We've already seen John's fantastic detective adventure "Detective Paws" on the blog, and so here's another look at John's perfect paper-crafting skills with a pop-up version of a fairytale classic, this time for slightly younger readers.

Goldilocks starts off her day with the slow-release energy of a good solid bowl of porridge. Clever girl!

"Goldilocks - A Pop Up Book" is great for inquisitive little hands to flip through, with a familiar tale to help children learn colours and explore the scenes and textures of the story too.

Uh oh, bears! They do NOT look pleased!

Like "Detective Paws" it's a truly gorgeously presented book that feels really high quality, and looks durable enough to survive plenty of reads through.

Visit John's awesome website at http://www.oleary-irsara.com/john.htm

Charlotte's best bit: Charley's visit to the dentist. Rinse please!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Brilliant fun for tiddlers, beautifully illustrated and told

(Kindly sent to us for review by John O'Leary / Tango Books)

Our Second Book of the Week really shows how books can compete with all-bells-and-whistles apps on tablets and smartphones by providing a truly interactive experience that doesn't involve charging your device, doesn't involve temper-tantrums at bedtime when it's time to switch that device off, and has an utterly awesome story and set of puzzles to dig into.

Meet Detective Dick Paws and his latest case, the mysterious disappearance of The Golden Cat. Paws needs a bit of help with this tricky case so it's over to you, dear reader, to piece together some fiendish clues and observations to catch the culprit.

A busy scene from "Detective Paws" - Solve the clues with keen observation!

With an ingenious mix of detective mysteries, pop-up-book paper mechanics, fold out panels and lift-the-flap surprises, this book absolutely had it all bang on for Charlotte who loves this sort of thing and though some of the puzzles weren't too taxing, it seemed to be perfect for the 6-8 year old age group, possibly even younger with a bit of help from mum and dad.

Dick Paws is a great character, and though we can well imagine the amount of effort involved in producing such a fantastic and involving book as this, it'd be awesome to see it become a series.

There are so many neat touches (like having a notebook that folds out at the back of the book to help you through each clue and scene) but we don't want to spoil too much for you. This is one of the most original books we've seen in a long time, and it's well worth getting your magnifying glass out, your raincoat, and your trilby - and sniffing out this brilliant book.

Visit John's website at http://www.oleary-irsara.com/john.htm

Charlotte's best bit: She loved playing with the "identikit" bits (swapping faces to try and figure out who the culprit was) and also the brilliant map and notebook bits

Daddy's Favourite bit: What a fantastic and high quality book from John and Tango. Definitely worth getting hold of!

(Kindly sent to us for review by John O'Leary and Tango Books)

As we're finally getting some glorious sunshine in this country, here's a delicious duo of beautiful and colourful books to tempt your tots with.

Let's take a look at the Flaphappy 'Colours' book first:

All the colours of the rainbow! Yummy!

Sophie's eye for design comes to the fore in a book that takes your titchies through each colour of the rainbow in turn, as the book gently unfolds. Lift-the-flap books are normally fairly unimaginative (In some cases I compare them to advent calendars - once the flap's lifted, the surprise is gone and so has the book's appeal) but 'Colours' is awesome, in the way it builds a final image with each turn of the page. With accompanying text, this was actually a huge hit with Charlotte because it was a book she "didn't need daddy's help on!" (charming!)

And so what do you get at the end? You've already guessed it!

Blue is the colour, Rainbow is the aim!

It's beautifully demonstrated in this book clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BOMiXdwInM&feature=player_embedded (Embedded video is disabled for this clip but it's well worth checking out!)

Now let's take a look at Flap Happy Shapes!

How many shapes can you see in the cover?

Again, beautifully colourful, brilliantly designed and with a slow reveal of a final flappy image as you reach the end. They're both utterly awesome books but this was the one Charlotte preferred because (I suspect) she has an affinity with cheeky little monkeys!

Ooh Ooh Ooh! Triangle!

 Once again, have a look at the book trailer and demonstration for this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=2m8xGQDL7eo&feature=endscreen

Overall, I thought these might be a bit 'young' for Charlotte but her initial delight and reaction was brilliant (I hadn't actually told her what the books were going to do or how they were going to work, I let her discover them herself). What did surprise me was how often she'd sneak back to these. They are lovely, and engaging so it's easy to see why they are so attractive to her, but I think it has a huge amount to do with the fact that these are books she can quietly sit down with and read (they're great for early readers) and interact with all on her own without any guidance or hand holding.

Flap Happy Colours / Shapes are available from great indie stockists (which we're championing this week, by the way!). You can check out the other Tango books on their fab website

Check out Sophie Pelham's Facebook page for regular updates on her books and projects

(Flap Happy Colours / Shapes were kindly sent to us for review by Sophie Pelham)