We had to make our "Book of the Week" slot a double header for Flying Eye / NoBrow - simply because both the books we recieved for review from them recently are just SO GOOD!

This one, in particular, feels like the book we've been waiting on for the last 10 years of our book blogging career.

"Shy Ones" by Simona Ciraolo has a story theme that we've begged people to write a children's picture book about, and though we've seen one or two that don't quite nail the point we've covered so many times in our ReadItTorials - that quiet kids deserve every bit as much attention and as many chances to shine - as noisy outspoken confident kids - this is the best picture book on the subject of shyness that we've ever seen.

C is a shy kid, but just like the gorgeous little octopoid in this story, when no one's looking she shines. Throughout the book Simona captures perfectly what it has felt like for us as parents as a shy kid, knowing our daughter's true worth but seeing her come a cropper again and again in school when teachers always add the tiresome snipe at the end of each school report. "She's too quiet in class" or "She never speaks up for herself despite her work being brilliant" (teachers, if you do this, I really don't know what to say to you, it's one of the worst things you can possibly say to a shy kid, or the parents of a shy kid - particularly if you're using that as a measure of their academic worth let alone their worth as a person).

So here it is, a book that spins the beautiful tale of a shy kid who finally finds an equally shy friend, and comes out of her shell a bit. When you see that happen in the story, just like when you see it happen as a parent who is proud of their kid, it's a moment to treasure.

Thank you for this Simona, this is really something truly special.

Sum this book up in a sentence: At last, a fanfare for the quiet ones, the shy ones, and about blimmin' time they had their chance to shine too!

"Shy Ones" by Simona Ciraolo is out now, published by Flying Eye Books / NoBrow (US)

(Book kindly supplied for review)

Meet an annoyingly smug mouse, and a sly and clever cat in this race and chase with a most satisfying ending...

A glorious and heart-warming book that looks at sibling relationships in a lovely way. So whatever DID happen to your sister?

As we bask in the last vestiges of sun and look forward to the onset of Autumn (my favourite season by far) it seems odd to be thinking about the hot desert, and the plants that eke out an existence there.

Simona Ciraolo's gorgeous debut for Flying Eye Books, "Hug Me" puts a spiny spiky little cactus fellow front and centre as its core character. Now, making a cactus appear cute and cuddly is no mean feat but Felipe is adorable. But why won't anyone hug him?

His family and friends are even spikier (and even bigger) than he is. There are standards to be maintained, appearances to be kept up - and it's just not the done thing for cactii to go around cuddling everyone.

Hope rises in Felipe's eyes as bold bright and brash new friend appears - But a cactus can never be friends with a balloon, so after a near miss, Felipe feels he has no choice but to head out into the big bright world to see if he can find a new family (and perhaps a big spiky cuddle or two).

Felipe leads a lonely existence at first - but eventually something happens to completely change his world...

You'll have to read the book, of course, to find out what happens to Felipe. "Hug Me" is another adorable and highly polished story to add to Flying Eye Books' utterly brilliant collection. It got us thinking that we'd really love a plushy Felipe to cuddle, or at least a chain mail suit to cuddle our favourite cactii at home just in case they need a hug or two.

Charlotte's best bit: The end-papers at the back of the book are just too cute for words! Utterly adorable!

Daddy's Favourite bit: What a lovely little book, absolutely stunning and heart-meltingly gorgeous!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Flying Eye Books