would constantly talk about how 'famous' we were. Ah if only that were true!

I've included a few other Korky Paul reviews (he really has worked with some of the best writers in the business) as well as the Winnie books, as they're all well and truly brilliant and worthy of your attention.

Original review links

ReadItDaddy's Second Picture Book of the Week - Week Ending 25th May 2018: "Winnie and Wilbur: Seaside Adventures" by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul (OUP / Oxford Children's Books)

Snails Legs by Damian Harvey and Korky Paul (Frances Lincoln Children's Books)

The Rascally Cake by Jeanne Willis and Korky Paul (Picture Puffin)

ReadItDaddy's First Picture Book of the Week - Week Ending 29th September 2017 - "Winnie and Wilbur: The Naughty Knight" by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul (Oxford Children's Books)

ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week - Week Ending 23rd May 2014 - "Sir Scallywag and the Deadly Dragon Poo" by Giles Andreae and Korky Paul (Picture Puffin)

Winnie's Midnight Dragon

Booky Advent Calendar Day 10: "Winnie and Wilbur: The Santa Surprise" by Laura Owen and Korky Paul (OUP / Oxford Children's Books)

A Rocketful of Space Poems by John Foster and Korky Paul (Otter-Barry Books / Frances Lincoln Children's Books)

The Very Noisy House by Julie Rhodes and Korky Paul (Frances Lincoln Children's Books)

It's Friday the 13th! What better day to celebrate Winnie the Witch's Birthday!

The Duck with No Luck

Sanji and the Baker

The Dog who could Dig

Professor Puffendorf's Secret Potions

A Cat Called Scratch

Winnie At the Seaside

Winnie Flies Again

Winnie in Winter

Happy 25th Birthday, Winnie the Witch!

Happy Birthday Winnie!

Winnie's Flying Carpet

Another cracking slice of awesome colourful fun and hilarity from a truly original creative.

Jon Burgerman's fantastic books are brilliant for busy little ones, and "Everybody Has a Body" is no exception.

Everyone really does have a body - and your body is the most amazing instrument you'll ever own. So let Jon take you on a fun journey celebrating all the things that make us unique, in a brilliant and diverse bounce-along story.

Concentrating on Jon's characterful visuals, the story is intentionally kept minimalistic in order to show kids that no matter what they look like, or no matter what their bodies are like, they're all awesome!

One additional note. This book is also available in Welsh, which is pretty cool too!!

Sum this book up a sentence: Another superb book from a creator who manages to inject such a huge amount of energy into his books, making them instantly appealing to little ones.

"Everybody Has a Body" by Jon Burgerman is out now, published by OUP / Oxford Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

It's fair to say that we have a very tough choice on our hands when it comes to middle grade fiction, separating out the also-rans from the truly stunning books that we know are going to be a huge hit with C.

When it comes to detective fiction our work is doubly difficult - it feels like there are SO MANY wannabe detectives running around in middle grade, all solving crimes, righting wrongs, and generally doing so in a fairly similar (some might even say tedious) way.

SO it's good to report that "The Cure for a Crime" by Roopa Farooki punts all those notions of 'sameyness' into the reeds, setting up a fantastic first book in what we truly hope becomes a hugely successful series, featuring twins Ali and Tulip.

Their mum is a successful surgeon, and both the twins have picked up loads of her knowledge of first aid, medicine and anatomy, becoming familiar with the hospital environment and the daily struggles and triumphs around making people better and saving lives.

But something's amiss. Their normally sharp-eyed sharp-witted mum seems to be suffering from a mysterious illness that is making her sleepy and forgetful. Mum's new boyfriend is instantly placed under suspicion, and it's up to the twins and their awesome Gran to get to the bottom of this tricky case, using all the medical knowledge and skills at their disposal (plus a good dose of wisdom from Gran too!)

Roopa's storytelling is slick, fast paced and completely engrossing (C read this through twice and was totally hooked on it, which in itself is unusual given the number of books she has on her review stack at any given time). Praise in itself for a superb novel that bucks the trend for 'boring' middle grade detective fiction, giving it a vital life-saving shot in the arm (and dang, you could almost put that on the back of the book, right?)

Sum this book up in a sentence: A truly brilliant slice of awesomeness, a detective tale that feels instantly engaging and original, with a brilliant pair of characters and a compelling first case which we hope becomes a huge series for Roopa.

"The Cure for a Crime" by Roopa Farooki is out now, published by OUP / Oxford Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

Ah, Unicorns, still a firm favourite mythical beast - and there's no reason why they shouldn't be a central character in a fabulous warm-hearted Christmas story.

"The Christmas Unicorn" by Anna Currey is a gorgeous and atmospheric story set in the days leading up to Christmas, about one little girl's magical encounter with a unicorn.

Christmas is just days away. A little girl called Milly and her Mum are staying at Grandpa's house.

Dad has been kept away but will join them just as soon as he can.

But Milly feels a little forlorn, away from her friends and without her Dad.

But then something wonderful happens. Milly meets Florian, a unicorn.

One snowy night, he patters into Grandpa's house and transforms Milly's Christmas, filling it with friendship, surprise and sparkle.

Somehow, Florian makes all Milly's wishes come true.

Anna has crafted a beautifully written and sensitively illustrated picture book that will delight every generation as families come together at Christmas.

"The Christmas Unicorn" by Anna Currey is out now, published by OUP / Oxford Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

Day 7 on our Booky Advent Calendar sees a very talented chap turn his hand to his first christmas book, with brilliant results in a timely and atmospheric story about the importance of our forests and wild habitats - but also a fantastic message about being happy with who you are.

"The Tree That's Meant to Be" by Yuval Zommer is a gorgeous Christmas picture book that's destined to become a festive classic.

A little fir tree is too small and too imperfect to be chosen at Christmas time.

But being left alone in the forest brings more rewards than the tree could ever have hoped for.

This is a charming picture book with a heartfelt message about love and embracing what makes us different. 

A fab series gets you ready for christmas in the most charming and delightful way, as Anne Booth's "Lucy Makes a Wish" with fabulous illustrations from Sophy Williams sees a plucky little pup embark on a special festive adventure.

When Boots the puppy bounces into Lucy's life, fun and friendship are never far behind.

Our Chapter Book of the Week reminds me of a little boy who was properly obsessed with this character as a little kid. He would dress up in scruffy clothes, cover his face in dirt, and stop to stand, arms outstretched, at every single farm or field gate whenever we were out on a walk.

My little brother will be overjoyed to see a whole new edition of "Worzel Gummidge" by Barbara Euphan Todd, with new illustrations by Peter Cottrill.

My bro was obsessed with the Jon Pertwee series, and collected just about all the books, annuals and merchandise that sprang up from that show.

Now with a new TV series (starring Mackenzie Crook, inspired casting if ever we've seen it), old Worzel's about to fascinate (and possibly terrify) a whole new generation of kids.

But let's dip into Barbara's amazing book - coming from an era when kids still loved to play outdoors, largely unsupervised - and the thought of befriending an animated character made out of mangelworzels and straw wouldn't seem at all sinister.

Barbara's gentle first novel acts as introduction and initial adventure for John, Susan and Worzel as they spend an idyllic summer at Scatterbrook Farm. You can almost feel the bittersweet innocence and melancholy coming from every page.

Many books followed, and I'm hoping that these all get an outing too - harking back to a period of history that is rapidly becoming lost, as Worzel embarks on adventures at the circus, or in the novels where he first discovers Aunt Sally at the village fair, or Saucy Nancy, the figurehead of a lost treasure ship.

Brilliantly written, beautifully gentle and hopefully a fantastic precursor to an awesome new TV show. Welcome back Worzel, it's great to see your return!

Sum this book up a sentence: A whimsical and brilliant slice of childhood back to dazzle a whole new generation of fans.

"Worzel Gummidge" by Barbara Euphan Todd and Peter Cottrill is out now, published by OUP / Oxford Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

We're delighted to bring you five new books in OUP / Oxford Children's Books Autumn release schedule.

So let's start with a fantastic cross-generational celebration of how awesome grandparents are in "Tibble and Grandpa" by Wendy Meddour and Daniel Egneus.

Tibble absolutely adores his Grandpa, but sometimes lately Grandpa seems a little distracted.

Grandpa has stopped talking, and sometimes he gets a strange faraway look in his eye.

Tibble is frustrated, because he wants to talk to Grandpa NOW - but he comes up with a brilliant plan to get Grandpa talking again. A fantastic game of "Top Threes" - and before long, Grandpa is reminiscing and remembering - and telling Tibble awesome tall tales once again.

A delicate and brilliant story helping kids understand growing old, even touching on themes of dementia. "Tibble and Grandpa" by Wendy Meddour and Daniel Egneus is out on 5th September 2019, published by OUP / Oxford Children's Books.

Next up, a cool tale with a thought provoking message at its core, the superb "Jazz Dog" by Marie Voigt.

In a divided world of cats and dogs - where dogs only play dog music and cats only play cat music - one little dog chooses to follow the music in his heart, and that means jamming with the cats!
...and how will Winnie work her magic when her wand is 50 times bigger than she is?

Our Chapter Book of the Week this week is a series that has proved wildly popular at C's school, so much so that she coasts quite a lot on the fact that we're lucky enough to get the latest books in the series 'early'

So once again she's been the most popular kid in class because of "The Accidental Rock Star" by Tom McLaughlin, acting as a very good sales agent by telling kids all the wonders they can expect when they obediently trot off to buy their own copies (we're not on comission yet, OUP, but just sayin'!)

Anyway, what's this latest adventure about? Take an ordinary everyday schoolboy who, with the aid of his faithful cat, has ended up as a world-famous rockstar - completely by accident of course!

After a hit single and a tour, life as a rock star perhaps isn't quite as brilliant as everyone imagines. Sometimes you just want to return to your previous (boring) life!

C has read and re-read this one, and though she really loved "The Accidental President" best of all in this series, she has now proclaimed "The Accidental Rock Star" as well worthy of its 'chapter book of the week' status.

So let's dig in and have a look at a sample page or two, to whet your whistle!


Sum this book up in a sentence: A hilarious mishap-laden view of what it could be like being a kid rockstar, with Tom's trademark tongue in cheek observational humour once again making this a huge hit!

"The Accidental Rock Star" by Tom McLaughlin is out now, published by OUP / Oxford Children's Books (kindly supplied for review).

Being the oldest of three siblings I can still remember my brother and sister as tiny babies, though I can't remember a thing about the bit before, when the whole house felt like it was on pause waiting for their arrival.

In "Polly and the New Baby" Polly is waiting for a new brother or sister - but in the meantime she has loads of fun with her imaginary friend, a bunny who rides in the baby pushchair that was Polly's when she was a tiny tot.

Polly isn't sure how Bunny is going to react when the baby arrives. You see Bunny won't go anywhere without Polly's old baby pushchair - and mum and dad are definitely going to need it back when the new arrival comes.

Mum and Dad, and even Grandma try to gently persuade Polly that the pushchair can be put to better use (which caused C to let out an exasperated "What a spoilt brat! They should just tell her off!" in that super-indignant way that 11 year olds always muster).

Finally though Polly comes to a decision - but it might not be quite what Mum & Dad imagine!22

It's a thoughtful and rather lovely story that touches on things that many kids may be going through in ancitipation of a new brother or sister's arrival, and Rachel's gorgeous muted illustrations are full of character and originality. We love the eventual message about sharing and of course there's nothing quite like teaching a younger sibling all your favourite ways of getting your own way too!



Sum this book up in a sentence: A fab book for soon-to-be sibs, beautifully observing and describing what it feels like to be a big bro or sis.

"Polly and the New Baby" by Rachel Quarry is out now, published by OUP / Oxford Children's Books (kindly supplied forr review). 

Yikes! Not a fan of spiders here at ReadItDaddy Towers, and definitely not a fan of finding them languishing in our food.

In "There's a Spider in my Soup" by Megan Brewis, a mischievous spider loves nothing more than energetically swinging on her web.

Despite her mum and dad's warnings, little spider can't stop swinging - but when her swinging lands her in someone's lovely tasty lunchtime comestible, it's an opportunity to make new friends and do something adventurous that the whole family can enjoy!

Time for some splishy splashy fun!!

We rather liked the message here, that sometimes the rules are there to be bent a little if not totally broken - and sometimes getting messy is a whole lot of fun.

Sum this book up in a sentence: With a lovely bounce-along story, tons of energy and gorgeous illustrations, this is rather awesome indeed!

"There's a Spider in my Soup" by Megan Brewis is out now, published by OUP / Oxford Children's Books (kindly supplied for review)

Oh Gizmo. You broke us. You really broke us.

Our Chapter Book of the Week is the sort of book that you just know is going to end up with you in a complete mess of tears, nursing a warm beverage or better still hugging a loved one who can't quite understand why on earth you're such a blubbering wreck.

"What's that in Dog Years?" by Ben Davis, with gorgeous cover and internal illustrations by Julia Christians is indeed the perfect book for pooch lovers - but only if you can cope with knowing from the outset that Gizmo (the faithful and lovable mutt in this story) is living on borrowed time.

Kindness can't be overrated. Kindness towards others, towards animals, there's a lot to be said for any book that makes kindness its central theme.

But there's a lot more than that to unpack in "Lula and the Sea Monster" by Alex Latimer.

This beautifully woven and illustrated tale begins with the titula Lula, who loves her seaside home.

Sadly her home won't last forever. Greedy developers are intent on flattening it to build a new coastal highway, and Arthur-Dent-Like Lula would quite like to stop them. But what can a little girl do against a crowd of bulldozers?

Consoling herself, Lula takes a seaside stroll, and discovers an odd little creature being picked on by a nasty gull in a rockpool. She rescues the little mite, and gives it a bit of her packed lunch, vowing to return next day to see how the little fellah is doing.

When she returns, she realises this isn't just any ordinary sea creature, this is something else. Lula's new friend grows and grows, and is soon polishing off the contents of the larder as Lula brings her new friend lots of food to make him grow big and strong.

But when her new friend disappears one day, Lula's blue funk returns and she realises that it's the day of destruction for the family home...however, someone else has other ideas - and Lula might just have found her initial kindness paying off in a big way. A colossal way in fact.

This is really lovely stuff, original and compelling storytelling for wee ones, tucking the message of kindness neatly between the folds so that it's not battering kids around the head too much, as so many 'message' books do.

Yes, we love this one.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A really original and beautifully told / illustrated tale of kindness and looking after others.

"Lula and the Sea Monster" by Alex Latimer is out now, published by OUP / Oxford Children's Books (kindly supplied for review)

Sometimes it takes seeing things through the eyes of your child to really change your lifelong mind about something you've previously had no time for.

As a kid, I had two major fears. Waxworks (UGHHH!) and Clowns (EEEHHH!) and the latter led me to a real dislike of circuses.

When C was born, we ended up visiting Giffords Circus in Oxford. I was grumpy, didn't want to go but my wife bought the tickets and we all went. C was absolutely enthralled and entranced by it, a circus run by what felt like a tight knit family of performers. There was a clown, but he wasn't the usual sort of painted-faced terrifying type of clown I'd always hated (thanks Tim Rice!) He was genuinely funny, silly and crazy. It completely changed my mind, and perhaps "Nell and the Circus of Dreams" by Nell Gifford and Briony May Smith may change yours too if you've had a similar dislike of all things circus-ey

Beautiful storytelling and the most sumptuous illustrations. This is a real treat!

Giffords Circus is of course one of the most famous and popular circuses still travelling the country, and in this book you'll find a beautifully woven story about a young girl called Nell whose mother becomes very ill. One day Nell finds a tiny chick scratching in the back yard and the two become firm friends. But when the chick grows up into a chicken, she disappears and Nell manages to track her down to a nearby travelling circus.

It's like nothing she's ever seen before. The people there are amazing acrobats and performers, there are beautiful horses prancing daintily around - but Nell still can't find Rosebud, her chicken friend. Until she finally enters the ring to discover who the star of the show really is.

A very talented little girl and her awesome chicken!

(If you've been to Giffords Circus, you'll smile at this bit - as there's always a star part for a talented chicken or two in the show!)

Nell is, of course, a talented storyteller who whirls up an amazingly atmospheric world around her little-girl-self's amazing experiences. But to be partnered by an incredible artist like Briony May Smith must've been a dream come true, her illustrations are just utterly glorious in every way, capturing the atmosphere, the sights and the frisson of excitement in the circus so perfectly.

This book is amazing, almost as amazing as the real-life story of Nell and Giffords Circus itself, and well worthy of a place in our book of the week slot.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A brilliant book celebrating the imagination of a little girl, a mesmerising story and of course the glorious circus, entertaining for all!

"Nell and the Circus of Dreams" by Nell Gifford and Briony May Smith (OUP / Oxford Children's Books)

When we returned from holiday to a huge stack of mail, and of course a huge stack of books to review, this was the one we both made a beeline for, and stuck straight on the top of our reading pile.

Lorraine Gregory's utterly mesmerising "The Maker of Monsters" follows up her sublime "Mold and the Poison Plot" with a standalone middle grade adventure that is breathtakingly original, and full of deliciously subtle layers of story.

It begins with an ordinary day in the life of Brat, a put-upon young lad working for a harsh taskmaster in a windswept old castle full of monsters.

Literally full of monsters. For Brat's surly master fancies himself as a would-be Dr Moreau / Dr Frankenstein, constructing fantastic beasts by mixing together different species.

Is he an insane genius? Brat seems to think that underneath his stony exterior his master has a heart, and as we delve deeper into the book we discover why the old man is so fixated on this terrible obsession to create a perfect beast. As a weapon of vengeance.

Let's take a look at how the book opens...

"Wrath" from Lorraine Gregory's sublime "The Maker of Monsters"

After a break from reviewing chapter books we're back with a bang, and with a book that had C in stitches as soon as she cracked open the cover.

We're huge fans of Tom McLaughlin's "Accidental" series, and it's great to see him branching off in an entirely different direction with a real howler of a book.

"You've Been Werewolfed" is the story of Geek Girl Tyler, who is packed off to summer camp by her meanie parents.

No geek goes without their gadgets, and inventive Tyler can't resist packing one of her latest science projects - the Hologramaphone 3000. Problem is, some of the phone's functions have EXTREME side-effects. Fancy a long pair of ears, huge fangs and a covering of light grey fur?  

For a moment we had a little bit of book Deja Vu about this one, though there's no doubt that this is a superbly powerful story that is very timely indeed. 

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? 

Meet a wonderful snail who happens to share his name with a truly fabulous artist.

"Matisse's Magical Trail" by Tim Hopgood and Sam Boughton is a truly inspirational little story book to encourage kids to look at their world in a different way.

After all, that's what Matisse does as he makes his way slowly around, taking time to savour the finer things in life, and examine his surroundings in great detail.

As Matisse is so creative, he loves nothing better than to create beautiful drawings with his trail. 

Stare into the eyes of one of the most feared characters in children's fiction (and children's TV if you have a long enough memory!).

"The Demon Headmaster: Mortal Danger" ushers the return of that hypnotic and scary denizen of the school office and this time it could be curtains for the young protagonists unfortunate enough to get a new head teacher at their school. A strange head teacher...who...must...be...obeyed...at...all...costs.

Sorry, you really do get drawn in by the eyes on the cover. Young Lizzie doesn't really think anything of it when her school gets a new head teacher. In fact the school seems to have improved loads.

Kids are allowed to actually do things they really enjoy, and what's more, the school seems to have an unlimited budget to hire in special experts from outside to make all the kids aspirations come true!

Best of all, Lizzie thinks she's in with a chance to win the adventure trip of a lifetime through a special school competition. Enlisting the help of her pals, Lizzie doesn't realise that anything is amiss until it's too late, and that all too familiar voice - and the complete obedience of the pupils at school - points to something more sinister.

Lizzie could in fact really be in mortal danger this time!

I think the setting, the characters and the whole atmosphere that Gillian whips up around The Demon Headmaster books just makes them utterly compelling. Either that or she's genuinely hidden some sort of hypnotic device in the cover to make us love these so much.