We absolutely love these brilliant little journals from Mary Richards, and she's got you covered if you're about to start "big school" for the first time, and may have worries and anxieties.

"Take me to School" follows on from the brilliant "Take me to Museums" and "Take me on Holiday" (the previous titles in the series that were very well received).

This time there are lots of school subjects to think about, and as before, a brilliant journal to fill in as your learning journey begins.

A neatly sized book that positively invites you to write and draw in it? (Just don't do this with any of your new school books, OK?)
This innovative, interactive book is divided into five ‘adventure’ chapters. Children can start the book at any point in the school term.

Each chapter is designed to be completed in one week (though it not prescriptive), and is divided into themes that encourage them to explore their surroundings, record their thoughts and draw what they see. As they complete lists, create pictures and answer questions they are prompted to think carefully about their surroundings, engage with their friends and look at their everyday school environment with fresh eyes. With a ‘thoughts and feelings’ section in every chapter, the book encourages positive thinking and a growth mindset.

Quirky, easy to navigate and brimming with interesting facts about schools throughout history and around the world, this book is a must-have for every primary school age student – don’t leave home without it!

Table of Contents
All About This Book • Thinking About School • School Activities • School Day •
Classroom • Teacher • Friends • Mealtimes • Playground • Thoughts and Feelings
Blank section for recording notes

Sum this book up in a sentence: a fantastic pocket-sized journal that lays out your school adventure in easy-to-complete sections, stimulating your imagination and helping you along with your first tentative steps in your big school adventure.

"Take me to School: a School Journal for Young Explorers" by Mary Richards is out now, published by Agnes and Aubrey Publishing (kindly supplied for review). 

Here's a truly delightful Book of the Week that's the perfect fit for those of us taking a long hard look at our own gardens at the moment, wondering where to begin...

It definitely seems to be a fantastic year for dog books, as our first Picture Book of the Week for this week definitely demonstrates...

Three cheeky and endearing little owls make Christmas truly special in our Booky Advent Calendar book for Day 20. 5 more sleeps to go but let's find out just how busy these three little owls are.

These amazing mums lay an egg each before jetting off on an incredible journey all around the world, carrying with them a wicker basket to gather up treasures and amazing things to eat to help the poor folk of the village celebrate christmas in style.

Translated by John Yeoman from the late Emanuele Luzzati's fantastic original story, the book is given even more of a magical touch by Quentin Blake, who lends his trademark illustrative style to this wonderfully flowing story to really help it come alive.

It's that rare thing - a Christmassy book that isn't actually that Christmassy, it doesn't ram the festive season down your throat, but delivers a lovely message of hope with three truly fab little characters full of fun and energy.

"Three Little Owls" by Emanuele Luzzati, John Yeoman and Quentin Blake is out now, published by Tate Publishing (Kindly supplied for review). 

Imagine being a storyteller who loses their voice. Meet Bard, the fascinating central character in "Once Upon a Time"...

Tate Publishing really do produce some of the most beautiful books on the market, and two new books for very little ones demonstrate their commitment to giving kids a visual feast right from their earliest book memories...

This is one cool kitty, a detective par excellence, meet Inspector Brunswick!

Hooray! Hoorah! It's all the thrill of the circus in Lesley Barnes' gorgeous follow up to "Jill & Dragon"...

We are huge fans of drawing and doodling, and any book that features fun drawing prompts and doodle challenges is definitely a book we want to get to know better...

In an age when kids are increasingly looking to digital forms of entertainment to pass their time, can books compete using new and innovative tricks to win new readers over? We think so - step this way for a great journey inside one such book!

For a book that's a sprightly 50 years old, Fredun Shapur's groundbreaking "Round and Round and Square" feels hugely influential and timeless. Let's explore shapes with Fredun!

Our second book of the week may not be out until the 1st September but we just could not wait to share it with you. Take a plucky girl, add a dragon and join in for high adventure in "Jill and Dragon" by Lesley Barnes.

Poka and Mia have been a brilliant discovery for us, we love these two blissfully cute and wonderful little insect characters and are so happy to see Belgian author Kitty Crowther's work finally being translated into English.

In Poka And Mia - Wakey Wakey, the day starts off just like our saturday mornings at ReadItDaddy Towers. If you can imagine for a moment (it doesn't take much of a stretch) that Charlotte is Mia and Mummy and Me are Poka...

"Just 5 more minutes Charlotte, er I mean Mia!"

Is that your experience of weekends too? (See, things are turned on their head on a weekday - It's usually me having to drag Charlotte out of bed for school!)

Mia is full of the joys of spring and can't wait to go out and explore. Poka, however, wants to snooze on and despite Mia very kindly making him breakfast in bed, the poor soul still looks very sleepy. Or does he?

There's such a lovely switch-around twist in this, that again nearly every parent on the planet will wholly identify with (specially us!)

Another winner from Kitty, we really can't wait to see more Poka and Mia books, they're utterly delightful.

Charlotte's best bit: Mia picking out clothes for the day.

Daddy's Favourite bit: That final page in the story. Oh it's so true!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Tate Publishing)

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Poka and Mia at the Bottom of the Garden by Kitty Crowther (Tate Publishing)

Colouring books are truly BACK! We've seen some gorgeous colouring books on the blog over the last few months, and it seems that adults are once again discovering the sheer joy of settling down for the evening, ditching the mobile phone and the TV and cracking out the colouring pencils and pens instead.

Here is a real treat from Tate Publishing (who you'd quite rightly expect to feature glorious and artistic books like this). Dominika Lipniewska's "100 Colouring Book" is a large format colouring book perfect for sprawling out on the floor with (and also perfect for sharing with your kids so you're not elbowing each other out of the way as you share colouring duties).

Charlotte's favourite page spread - A hundred little people ready for colour!

The book is really nicely printed and features crisp and stark black and white illustrations in the sort of art style that I really love (anyone who's seen Dominika's fantastic work on her website will truly appreciate her style, which pops up on everything from awesome tote bags to cushions and screen prints).

Sometimes the page spreads are so beautiful, it almost feels like vandalism to start colouring them in!

A fabulous addition to the growing range of activity and colouring books from Tate. You can find many more artistic inspirations for kids on the Tate Publishing Website

Charlotte's best bit: Colouring in lots and lots and LOTS of people!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A fantastic large format colouring book, perfect for sprawling out on the floor with and sharing. Fabulous art style too!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Tate Publishing)

We are SO GLAD that Kitty Crowther's incredible stories are finally being translated into English. We're new to "Poka and Mia", two endearing insects that are the stars of a whole series of children's stories by Kitty but now we've met them we really can't wait to read the rest of their tales.

Kitty's book "La Visite De Petit Mort" was a book I bought a while ago after spotting the amazing cover, and relishing the fact that it's got a dark twist or two to it, but is essentially a really positive and joyful story once you start to read it.

In "Poka and Mia at the Bottom of the Garden" Mia is playing in the garden and feels sure she's being watched. A mysterious pair of eyes glares at her from the bushes, and so she swiftly scuttles inside.

Poka tries to encourage Mia to come out to the shops but Mia doesn't want to leave the house. Things get decidedly worse at night as Mia spots a tiny little light glowing at the bottom of the garden.

Who IS the mysterious stranger who has moved in?

Mia, rather bravely, decides to investigate...

We were instantly hooked by this story, not least of all because of Kitty's aforementioned gift of setting up a story with a fairly 'dark' beginning, but turning things around mid-flow until you're positively cheering at the outcome. Charlotte once described her love of stories that "have something exciting to keep you reading" and she was rooted to the spot while we read this wonderful tale. Kitty's illustrations are glorious (and we love in particular her brilliant gift of imbuing her characters with the most fantastic expressions).

We'll be taking a further look at Poka and Mia stories very soon on the blog so watch out for more. In the meantime, if you're new to Kitty's work, these translated versions are a fantastic place to start - and we truly can't wait to see if the rest of Kitty's work drifts over the English Channel into our eager and waiting hands.

Charlotte's best bit: Poor Mia taken prisoner! EEP! How can she possibly escape?

Daddy's Favourite bit: This story is a real wow - It's got the lot, from a darkly tinged and slightly unnerving beginning to a shout-and-cheer-out-loud wonderful friendship and ending. Utterly BRILLIANT!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Tate Publishing)

Like this? We think you'll love these too!

La Visite De Petit Mort by Kitty Crowther

Two awesomely inspirational art activity books for double the fun!

These two happy and delightful little books dropped through our letterbox courtesy of the awesome folk at Tate Publishing. Publishers are slowly realising that children engage with famous works of art at an increasingly early age, not just from a historical point of view but also from a technical one. How did artists produce such dazzling, vibrant and imaginative works of art? What was the process? Just how do you become a famous artist? These and many more questions are often asked and these fabulous activity books provide even more fun and inspiration as they take a look at Modern Art and British Art in separate volumes.

The books talk about each piece of art in turn, ranging from the sublime seascapes by JMW Turner to the 'acquired taste' of Damien Hurst's "Mother and Child Divided".

After examining each piece of art and the history behind it, children are encouraged to have a go themselves with a series of art challenges and activities based around the ideas and inspirations of the original work.

These books work on several levels, providing a brilliant interactive experience that parents and children can both join in with, producing their own works of art. They're also hugely informative reference books in their own right too.

We're hoping that Tate Kids are planning more volumes in the series, we're desperately waiting for the Dutch, French and Spanish editions just so Charlotte's favourite artists all get a look in (Van Gogh, Seurat and Picasso just in case you were wondering!)

Utterly awesome, what a great idea to get kids thinking about and engaging with art!

Charlotte's best bit: The superb (and quite messy!) soap-carving activities based around Barbara Hepworth's amazing sculpture work.

Daddy's favourite bit: A ton of activities and facts to pique a child's artistic curiosity. What a brilliant way to get kids interested in art at an early age! We approve!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Tate Publishing)

"What IS Boubou?" Charlotte asked when we first started reading through this book. We discussed at length what we thought this funny little (sorry BIG) creature was. He has a pig's nose but he's not pink. He looks a little bit like a hedgehog but has no spines. We settled on him being a little monster though he is anything but monstrous in behaviour.

Beatrice Alemagna's perfect observations of toddler behaviour form the foundations of an entertaining and easy story of a little creature growing up. We take a sneaky peek at Boubou's daily routine, what he likes to do when playing or when in school. We came to the conclusion that Boubou was a boy, because (as Charlotte wisely put it) "Boys care about being big and strong and growing up, girls don't!" (I found this infinitely amusing, do you think she's right?)

Beatrice's artwork is quite unique, with some very clever collage compositions perfectly picking up on Boubou's expressions and behaviour (and of the other peripheral characters in the story).

A bold and colourful book again underlining Tate's commitment to publishing children's books that feel fresh and original.

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 Tate Publishing)

Ooh I say! New books from Tate are always well received at home, but here's a doggy tale that - despite several spirited readings - I couldn't get Charlotte to love as much as I did. Perhaps it was the rather brave move to produce a book in fantastic monochrome line-work. Perhaps it was just that Charlotte was a bit too old to take the tale at face value, or too young to pick up on the clever parallels between dog and toddler behaviour. But I persevered and carried on. It's been a while since a book has divided our opinions as much as "A Dog Day" but let's dip in and find out a bit more.

"Dog Day" follows the adventures of one of my favourite breeds of dog. A wire-haired terrier, excitable and full of energy, can't wait to get his lead on and go out for a lovely stroll with his master.

But his master has other ideas. As they pass by the terrier's favourite place (the park), and then pass by the entrance too, our poor doggy hero groans inwardly as his owner heads towards the local shops.

Boring! Very very boring!

The owner can't resist nattering to everyone, leaves the poor terrier moping outside in shops where dogs aren't allowed - and then has the audacity to have a long lazy lunch within a hare's breadth of the greenery and expanse that the poor dog wants to run around on (Charlotte did actually like Emily's illustration on this spread, the poor dog looks so miserable, poor thing!)

I love mono artwork, I think it lends itself to focusing the attention on tiny details, lends a comic-strip 'flatness' to artwork and Emily's hugely detailed and fun illustrations feel fresh and original (as you'd expect from any book finding its way onto Tate's catalogue!)

So why did Charlotte find it so tough to like? I must admit I'm completely baffled as I really did think it was brill myself - and quite fun to imagine Charlotte as a toddler having the same inner voice when I used to wheel her around the supermarket in a trolley, or take her around the shops in her wrap.

"A Dog Day" by Emily Rand is out on the 2nd October 2014 from Tate Publishing.


Charlotte's best bit: The poor dog's frustration at getting SO CLOSE to the park, and yet so far while his owner scoffs lunch!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A fantastic look, a rather nicely woven tale that parallels what it must feel like for a toddler being dragged around the shops by mum or dad. I really liked this but Charlotte wasn't impressed, oh dear!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Tate Publishing)

Any new project involving Sir Quentin Blake is a cause for great excitement at ReadItDaddy Towers. When it's a new QB story book, we're ecstatic. When it's a new QB story book that celebrates diversity we sit up and pay very close attention indeed.

Quentin Blake is such a fantastic storyteller in his own right that we love seeing what happens when he truly goes to town with a story, writing and illustrating with fantastic expertise and seemingly consummate ease. "The Five of Us" is something truly special though, introducing us to five child heroes who aren't your ordinary everyday run of the mill kids.

There's Angie, who can spot things from miles away with her super-keen eyesight. There's Ollie who is blessed with hypersensitive hearing. There's Simona and Mario, who are both strong and wise and then there's Eric who is...well in the words of the great man himself, we'll get to Eric in a moment.

As soon as you see the book cover, you'll understand that the aim of the book is not just to tell a fantastic tale of believing in yourself, your own abilities and believing that you're truly special in a multitude of ways - but also to celebrate our rich and diverse culture and the children we nurture and influence.

"The Five" are out on a special outing, a picnic in the wilds which heralds the start of an adventure! Hopping into the coach with their adult helper, they soon find themselves in a gorgeous spot perfect for scoffing their sandwiches in.

When their adult helper becomes ill and faints, it's up to the five to use their amazing abilities to team up, work together and help their friend to safety.

The characters in the story are vitally important, for Angie, Ollie, Simona, Mario and Eric are characters that our own children will already known and identify with but characters that don't appear enough in children's stories. Ethnic minorities, disabilities and speech impediments are subtly included, "Five" are everyday kids but wholly unusual to find in high profile picture books and though huge strides have been made in the last few years to make children's books more inclusive and diverse, there's still an awful lot of work to do.

To see such a huge figure in children's stories ably recognising and acknowledging this is extremely encouraging though, so "The Five of Us" deserves kudos as does Sir Quentin for so perfectly capturing the essence of what makes kids so imaginative, brilliant and brave whatever their background or ability.

Back to Eric. We love Eric. Eric is a hero! Eric is the sort of character we are instantly drawn to in children's stories, who struggles against adversity and eventually proves pivotal and vital as the story unfolds. It was all we could do to stifle a huge "Hooray" at the end of the book as the heroic 5 save the day.

"The Five of Us" is out today, September 4th, From Tate Publishing

Charlotte's best bit: Charlotte thought Angie was the coolest by far but really did have a soft spot for Eric too (as did I)

Daddy's Favourite bit: A fantastic story, quite tense and fraught in places but such a high to end on. Brill stuff from a master of children's stories, bringing his expertise to bear on this hugely important book.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Tate Publishing)

Is it slightly unusual that a children's picture book can evoke sound and movement in your head as you read? We've been taking a look at the amazing range of children's books from Tate Publishing and "Coming and Going" really sticks in the mind as a book that fully immerses you while you're reading it, and almost feels like a treat for all five senses. Yet it has quite a serious core environmental message that is not dumbed down for children, is thought provoking and of course promotes a million questions from C about why we human beings do the things we do.


In "Coming and Going" we have a human's eye view of our planet and the amazing creatures who live on it - and how we should take great care to ensure that we protect them, and have less of an impact on their habitats and resources. The theme is travel, hence the title "Coming and Going" and we find out how even the tiniest animals can travel great distances without burning fossil fuels or having an adverse effect on our ecology.

Isabel's lyrical text has a huge impact and allows the message to sink in gently without hammer blows. Bernardo Carvalho's illustrations are truly beautiful (as you can see from this blog post and the images we've included), underlining the message with artistic flair.

This is a hugely impressive book indeed!


Charlotte's best bit: Charlotte's favourite insects (Butterflies and moths) are able to travel huge distances with no jet engines!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Thought provoking, stylish and gorgeously presented. An impactive and immersive book with an important core message.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Tate Publishing)