Oh boy oh boy, we're in chapter book OVERDRIVE this month with a whopping 6 amazing titles to cover. So let's get straight on with it and kick off with a hilarious bird!

"Dave Pigeon" by Swapna Haddow with illustrations by Sheena Dempsey is, as the cover says, the best book you'll EVER read! Come on, no one is going to argue with Dave are they?

The titular hero is the star of a new 'how to' book specifically designed to help fellow pigeons (and other feline non-fans) survive nasty cat attacks, keeping your wonderful plumage intact. Dave tells the story of how he single-handedly (or should that be bird-footedly) defeated Mean Cat, one of the most evil clawed beasties on the planet.

It's almost impossible not to 'read' Dave as a sort of cockney wide-boy (personally I read him as Mike Reid!) This is such a rib-ticklingly hilarious book and the illustrations are brilliant too! Catch up with Dave's wisdom in "Dave Pigeon" which was released by Faber and Faber on 7th April 2016.

Are you still in the mood for something light-hearted? More jolly japes then I think!

 Meet Vince, star of "Zoo Boy" by Sophie Thompson and Rebecca Ashdown. Vince's dad is a zookeeper, and you'd think that a bit of that love of animals would rub off on Vince. But there's a slight problem. Vince really does NOT like animals. Not at all, not even the cute ones.

It could be because Dad's a bit of a workaholic and loves his job a bit too much, or because mum ran off with a lion tamer but Vince is pretty single-minded in his dislike of creatures great and small.

The thing is, on Vince's 8th birthday he discovers that he has "The Talent" - the ability to talk to animals. Soon he realises that his dislike of the zoo's inmates might actually be well founded, as most of them seem to be spoilt, argumentative and downright annoying. What's next in store for Vince? You'll have to read this hilarious debut from Sophie Thompson! "Zoo Boy" was released on 4th February 2016 from Faber and Faber.

All those animals have made me feel a bit itchy and scratchy, so I think we'll take a look at something a lot less furry. Tapirs are beautifully smooth aren't they?

 Polly Faber and Clara Vulliamy have teamed up once again for another delectable series of tales from Mango and Bambang. "Tapir All At Sea" is, as you'd expect, a nautical selection of little ditties once again reuniting our brilliant mighty girl Mango and her glorious long-proboscised companion Bambang for exciting tales featuring dogs, diamond rings, dancing and an evil nemesis back for more mischief.

We love the format of this book, perfectly pitched for bite-sized bedtime reading or to be consumed all in one go like a lovely bag of Maoam Stripes.

"Mango and Bambang - Tapir All At Sea" by Polly Faber and Clara Vulliamy was released on 3rd March 2016 from Walker Books. Treat yourself also to the first Mango and Bambang book "Mango and Bambang the Not-a-Pig" as it's also brilliant!

More animals? Oh go on then, you're going to love this little fellah!

 Humphrey the adventuresome Hamster is back in "Spring According to Humphrey", the latest adventure story featuring our fuzzy little hero, written by Betty G. Birney. Humphrey is looking forward to the first rays of sunshine as the class in Room 26 (where Humphrey is school hamster) prepare for Family Fun Night.

The upcoming event sets Humphrey's active little mind thinking - about families, about where we come from and the places we call home.

This is a gorgeous little series of books perfect for early readers looking for exciting and fun tales to cut their chapter-reading teeth on. Humphrey's inquisitive nature and love of life are completely infectious so do take a look at this gorgeous little book and the rest of the "According to Humphrey" series by Betty too!

"Spring According to Humphrey" was released on 3rd March 2016 by Faber and Faber.

More animals you say? More? Well we'll happily oblige! We've been taking a sneaky early look at a gorgeous book out in June.

"Erica's Elephant" by Sylvia Bishop with illustrations by Ashley King is the story of Erica Perkins, who wakes up on the morning of her 10th birthday to find a rather unexpected birthday party guest sitting on her doorstep.

It's a large smiley elephant! Erica swiftly finds that it's actually a lot of fun having a rather large playmate around, but it's not always easy to live with such a huge house guest when you live in a modest terrace.

Erica also soon discovers that the nefarious owner of a local zoo has designs on her new best friend, so will Erica be able to keep her new buddy safe?

Chock full of brilliant humour and glorious little illustrations, this is a hugely entertaining book for children who quite fancy the idea of a pet of their own (but please Charlotte, don't get any ideas about bringing an Elephant home, we don't have a very big spade!)

"Erica's Elephant" by Sylvia Bishop and Ashley King, published by Scholastic, is out on 2nd June 2016. Lets hope it brings some sunnier weather with it, hooray!

We are almost at the bottom of our lovely book bag. Room for another?

This next one is rather special. Prepare to meet a rather amazing boy...


"The Bubble Boy" by Stewart Foster has sneaked up on us and wrapped us in the most heartwarming and cosy story. 11 year old Joe spends his entire life in hospital.

In the confines of his room, Joe listens all day to the steady beep of machinery, the sterile smell of disinfectant up his nose. Joe dreams of a life outside his room, but dream is all he can do. Joe's condition means that he can't go out.

One day a visitor arrives, which is unusual in itself because Joe isn't normally allowed visitors. Amir is - for want of a better word - crazy, and soon completely changes the way Joe looks at his "bubble" of a world.

I can categorically state two things about this book.
1) You are going to need tissues. Lots of tissues and
2) The very moment you reach the last page, you're going to want to go right back to the beginning and start again.
It's a gloriously warming and very thought provoking book that will in part make you glad for what you are and what you've got, but also make you cheer (or sob) with happiness at the end. Watch out for "Bubble Boy" by Stewart Foster when it releases on 19th May 2016. It's going to be huge!

Now, a seriously heavy hitter in children's books has a new book out. Care to journey into space?

Frank Cottrell Boyce's "Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth" is the story of Prez who goes to live with a foster family who - to put it mildly - just LOVE to talk. It's a good job then that Prez is mostly silent because getting a word in edgeways with The Blythes is nigh-on impossible.

One day, Prez has a visitor, a strange looking individual called Sputnik who the family instantly take to. Unlike Prez, Sputnik is welcomed with open arms, pats on the head and food. For some weird reason everyone thinks Sputnik is a dog - but Prez knows otherwise!

If you're beginning to think this story is quite unlike anything you've ever read before, you'd be spot on. "Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth" is brilliantly funny, acutely (and sometimes rather harshly) well observed and full of incredible insight into what it feels like from both sides when you're a stranger in a strange land.

With awesome illustrations from blog fave Steven Lenton, this is the sort of book that has "award" written all over it.

"Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth" was released on the 7th April 2016 by Macmillan Children's Books.

Phew! I think that's about all we've got time for this month but tune in again in May, we'll be bringing you even more gorgeous chapter books to fall hopelessly in love with. See you then!

Welcome back to our Chapter Book Roundups and in 2016 we'll be mixing these articles with some proper chapter book reviews. As Charlotte gets older, we're tending to cover more and more 'proper books' (as she calls them) so look out for our full reviews of titles coming soon.

In the meantime let's take a look at what's been on our reading piles over the last month, starting with a real classic that I've always (secretly) hoped Charlotte would one day read under her own steam.

Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The Secret Garden" is available in a gorgeous leatherbound edition from Barnes and Noble publishing. This new version, edited by Charles Robinson, tells the story of Mary Lennox who is sent away to live with her mysterious and quite grumpy old uncle on a sprawling estate. One day Mary finds a walled off garden and wonders what's behind the tangle of ivy and thorns. Befriending a local boy, the two explore the ruins of the garden together, vowing to restore it to its original beauty - and that's just the start of Mary's adventures!

I wondered if Charlotte would take to this, as it's obviously a lot different to the sort of chapter books she usually likes to read, but she took to it like a duck to water - testament to how gripping the story is and why it's deservedly such a well loved classic that many modern authors list it as one of their favourite books.

"The Secret Garden" is available from Barnes and Noble Publishing, released on 21st October 2015.

Something a little more regal now...

Aby King's awesome new book series has a poochy superstar as its main character, the mischievous royal dog Lupo is now the star of "Lupo and the Thief at the Tower of London" by Aby King with illustrations by Sam Usher.

Lupo may be a bit of a scamp but when there's a right royal mystery afoot, and the crown jewels are in danger of being nabbed, Lupo and his best friend Kitty can't wait to solve the mystery.

Perfect for younger readers who love exciting mystery stories (and also can't resist a waggy dog tail), "Lupo and the Thief at the Tower of London" is released on 14th January 2016, the third book in the series published by Hodder Children's Books and joining "Lupo and the Curse at Buckingham Palace" and "Lupo and the Secret of Windsor Castle" which were published in 2015.

Time for another sequel, and this time with a distinctly darker tinge...

Tatum Flynn's awesome series "The D'Evil Diaries" continues with book two, "Hell's Belles" featuring the story of Jinx who is joined by a new best friend, Tommy - who erroneously ends up on the wrong side of the mortal coil after trying to feed her evil stepfather to a circus lion (hey, it's an easy mistake to make, right?)

Jinx and Tommy might have taken on more than they bargained with as their adventures in the underworld unfold. A perfect middle grade book for children who love books by Eoin Colfer and Rick Riordan and are on the hunt for something exciting, new and original to add to their reading stacks.

"The D'Evil Diaries Book 2 - Hell's Bells" is released on 14th January 2016.

More? You want more. Oh you lot, you're insatiable. So what else is on our chapter book stack this month....?

How about a preview of an upcoming book that's likely to make you sigh "Awwww!" and "Dawwww!" an awful lot.

"Poppy's Place - The Home Made Cat Cafe" by Katrina Charman hits on the trend of 'Cat Cafes' - a concept that practically blew Charlotte's mind. "You mean there are cafes in Japan where you can go and cuddle kittens? WHY DON'T WE HAVE THOSE HERE?"

It's a good question and we were given the chance to read the first couple of chapters of Katrina's new book which Charlotte practically hugged the print off. You'll have to wait until 10th March for the full version but if the preview pages are anything to go by, with awesome illustrations by Lucy Truman to compliment Katrina's engaging story - you're going to be in moggy heaven in the spring.

A totally adorable tale in the making, we can't wait to read a proper copy. Coming in March from Stripes Publishing.

Hmmm I think we can squeeze a couple more books in, what do you think?

The "SuperFairies" stories from Janey Louise Jones and Jennie Poh have just been released by Curious Fox, perfect for your dainty little fairies at home who are beginning to demand a bit more substance from their stories. Perfectly formatted for younger readers able to handle more text-heavy stuff (such as Charlotte), they're a sheer delight as we see the fairies of Peaseblossom Wood take care of animals, and keep them out of danger.

Shown is "Basil the Bear Cub" who is a rather mischievous little fellow who needs some help and guidance, and to be steered away from danger by the Superfairies when he plays a little too close to the river one day.

"Dancer the Wild Pony" is also now available, the story of Dancer - a skittish pony preparing for the Summer Fair. Don't run away Dancer!

It's a great little range, voraciously consumed by Charlotte in one delicious sitting so watch out for them, available now from Curious Fox.

We feel like spoiling you this month as it's our first chapter book roundup of the year, so more please!

A boy detective with an eye for spooky goings on, meet Jonny Jakes - star of Malcolm Judge's new children's book "The Hamburgers of Doom".

Young Jonny is as sharp as a tack and in this hugely funny story tinged with mystery and suspense, Jonny wonders why his teachers are acting so suspiciously under the direction of the new school head teacher. Dishing out free sweets to children? Stuffing them full of delicious hamburgers? Jonny smells a rat (hopefully not in the burgers) and thus uncovers a huge school-wide conspiracy that threatens to drag everyone in. What the hootin' heck is going on?

Fans of Frank Cotterell Boyce and Tom McLaughlin are sure to love Malcolm Judge's humorous take on schoo life as our subversive hero digs in and solves this most peculiar case. "Jonny Jakes Investigates: The Hamburgers of Doom" is out now from Curious Fox.

Last one, but it's a real doozy...!

Really excited about this one because I've really hoped a children's author would come up with a dazzling and immersive time travel tale like this. Bea Davenport's stunning "The Serpent House" is the story of Annie, a servant girl at the spooky Hexer Hall.

By accident, Annie discovers that she can travel back in time, back to when the house was a leper hospital run by a nefarious doctor. Annie isn't keen on her new 'gift' but Lady Hexer, her mistress, demands that Annie makes the journey back in time again to steal the doctor's journal, the key to unlocking alchemical secrets that could truly change the world.

Right from the start the book is hugely atmospheric, deliciously dark and involving. It's probably best suited to children slightly older than Charlotte (9 upwards) but it's intelligently written and truly stunning stuff.

"The Serpent House" is out now from Curious Fox Books.

Phew, that's about all we've got time for - tune in next month, and we'll bring you even more gorgeous chapter books in February!