Oh, the fun Mike and Simon must have designing these books. We've seen ten pirates suffer a grisly fate, ten princesses prim and proper and now it's the turn of "Ten Little Monsters"

I almost cackled out loud when I first heard that a third "Ten Little" book from Mike and Simon was on the way. Mainly because if there's anything close to a three-headed "Children's Book Trope", it'd be a beast wearing the head of a pirate, a princess and a dinosaur.

So logically "Ten Little Dinosaurs" stomps along, hot on the heels of "Ten Little Pirates" and "Ten Little Princesses" and we really, really couldn't be happier.

Why? Well these books are utterly and completely brilliant for starters. Mike produces the most pitch-perfect rhymes, while Simon draws up a storm with hilarious, chaotic and hugely funny illustrations to compliment Mike's words. We first join our ten little lizardy characters as they're nestling with their big fat dino mummy. But busy little dinosaurs don't stay put for long, so they set off on a grand quest to explore their world.

The prehistoric world is fraught with danger though and it's not long before we're counting down, just as we did with the other books, as each of the little dinosaurs succumbs to a different fate.

Snatched by a Pterosaur? Swooshed by an Ankylosaurus? Charged by our favourite - the Triceratops. This is no life for a cute and cuddly colourful little dinosaur. Will they live happily ever after?

It's a work of genius. Part counting book, part dino-info book, part comedic knockabout rib-tickling story but completely funny and brilliant. We're very rarely won over by books that carry the same theme through three successive titles but "Ten Little Dinosaurs" pulls off the hat trick with aplomb and is as fantastic as its predecessors. Just watch out for that squishy dino poo! Ew!

Charlotte's best bit: Charlotte always loves to spend the entire time choosing a favourite dinosaur (and then changing her mind about - oh - ten times throughout the book!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: It's another "Ten Little" triumph for Mike and Simon. We're having a private bet with ourselves on the next ten things that will crop up courtesy of Mike and Simon!

(Kindly sent to us for review by)

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Ten Little Pirates by Mike Brownlow and Simon Rickerty (Orchard Books)

Ten Little Princesses by Mike Brownlow and Simon Rickerty (Orchard Books)

When this book arrived through our letterbox, and Charlotte ripped open the packaging with a squeal of glee, I rather unfairly caught sight of the cover and groaned inwardly.

"Oh no, it's pink!" I thought.
"Oh no, it's about princesses!" I grumbled.
"Oh no, it's going to end up as a book of the week without a doubt!" I moaned.

There's a famous phrase about not judging a book by it's cover, and that is definitely the case whenever that cover contains the names Mike Brownlow and Simon Rickerty because you can always guarantee that you're going to have a good chuckle at the contents. So pessimistic Daddy soon gave way to chuckling, chortling, snorting daddy as Charlotte and I settled down to read Ten Little Princesses.

Don't be fooled by the cover. Don't be fooled by the fact that Mike and Simon have already produced "Ten Little Pirates" and don't assume that this is a cash-in sequel, it's actually funnier than "Pirates", possibly even more tongue-in-cheek.

Ten little princesses set out from the castle to attend the ball, and just like in "Pirates", some pretty nasty things happen to the poor damsels as they head out on their travels. Slowly but surely ten become nine, then eight, then seven - and you get the idea. But it's the way the princesses are (somewhat ruthlessly) dispatched that made both of us cackle with glee. We won't give away the ending (but look away now if you don't like spoilers, it's OK, no one dies!)

On one level it is very similar to "Ten Little Pirates", granted - but we felt a little less upset about a stack of pirates meeting a grisly end. Here it's quite amusing how Mike and Simon have pulled together several well known fairy-tale princesses and reinforced just how dark their tales are when you look at them closely, and in fact I kept thinking about "The Gashlycrumb Tinies" by Edward Gorey while reading this (which coming from me is high praise, I love Edward Gorey's work to bits!)

Mike Brownlow and Simon Rickerty work so well together that we can't wait to see what they come up with next. After enjoying "Ten Little Pirates", we're really blown away by how great this is - even if you (like me) are naturally predisposed to running a mile every time you see something pink and princessy.

In a nutshell, buy this book simply because - if anything - it pokes a lot of fun at the usual prissy "not exactly feminist" princess books kicking around, and is hugely entertaining on so many levels. Brilliant and highly recommended, and a huge lesson to me that I should take Charlotte's word for it more often before leaping to conclusions!

Charlotte's best bit: She fell in love with spotting all her favourite princesses popping up in the story, but was overjoyed to find that "her favourite" won out in the end (We won't reveal who!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: A choice lesson in not taking a book by it's cover, it's crackingly brilliant and entertaining, dark in places and utterly hilarious. Highly recommended indeed!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Orchard Books)

Remember those fun and sometimes rather naughty little spidery characters from one of last year's "Book of the Week" nominees, Monkey Nut? Of course you do! Well they're back, and this time they're getting artistic!

In "Crayon", Red Spider and Blue Spider still don't quite see eye to eye on everything. Red Spider loves his blue crayon. Blue Spider loves his red crayon and both argue over which is better.

Simon Rickerty's largely wordless book relies on the knockabout comedy in his illustrations to convey the story in a fun and entertaining way just as with Monkey Nut.

"They are SO naughty!!" - Charlotte

There's also an equally satisfying 'pay-off' and twist at the end as both Red Spider and Blue Spider realise that working together and being friends (and having ALL the crayons, a sentiment we definitely identify with) is a far better idea than squabbling. This is a really fun and enjoyable book that Charlotte loves as a bit of a sneaky extra book at bedtime along with something a little longer (it's definitely a book that children younger than 5 are going to love to bits, particularly if they love characters who are exceedingly mischievous!)

Fabulous stuff from Simon!

Charlotte's best bit: Red Spider scribbling on Blue Spider. Very naughty!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Great fun little story, perfect for younger children

(Kindly sent to us for review by Simon and Schuster Children's Books)

"OH NO, NOT PIRATES AGAIN!" said Charlotte as we popped "Ten Little Pirates" out of its padded envelope ready to review. But despite our description of being slightly burned out on piratical adventures we couldn't resist the bouncy almost sing-a-long book.

Ten little pirates, as happy as can be, set sail for adventure but in the grand tradition of countdown books, with each turn of the page something happens whittling their numbers down to...1.

Mike Brownlow's rhymes flow beautifully in nursery-rhme-like verse while Simon Rickerty's fantastic and colourful illustrations provide the visual thrills.

We were quite surprised as we read the book that those cute little pirates seem to come to more than one sticky end as things progress - but we wouldn't really be spoiling anything to tell you that all's well that ends well so don't worry if your favourite pirate is scoffed by a shark or gets blown to smithereens by a dastardly man-o-war.

A fab counting book, a hilarious and funny adventures, and the absolute joy for any child (or adult for that matter) is picking their fave pirate on the cover and seeing if they make it unscathed!

Charlotte's best bit: One little pirate being lured away by a pretty mermaid. Ooh la la!

Daddy's favourite bit: Faultless rhymes make this a real joy to read, and brilliantly funny illustrations mean you won't get too burned out on another piratical jaunt. Yo ho ho!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Orchard Books)

We're doubling up on book of the week nominations again this week. Coming up is Charlotte and Mummy's choice but here's a book Charlotte and I couldn't get enough of this week.

Simon (Yoga Ogre, Unfortunately) Rickerty has a mischievous streak a mile long when it comes to putting together a busy and happy little story. When two spiders, red and blue, see something fall from the sky, they both want to play with it.

But what IS it? Is it a comfortable sofa? No. Is it a drum to bang and make a noise with? Alas, no. Is it to be fought over? Oh yes! As the two spiders bicker and disagree over what the mysterious object is, big black bully spider comes along and snatches it. OH NO!

We won't spoil things for you too much but Big Black Bully Spider doesn't get his own way for very long, as you'll see as the story takes a hilarious (and unexpected) turn. Red and Blue spider are such great little characters and Simon's eye for using double page spreads and page layouts in amusing ways to really drive along a story mean that this is a fast-paced and very funny romp.

Charlotte's best bit: Someone knows what the object is. Someone bigger than Big Black Bully Spider! SQUISH!

Daddy's favourite bit: I loved reading the word "mine" 50 times in a row. No really!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Simon and Schuster Children's Books)

If there's one thing that should make our nation swell with pride, it's the sheer quality and class of our children's books. Time and again on ReadItDaddy I'm asked why most of the books we review rate so highly. The simple answer is that they really are that good, and it's almost impossible to find anything negative to say about the majority of books that come our way.

Which is why it's lovely to show Charlotte books like "The Yoga Ogre" that are funny, well written, deliciously illustrated and set the bar so high that it makes you wonder how you'd ever break into children's writing or illustration yourself (I'm trying, believe me I'm trying!)

Ogden, the Ogre in this story is a lovely well-meaning fellow (who doesn't eat goats, just an entertaining array of pies 12 times a day). Waking up with that all too familiar (to me) feeling that his tum is wider than it is tall, our Ogre chum decides to embark on some exercise and tries various sports (with hilarious results).

"How about Yoga?" the townspeople suggest, after Ogden's various failed attempts at keep fit end up nearly levelling the town's most important buildings. So Ogden dutifully tries it out.

Here at ReadItDaddy we already love Simon Rickerty's illustrations (as seen in our previous Book of the Week "Unfortunately") and coupled with Peter Bently's entertaining rhymes, The Yoga Ogre is another surefire hit.

Charlotte's best bit: The horses hiding when Odgen decides to take up being a jockey

Daddy's favourite bit: Identifying all too readily with Ogden's woes about his large tum

Rating: A well deserved 5 out of 5 stars - Book of the Week

(This book was kindly supplied for review by Simon and Schuster Children's Books)