There are very few perfect picture books, but "My Big Shouting Day" by Rebecca Patterson is one of them, successfully pulling off a neat balancing trick between being as much fun for the adults reading it to their kids as it is for the kids themselves.

Meet Bella, she's a bit like a cross between Minnie the Minx and The Incredible Hulk. A toddler force to be reckoned with, and today she's going to have a big shouting day.

Rebecca begins her razor sharp observations of toddler behaviour with something that so many parents will identify with - how quickly a simple mealtime can 'go south' if your little darling's food isn't quite to their liking.

Here we see Bella's mum adopting the most brilliantly depicted 'hassled mum face' you'll ever see in a children's book and Rebecca's colossal talent lends itself well to more of those expressions (not just from Bella's mum but from practically everyone who encounters this miniature force to be reckoned with throughout the book).

Bella's hapless little brother Bob (who C loves to little bits, because he reminds her of her little cousin) can only sit by patiently and watch the queen of toddler tantrums go through her day.

Parents, does this spread not seem eerily familiar to you?

Why, WHYYYYYY do kids do this when they're having a strop?

It gets better of course, and by better we mean 'more terrifying than you can possibly imagine'...


C, of course, even now devours this book with abject glee - now older and fully able to understand that she too once held the unstoppable power of an energetic disagreeable toddler, though teens, of course, revert to very similar behaviour once they hit double figures (so we've noticed anyway).

Rebecca followed up Bella's shouty debut with a follow-up book...

...and although we do like "My Busy Being Bella Day" (in particular Bob's brilliant subtle little bit of baby signing which takes my wife and I RIGHT BACK to teaching C that very gesture back in the day) it's nowhere near as effective as the original (sadly we never got to catch up with any of Rebecca's other books though I'm pretty sure they're awesome, she just nails her observations and illustrations so well).

In  the follow-up Bella is off to nursery for the day, and muses on what her little brother might be getting up to in her absence - and though she's wrapped up in her own busy day, she can't help thinking she might have got a raw deal compared to Bob.

The payoff in this one is a little bit schmaltzy but it's once again brilliant purely because even in this 'better behaved' story, Bella is still an individual force to be reckoned with (why SHOULDN'T Pasta pictures of sheep have 6 legs!)

Absolute smashers these two, you most certainly will not be disappointed with the first but pick up both so you get to see even more cuteness from Bob.

Original Review Links:

ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week Part 2: C's Choice - "My Big Shouting Day" by Rebecca Patterson (Jonathan Cape Ltd)

My Busy Being Bella Day by Rebecca Patterson (Jonathan Cape PB Ltd)

This week's editorial is actually a sneaky excuse to re-review a book that was a Book of the Week winner way back in 2012.

The reasons we wanted to trumpet about this book all over again are numerous but there's one very important reason why even now, some four years on and with Charlotte rapidly moving on from picture books and moving towards more independent reading on her own, we just cannot get enough of Rebecca Patterson's sublime "My Big Shouting Day".

It is, without a doubt, the greatest children's book in the world to read out loud.

Loud being the operative word here, because Rebecca's acute observations of toddler behaviour are brutally spot on. Bella, the little girl in this story, is like a mad ogre on the rampage. Waking up one morning and definitely getting out of bed the wrong side, Bella proceeds to spend the entire day like a seething ball of rage.

Bella is having what we parents often politely describe as "A mare of a day"

Nothing is right for Bella, everything is wrong. Her food is wrong. Her little baby brother's seemingly innocent behaviour is wrong. Shoes are wrong. Going shopping? WRONG! Bella makes no bones about telling the entire world AS LOUDLY AS POSSIBLE just how wrong everything is.

There are so many genius observations in this that you almost want to cuddle the book and cuddle Rebecca for recognising all the things that parents put up with when their toddlers are on the rampage. Mum in the story somehow (mostly) remains an ocean of calm, quietly and patiently dealing with Bella's behaviour. Bob (probably the most adorable younger sibling in children's picture book history) seems completely bemused by Bella's behaviour, an innocent bystander wondering just what all the fuss is about.

Other peripheral characters are also rather amusingly drawn into the story as Bella's boiling point is swiftly reached and we get to one of the greatest spreads in the book...

This is the point where grandparents usually make a helpful comment like "Ooh, someone's tired!" - NO KIDDING!

I love reading books out loud to Charlotte, and we read this one an awful lot. I just can't help it - as a piece of performance art, stepping into Bella's shoes (assuming you can find them after she's thrown them off in disgust) is cathartic and soothing. Getting just the right balance of shoutiness and anger into your reading is ridiculous fun, and of course it helps serve as a bit of a guilt trip for your children if they suddenly recognise that at times, they are Bella and they have big shouting days of their own (Charlotte does virtually every saturday morning at the merest mention of going out for the day, or at any time piano practice or maths homework is mentioned).

Rebecca followed up "My Big Shouting Day" with another book featuring Bella ("My Busy Being Bella Day") and has written many other children's books that are brilliant and well observed. But for us, "My Big Shouting Day" is that perfect example of a children's book that just works on so many levels that you just can't help - well - shouting about it!

"My Big Shouting Day" by Rebecca Patterson is published by Jonathan Cape Picture Books. 

Rebecca Patterson's "My Big Shouting Day" is one of our favourite books, and it's also a hugely entertaining book to read aloud to children - getting them to join in with Bella's shouting and bellowing is immense fun!

In Rebecca's sequel to "My Big Shouting Day", called "My Busy Being Bella Day" we find out what happens when Bella spends the day at nursery while her utterly cute and delightful little brother Bob is at home.

Bella imagines that Bob is having a really easy day while she's having such a busy one. While Bella has to colour in a number 2, Bob is licking cappuccino foam with mum in the cafe. While Bella is playing dressing up, Bob is having amazing fun at the indoor play park.

Bella just can't shake the thought that Bob leads quite a charmed life for a toddler - so what happens when Bob and mum come to collect Bella at the end of her busy "Being Bella" day?

Mum, Bob and of course Bella are brilliant characters and Rebecca Patterson once again manages to tap into a child's psyche to produce an utterly fantastic and funny story. I still get a huge guffaw from Mum who can carry the look of sheer toddler exasperation so well (as can Bella's teachers and most of the other adults in the book!)

Though it's a tough thing to capture lightning in a bottle twice, and though we didn't quite go as crazy for this story as we did the first Bella book, it's still brilliant and funny - and we just couldn't resist adding it to our heaving bookshelves.

Charlotte's best bit: Bella singing "I'm a little teapot" louder than anyone else

Daddy's Favourite bit: We love Bob so much, he's utterly and completely adorable (and yes, I guiltily admit that I used to let Charlotte lick the foam off my cappuccino when she was a tiddler too!)

So here's Part 2 of our double 'Book of the Week' nomination for this week, and it's a book that had both Charlotte and I laughing out loud (and shouting out loud) at how utterly well observed the little girl is in this book.

Bella is not happy. Bella is having a big shouting day which kicked off when her absolutely adorable little brother, Bob, came into Bella's room and started licking her jewellery (don't you just HATE it when that happens?)

Bella's day goes from bad to worse. Every little thing sets her off, from a yucky breakfast to a prim and proper play-date going horribly horribly wrong.

Charlotte and I made poor Mummy's ears hurt because it's impossible to read Bella's dialogue without shouting (though we did try not to shout too loudly). Charlotte fell hopelessly in love with Bob ("Because he's SO cute!") and as the story progressed she loved seeing Bella's meltdown turn into a full on dizzy shouty tired ranty temper tantrum (funnily enough, I rather enjoyed Rebecca's absolutely pin-sharp toddler meltdown observations, which are spot on and then some!)

As you can imagine, nothing will cheer up this fiery little minx. A trip to the supermarket just makes matters worse, school ballet turns into a sulk-a-thon and every time poor little Bob (bless 'im) tries to help, Bella just explodes like a landmine in a little red dress.

It's incredibly easy to see why this was the Roald Dahl Funny Prize winner this year. It's brilliant for both children and parents. You will have to read the book yourself right to the end to find out how Bella's Big Shouting Day ends, but we urge you to seek out this and Rebecca's other brilliant books, they're uproariously funny from start to finish.

Charlotte's best bit: What Bella does to Bob later on in the book. The horrors, the horrors!

Daddy's favourite bit: The fact that this book so gleefully captures (and almost celebrates) the stunning spectacle of a toddler meltdown so utterly perfectly. I love the fact that for most of the book, Bella's expression is like a big black hole with a pair of eyes and typically scruffy toddler hair slapped on top of it. Brilliant, brilliant (and let's shout the last one) BRILLIANT!

(Kindly supplied to us for review by Jonathan Cape PB Ltd)