It's the welcome return of Emma Yarlett to our "Book of the Week" slot, with another glorious book full of brill little details...

Uh oh! Time to lock up your books, a rumbly-tummied little fiend is once again on the loose!

We don't often get the chance to cheer from the rooftops when a hardback books arrives in paperback, but we couldn't resist letting you know that Emma Yarlett's fabulous little miscreant "Nibbles the Book Monster" is making his paperback debut today.

Nibbles loves book - but not just to read, he loves to EAT them and in this hilarious tale he works his way through many well loved and familiar stories as he makes good his escape from the book world.

We couldn't resist making this a Book of the Week last year when it came out as a lovely hardback.

You can find our original review (with some truly terrible anagrams of Emma's name) here...!

It's a hugely imaginative tale, so there's no excuse now - go grab a slice of book fun but watch out, it may have a detrimental effect on your bookshelves if you let this little critter loose in there!

Oh no! He's escaped! Lock down your bookshelves, Nibbles is here!

"Nibbles the Book Monster" by Emma Yarlett, is republished in Paperback today, published by Templar (kindly supplied for review with a lovely card accompanying our parcel too, thanks Emma!)

We don't want to be accused of embarrasing fanboism but Emma Yarlett (AKA Rama Telmet) really has made the "Book of the Week" slot her own...

We're literally machine-gunning posts at you today, with two Blog Tour buses crashing in on the blog at the same time, dogs and cats living together - it's sheer chaos!

"Bear's Big Bottom" by Steve Smallman and Emma Yarlett

We're immensely proud to host a blog takeover by one of our fave children's books author-illustrators, winner of THREE ReadItDaddy Book of the Week awards, let's hear it for awesome Emma Yarlett!

New Emma Yarlett books are always greeted with a huge ripple of excitement here at ReadItDaddy Towers, and when we first heard about "Poppy Pickle" - a little girl with a HUGE imagination, we couldn't wait to meet her.

Charlotte immediately identified and fell in love with Poppy, an extraordinary little girl in a fairly ordinary family with an ordinary mum, ordinary dad and three ordinary (and hugely cute!) cats.

Whereas most people's imagination levels teeter and totter around toe level, Poppy is filled up to the very BRIM with imagination. She daydreams of wild and crazy things and one day after being sent to her room for letting her exuberance get the better of her, something astonishing happens.

Poppy's imagination comes to life!!

All the things she thinks about pop instantly into existence, and at first this seems like the most amazing and incredibly brilliant thing ever. But when Poppy starts to imagine things like girl eating crocodiles or gigantic hot dogs, the situation soon gets out of hand.

With Mum and Dad stomping up the stairs to find out what all the fuss is about, can Poppy somehow imagine all those imagined objects away? A giant eraser doesn't help, and mum and dad are at the door, EEEEEK!

We knew we'd love this one, after all Charlotte and Poppy are extremely alike (just sitting Charlotte down with a bucket of lego or a sketchpad and coloured pens and letting her let rip with her imagination is a joy to behold). Any book that celebrates the seemingly endless and colourful imagination of a child will always get a huge thumbs up from us, and with Emma's amazing artistic talents and knack for exciting and thoroughly original tales, we just could not resist Poppy Pickle! (Oh and bonus points for managing a sneaky cheeky reference to Michelle Robinson's "How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth" into this story too!)

Charlotte's best bit: The giant hot dog telling the three little pigs that he was "once like them" (I think we both laughed out loud at that bit!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: Emma's imagination is as brilliant as Poppy's. Truly gorgeous illustrations that give Oliver Jeffers a run for his money, brilliant storytelling but best of all a truly inspirational mighty girl hero for little girls like mine to look up to! Awesome!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Templar Publishing)

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

Sidney, Stella and the Moon by Emma Yarlett

Orion and the Dark by Emma Yarlett

Every time we hear that Emma Yarlett has produced a new book, or is illustrating someone else's stories, we get a little over-excited. Charlotte is a huge fan of Emma's - because her artwork is always gorgeously detailed, there's always a necessity to read her books again and again and again so you don't miss anything, and her stories are deftly woven to inspire and delight.

"Orion and the Dark" deals with a theme we have seen several times before, and looking back through the blog it's a theme that seems to consistently feature in books that end up as our "Book of the Week" nominees. Children's fear of the dark can be a very real fear - and a problem for parents who want to make sure that their child feels safe in their environment, and also get a good night's sleep so they're not complete grumpy-chops in the morning.

Most recently we absolutely loved "The Dark" by Lemony Snicket and Jon Klassen, and Emma Yarlett's tale adopts a similar theme, but approaches things in a fresh and engaging way.

Orion (coolest name ever!) is a little lad who has many fears, not just of the dark. Darkness is the worst though, and Orion hates all the spaces in the house that are dark (like under the bed and inside the wardrobe). Poor Orion's imagination works overtime and he gets into a real lather. One night, worse than all the others, something amazing happens. The dark comes to visit Orion but is the complete opposite of the nasty monstrous dark Orion was expecting.

Thus unfolds a new chapter in Orion's tale, which we'll leave you to discover in this lovely book (lovely THICK book we should say, it's a really nice long story for a special treat when you want to send your children off to the land of nod with a belter of a tale).

Emma's talent is that she engages children on two levels in her books, she wraps them up in an exciting and stimulating story, then engages their curiosity and observation with her beautiful illustrations. We mentioned at the top of the review how gorgeously detailed they are, and how Emma uses various media, collage and top-notch character work to give her stories a truckload of immersion and emotion.

We've gushed enough. Simply put, go and buy this book. If your own children have their own fears about darkness and what lurks therein, this could be a really brilliant book to offer reassurance that the dark is nothing to be scared of - in fact sometimes the dark holds hidden wonders and amazement all of its own.

Charlotte's best bit: There are some utterly brilliant spreads in this where elements of the page 'fold out' to describe the action in the story. Truly wonderful and such a brilliant idea to immerse children in the story and in books this way.

Daddy's Favourite bit: For someone relatively new and fresh to children's books, Emma is fast becoming the safest pair of hands in the business for both illustration and storytelling duties. This is a theme we've seen before but Emma's take on it feels original and engaging from page one right through to the end.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Templar Publishing)

Originally published a few years ago, and republished on the 26th September - but now with fabulous new artwork by Emma Yarlett, Lieutenant Colonel Christopher MacGregor's fantastic book "My Daddy's Going Away" is a very special book indeed.

Christopher developed the book to help children cope with the long-term absence of their mums and dads who are in the armed forces, and proceeds from the book contribute to Combat Stress charities.

It tells the story of Daddy rocketing off to distant shores - the twist here is that the family are wonderful bluey-green aliens (with fabulous long blue tails), the allusion is representative of what it must feel like for kids when their parents do the same in the line of duty.

Our child narrators here see their daddy off in grand style, before reminiscing about all the fun things that they do (including, hooray, daddy reading books to them at bedtime).

With an introduction from HRH The Prince of Wales, it's a book that feels like it's been written from the heart by someone who has gone through the situation themselves, and expertly imparts to others what it feels like for both the children and the parents when they're separated in this way.

We've been fans of Emma Yarlett's artwork ever since she exploded onto the children's book scene with her fabulous "Sidney, Stella and the Moon" gaining her a well-deserved book of the week. Here, she packs every page spread with exquisite detail and her tweaking of the original characters from Christopher's book are wonderful and spacey.

We're pleased to hear that more will be arriving soon, as the talented duo will be working on "My Mummy's Going Away" - So look out for it in the not too distant future.

Charlotte's best bit: All the little things that the kids help daddy pack for his trip away

Daddy's Favourite bit: Touching, heart-felt and beautiful book supporting a worthy cause, and with a message for all of us - that separation from your children for ANY reason is hard on both parties equally.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Doubleday Children's Books)

Who can possibly resist a cheeky bum-based story? Well we obviously can't, particularly when that big bottom belongs to a big cuddly friendly bear.

Though as many of us will already know, packing a few extra tonnage in the trunk area doesn't come without its own drawbacks. Knocking things off shelves, making you utterly rubbish at hide and seek, and taking up all the room on the sofa when it's time to sit down and relax. Big bums aren't always welcome and though the lovable bear in Steve Smallman's story is a good friend, sometimes his clumsiness upsets his friends.

The last straw happens at a party as Bear's derriere causes abject chaos, and soon Bear slinks off to hide away.

But with a wily fox looking for supper, could bear's backside save the day?

With bouncing rhymes befitting a big bumpy boingy butt, this story is fun and cheeky and Emma Yarlett's fantastic illustrations once again establish her as a talent to keep a sharp eye on. We love big bear butts and we cannot lie :)

Charlotte's best bit: Bear's rather brilliant monstery coup de grace at the end of the book. Rarrrrr!

Daddy's favourite bit: A book that is a sheer joy to read aloud, with plenty of giggles and big beautiful bouncy illustrations. J-Lo's right, a big bum can be an asset after all!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Little Tiger Press)

Emma Yarlett and her debut children's book "Sidney, Stella and the Moon" (Templar)

It's a real treat to be able to interview lovely booky folk during the course of our weekly blogging antics, and this week we're extremely lucky to be able to welcome Emma Yarlett, Author and Illustrator of this week's Book of the Week "Sidney, Stella and the Moon".

With our best questioning expressions (no red crayon moustaches for us though, unfortunately) we managed to collar Emma during her busy launch schedule to pop a few quizzical musings to her.

ReadItDaddy (Daddy)

Hi Emma, congratulations on your first book for Templar "Sidney, Stella and the Moon" - Tell us a little bit about yourself and your first book!

Emma Yarlett 

Thank you! It's so exciting to be published and 'out there'.... although it is a little scary letting go of something so personal, this is my very very first authored and illustrated book and so is very close to my heart.

 I began it way back in 2010 when I was studying in my final year at Falmouth University College, and it has been on an incredible journey, slowly twisting, changing and adapting into the final book that you see today. I've changed a lot on the journey too- going from a Miss Bennett to a Mrs Yarlett, and making the big decision to stay permanently in the lovely warmer climates of Cornwall.

Children's picture books are very much at the heart of my illustration work, but I've worked on a whole host of other things too- from an animation to Waterstones, to greetings cards for Hallmark, to an educational play with the one and only Julia Donaldson! It's been a fantastic 2 years as a professional illustrator- and I can't wait to see what the future holds.


ReadItDaddy (Daddy)

We're always interested in how authors / artists organise (or disorganise!) their day. How does your typical day go?
Well my day's usually start with a disgruntled waking up and a trudge through breakfast and a waltz into my studio...

But after that, every day looks so so different- sometimes I will be painting, sometimes I will be researching on my iMac, sometimes I will be chatting through ideas with friends and publishers, sometimes I will get away and go on a lovely walk to get my brain thinking in the fresh air and sometimes you might even find me in Starbucks surrounded by a sea of paper!
Who are your favourite artists and authors (children's book author / artists or otherwise!)
Ooo this changes all the time. At the moment I am absolutely amazed by Jonny Duddle's new book 'The King of Space.' (Yay us too :) It's so incredibly cinematic!
This is probably the toughest question of all, name 5 things you would take to a desert island / couldn't exist without
Does Mr Yarlett count as a thing? Great! Mr Yarlett, a sketchbook with a never blunting pencil attached to it (technically one thing!), a jet ski, my iphone and a years supply of Jaffa Cakes. Yum!