Sometimes, books arrive for review that are instantly timeless - or well remembered from a time when I used to read to my younger brother and sister.

In fact that's how I first encountered "Dogger" by Shirley Hughes, after leafing through it in a book shop and buying it for my brother - purely based on the fact that a kid in the book dresses up for a fancy dress contest as a Dalek (my brother was, and still is completely obsessed by all things Doctor Who - even a tiny little cameo from the tinpot fascists in a children's story book).

Shirley Hughes is an amazing talent. Her gentle storytelling feels like it harks back to an era that existed around the same time as I was young Alfie's age (Alfie is usually the main character in Shirley's stories - a young lad living a fairly ordinary but - by today's standards - totally idyllic life).

However in "Dogger" it's a boy called Dave who falls completely in love with his favourite toy, a squishy little dog called Dogger. When Dogger is accidentally lost at a church fete, Dave is distraught. Even more so when another girl buys Dogger (who ended up on a bric a brac stall and was promptly resold). All seems lost, until Dave's fabulous older sister gives up the fantastic plush bear she's just won at the fete in order to get Dogger back for Dave.

I never realised how brilliant this story was when I read it to my little brother, but re-reading it to C was revelatory. Shirley depicts love here, the love of a child for a toy that they basically cannot function without - and if there's a better definition of love than the unbearable thought of existing without that thing (or that person), then I don't think I've ever seen it.

Shirley's artwork - as well as her storytelling - is always top notch, and though "Ella's Big Chance" isn't one of her books you see being trumpeted very often, it's absolutely stunning, I mean just look at that cover...

This is the story of Cinderella, beautifully reimagined in the heady days of the roaring 1920s, with artwork that will completely knock your socks off, it's just so utterly mesmerising.

The tale begins with Ella and her father as successful dressmakers, producing some of the most beautiful dresses in the land. 

Our Booky Advent Calendar Day 14 and second Christmas Book of the Week is an absolutely gorgeous celebration of all the things that make the festive season so special for little ones.

"Snow in the Garden: A First Book of Christmas" by Shirley Hughes is such a warm hug of a book, once again showing that Shirley really knows how to conjure up such warming and atmospheric stories, with the most amazing illustrations still making our jaws collectively drop.

This beautiful Christmas anthology contains winter adventures, seasonal poems, festive recipes and easy-to-make craft activities. 

Oh my, has it really been 40 years since this brilliant classic first arrived on bookshelves? Our Second Picture Book of the Week is the sublime "Dogger" by Shirley Hughes...

If you ever wanted to see a fantastic example of how to write 'dad' books for children, look no further than this perfect little trio of stories from Shirley Hughes.

Just look at those two cheeky chaps on the cover of this wonderful book. How can you possibly resist diving in for a look?

Alfie, the awesome little fellah created by Shirley Hughes, gets out into the garden for his latest story. Join us as we get grubby in the vegetable patch!

We have a huge huge HUGE soft spot for the Alfie books in our hearts. Shirley Hughes is an absolute superstar and you're probably very used to seeing us telling you so. Some of Shirley's 'Alfie' books are being reprinted in new softcover formats, so it's time to fall in love with these timeless and gorgeously observed little stories all over again.

In this tale, Alfie and Annie Rose are off to Grandma's house for a visit. Grandma lives in a lovely house in a picturesque village. Alfie and his little sister can't wait to go off exploring, but the rain pours down leaving no choice but to stay at home.

Kids landlocked inside on a rainy day? Even Alfie's amazing Grandma might find that a little difficult to cope with so it's on with the rain gear and out into the lovely countryside for adventures to see what they can find!

This story is nicely broken up into several mini stories so we get to explore and join in the fun. There are lost tortoises to be found, naughty sheep to round up - all told in Shirley's gentle style and gorgeously illustrated with her expert observational eye.

We always love any book with a good map in it too, and this has an absolute corker! Don't miss it!

"Alfie and Grandma is out on 26th February 2015 from Red Fox Picture Books

Charlotte's best bit: Spotting the naughty runaway tortoise along with Alfie, and loving exploring Alfie's Grandma's village with the gorgeous map at the back of the book

Daddy's Favourite bit: Beautifully observed, timeless and brilliant stories with the most gorgeous illustrations. No wonder we can't get enough of Shirley's books!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Red Fox Picture Books)

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Alfie has, deservedly, been one of the best loved children's characters for generations and his awesome creator Shirley Hughes has a knack for creating the most charming and timeless stories.

I'm in awe of her illustrative style and her ease with storytelling so it's great to see a timely reprint from Red Fox of the sublime "Alfie's Christmas" getting us ready for our own family yuletide gathering.

Alfie and his little sister Annie Rose are preparing for the big day. Along with mum and dad, Alfie goes christmas shopping and makes decorations and cards for all his friends. There are secrets too as Alfie has to hide dad's special present (a plant in a wonderfully decorated pot) and mum's too (a lovely blue beaded necklace).

Though Annie Rose is too young to understand what Christmas is all about, she's soon swept up in the yuletide preparations and gets excited about the presents and the wrapping paper.

Christmas Eve arrives, and though there's no snow (which in a Christmas book is rare but actually quite realistic and refreshing to see, nice one Shirley!) Alfie snuggles down in bed eyes shut tight so that Santa will visit.

Annie Rose has other ideas though...!

We got drawn into this book, feeling at once like a traditional christmas tale but with timely observations and a goodly dose of family life to make it feel contemporary and relevant. It's part of why Shirley Hughes is such an important voice in children's literature, she has a canny knack for producing the sort of blissfully brilliant stories that both adults love to read, and children love to read and hear.

Charlotte's best bit: Great Uncle Will talking about an Australian christmas with sun, barbecues and koala bears!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Such utterly sublime storytelling, gorgeous artwork, from a truly inspirational lady! Awesome work Shirley!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Red Fox Picture Books)

This fabulous book took me right back to my childhood. You see, "Christmas Books" when I was a wee whippersnapper usually meant things like the excellent "Fleetway Annuals" or books that you knew you'd be tucked away with for most of Christmas Day, through Boxing Day and probably beyond.

Imagine then a book that promises a whole YEAR of stories and things to do. Impossible without it weighing enough to give poor Santa a hernia! But somehow Shirley (make her a DAME already! She deserves it!) Hughes has come up with precisely this. A big satisfying and weighty tome that contains a veritable treasure trove of gorgeous things, like opening your presents on Christmas Day 365 days of the year.

Without exaggeration or flattery, there are very few authors / illustrators who could accomplish such a feat and as soon as we dipped into this book, and found stories like the sublime "Ella's Big Chance" (a book we've raved about previously on the blog!) and adorable poems to keep your little ones enthralled.

If that wasn't enough, Shirley's come up with a year's worth of utterly brilliant activities to try out with your little ones. Watch out for a follow-up piece from us very soon where we try out some of Shirley's amazing ideas ourselves (and probably get covered in glue and glitter in the process!) and if you do pick up the book yourself and make some of the things inside, we'd LOVE to see your pics as would Red Fox!

All in all this is the sort of gorgeous book we'd love to unwrap on christmas day, or for that matter at any time of the year. Wonderful!

Charlotte's best bit: Falling in love all over again with the brilliant "Ella's Big Chance"

Daddy's Favourite bit: A fantastic book that is an absolutely perfect idea for a christmas stocking stuffer, bound to keep your little ones busy way beyond boxing day. Fa-bu-LOUS!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Bodley Head Publishing)

It goes without saying that we always make a bee-line for Shirley Hughes' books whenever we spot them in our local library. "Abel's Moon" is such a dreamy and lovely tale that it's definitely worth shouting about.

Abel is a travelling man, and when he comes home to his wife and children, he always has the best stories to tell of his travels and adventures. The children hang on his every word, wanting to listen to his stories again and again.

Abel comes up with an idea to write some of his stories down so that he won't forget them - but writing in a house full of noisy children isn't an easy task (I am guessing that Shirley is speaking from experience here! I'd certainly have to agree too!)

Abel sets up the folding table under his favourite apple tree in the garden - but all too soon it's time to leave home again in search of work.

The table stays put, as the grass and trees grow up around it the children discover that the humble table can lead to even more adventures. As a boat, or as a moon machine! Imagine the stories they'll be able to tell when Abel gets home...!

There are so many things about this book that make you want to cuddle it. It's a great "Dad" book - Abel willing to make a huge sacrifice and leave his family behind just to ensure that they want for nothing. It's a book that celebrates the wonderful imaginations of children as they weave their own tales through play. Of course we always love Shirley's masterful way with words and her gorgeous art. The book draws you into its warming embrace and its timelessness ensures that it can be enjoyed by children of all ages.

Charlotte's best bit: Abel and Mable's little baby, who is a little ball of mischief!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A marvellous celebratory book, a great dad character (we could do with more of these), and yet another fab book from the grand-dame of children's literature.

Shirley Hughes is as close as it's possible to get to being "Children's Book Royalty". Her fabulous books have entertained children for years, and it's been brilliant discovering her books along with Charlotte over the last few years. So even though we're late to the party, we're huge fans and every time we spy a Shirley Hughes book in our local library, we nab it!

Many authors and illustrators have put their own spin on well-loved fairy tales. Sometimes they're fairly low-level treatments of the original that don't really enhance the story or bring anything new along for the ride.

Not the case with "Ella's Big Chance" by Shirley Hughes, which is an utterly masterful retelling of "Cinderella".

You all know the story but Shirley's take on it nips and tucks all the good bits like an expert tailor, as we open the tale with Ella and her father as successful dressmakers, producing some of the most beautiful dresses in the land. When Ella's father remarries a rather mean and crabby woman, and brings her and her two daughters into their home, things change. The new wife has grand ideas for their humble business and sets about turning it into a reputable fashion outlet - meaning lots more work for poor Ella! Her new stepmother and stepsisters treat her poorly, and her father seems to become more withdrawn by the day. Luckily Ella has a friend in Buttons, the store's busy delivery boy who always makes time for Ella and cheers her up.

Consigned to the basement, poor Ella dreams of a world of glamour and music - and when a lord and lady announce a grand ball that's being thrown for their son, Ella hopes she might have a chance to shine.

Alas her stepmother and stepsisters have other ideas. THEY will be the belles of the ball, not poor Ella. Alone and thoroughly miserable, and despite Buttons' attempts to cheer her up, a timely intervention from a magical and mysterious old lady soon has Ella clad in the most beautiful ballgown ever, with a gorgeous limousine and driver ready to whisk her off to the ball!

Here's where we'll pause. You see, you're probably second-guessing how the story ends based on the original, but with a twinkle in her eye and deft strokes, Shirley Hughes has a surprise or two up her sleeves for you. We'll leave you to discover what happens to Ella yourself (trust us, you'll love it as much as Charlotte did).

It's a gorgeous book. Shirley Hughes effortlessly produces the most beautiful illustrations, weaves the original story into a wonderful roaring twenties style twist on the tale, we fell hopelessly in love with this book and we're pretty sure you will too.


Charlotte's best bit: Ella's utterly amazing ballgown. "Wow, it's so so so beautiful!" (I think she liked it)

Daddy's Favourite bit: Probably the best retelling of a traditional tale that we've ever seen. Shirley Hughes - national treasure without a doubt!

What can we say? What CAN we say? We had the toughest of tough choices this week to choose between a fabulous cat (well, Tiger) book or a book featuring a dashing doggie duo - we couldn't separate them so once again you're treated to a double helping of Book of the Week goodness! You lucky people!

When I first heard that Shirley Hughes and Clara Vulliamy were teaming up for a book, I nearly fell off my chair. This is the sort of news that makes a children's book blogger deliriously happy. Mum and daughter, both hugely talented, collaborating on something that - as we followed, teetering on the edge of our seats with every twist and turn during the book's development - shaped up to be something truly special.

And special it is. For starters it features utterly wonderful classic cars woven into the story of Dixie O'Day, a rather dapper gentleman dog and his (slightly rough around the edges) sidekick Percy. Both enjoy a good biscuit dunked in their tea (Dixie likes a custard cream while Percy is like Charlotte, completely hooked on Jammie Dodgers - bless 'em!), both enjoy a drive out in the countryside in Dixie's fabulous classic Ford Zephyr soft-top, and both definitely love a good race.

The format of this book is special too. We've been clamouring about early chapter readers featuring full illustrations throughout for quite a long time. Previously we've seen very few of these (in fact the only other examples I can think of in Charlotte's collection are the sublime "Claude" series from Alex T. Smith and the utterly brilliant "Harry and the Lady Next Door" by Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy-Graham) but the genius of "Dixie O'Day in the Fast Lane" is splitting the book into five bedtime-sized chapters that can be enjoyed over the space of a week. So you get the bonus of a longer book, divided into bite-sized chunks, but with a little more depth and substance than your average picture book. HOORAY for this format, please please please can we have some more?

Lou Ella, she's like a female Terry-Thomas. A thoroughly bad egg! (LOVE that Diner though!)

We loved the 'background info' and exquisite extra details in the book, which echoes Clara's wonderful "Bunny Brothers" series. The Q & A with Dixie was lovely, as were the various activities and games to play on long car journeys.

But what of the story itself? Dixie and Percy seem to inhabit a world that you really would want to live in. A world where Zoom lollies taste so mouth-wateringly perfect that you instantly crave another after you've finished one. A world where badgers run the local 50s-themed diner and garage, or where waspish neighbours (actually Lou Ella was Charlotte's favourite character - "She is me!" she proudly bellowed, though I don't think she's really that bad!) will stop at nothing to win a local car race.

On the cars in this book - poor Clara has had to listen to me 'droning on' about cars on Twitter for ages but she clearly knows her stuff. We did love Dixie's fabulous Ford but we also rather loved Lou Ella's racey E-Type Jag-alike, and the mouse with his tractor / cheese caravan. Weirdly though, intentional or not, this car was like greeting an old friend again...


...purely because it reminded me of my absolute FAVOURITE toy car from childhood - this little beauty, the Corgi Jet Car:


(I don't think mine had a droopy nose like that though, eeks!)

Charlotte loves this book, because it's exciting, thrillingly paced, and though she proudly claims she's Lou Ella, I think she's got a secret crush on Percy who is welcome to share her mini snack-time Jammie Dodgers any time.

Oh - and one final thing, best bit of the book by far is what you'll find at the end - the welcome confirmation that we will be seeing more of dashing Dixie O'Day and Percy in "The Great Diamond Robbery" next. HOORAY!

Charlotte's best bit: Lou Ella. Fashion icon, but definitely not the sort of person you'd want to live next door to or be in a race with! Boo Hiss!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A genius format, a brilliant story, two of the most talented ladies in the business (who just happen to be mother and daughter) working together in an absolute dream of a book. Don't hang around, go and live life in the fast lane with Dix and Perc!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Random House / Bodley Head)