Wow, we're taking a bit of a look into the future - and a book that you won't be able to buy until next year...

Greetings Earthlings! Today we're very fortunate indeed to have 'borrowed' Anna Bogie for a guest post about her working processes, and of course to talk about her latest greatest addition to the "Happy Hooves" series, "Happy Hooves - Yuk!"

We're back on the farm with a clippety-clop for our latest adventure with the super animal friends and the third in the "Happy Hooves" series by Anna Bogie and Rebecca Elliott.

"Happy Hooves: Yuk" could almost describe mealtimes at home, when poor Charlotte and her mum have to face one of my "oh my god we've got nothing in, I'll have to make something up from the cupboard ingredients" meals.

You see, Pig fancies himself as a bit of a chef and has invited everyone over to dinner.

But what's good for the hog, isn't so good for the gander (or the donkey, or sheep) so some of the fare being served up is distinctly grim!

How on earth can the animals break it to Pig that the party grub is a bit grubby?

It's a fun little story, once again a brilliant jaunt for very young book bugs who will love the rib-tickling antics of the animals, the message of what it means to be a good friend and of course there's a good excuse to get into the kitchen and create your own crazy meal combinations too.

Fish fingers and custard? You never know, it might catch on!

"Happy Hooves: Yuk!" by Anna Bogie and Rebecca Elliott is out now from Fat Fox Books. 

"Just Because" by Rebecca Elliott - Helping children develop a sense of empathic concern and compassion with a touching story of sibling love.

Something has been rattling around in my bonce for a long time and it's something that, as Charlotte gets older, both my wife and I see more evidence of. Charlotte's sense of compassion is quite touching and quite mature and unusual for a 7 year old too. A lot of it does stem from her deep sense of care for her mum - and the way that she is capable and level headed whenever my wife (who suffers from Epilepsy) has a particularly bad day with seizures and chronic fatigue. It's also in both my wife and I, so if behaviour like that can be passed on in your genes, I guess there's a case for that too.

We also know that school is a factor in the way Charlotte is developing due to the school's approach to mindfulness and caring for others, and last but by no means least it's definitely something that Charlotte would pick up as a result of attending her local Brownie troop.

But I'd wondered whether books also were a factor too. Can books really help your child develop a better sense of compassion or empathic concern for your fellow humans (as well as all the other species we share this mudball with?)

We've read so many books that readily demonstrate storylines showing one character's compassion and caring for another. I'm not just talking about the standard "This is why friendships are brilliant" type stuff (we see an awful lot of those and some of them don't really convey much of a message beyond the glaringly obvious morality tale type stuff), but books that clearly show a character's willingness to put their own needs to one side in order to help another character - they're in another class entirely.

We've used Rebecca Elliott's brilliant "Just Because" (and also her fabulous book "Sometimes") as our header example of a children's book that ably demonstrates this (through Toby's relationship and caring for his sister Clemmie) but in some stories it extends beyond sibling and family ties to show that you don't have to be related to someone in order to show empathic concern or compassion. Children pick up on this, and in Charlotte's case, we sometimes hear her talking about books where it's obvious that she's mapped out those elements of a story, and likes / relates to that sort of behaviour.

Take a look at "Lemur Dreamer" by Courtney Dicmas. A sleepy Lemur has a wonderful set of friends who really care about the poor soul, and work furiously to protect their friend as he sleepwalks (quite often into dangerous situations). Children can demonstrably see a group of friends banding together to help, even though in the story the Lemur's initial behaviour adversely impacts the friends' lives.

This marked it out as something a little more than just a 'friendship' book, and it's also an entertaining story helping it stick in the mind when little ones start to get to an age when they can assess their own behavioural responses to others with a more objective mind.

We also liked "Pom Pom Gets the Grumps" by Sophy Henn. Again this is a story that perfectly encapsulates feelings we've already described above, where someone who (to be fair) is a grumpy sour puss having friends who really pitch in and show that friendships can outlast the odd grumpy day.

I started to think about the typical 'friendship' book, looking for examples where you could flip this type of story on its head - so you had an individual going above and beyond the usual friendship stuff to demonstrate empathic concern and compassion and it was great to find countless examples in children's literature. "Herman's Letter" by Tom Percival is a great example where one person goes way beyond the call of duty to make sure their friend knows they'll do almost anything for them because they're so special and cherished.

So back to the original question. Can children start to pick up on empathic concern and compassion from books? You'd really hope so, and if it's making a contribution to our own efforts to ensure Charlotte doesn't grow up putting herself first in every situation in life, all the better.

"Whuh? It's not Friday!" I bet you're thinking but we're shuffling things around on the blog this week to join the fabulous blog tour for a very special book! So our first "Book of the Week" is popping up today, hooray!! We're just too good to you!

Sometimes, books are the most welcome houseguests. They arrive just when they're most needed with an unerring sense of timing. This was the case with "Missing Jack" by Rebecca Elliott. Regular blog visitors will know how much we love Rebecca's books so we were very excited to hear that her latest title features an astonishingly awesome pair of moggies.

The reason this book came along with such perfect timing (accompanied by the most wonderful hand-written letter by Hattie at Lion Hudson, who, by the way, we think is utterly amazing and worth her weight in gold - we hope Big Boss Panda is reading this!) was because of the story's core theme.

Any book that can help children deal with loss or grief in such a touching, sensitive and amazing way really makes us sit up and pay attention. You see, quite recently we lost our beloved Nan - Great Nan to Charlotte, and Nan to me. She was a lady who adored animals of all shapes and sizes, particularly cats so we know she would have loved "Missing Jack" very much. I miss her dearly. Charlotte misses her too and I'm just glad that Charlotte had the chance to know such an amazing lady.

On with the story. Jack is the world's greatest cat. He's not snooty like some cats, he doesn't spit or snarl, nor does he lie in a comatose heap doing nothing all day but licking his lazy paws. Jack is warm and cuddly, Jack doesn't even complain when he has his whiskers pulled by naughty babies. Jack loves curling up on Clemmie's lap (you may already know how awesome Clemmie is, from Rebecca's utterly lovely "Sometimes" and "Just Because" books - if not, seek them out RIGHT NOW buster!) Toby loves Jack very much, and thinks he's the best cat in the world.

As time passes, Jack slows down, gets older - and soon he's like a cat grandpa (oh how we LOVE this section in the book where Jack is sitting in a comfy chair, flat cat-cap upon head, telling tales of his wild youth to a gathered crowd of cheeky mice).

Eventually Jack dies, and Toby misses him terribly. There will never ever be another cat so amazing.

Or will there? Here's where the book almost had us in floods of tears. Along comes another cat named Humphrey - and though he's not Jack either, he's not snooty, scratchy or lazy. He's daring, he's a little crazy and though he's not there to take Jack's place, he's quite happy to be loved.

You don't need me to tell you how utterly beautiful Rebecca's storytelling is, nor how perfect her artwork is. She always surprises us, keeping us on her toes with a seemingly endless array of amazing art styles that she pours into her books, making it look so easy (but I bet it definitely isn't easy to come up with such luscious visuals to accompany such lovely stories).

Don't miss "Missing Jack", it's the purrrr-fect way to open interesting discussions with your children about a quite tricky and sensitive subject.

Charlotte's best bit: Humphrey's quite daring motorcycle stunt! Phew-ee that cat is CRAZY!

Daddy's Favourite bit: With exquisite timing, along comes a book that is like a warm cuddle, like a soothing balm helping us to deal with a recent loss in a thoughtful and sensitive way. We always know we're in for a treat with Rebecca's books, but this is truly something special indeed.

(Kindly sent to us for review by the utterly wonderful Hattie at Lion Hudson PLC)

Like this? We think you'll love these other titles from Rebecca too!

Sometimes by Rebecca Elliott

Just Because by Rebecca Elliott

Zoo Girl by Rebecca Elliott

Time for something festive! By now you're probably well into your christmas shopping (er, no we aren't!) and are longing for that first mince pie and glug of mulled wine. But before you do any of that, take a look at this yuletide sequel to a brilliant animal book!

Anna Bogie and Rebecca Elliott are back again with their awesome animal gang, the happy hooves - this time with the animals busily preparing for christmas and the imminent arrival of Santa Claus himself!

But there's a lot of fuss and panic, and tidying up to do - and not all animals live somewhere with a chimney! How on earth will Santa be able to deliver any presents?

Thankfully Cow is full of wisdom and insight, and has the perfect solution to the Happy Hooves Gang's problem - Spend christmas together in a riotous celebration!

Brought forward for a timely release to pop right into your christmas shopping list, "Happy Hooves Oh Oh Oh" is out now!

Charlotte's best bit: Charlotte loves Cow's festive jumper!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A lovely cuddly little tale, and a fantastic book to pop onto your christmas shopping list!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Fat Fox Books)

New publishers on the block Fat Fox Books look like a publisher to keep a very close eye on. Though they're starting out small with a couple of titles releasing in September ("Happy Hooves Ta-Dah!" and "Prankenstein") they have an eye for entertaining stories and characters, and high production quality.

They've also got a keen eye for talent too, and one of our favourite author illustrators, Rebecca ("Sometimes", "Zoo Girl" and "Just Because") Elliott, has contributed illustrations to "Happy Hooves Ta-Dah!"

Along with Anna Bogie, creator of a range of animal characters who will go on to star in more stories in the Fat Fox Range, "Happy Hooves" is the first tale and it's an empowering story of friendship, believing in yourself and your abilities, and using teamwork to overcome adversity.

Donkey is a bouncy happy type, and on a bright summer's day he wants to go to the beach. Along with his friends sheep, pig, cow and foal, he can't wait to play in the sand and take a dip in the sea.

There is one slight problem though. Between the animals and the gorgeous beach is a cattle grid.

Now, to an energetic bouncy donkey a cattle grid poses no problem, but the other animals are nervous - and just can't see how they can overcome this annoying obstacle. But with the right amount of enthusiasm and encouragement from their friends, each animal takes a leap of faith - and one by one they get across - all except poor cow, who is well and truly stranded.

How will the friends help cow across the grate? We'll leave that little bit of the story for you to discover. Charlotte loved this story despite it being aimed squarely at younger readers, thanks in no small part to Anna Bogie's gift of using repetition and positive language to tell an entertaining story, with Rebecca's awesome collage illustrations to make a bold and colourful canvas to create a story on.

Charlotte has just begun to read stories like this to her new little cousin, who is only a couple of months old (It's actually quite something to see her doing this, it seems like only yesterday she was wriggling on her playmat while I read stories to her, and now she's passing that on to her little cousin in such a lovely way!) No doubt we'll be taking "Happy Hooves Ta-Da!" along with us next time we visit.

"Happy Hooves Ta-Dah!" published on Sept 1st 2014 (yesterday). You can find out more about the Fat Fox range on their website.

Charlotte's best bit: Her favourite animal was sheep, who had a really neat way of getting over that cattle grid! We approve!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Bright, colourful, full of positive messages and a superb cast of animal characters. A great start for Fat Fox!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Fat Fox Books)

Clemmie and Toby are back! We were very lucky to be sent another fantastic Rebecca Elliott book by Lion Publishing, featuring two of the most important characters in children's books of the last decade.

"Sometimes" is a beautiful follow up to "Just Because" which was our book of the week last week - and this time we find out how Clemmie and her brother Toby deal with Clemmie's hospital visits.

Children have a natural anxiety about hospitals, even when they're infrequent visitors. I can recall all too well the feeling of our world dropping out from under us when Charlotte has suspected Meningitis when she was still just a tiny little toddler. Thankfully she recovered but the entire week was a blur and an experience we were very pleased to be able to put behind us.

Some parents don't have that luxury. In "Sometimes" we see how Toby and Clemmie cope, and it's with the sort of bravery and indomitable spirit children seem to be able to muster in the face of adversity and unpleasantness.

Every page makes you want to hug your child tightly, and it was great to see Charlotte's understanding and also to hear her questions when we read through this book. There's a double page spread in this that sums up exactly why Rebecca Elliott is the sort of talent that shines out like a beacon, and it's also the panel that caused the most discussion and provoked the most questions from Charlotte. Quite right too - "why does this happen to the children, daddy?" There's just no way of answering that, just our best efforts to help Charlotte understand.

Again it's such a beautiful book, just like "Just Because", that you'll find your children wanting to return to it again and again for all the right reasons. It's thought provoking, masterfully handled and a book that every child and their parents should read.

Charlotte's best bit: She absolutely loves Clemmie's hair and she thought the children in the hospital were "very brave and very happy".

Daddy's favourite bit: Books like this don't come along very often but when they do, they're like a breath of fresh air. To have two come along from the same author / illustrator, that are of equal importance to children's picture books, is just phenomenal.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Lion Publishing)

When I was a wee whippersnapper, my two best friends were two girls - one called Selma and one called Merrel. Merrel had Spinabifida and had also suffered severe birth trauma and when I first read "Just Because" it took me back nearly 40 years to a time when the three of us were as thick as thieves. Selma (we used to call her the naughty one because she was always daring us to do really daft things like drink pond water or see if the insides of Rosehips really did work as itching powder by testing them out on ourselves  - Note to kids: Do NOT try that one at home) loved Merrel with the kind of unconditional love that children reserve exclusively for their close siblings. Merrel was in a wheelchair and could not speak (she could make noises, much like the little girl in "Just Because") but she was awesome and I'd never met anyone else like her.

As children we don't see 'different' until it's pointed out to us by others (usually adults, sometimes well meaning, sometimes cruel). Rebecca Elliott's "Just Because" absolutely captures the essence of this and Toby, the young lad in the story absolutely adores his big sister Clemmie. She's beautiful, she's funny, she has the most amazing hair on the planet and she has a cool wheelchair that can visit the moon. Most of all, he loves her "just because".

The most touching part of this book wasn't just that it almost made me burst into tears with the sharp and distinct memory of Selma and Merrel, but Charlotte's reaction to it. She asked a lot of questions about Clemmie but she asked them because she wanted to understand her own response to the story and then she asked that $6 million question - "why did this happen to Clemmie?" Which is, of course, a question I couldn't answer. "Just Because" just didn't seem adequate enough.

This is one of the most beautiful children's books ever written, handled in such a thoughtful and also thought-provoking way. I defy anyone not to feel a lump in their throat reading this, there are so many reasons why it can't be praised enough - from spellbinding illustrations beautifully painted by Rebecca herself, to the quiet and understated beauty of Clemmie as a character. There's another Clemmie and Toby book called "Sometimes" and I really really want to read that now!

Charlotte's best bit: Clemmie as a princess sitting atop her sand castle

Daddy's favourite bit: It'd be impossible to list all the tiny and beautiful little moments in this book that struck a chord with me, suffice to say that this is an incredibly important book that (to use a well worn cliche) really should find its way into the hands of every child.

(Kindly supplied to us for review by Lion Press)

Oxford-based Lion Press were kind enough to send us a lovely bundle of books to review. We've previously reviewed Rebecca Elliott and Clemency Pearce's wonderful "Fragoline" (which is also in our Halloween Top Ten, by the way!) so I was intrigued to see Rebecca's other work.

Zoo Girl is the touching, bittersweet and utterly beautiful tale of a young girl in an orphanage. She is lonely, she doesn't have any friends but in a flash of inspiration she finds her way into the local zoo - and discovers a whole host of animal pals to snuggle up to.

The beauty of this book is how the illustrations are so wonderfully done, that the text can be kept to a bare minimum. Just one or two words per page (which, by the way, also means it's a fantastic book for early readers who love to spell out and speak words as they're learning to read). One or two very well chosen words that are capable of putting across such a strong emotional message in tandem with the illustrations.

Something happens as you read Zoo Girl. It's almost as if the whole world around you turns its volume down to 1 or 2 from its usual blaring '11' setting. If I had to describe it, it's the same thing that happens after a heavy snowfall - it's so utterly absorbing that you feel like you've been snuggled in a beautiful warm blanket, and even though the book starts off quite starkly with some fairly strong (and sad) moments, it will make you very happy by the end (and like me you'll probably feel like bursting into tears).

Very, very highly recommended.

Charlotte's best bit: Oh my, without a doubt, the little girl cuddling up with the lovely snuggly warm tigers

Daddy's favourite bit: The end (I won't spoil it) but oh I so nearly blubbed like a baby.

(Provided for review by Lion Children's Books)