Oh my! I'd completely forgotten about this week's picture book of the week, until C discovered it languishing in a dark grime-infested corner of the library, hidden underneath a pile of cobwebs and discarded lizard skins (actually it wasn't - our Library is lovely, but this was definitely a well-loved copy barely holding together as we read it).

"Fungus the Bogeyman" by Raymond Briggs recently celebrated its 35th Anniversary (which technically means I must've been far too old for it when I first read it to my little brother) but of course it goes without saying that the mix of glorious grime and grimness brought to green-hued life so expertly by Raymond has stuck in the memory for a very long time.

In fact I wasn't quite sure C would like this one at all. It's a weird book, more like the insane journal scribblings of a crazy old monster as he rumbles and rambles, poots and farts his way through an average monstery day.

Fungus and his 'gorgeous' wife live a very happy life in their mucky house. Their son knows better than to come to the table for dinner with clean nails and teeth though!

I think despite the haphazard nature of this, it wins out purely because it came out at a time when 'diaries' were quite the thing (Adrian Mole, I blame you!) and it taps into that part of a child's psyche where the idea of leading a grimy slimy gross-out life is still hugely attractive (yes, even C would probably go for months without a bath if she could avoid it - You know what it's like when kids get to that 'pongy' age, ewww!)

This is glorious though, and I still think to this day that though Shrek was also based on a book, a lot of the ideas that turned up in the movie were stolen wholesale from this book. It's disgustingly hilarious, brutally brilliant and grimly grimy as ever.

Sum this book up in a sentence: If you've a penchant for bogie sandwiches, or love nothing better than lounging in a bath full of slime, and you have three weird nipples (!) this is the book for you!

"Fungus the Bogeyman" by Raymond Briggs is out now, published by Picture Puffin (loaned from the library, not supplied for review). 

Our final Booky Advent Calendar entry (final because you'll hopefully be FAR too busy tomorrow to read our blog, right?) is an absolute christmas cracker, featuring our all-time favourite book portrayal of Father Christmas.

It's still impossible not to read this in the late great dear departed voice of Mel Smith - as he did the voices in the sublime animated version of this and "Father Christmas" by Raymond Briggs.

We do absolutely love both but this was the one that entertained Charlotte the most, simply because you see Santa as he is for the rest of the year. Santa plans his summer holidays more or less as soon as the last present is dropped off. Sitting at his kitchen table drinking hot cocoa and fending off the sniffles, Santa decides on a grand tour to take in all the sights and sounds all over the world that he usually only gets to see in passing.

Briggs' portrayal of Santa is as a slightly curmudgeonly fuzzy old grumpus, but with a certain joie de vivre and willing to try anything once. He's the epitome of "Brits Abroad" - clad in his handkerchief hat, no suntan lotion but still baking in the hot midday sun.

Santa's holiday adventures are hilarious - and in this largely wordless book the dialogue is purposely kept sparse so you can be entertained thoroughly by Briggs' amazing visual style - still as fantastic now as it was when it was created almost 30 years ago.

An utterly brilliant book to round off our series of Christmas recommendations. From all of us at ReadItDaddy - from me, Ali and Charlotte we wish you a Merry Booky Christmas and a Story-Filled New Year!

Charlotte's best bit: Santa's terrible case of tummy trouble, brought on by one too many fancy French dishes

Daddy's Favourite bit: Love love love this, so much fun to read aloud (in a really bad impression of Mel Smith's sublime mockney accent). Fun to find out what happens when Santa lets his hair (and his beard) down!

Christmas wouldn't be christmas without "The Snowman" and now it's definitely not christmas unless his canine sidekick makes an appearance too! "The Snowman and the Snowdog" was utterly delightful and your tiniest littlest ones will absolutely love this sturdy board book and finger puppet version of the story.

It's a book that's a little too young for Charlotte but one she absolutely loved showing to her tinier cousins, reading and acting out the story as Snowdog gambols in the snow and flies through the air with ease - along with his friends.

The book is really nicely produced, even though Snowdog looks a little giraffe-necked at times (a little bit too much enthusiastic waggling from Charlotte!)

Thoroughly festive!

Charlotte's best bit: Snowdog's soft little socky ears!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A lovely little version of the christmas classic perfect for acting out The Snowdog's adventures!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Puffin Books)

Good bloomin' lord! Can you believe that "Father Christmas" is 40 years old? There must have been something rather special pumped into the water supply in 1973 as so many brilliant and timeless children's books were first published that year ("The Tiger Who Came To Tea" also celebrated its 40th Anniversary this year, woohoo!)

From Raymond Briggs, the genius behind "The Snowman" - something that you can't quite imagine not being on telly over Christmas, comes this tale of a thoroughly bloomin' grumpy Santa and his preparations for his busiest day of the year.

The book doesn't use a lot of text or dialogue, but it's a brilliantly funny book nonetheless. Briggs has a gift for stunning comic timing, and "Father Christmas" has so many giggle-out-loud moments that we've always loved reading it at this time of the year, imagining the real St Nick struggling with his expanding waistline, his ever-increasingly large sack of presents, and of course his restless and fidgety reindeer.

The poor old fellah needs a holiday. Say, there's a good idea for a book...oh.


Charlotte's best bit: Why oh why, of all the great scenes in this, does she always think the bit where Santa is sitting on the loo is the best bit?

Daddy's Favourite bit: Santa's near miss with a jumbo jet. Bloomin' planes!

"Ou vas tu passe les vacances, Pere Noel?" - Alright that's the extent of my French language skills but where on earth does Father Christmas go on his summer holidays?

Raymond Briggs' bloomin' grumpy take on Father Christmas is back and this time he's planning to get away from it all, soak up some sun and some fine food and take some much needed R & R.

Only, when you're a slightly portly chap with a beard, it's a little difficult to blend in. Father Christmas tries his best, dressing like the locals and indulging in local customs and cuisine but sometimes the best holidays can be had at home sweet home.

I think Charlotte, Mummy and I actually loved this book more than Father Christmas. Fun, festive and full of those in-jokes that go completely over kids' heads, but adults laugh out loud at. Raymond Briggs is deservedly a legend in children's picture books.

Charlotte's favourite bit: Father Christmas toasting himself to a crisp on the beach.

Daddy's favourite bit: The harrowing and surreal 'Cream' dream. EEEK!

If you believe the hype in the supermarket, the constant barrage of yuletide recipies, gift sets appearing on shelves nudging the Halloween stuff aside - it's almost Christmas.

So we'll be covering a lot more christmas books over the next few months and no coverage would be complete without at least one or two Raymond Briggs books.

"Father Christmas" may sit under the shadow of Briggs' other legendary children's classic "The Snowman" but I love it, not just because it presents Santa as a bit of an old grump (who uses the rather child-unfriendly word 'Bloomin!' a lot!) and after watching the TV adaptation it's impossible to imagine Santa as having anyone else's voice other than Mel Smith's, but because it's just such a cosy feeling book.

Santa exists in the real world and has all the real world problems of trying to get down very narrow chimneys (where the heck is the chimney on an igloo?) or dealing with bizarre-shaped presents. But he's a likeable soul despite his curmudgeonly appearance, and we soon warm to his plight of having to deliver a giant sled full of presents across the whole world.

Charlotte loves this book mostly because Santa loves his animals (Reindeer, dog and cat) and of course because being nice to Santa means more presents - right?

Charlotte's best bit: Santa feeding his reindeer

Daddy's favourite bit: Santa meeting the milkman in the early hours of the morning.