Vashti once again makes our Chapter Book of the Week slot her very own with another delicious slice of sky-ship-soaring adventure, sizzling with steampunky goodness.

"Darkwhispers" follows in from "Brightstorm" and plays in the same gorgeously inventive book universe, this time pitching the Twins and Eudora Vane into a desperate search for missing adventurer Ermitage Wrigglesworth (god, how we love Vashti's names for characters!)

Harriet Culpepper and the crew of the skyship Aurora head for the Eastern Isles, on the dwindling trail of Ermitage's last know whereabouts. Arthur and Maudie aren't entirely sure that Eudora's motives are good, in fact as their desperate quest unfolds, the lines between allies and enemies become more and more blurred.

When disaster strikes and the twins are separated, will they ever find their way back to each other, and eventually track down the missing explorer?

From the moment you dig into the first chapter, you're there - you're in Vashti's absolutely incredibly detailed and beautifully imagined bookworld as Arthur and Maudie dig into their own inner strengths, building on their adventuresome escapades in Brightstorm. The thrumming jungle setting almost makes you hear distant drums, the sinister swish of vines, the buzz of insects and the suffocating heat as the story begins to clamp its addictive talons around your senses - and if you're anything like us, you'll be diving in for a second read as soon as you turn over the last page.

Many comparisons have been made between Vashti's work and the work of Phillip Pullman, but for our money she writes with far more enticing immediacy and a ton more humour (Pullman is dreadfully serious and morose most of the time, sorry Phil) as each amazing moment of action segues perfectly with the next, and we get to know a lot more about the adventurous twins and the mysterious Eudora Vane - a sizzlingly good baddie if ever we've read one.

As my daughter said after her first run through this one,  "you can tell the author's having a lot of fun writing these stories".

I really couldn't have put it better myself.

Utterly brilliant stuff. If you're looking for your next addiction after polishing off stuff like His Dark Materials, or fancy digging into a brilliant avianautic adventure series, pick this up, it's truly stunning stuff!

"Darkwhispers: A Brightstorm Adventure" by Vashti Hardy is out now, published by Scholastic (kindly supplied for review). 

Parents don't have all the answers. That's something both my wife and I have been brutally honest about with our daughter as she grows up, and though we can impart wisdom based on our own experiences, sometimes kids need a little bit more than that - they need to hear from other kids, and some sage advice from experts to help them find their way in an increasing mental and physical minefield as they rapidly approach their teens.

"Fearless" by Liam Hackett, with illustrations by Mike Perry is bang on the nail for my daughter's age group. Liam - founder of the "Ditch the Label" organisation, supporting anti-bullying strategies and working with kids and teens, has curated a fantastic book filled with a ton of advice on a huge range of subjects, mostly dealing with how stereotypes creep into young people's lives at an increasingly early age, and sometimes in the rush to conform or fit in, they lose a little bit of their own identities in the process.

Here then is a book that helps them claw some of that back with tons of amazing anecdotes and case studies from kids like my daughter, ordinary kids who may be dealing with extraordinary situations in work, at home and in their social lives.

Each chapter deals with a particular worry or fear kids might have, from the fear of being yourself, fear of failure, fear of not fitting in or expressing yourself - with plenty of amazing advice from Liam and his team of experts, as well as real life cases - many of which (sadly) my daughter has already encountered as she enters the next phase of her life.

The book is extremely strong on advice surrounding bullying in particular, in whatever form it takes from physical and emotional intimidation through to cyber-bullying and peer pressure, dealt with and discussed in a level-headed and mature way to ensure children do not feel alone in dealing with this nastiness, and giving them plenty of help and advice on who to turn to, and what to do.

This is absolutely superb stuff, it does the things it needs to do without talking down to kids or treating them like they were born yesterday.

"Fearless" by Liam Hackett and Mike Perry is out today, published by Scholastic (kindly supplied for review).

For laugh-out-loud readaloud fun you could do a lot worse than try reading "The Wonky Donkey" while keeping a straight face.

This is how the viral sensation "The Scottish Granny" became such a massive hit, as a scots granny tried to read Wonky Donkey to her grandkid.

Now the book has spawned a sequel off the success of the original book, so Craig Smith and Katz Cowley are back with "The Dinky Donkey!"

Be prepared for rhyming toe-tapping readaloud fun once more as the original Wonky Donkey has a dinky daughter, hee haw!!

Featuring playful verses by Craig and charming illustrations by Katz, The Dinky Donkey follows the same formula that made its predecessor a worldwide hit. 

Our Booky Advent Calendar entry for Day 9 might have the very loosest connection to Christmas (well, Turkeys and Thanksgiving) but it's still a hugely impressive piece of work and well deserving of inclusion in your christmas book shopping list.

We've loved Nguyen and Fridolfs' take on the Bat-Universe for ages, reinventing awesome DC characters for the "Fort Solitude" series - and showing that there are far better ways to wean your kids on DC's unfathomably complex comics universe without exposing them to tons of dark stuff.

Nguyen and Fridolfs have achieved something I never thought we'd be able to put our stamp of approval on. They've taken characters we know and love from the Bat-Universe here, and turned them into the most adorably playful scamps you can imagine.

The compilation here works through several holidays, including Robin's take on a Halloween parade, and what happens when The Penguin takes on a one-peng crusade to free tasty turkeys from imminent doom on the dinner table.

Just LOVE Robin's 'study' face here. That's C after her holiday homework assignments!

Purists might get a tad upset at the thought of a kiddified character assassination of their fave heroes, but we really love these - and despite the many, many other attempts there have been (and are still ongoing) to give kids a taste of DC's greatness, this is by far the best.

"L'il Gotham Volume 1" by Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs is out now, published by DC Comics / Scholastic (self purchased: Not provided for review)

When you're used to dealing with the utterly unbelievable but true gruesome facts scattered throughout history, surely writing a terrifying fiction story should be easy, no?

Our Chapter Book of the Week this week is the second in a stunning reinvention of one of fiction's best loved and most famous detective characters...

Our first Book of the Week this week is an absolutely brilliant and essential guide to growing up that encompasses the ever-present information superhighway...

Our Chapter Book of the Week is a gorgeous sequel to a book I must admit I haven't read in years, possibly 43 years to be precise...!

We're joining in with a fantastic blog tour to celebrate the launch of "Brightstorm" by Vashti Hardy, a brilliant steampunky middle grade novel full of adventure, airships and plenty of swashbuckling.

Vashti has submitted herself to our intense scrutiny via the medium of "This or That" questions, so let's hand over to Vashti for her answers...



1) Chocolate or Cheese?

Chocolate, no hesitation! Salted caramel…

Our Chapter Book of the Week this week finds us once again held in thrall by the imagination of one of 2017's most awesome breakout writers...

Welcome, welcome one and all as we begin our fantastic Christmas Booky Advent Calendar for 2017. Each and every single day (yes, even saturdays and sundays) up till Christmas Eve we'll be bringing you a lovely festive treat every day, to give you some great ideas for books to tuck into your stocking.

We're, er...starting with something a bit whiffy, coming from comedy 'geniuses' Sam and Mark (they're BAFTA winning children's TV presenters,  don't you know?) and their first children's book "The Stink Before Christmas".

Stick a peg on your nose and dive in!

It's the night before christmas, and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. But one thing is stirring, it's really quite rotten...

Oh god, hold your nose, it's SANTA'S BIG BOTTOM!

Excuse our terrible rhyming but that should set the stall out for this book full of trumps (no not that idiot, the botty kind), parps, poots and toots.

It's time to deliver presents, but Santa's tummy is feeling funny and he has no choice but to let out a good few tummy squeakers, trouser snorters and window rattlers along the way

But after one cataclysmic pant-inflater all the presents fall in the sea! CHRISTMAS IS RUINED!

Will Santa's trusty reindeer come to the rescue, after their brussels sprout snack?

The book comes with a bonus "Santa Stop Here" doorhanger for extra added fun.

Whew, someone crack open a window will you? It smells like the inside of a packet of dry roasted peanuts in here!!

Kids who love fart gags will be all over this, but it's possibly one of the worst books we've ever tried to read aloud (sorry guys).

The rhymes are bashed together with a monkey wrench, and the story feels like it runs out of gas towards the end. However, there's definitely going to be huge appeal to kids who still laugh their butts off every time a Minion lets out a small green cloud on one of the Despicable Me movies, so without being too unkind we'll leave it at that I think!

"The Stink Before Christmas" by Sam Nixon, Mark Rhodes and Tom Knight" is out now, published by Scholastic (kindly supplied for (frrrt) review). 

Those of you with a slightly nervous disposition when it comes to maiming books may want to look away now...

Hooray! Hooray! It's book four in a series we have loved from the very start, our Chapter Book of the Week this week is the awesome "The Big Fat Totally Bonkers Diary of Pig" by Emer Stamp.

Oh yes! A much-loved series is back for a third book, it's time to delve into "The Inventory" once more with Andy Briggs...

The Lego Batman Movie looks like it's an essential cinema date for Charlotte and Me. So we had to make a trio of fabulous Scholastic titles based on the movie our books of the week!

Our Second Book of the Week this week is the glorious sequel to the first "Secret Hero Society" story. What happens when Bruce, Clark and Diana head for camp...?

I know, I know, this one isn't actually out until March...but our Chapter Book of the Week for 20th January 2016 is "The Bookshop Girl" by Sylvia Bishop...

Our second book of the week was one we instantly fell in love with. It immediately felt like a classic in the making, full of fun and craziness...

We're super-fortunate that today is a bit of a splurge on the blog. Posts here, posts there, posts everywhere. We couldn't resist squeezing in our stop on the fantastic "Unicorns of Blossom Wood" Blog Tour though, with a fab guest post from Catherine Coe, author of the Blossom Wood published today by Scholastic Publishing. You may have already caught up with Catherine's brilliant "The Owls of Blossom Wood" stories but now it's time for even more magic and fun with Charlotte's favourite mythical creatures.