Here's an interesting book that took us a while to truly 'get' - as it seems to mix a couple of messages together before it gets to the nitty gritty of what it tries to impart.

"Ravi's Roar" by Tom Percival is the story of little Ravi, a kid who is the smallest in his family.

It sucks being small, and Ravi often finds that his diminutive size means he gets overlooked for all the good stuff that his older brothers and sisters seem to enjoy.

Even simple things like playing at the playground and not quite reaching those monkey bars. Or being told you're too tiny to go on rides.

When Ravi finally snaps, something amazing happens - he turns into a TIGER! And no one's going to tell a Tiger that they can't do something.

Once Ravi calms down again though, he realises that perhaps losing your temper and having a tantrum isn't a great idea either, as no one wants to play with a tiger, they're far too angry, grumpy and fierce!

Tom does some of his best ever illustration work here, but as we said above, the pacing of the story felt a little off - like we could've done with seeing Ravi's "Tiger" behaviour dotted throughout the book, with the moral twist of no one getting on with his tigrish self perhaps shown in other situations. However, that said, it is one of the few books out there that does deal with children's anger in a stylish and effective way, so deserves kudos for that (and quite honestly, that bit with the ice creams? Yeah we'd have lost it after that too!)

Sum this book up in a sentence: Find out what happens when our tempers get the better of us, in a gorgeously illustrated story ticking diversity boxes and observing common kid behaviour in a neat moral tale.

"Ravi's Roar" by Tom Percival is out on 8th August 2019, published by Bloomsbury Children's Books (kindly supplied for review). 

Childhood anxiety can be a very real and very stressing thing. Any book that can tackle this tricky subject with aplomb deserves applause...

Time for more rhyming fun now, and a rather charitable young goat who thinks of others before thinking of himself...

What is normal? What does it mean? When you're a child, that can be one of the toughest questions to answer...

The 6th of October is definitely a red letter day for fabulous children's picture books. Bloomsbury Publishing have three new arrivals popping up on that day so come along and say hello!

Tom (Herman's Letter) Percival once again delivers a deliciously brilliant picture book future classic in "By the Light of the Moon" - a gentle story that will help any child dealing with the upheaval and uproar of a house move.

Little Ivan finds his new house strange and can't sleep. His old house was warm, familiar and friendly and this new place definitely is not! Little Owl isn't at all pleased to hear that there's a baby owl in the egg Mummy has laid. So Mummy pretends it might be a baby penguin ... or crocodile ... or even an elephant!  Goodnight ice and goodnight snow,

Bubbles! Virtually as soon as the first rays of sunshine hit the patio, we're out in the back garden with as much bubble mixture as we can rustle up, blowing soap bubbles (usually what happens is that I blow the bubbles, and Charlotte chases them, pops them and giggles like a drain!) So why don't more children's picture books feature this carefree activity?

Here's Tom Percival to redress the balance with a fabulous new book - out on Thursday 11th September by the way - that celebrates the simple art of bubble blowing.

There is a twist though, the two friends in this story, Reuben and Felix, get a little competitive and carried away in their bubble blowing antics and come up with lots of ingenious ways to out-do each other.

Their friendship wobbles a little as they keep coming up with amazing machines to blow bubbles for them (we loved Tom's steampunk-esque bubble-blowing creations here, such gorgeous art!) They decide to settle things with one final bubble blowing contest to see who really can blow the biggest bubbles ever. But will the contest test their friendship beyond its limits?

A charming and whimsical book, building on Tom's knack for fine tuning a story so that the moral message doesn't hammer home, is gently delivered by his sublime animal characters. As with "Herman's Letter" the book is such a feel-good read that it's bound to put a big bubbly smile on your face. If it's not raining where you are, grab some bubble mixture, head out into the garden and blow a few bubbles in honour of Tom's fantastic new book. You'll feel all the better for it!

Charlotte's best bit: Instantly recognising cameos from "Herman's Letter" and also loving the crazy bubble machines! (Ours is from Tesco and is a bit rubbish in comparison!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: A fantastic feelgood story about friendships and how sometimes even the best of friends don't see eye to eye. Bubblicious!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Bloomsbury Publishing)

How far would you go for a friend? In fact, what would you do if your very best friend in the world suddenly had to move far, far away?

In Tom Percival's "Herman's Letter" we find out what happens when Herman - a big and sleepy bear, and his best friend Henry the Racoon are faced with exactly this situation.

Henry (bless him) writes to Herman every day, determined that they're going to be best friends forever. But as Henry details how amazing his new life is, and how many new friends he's made, Herman begins to wonder if there's still any future in their friendship at all. Silly old bear.

Finally, Herman decides to write back but it's too late - the animal postal service is all closed up for the winter, and hibernation time is fast approaching. Can the plucky Herman sum up the courage and stay awake long enough to deliver one very special letter to his best friend?

We loved how this book has lots of 'lift the flap' correspondence between Henry and Herman. It's wonderfully illustrated throughout and we had a giggle at poor Herman's attempts to become a bear-mailman par excellence.

The message is clear, friends are friends no matter what - and if you are separated from yours, there's nothing more wonderful than receiving a letter from them - even if you have to deliver it in person!

Charlotte's best bit: Henry looking after Herman after he just can't stay awake any longer. Zzzzz!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A lovely friendship message that plays out through Henry's letters. Herman is a bit of a dizzy so-and-so but loveable with it.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Bloomsbury Publishing)

Lately on the blog we've noticed we're seeing a heck of a lot of 'friend' books. Books that deal with friendship and what happens when friends fall out, but realise they can't really do without each other. Off the top of my head I can think of at least five, so any new ones have got to work hard to catch our attention and spur our imagination.

Which is exactly what Tom Percival's "Jack's Amazing Shadow" does. Jack, a fairly ordinary young boy (with a KILLER haircut, we have to say!) plays all day with his rather mischievous shadow. Wherever Jack goes, his shadow goes. If Jack jumps, his shadow does, and if Jack cheekily sticks out his tongue, his shadow does too.

The only problem is that Jack's shadow is very very naughty indeed! Preferring mischief over good behaviour, Jack finally gets a little bit fed up of his shadow's antics and tries his very best to run away. But (as the old saying goes) you can't run away from your shadow and it takes some stern words from Jack to finally get his shadow to stop bugging him and stop causing trouble.

Of course, life without a shadow can get very lonely indeed so it's not very long before Jack realises the error of his ways. What can he possibly do to lure his shadow back?

The answer, of course, nestles within the pages of this rather stylish book. Fast-paced, nicely illustrated and adding a few twists and quirks to a story that is becoming more and more popular, Jack's Amazing Shadow is indeed amazing. If your child is at the stage where they're making friendships / breaking friendships almost on a daily basis, they'll enjoy the life lesson in this, and perhaps they might even learn how to make some really cool shadows of their own along the way, thanks to the book's rather handy hints!

Charlotte's best bit: Learning how to make shadow animals!

Daddy's favourite bit: The friendship formula is very well worn, it's nice to see an interesting quirky take on it. Nice one Tom!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Pavilion Books)