"Dark" books are something we've blogged about a lot over the years. Those books that tread a fine line between helping a kid overcome their fears, and actually making their fears ten times worse.

We first read Lemony Snicket and Jon Klassen's brilliantly atmospheric "The Dark" way back in 2013. At the time C was indeed like Laszlo, the main character in this fantastic book, a kid who really didn't like the dark - taking to sleeping with the landing light on and her door open a crack, or with her moon-shaped night-light on her bedside table.

Laszlo's fear of the dark is compounded one night when he has to confront the dark in the deepest darkest place in the house - the basement.

Those of you who have grown up fed on a diet of American movies where kids are petrified of the basement in their sprawling American houses will know where Snicket and Klassen are coming from here. What marked this book out for us was that it was something that ended up becoming a performance piece every time I read it to C, adopting a slightly gravelly (let's face it - menacing!) voice for the dark antagonist in the book.

But the book performs a deft twist at the end, as Laszlo realises that the dark isn't the 'bad guy' after all.

The book opens in the peachy hues of the setting sun, the precursor to Laszlo's anxiety

I can't say I'm a huge fan of Daniel Handler after the recent revelations about his rather sleazy behaviour at book cons and events, but this story is more Klassen's anyway, working brilliantly largely due to the atmospheric illustrations that ramp up the feeling of Laszlo's growing anxiety as the night begins to arrive - brought to a head by his nightlight dying unceremoniously at the start of the tale...

"Down Here" (if a clown's face and a balloon appears, RUN!)

Laszlo literally has to confront his fear head on - and Klassen begins to wrap the inkiest blackness around his characterisation of Laszlo as he descends into the basement.

As a great example of how to do a 'dark' book for kids without going too overboard, this works really brilliantly and even now in the deepest darkest moments in our lives when opening and closing your eyes to the dark makes no difference at all, you'll hear us whisper "Hi Dark, Hi" just like Laszlo, basking in the happy memories this book invokes.

Original Review Link:

ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week - Week ending 1st March 2013 Part 1: Charlotte's choice - "The Dark" by Lemony Snicket and Jon Klassen (Orchard Books)

Book trailers always fill us with a hint of fear. How can you distil a brilliant book down into a short video clip?

The answer, as you'll see from the trailer above for Lemony Snicket and Jon Klassen's brilliant "The Dark" is "with consummate ease". Love this to pieces!

You can see why it became a "ReadItDaddy Book of the Week" by reading our review. The Dark, by Lemony Snicket and Jon Klassen is available from Orchard Books and all good indie booksellers.

Once again, we are faced with the near-impossible task of choosing between two books as Book of the Week this week. When a mysterious parcel came to the door, bearing a rather beautiful label with our address on and a young boy shining a torch, we weren't quite sure what to expect.

Opening the parcel, we were greeted with something that looked like it belonged in Stanley Kubrick's '2001 - A Space Odyssey".

The mysterious black box. Exciting? You betcha!

A black box? It could only mean one thing - the fruit of probably one of the most amazing collaborations in recent children's picture book history. The razor sharp writing and deliciously black prose of Lemony Snicket and the fantastic artwork of Jon Klassen.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we present to you our review and indeed one half of our Book of the Week nominations for this week - "The Dark"

A little boy, Laszlo, is afraid of the dark. All through the day, the dark lives in the basement under the house, or perhaps behind a cupboard or shower curtain - but at night the dark creeps out to envelop every room. Nothing can stop it, save for Laszlo and his nightlight and torch.

Laszlo is an incredibly brave little guy. In the daytime, he stands at the top of the stairs and talks to the dark. "Hi Dark, Hi" he says. But one night, the dark does not stop at Laszlo's door, it comes to visit him!

Peekaboo, I see you!

As you'd expect from such a pairing (and indeed from Orchard Books), this is a children's book of the highest possible quality. The positive message delivered around Laszlo's bravery, and the dark's 'voice' had such an electrifying effect on Charlotte that we worried it might dwell on her mind at night at her bedtime. But she loved Laszlo almost immediately, and loved the fact that Laszlo (just like her) had a nightlight and torch to keep the dark at bay.

We often wonder why children are immediately drawn to books that are dark in tone, perhaps it's for the same reasons that adults seek out extreme ways of scaring themselves. Horror films, crazy roller coasters, extreme sports, naked bungee jumping, that sort of thing.

To Charlotte though, this book was just utterly perfect. We still won't be reading it to her at bedtime - and we always choose the brightest days to dip into it, but we admire the way the book empowers children through Laszlo to challenge their own fears, and particularly for children (like Charlotte) who are afraid of the dark, the way it ends with reassurance and perhaps even a strong message of understanding and friendship rather than something that merely goes 'bump' in the night.

Charlotte's best bit: The 'voice' I read the dark in. A monotone, no emotion, completely flat (and very hard to do with a book you're trying not to scare a child with). Think Cyberman-voice, eek!

Daddy's favourite bit: As a massive fan of "A Series Of Unfortunate Events" and also of Jon Klassen's other children's books, who could possibly resist this?

(Kindly sent to us for review by Orchard Books. "The Dark" is available in Hardback on 3rd April 2013)