Wait a minute, wait a minute! Didn't you guys quit? Well yes we did but we had one more piece of unfinished business to attend to before we properly shut the shutters, closed the doors, locked the locks and sailed off into the sunset and waved goodbye to what was a pretty awful year for most people. 

BUT that's not to say it was a year when books took a downward turn, and though we only reviewed books up till early August, we've hauled out all our 2020 Book of the Week winners for one more airing, just to show you how many truly excellent books crossed our paths, and hopefully to give you some real last-minute book purchase ideas if you're looking for stocking stuffers or just fancied picking up some of the best of the best children's books for your collection. 

So let's turn back the clock, wheel out the time machine and travel back in time to...

January 2020

This month began with a truly stunning anthology, more or less a book-shaped love letter to children's books in the form of "The Art of Visual Storytelling" by Martin Salisbury and Morag Styles (Laurence King Publishing). Drawing together some of the best children's books since they emerged as their own genre, it's a meticulously researched and beautifully presented piece of work, with plenty of "Ooh I had that!" and "Ahhh, loved that book" moments to enjoy throughout. Martin and Morag are obviously passionate about the subject, and it shines through in this fantastic collectable book. 

For more grown up readers, I took a trip back to my own misspent youth, re-reading the gritty and awesome "Third World War Volume 1" by Pat Mills, Carlos Ezquerra, D'Israeli and Angela Kincaid (Rebellion Publishing). A graphic novel way ahead of its time, eerily echoing the state of the world we know today but 20 years before COVID and the shambolic state of democracy. Rebellion will also be bringing volume 2 of TWW together in a new collected volume very soon so watch out for that!

Some brilliant chapter books made our January roster with the fantastically funny "Pests" by Emer Stamp (Hodder), "Darkwhispers" by awesome Vashti Hardy (Scholastic) and "The Cure for a Crime: A Double Detectives Medical Mystery" by Roopa Farouki (OUP) all getting a huge thumbs up. 

Here's our full January "Book of the Week Roster" - Delve into January's Blog Archives to find all those and many more: 

Children's Picturebooks - The Art of Visual Storytelling by Martin Salisbury and Morag Styles (LK Publishing)

Third World War Volume 1 by Pat Mills and Carlos Ezquerra, D'Israeli and Angela Kincaid (Rebellion)

The Moviemaking Magic of Star Wars: Ships and Battles by Landry Walker (Abrams)

A Giant Dose of Gross by Andy Seed and Claire Almon (QED)

The Cure for a Crime - A Double Detectives Medical Mystery by Roopa Farouki (OUP)

Search and Find a Number of Numbers by A.J Wood and Allan Sanders (Wide Eyed Editions)

Darkwhispers: A Brightstorm Adventure by Vashti Hardy (Scholastic)

The Art of Disney Costuming by Rebecca Cline and Jeff Kurti (Disney Editions)

Pests by Emer Stamp (Hodder Children's Books)

February 2020

Loads of amazing graphic novels caught our eye in February, with "Gorebrah: The Mightiest Chef in the Universe" by James Stayte (David Fickling Books), "Glass Town" by Isabel Greenberg (Jonathan Cape PB) and Locke and Key Volume 1 by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW Publishing) all lighting up our reading pile with comic awesomeness. 

There were stacks of awesome chapter books to delve into early on in the year too with the welcome return of Louie Stowell and Davide Ortu's awesome middle grade series delving into all things mysterious and supernatural with "The Monster in the Lake" (Nosy Crow) knocking our socks off, and the fabulous "Sticky Pines: The Bigwoof Conspiracy" by Dashe Roberts (Nosy Crow) showing that the crow had a real nose for publishing intricate and fantastic genre stories to draw kids into the darker side of kidlit, hooray!

Here's our February roundup, complete with the rest of the "Book of the Week" winners, and here's a link to the February 2020 section of the blog: 

How to Think when you Write by Robin Etherington and Lorenzo Etherington (Self Published)

Gorebrah: The Mightiest Chef in the Universe by James Stayte (DFB)

Sticky Pines: The Bigwoof Conspiracy by Dashe Roberts (Nosy Crow)

Everybody Counts: A Counting Story from 0 to 7.5 Billion by Kirstin Roskifte (Wide Eyed Editions)

Glass Town by Isabel Greenberg (Jonathan Cape PB)

Max and the Midknights by Lincoln Peirce (Macmillan Children's Books)

Felix after the Rain by Dunja Jogan, translated by Olivia Hellewell (Tiny Owl Publishing)

The Monster in the Lake by Louie Stowell and Davide Ortu (Nosy Crow)

Locke and Key Volume 1: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW Publishing)

Cinderella (Disney Animated Classics) with foreword by Mark Henn (Studio Press / Disney)

A Cake for the Gestapo by Jacqueline King illustrated by Isla Bousfield Donohoe (Zuntold)

Gamayun Tales Volume 1 by Alexander Utkin (Flying Eye / Nobrow)

March 2020

Well what a weird month March turned out to be, with the nation going into lockdown. Despite COVID and some real strange medical stuff happening, we still managed to pour it on, reviews wise, notching up 34 articles and 10 "Book of the Week" winners were chosen from a bulging reviews sack. 

"Professor Astrocat's Deep-Sea Voyage" by Dr Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman (Flying Eye / Nobrow) was a real treat, taking the successful formula of awesome facts and brilliant visuals from deep space to the deepest darkest parts of our oceans, serving up a slice of non fiction par excellence!

Dystopia-loving kids and their willing parental accomplices were also treated to sheer excellence in the second part of Tom Huddleston's fabulous trilogy (at least it had BETTER be a trilogy, Nosy Crow take note!), the awesome "DustRoad". Gritty, cinematic and effortlessly ticking all the right dystopic boxes for us, we couldn't get enough of it and truly hope part 3 happens - and soon! We have a whole class of kids who we put onto Tom's series who will be hugely disappointed if it doesn't. Crow folk, you know what to do!

Also worthy of special note in March was the return of fantastic Shinsuke Yoshitake with "Why Do I Feel Like this?" (Thames and Hudson) once again delighting us with a clever, funny and brilliantly illustrated tale explaining why we're such emotional beings. Couldn't have come out in a better year really, could it?

Here's our March roundup - with a link to all of our published reviews in March too: 

Professor Astro Cat's Deep Sea Voyage by Dr Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman (Flying Eye / Nobrow)

Mulan (Disney Animated Classics) with foreword by Paul Briggs (Studio Press / Disney)

The House on Hoarder Hill by Mikki Lish and Kelly Ngai (Chicken House Books)

Obsessive about Octopuses by Owen Davey (Flying Eye / Nobrow)

DustRoad by Tom Huddleston (Nosy Crow)

Leog: Absolutely Everything you Need to know (DK)

Be An Artist Every Day by Susan Schwake and Charlotte Farmer (Ivy Kids)

Girl 38: Finding a Friend by Ewa Jozefkowicz (Zephyr Publishing)

Why do I feel Like This? by Shinsuke Yoshitake (Thames and Hudson)

Paolo Emperor of Rome by Mac Barnett and Claire Keane (Abrams Books for Young Readers)

April 2020

We began April by soaking up the dark delights of local author Nicki Thornton's Seth Seppi Mysteries series with the third instalment, the truly awesome "The Cut Throat Cafe" (Chicken House) hooking C and her Mum (and not letting me get a look in edgeways until they'd polished it off. Brilliant, exciting and tight writing, we can't wait to see what Nicki comes up with next. 

One of the most stunning graphic novels for children that we've ever seen came to our attention in April as well, the amazing "The Garden of Inside Outside" by Chiara Mezzalama, Regis Lejonc (Translated by Sarah Ardizzone)(Thames and Hudson) showing two sides of a story of friendship, war and human tragedy - presented in a truly jaw-dropping way. A real shoe-in for Book of the Year and well worth your attention. 

We also loved "Troofriend" by Kirsty Applebaum (Nosy Crow AGAIN, what DID they put in their coffee this year?) posing the intriguing question - "What if you could REALLY make friends, automated robotic friends at that?". Original, stunning, page-turningly brilliant stuff. 

Here's our April Round Up of Book of the Week winners, and a link to all our April reviews: 

The Garden of Inside Outside by Chiara Mezzalama, Regis Lejonc with translation by Sarah Ardizzone (Book Island)

How to Put an Octopus to Bed by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Viviane Schwarz (Chronicle Books)

The Cut Throat Cafe by Nicki Thornton (Chicken House Books)

Planet SOS: 22 Modern Monsters Threatening our Environment and what you can do to defeat them by Marie G. Rhode (What on Earth Publishing)

100 Children's Books that Inspire our World by Colin Salter (Pavilion Children's Books)

Troofriend by Kirsty Applebaum (Nosy Crow)

Gnome by Fred Blunt (Andersen Children's Books)

Initial D by Shuichi Shigeno (Kodansha / Comixology Originals)

Goddesses and Heroines: Women of Myth and Legend by Xanthe Gresham-Knight and Alice Pattullo (Thames and Hudson)

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson (Andersen Children's Books)

May started off with a - well - slightly less fragrant subject, but one that showed just how amazing 2020's non-fiction releases were, mostly driven by some innovative new indie publishers putting out truly amazing books. 

"Why Do Dogs Sniff Bottoms" by Dr Nick Crompton and Lily Snowden-Fine (Thames and Hudson) was a giggle a minute, but with serious subjects at its heart to boost kids' understanding of animals and the way they communicate. 

Yuval Zommer once again lit up our lives with his beautiful and colourful books in "The Big Book of Blooms" (Thames and Hudson) coming along at the perfect time to remind us what 'being outside' was like, and making us crave our wide open spaces and countryside walks while lockdown continued (for us at least). 

Mighty Metaphrog came up trumps once again with the delicious graphic novelisation of "Bluebeard" (Papercutz), dazzlingly retold and gorgeously illustrated, a real treat indeed and a worthy Book of the Week. We also began our countdown to the blog's final day by putting together a huge collection of articles, delving into our top 100 books and series covered in 10 years of book blogging! Phew, we were busy!

Here's the rest of May's Book of the Week winners, and a link to our May articles and reviews: 

The Garden by Sean Michael Wilson and Fumio Obata (Liminal 11)

Why Do Dogs Sniff Bottoms by Dr Nick Crompton and Lily Snowden-Fine (Thames and Hudson)

The Big Book of Blooms by Yuval Zommer (Thames and Hudson)

Rise of the Shadow Dragons by Liz Flanagan (DFB)

The Littlest Yak by Lu Fraser and Kate Hindley (Simon and Schuster Childrens Books)

A Girl Called Justice: The Smugglers Secret by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)

Bluebeard by Metaphrog (papercutz)

The Stone Giant by Anna Hoglund (Gecko Press)

June 2020

June continued our #Booky100keepers countdown, but we also found time to review even more gorgeous books including the stunning "Mermaid Atlas: Merfolk of the World" by Anna Claybourne and Miren Asiain Lora (Laurence King Publishing). LKP obviously had a good year, publishing tons of amazing books and producing loads of awesome puzzles, games and toys for younger readers, we were mightily impressed with their output this year. 

"Heartstoppers Volume 3" by Alice Oseman (Hachette) continued the love story of two teenage boys, rendered in Alice's pitch-perfect graphic novel style, tugging at your hearstrings and making you squeal knowing that Volume 4 is just around the corner, hooray!

Chapter book wise, we adored "Love on the Main Stage" by S.A Domingo (Hachette), hitting the exact pitch and tone that C absolutely loves to find in her chapter books now she's inching towards the early end of YA stuff. Romantic, crushy and slushy but the perfect antidote to COVID year and making us wish for long hot summer festivals. 

Here's our complete June roundup of Book of the Week wins, and of course a link to our June articles: 

Mermaid Atlas by Anna Claybourne and Miren Asiain Lora (LKP)

The Tigers in the Tower by Julia Golding (Lion Hudson)

Attack of the Stuff: The Life and Times of Bill Waddler by Jim Benton (Papercutz)

Amazing Islands by Sabrina Weiss and Kerry Hyndman (What on Earth Books)

A Climate in Chaos by Neal Layton (Wren and Rook)

Heartstoppers Volume 3 by Alice Oseman (Hachette)

Virtual Unicorn Experience by Dana Simpson (Andrews McMeel Publishing)

Generation Brave by Kate Alexander and Jade Orlando (Andrews McMeel Publishing)

Love on the Main Stage by S.A. Domingo (Hachette)

July 2020

With not long left to go on the blog, July began with the anthemic "I am Not a Label" by lovely Cerrie Burnell and Lauren Baldo (Wide Eyed Editions) bringing together the life stories of 34 disabled artists, thinkers, athletes and activists from the past and the present. An absolutely rivetting read with top notch production from those lovely Wide Eyed folk, this should definitely find its way into your book collection if you haven't already got a copy. 

Our header star, the brilliantly joy-filled "Monsieur Roscoe on Holiday" by Jim Field (Hachette) took us out for a spin with the lop-eared doggy dude as he toddled off "en vacance" to teach us a little French. This was like a breath of fresh air in picture books, with Richard Scarry-esque attention to detail thanks to Jim's brilliant illustrations, and of course plenty of awesome words and phrases in French to learn. As someone who is still wrestling with the language (so I can soak up those awesome French books and graphic novels) I can honestly say that this is a brilliant way for kids to find their way into learning another language - and though we've been out of the loop for a while we dearly hope Jim is working on more lingual adventures for Monsieur Roscoe for 2021!

One of our fave artists on Twitter also published his very first book at the tender age of 12. Alec Anderson's awesome "Lumberwoods: The (in)complete guide to fearesome critters"wowed us with all the good stuff we love to see in a book, plenty of mysterious and mythical cryptids stomping around the world ready to jump out and spook us, all rendered in Alec's awesome illustrative style with a ton of cheeky humour in there to boot. Well worth grabbing, as it's an absolute bargain!

Here's the rest of our July Book of the Week winners, and a link to July's blog articles: 

I Am Not a Label by Cerrie Burnell and Lauren Baldo (Wide Eyed Editions)

Lumberwoods: The (in)complete guide to fearsome critters by Alec Anderson (Self Published)

Monsieur Roscoe on Holiday by Jim Field (Hachette Children's Books)

Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity: Words that Changed the World" by Carl Wilkinson and James Weston Lewis (LKP)

Pierre the Maze Detective: The Curious Case of the Castle in the Sky by Hiro Kamigaki and IC4 Design (LKP)

Season of the Witch by Matt Ralph and Nuria Tamarit (Flying Eye / Nobrow)

Shy Ones by Simona Ciraolo (Flying Eye / Nobrow)

August 2020

We said our tearful goodbyes back in August, retiring after 10 years of book blogging but still as mad keen and interested in the world of kidlit as we ever were. 

Sadly real-life sometimes gets in the way of things but we still found time to round off our #Booky100Keepers articles in grand style, and also to review two fabulous last "Book of the Week" winners. 

"Marvellous Magicians" by Lydia Corry (Thames and Hudson) was something new and exciting, as we'd never seen a non-fiction book all about magic and magicians before. Covering some of the truly greatest members of the magic circle from past and present, Lydia's thoroughly researched and beautifully presented book was a real spectacle!

Last but by no means least, the awesome "Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast: Short and Sweet" by Josh Funk and Brendan Kearney (Sterling) had the privilege of being the last Book of the Week winner for our ten years of book blogging, once again serving up a tummy-rumblingly entertaining slice of picture book perfection for those of us with a sweet tooth!

Here's one final link to all the articles published in August!

So there it is, a truly amazing year and we only really covered 7 months of it, so we're sure that everyone involved in kidlit pulled out all the stops this year to keep the mighty children's publishing machine moving whether working from home or safely in their socially distanced offices. 

We missed the pomp and ceremony of the book festivals and fairs, but now there's a light at the end of the tunnel, and with the prospect of returning to some semblance of normality in 2021 (hooray for vaccinations and not having a busted Gall Bladder to worry about any more) we can't wait to see what comes up in the new year. We may not be here to review it (well, you never know! Weirder things have happened) but we'll be rooting from the sidelines. 

Wishing you all a merry christmas and a truly fantastic 2021

All at Team ReadItDaddy

As our #Booky100Keepers list nearly draws to a close, I had to cast eyes back over the entire list to make sure I hadn't already featured this one. Any children's book list of recommendations will have certain books that folk will firmly get behind, and "We're going on a Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury seems to have escaped the usual "We love it / we hate it now / we love it again / no we definitely hate it now and it's not cool any more" thing that book folk go through from time to time with beloved children's titles.

But let's face it, this book bounces along, it has an entertaining story, it has an imaginative twist or two in it, and it's just so filled with alliterative read-aloud fun that it's nigh-on impossible to resist.

We bought this way back in 2012 when C was still knee high to a grasshopper and it swiftly ended up being a bedtime favourite. Back then we probably used to read at least 3-4 picture books a night to her, and this was always somewhere in the mix.

A family jaunt out into the great outdoors is filled with swishy grass to wrestle your way through, squishy mud to wade through, trip-tastic forests to navigate and then at the end, a cave...but what's inside? Or more likely who...

Michael Rosen is usually quite quick to point out that this isn't his work entirely, and the rhyme existed long before the book did. He's also very quick to point out that a large part of the success of this book is down to Helen Oxenbury's utterly perfect illustrations, filled with energy and youthful vibrance and it's these that are always the biggest draw for me, marvelling at how her sparse lines and glorious watercolours depict a living breathing landscape for her awesome family of characters to inhabit.

This was one of the books that we used to read whenever we did read-aloud events (sadly that never turned into a regular gig, which is a shame as they were always so much fun to do but lacking any silly props or daft hats I guess no one wanted to book a baldy 50-something to read aloud to their kids). What always struck me is that kids who had never heard of the book before (and yes, there were a surprising number) always got quite scared at the bit at the end. The book goes silent, wordless as the chase between the bear and the family kicks off - with the bear chasing them right to the front door of their house. I found that quite interesting, that the dark twist elicited that response, but the 'damping down' at the end as the lonely bear trudged back off to his cave always brought those kids around and turned the bear from a menacing foe into something of a sympathetic character really.

Like / hate it (and I'll be brutally honest here, the animated TV version was pretty terrible and left us utterly cold due to the liberties it took with the original story) it is without doubt one of those revered and hallowed books that you really ought to have on your kids' bookshelves. A real classic.

Original review links and articles: 

Come to Discover for a brilliant Bear Hunt spectacular from October 2015

Don't miss out on the biggest "Bear Hunt" reading in history!

Three new fantastic books for lovers of nature and the great outdoors. Perfect for Spring and Summer - out now from Walker Books

ReadItDaddy Reads aloud - Mostly Books and Usborne's 40th Anniversary, the perfect time for storytelling fun!

We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury (Walker Books)

We couldn't possibly miss these books off our #Booky100Keepers list, purely because A) they're so damned good and B) they almost give me hope that the children's publishing industry isn't going to collapse under a tsunami of samey books.

"The Murderer's Ape" by Jakob Wegelius is quite unlike anything else you'll find in the children's section of your local bookshop.

For starters, I doubt many kids would be that familiar with the whole 'film noir' genre, and certainly not many kids would have a clue who Humphrey Bogart or James Cagney were. Yet here, in this utterly mesmerising, huge and satisfyingly thick novel is a divine kid-friendly nod to all that stuff, centred around a character whose life has been tinged by tragedy.

It feels like Jakob has used a very similar story mechanism to Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" - in that the story of Sally Jones, a big-hearted but often mistreated Gorilla, isn't the sort of flowery happy tale you can smile through every page at. In fact there are points during this where you become so enraged at how utterly rubbish humans are, it makes you ashamed to be of that species.

But hold fast, because there's hope in this tale too - and there's Sally's indomitable spirit and strength of character to cling to as you read about her utterly fascinating life.

Jakob later revisited Sally's back story in the second book (which is actually a prequel), made more illustration-heavy and more suitable for younger kids.

"The Legend of Sally Jones" is again not the happy jolly cutesy-pie picture book that folk seem (weirdly) drawn to, but is absolutely brilliantly told, and like "The Murderer's Ape", a book that highlights just how horrible we humans are to the planet, to its animal life and to each other.

"But why do kids need to have books like this in their lives? Surely kids deserve to be happy?" I hear you cry.

 That's just the problem in kidlit, there's an assumption (certainly here in the UK at least) that children's books only serve two purposes - to deliver a moral message or a piece of sage advice on how to make the reader a better person, or to educate or convey information that (quite often) is so blatantly obvious or so rooted in common sense you'd flipping hope that by the time kids get to the stage of reading on their own, they'll have picked up that stuff themselves either from their parents or from school.

Mini rant over - these books do tick those boxes, but they're also blisteringly good reads. Dark, deliciously descriptive and not shying away from some pretty 'grown up' concepts - and filled with a cast of characters who you'll hiss at or root for at every turn of the page. But Sally is undoubtedly the star, encapsulating everything you'd want from a central character in a book, put upon, troubled, sometimes brooding and thoughtful but with a big whomping heart and a love for those who befriend her and try to see her through to a better life.

Absolutely love these books to bits. No surprise at all that both nailed "Book of the Week" (and Book of the Year for "The Murderer's Ape".

Original review links: 

ReadItDaddy's Chapter Book of the Week - Week Ending 2nd November 2018: "The Legend of Sally Jones" by Jakob Wegelius (Pushkin Press)

ReadItDaddy's Chapter Book of the Week - Week Ending 18th August 2017 - "The Murderer's Ape" by Jakob Wegelius (Pushkin Press)

Our Blog Roundup for 2017 - All our book of the week winners, our Publisher of the Year, Picture Book(s) of the Year and Chapter Book(s) of the Year Winners 2017!

I still can't quite remember what originally caught my eye about the fantastic work of Metaphrog. I think it was at a point where I knew C was becoming more and more interested in comics - even at a young age she seem drawn to them, drawn to the format of strips and panels as a way of conveying a story far more effectively (for her at the time) than mere words could manage.

It started with "Louis: Red Letter Day". John and Sandra - the awesome duo known as Metaphrog - might well be more famous now for their superbly dark retellings of classic fairy tales but the Louis books were just something else.

Children are far more willing to accept and enjoy surreality as a concept, which was definitely borne out by the Louis graphic novels. The story of a benign little chap who has a fairly mundane but happy life is tinged with moments that may sail completely over children's heads, yet they're still able to decode a lot of what Louis' stories are all about.

With his tweety sidekick FC, Louis is wholly accepting of his lot - even when teased and tricked by a pair of nasty spiteful little characters - a strange boss-like chap and his suck-up minion (shiny!) who seem to devote a colossal amount of time to messing with Louis' life.

I just loved the originality of these, the bits where you nod along thinking "Yeah, life's like that kiddo" but also we were both completely drawn in by how beautiful the books are, I mean just check out these set of panels from "Louis: Night Salad" - Gorgeous, gorgeous work!


Finding a publishing home at Papercutz, Metaphrog's work has gone completely stellar with their aforementioned treatments of classic tales, always given an original and glorious makeover in the Metaphrog style.

"The Red Shoes and other Tales" is a particular favourite, demonstrating how subsequent modern takes on these stories have always watered them down a bit - something Metaphrog are keen to address, and keen to put right. Each time they tackle a tale, they restore the original darker versions of the stories - and again kids are more than capable of coping with dark stuff (this is definitely something we've learned over the course of ten years of children's book blogging).

"The Red Shoes" tells the story of a young girl, orphaned at an early age but taken in with kindness by her aunt. The young girl spies a pair of red shoes in a shop and simply must have them! But these are no ordinary shoes, they're magic and the wearer is destined to dance until they die (quite literally!)

However the story in this collection that really caught C's eye was "The Doll". Like something out of an episode of "Tales of the Unexpected" it's the story of a young boy who takes refuge in a toy museum. He swears that one of the exhibits - a doll - can read his thoughts and understand what he's saying. She becomes his only friend - school friend bully him about his obsession and things are tough at home too. Finally the boy realises there's a way he and his new friend can be together forever...

It's really spooky but brilliant, and the trio of tales is polished off by one of the most heartbreaking versions of "The Little Match Girl" you're ever likely to read, again John and Sandra sounding out the plight of those who end up living below the poverty line, subtly but effectively.

Here's a brace of links to all our reviews of their fantastic work. Wishing John and Sandra all the brightest and best, as they are so supremely talented.

Original Review Links: 

#ReadItMD13 Comics and Magazines Week - ReadItDaddy interview the mighty Metaphrog!

Booky Advent Calendar Day 17 - 17th December 2013: "Winter's Tales" by Metaphrog (Metaphrog Publishing)

ReadItDaddy's First Book of the Week - Week Ending 25th September 2015 - "Hans Christian Andersen's The Red Shoes (and other tales)" by Hans Christian Andersen and Metaphrog (Papercutz Publishing)

ReadItDaddy's Second Picture Book of the Week - Week Ending 26th May 2017 - "The Little Mermaid" by Metaphrog (Papercutz)

"The Photographs" by Metaphrog. A Graphic Short (published by Metaphrog / Glasgow Life)

Louis - Red Letter Day by Metaphrog (Metaphrog Publishing)

Louis - Night Salad by Metaphrog (Metaphrog Publishing)

ReaditDaddy's Comic / Graphic Novel of the Week: Week Ending 22nd May 2020: "Bluebeard: A Feminist Fairy Tale" by Metaphrog (Papercutz)

Get ready for an utterly awesome version of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Red Shoes" from Metaphrog and Papercutz

#ReadItMD13 Theme Week - "Getting Crafty with Children's Books" - Time for a book-themed make...!

Judith Kerr was a remarkable woman and it'd be impossible to feature any kind of children's book roundup without featuring her brilliant books. Working right up until her death a couple of years ago, Judith's books have always been favourites - and yet we didn't start out with the book you'd expect, though there is a tiger in this one.

"Mog and the V.E.T" is probably one of Judith's funniest books. The Mog series is always excellent but this particular  book absolutely nailed what cat ownership is about, and reminded me of what it was like growing up amongst cat lovers. There was always at least one moggy around.

This time Mog has hurt her paw, and whether she likes it or not, the family decide it's time to go to the (Whisper it) Vee Ee Tee.

The two things Judith always does well in the Mog books - observing and describing cat behaviour perfectly, but also somehow mastering the trick of placing you - the reader - right inside Mog's mind, as if you can read her innermost thoughts - is why this book is so good. The family know there'll be trouble when they haul out Mog's travelling basket. Mog definitely knows there'll be trouble and resists with all her might, but eventually she's on the way to the vets in the car (which she also doesn't like).

Once there the full realisation of where she is hits her, and needless to say there is absolute chaos as Mog won't take a visit to the vets lying down. Her hurt paw is fixed, but there's a clamorous chaotic scene as Mog breaks loose and leads all the other animals in the vets on a merry chase.

The other bit we really like though is the voyage to trip-out city that the vet goes on that night as he has the most terrible dream about animals. We often wondered whether a well-meaning editor might have tried to trim that scene but it's a brilliant (if slightly loopy) addition to the story and I could imagine a steadfast Kerr standing in front of her editor saying "Either that scene stays, or I go!" and winning the day. Utterly brilliant, and definitely one of the best Mog stories (they're all pretty good though!)

Of course we have to talk about "The Tiger Who Came to Tea", probably the book that most people immediately think of when they think of Judith Kerr. We came to this one relatively late as it was always one of the most popular books in our local library, so when we did finally get our hands on a rather straggly copy we knew we'd end up buying our own (and we did).

A young girl opens the door one day to find a rather large but quite benign tiger standing there. The tiger invites himself in, and proceeds to act like the world's worst house guest. He eats his way through the cupboards, drinks all of daddy's beer (WHAT?! Can you imagine THAT passing muster in a modern children's book?) and (yes, the bit most people remember this book for) also drinks all the water in the tap (imagine if the book's editor had got their way on THAT one and had cut it out, as they'd suggested. Again very glad JK stuck to her guns and insisted it was left in).

The little girl thinks she's found a friend, but as soon as the tiger is satisfied, he ups and leaves - But what will Daddy say when he gets home and the house is completely stripped of consumables?

We've seen so many well-meaning teardowns and analyses of this book, everything from it being an allegory for Kerr's own experience of being displaced from her native country by the Nazi regime, to a well meaning but not very well thought out piece claiming this is one of the earliest feminist novels, showing the tiger supressing the book's lone female (I'd almost buy into this theory if it wasn't for Kerr being asked about the meaning of the book in an interview, and rather twinklingly replying "It's about a tiger who comes to tea").

Kerr's later work continued to impress, though we had some fairly tart things to say about "The Great Granny Gang", possibly the only Kerr book that didn't end up being a keeper (and probably one of the reasons we never got sent any more to review from HarperCollins!) The review is included below amongst all the others just so you can see why we didn't take to it though.

That said, Kerr continued to be an energetic champion for children's literacy, appearing at many book events - and her wisdom and brilliant storytelling and illustrative skills were matchless, and it was a very sad day when she passed on.

Original Review Links

Mog and Bunny and Other Stories by Judith Kerr (HarperCollins Children's Books)

The Great Granny Gang by Judith Kerr (HarperCollins Children's Books)

Mog's Bad Thing by Judith Kerr (HarperCollins Children's Books)

Very sad news indeed. Judith Kerr, author of "The Tiger who Came to Tea" and the fabulous "Mog" books has died at the age of 95.

ReadItDaddy's Booky Advent Calendar Day 10 - 10th December - "Mog's Christmas" by Judith Kerr (HarperCollins Children's Books)

ReadItDaddy's First Book of the Week - Week ending 13th September 2013 - The Tiger Who Came To Tea (40th Anniversary Edition) by Judith Kerr (HarperCollins Children's Books)

Twinkles, Arthur and Puss by Judith Kerr (HarperCollins Children's Books)

Mog the Forgetful Cat

The Tiger Who Came To Tea by Judith Kerr (HarperCollins Children's Books)

Mog in the Dark

Goodbye Mog

Mog's Amazing Birthday Caper

Mog on Fox Night

Kitty Crowther is a Belgian author whose work is now finally being recognised on this side of the English Channel - but way back in 2012 I discovered one of her books completely by accident, and became completely obsessed with trying to translate it.

I'd read about "La Visite De Petite Mort" in someone else's book blog, where they'd produced an amazing article that really kicked my love of all things French and Belgian into high gear. It was the first time I'd seen Kitty's work, and also made me realise just what an amazing kidlit scene they have over there in France / Belgium, where children's books are treated like the art form they actually are, rather than frivolous means for adults to push their moral codes and constructs on a child audience.

Petite Mort is death. When he shows up, your time is at an end and it's time to accompany him on your final journey to the afterlife.

Petite Mort is also an individual who questions the way people when he shows up - after all it's not exactly a huge amount of fun when people are stricken with terror at the mere sight of your black cape and your scythe.

But one day Death turns up to one girl's house to find that she is not afraid of him, she almost welcomes him in - and before shuffling off her mortal coil she's determined to show Death just how wonderful her life has been - and how even though it's at an end there's still joy to be found.

Bear in mind this is how my terrible pigeon French and interpretation of the illustrations spins out this tale. It probably doesn't bear any resemblance to what I've described above but it's a keeper for many reasons.You'll never see anything like this fetching up in UK publishing lists. It's a dark book, it deals with a subject that seldom few creatives cope with bringing to a young audience in an effective way.
Kitty's illustrations are beautiful. Simple but beautiful, as are her characters. The whole concept of a core character questioning their reason for doing what they do is sheer genius.

But despite its rather funereal and sombre tone it is a book of joy as we described above, when Elsewise reveals why she's actually pleased to see Death, it'll break your heart in two.

This is a truly lovely book. I've often wished it would be picked up by someone like Tate Publishing  for translation (they've done such a fantastic job with so many of Kitty's other books).

As well as a link to the review of this, we've also included other Kitty Crowther books below.

Original Review Links

Le Visite De Petite Mort by Kitty Crowther (Lutin Poche)

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

Poka and Mia - Wakey Wakey by Kitty Crowther (Tate Publishing)

ReaditDaddy's Book of the Week - Week Ending 16th August 2019: "The Runaways" by Ulf Stark and Kitty Crowther (Gecko Press)

A love of French and Belgian Children's Books and a question - Are we done with 'dark and wordy' books? A ReadItTorial

I am still trying to learn French, as I have for a number of years - and one of the key reasons I have for learning this gorgeous language is my unapologetic love for all things French / Belgian when it comes to children's books and comics.

Case in point - the truly amazing "Stig and Tilde: Vanisher's Island" by Max De Radigues.

Radigues is a Belgian author whose work is well known across the Channel, but only came to our attention last year with the truly stunning "Vanisher's Island", finally translated into English by NoBrow / Flying Eye.

We've championed 'dark' children's books all throughout the last ten years of book blogging. Nothing captures a child's imagination like a story that dances between light and shadow as effectively as this comic tale of two sibs who set out on an annual summer camp expedition in their small boat, only to end up marooned on a mysterious island.

They think they're alone, and begin to make the best of their circumstances - until Tilde realises that they might not be the only ones on the island. Who is the mysterious new friend she makes, and why are they keen to scupper the twins' plans to fix their boat and escape?

This is fantastic comic making from the crisp clear artwork right down to the shivery cold fingers of dread it plays up and down your spine as you realise Tilde's plight, and what the mysterious stranger has in mind for her. It's just on the right side of a very fine line between outright scariness and 'hide behind the sofa' type frights but it's a masterful piece of work. The second volume is due to arrive in August and you know what, we will damned well come out of retirement just to talk about it, you see if we don't!

Original review links: 

ReadItDaddy's Comic / Graphic Novel of the Week - Week Ending 2nd August 2019: "Stig and Tilde: Vanisher's Island" by Max De Radigues (NoBrow / Flying Eye Books)

Our Picture Book, Chapter Book and Comic / Graphic Novel of the year winners for 2019

Sometimes it almost feels rude to include such well known authors on our #Booky100Keepers list - as if we're following some herd mentality about books that aren't actually that good, just including them in the list 'because we feel we have to'.

That's not really the case with Roald Dahl. Dahl is in our list because both my wife and I have had our own copies of Dahl's books for years - way before we started reading them to, and sharing them with C.

Weirdly though the ReadItDaddy Dahl love-in didn't begin with the book you'd think of first. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" seems like the obvious go-to for anyone wanting to begin reading Dahl, but we actually found C loved the girl in "The Magic Finger" way before she had any appreciation for the mouth-watering descriptions of Wonka bars in the aforementioned best seller.

Girl's magic powers were an impossible to resist story mechanic, as was her awesome sense of social justice. So much so that when C's junior school had its first world book day, and the first set of dress-up duties we as parents would inevitably be drawn into, we had the easy and difficult task of trying to visualise Girl from the story (I mean exactly how do you 'make' a magic finger? We came up with a cardboard prop in the end and of course it didn't win any sort of class award, the kid who bought their costume off Ebay won - as they always do).

So yes we did eventually read "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" - strangely subdued in its reception by the boss of this blog, but "Matilda" was an entirely different matter. A bookish girl with magic powers? Yeah we're seeing a theme. In fact Matilda lit a fire under C's imagination, probably the single Dahl book she's returned to again and again.

With a taste for the darker stuff, it also goes without saying that "The Witches" is a clear favourite.

Who can possibly resist a dark and twisted children's story where the villains of the piece - a conference of nasty witches plotting the demise of all kids everywhere - are actually the real stars of the story, not so much the young boy who ends up transformed into a mouse by these nefarious creatures.

Perhaps there's something to be said for movie adaptations of Dahl's books, as the movie version of "The Witches" is utterly brilliant - and I think is a huge reason why C loves the book so much.

Finally, well worth a mention is "George's Marvellous Medicine" - One of my own favourite Dahl books - because of a rather spirited and brilliant reading on ancient kids TV programme Jackanory by one Rik Mayall (oh how I miss that guy, and wish he'd read more books on that hallowed proggy).

I hadn't realised it at the time but I'd been channelling Rik's version of George's granny when I read the books aloud to C when she was a tiny toddler.

Dahl is an expert at producing the most irresistible baddies for his books (aided by Quentin Blake's masterful squiggly illustrations of course), and you've got to wonder how many of them were drawn from actual people he knew (the likely answer is 'most of them').

George's Grandma is a real piece of work - A cantankerous old soul who demands tea made just so (I had a Nan like that though she was lovely, not an evil old crone like George's).

George concocts a brew she'll never forget, using every item he finds around the house (as Dahl was sagely forced to write in the afterword and forewords of this book - "Don't try this at home, kids!") - which has the effect of turning his Grandma into a stretched-out monster. Finally she shrinks away to nothing - but can George perform the same miracle on the family's chickens to net them a healthy profit? It's a completely crazy story and not one that comes up in most people's fave lists of Dahl titles, but it's excellent stuff.

So many authors have been touted as "The Next Roald Dahl" (David Walliams isn't quite fit to lick the big man's boots though it's obvious who his biggest influence is).

Truth be told there will never be another Roald, the children's publishing industry plays it way too safe to allow the sort of anarchic mayhem and purely evil characters you find in Dahl's books any more.

Original Review Links:

ReadItDaddy has an absolute Dahl-ing day out at the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, Great Missenden, Bucks

"Roald Dahl's Opposites" by Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake (Puffin)

Happy Roald Dahl Day! Here's our review of "Billy and the Minpins" by Roald Dahl and Sir Quentin Blake (Puffin Books)

The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl (Puffin Books)

George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl (Puffin Books)

ReaditDaddy's Book of the Week - Week Ending 4th April 2014 - "The Giraffe, The Pelly and Me" by Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake (Puffin Books)

"James and the Giant Peach" - a Special Roald Dahl Day Review (Puffin Books)

ReadItDaddy's Chapter Book and Early Readers Roundup - April 2015

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Pop-up edition) by Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake (Puffin Books)

Many of the folk fetching up in our #Booky100Keepers list are folk who can enviously wear both author and illustrator hats equally well, fantastically in fact.

Chris Riddell's books - whether he's illustrating his own writing, or helping otherwise godawful books lift themselves up a notch by providing illustrative genius - have been a mainstay of our "Book of the Week" slots since we started out back in 2010.

But it was the "Goth Girl" series that really caught C's eye - first read with me reading them aloud to her, then solo read on her own, the distinct cleverness of Riddell's drawing-in of pop culture figures fused with his glorious ink illustrations, coupled with the whole idea of producing gothic novels for middle grade, was just a huge huge lure.

Ada Goth lives with her eccentric father, Lord Goth in a rambling mansion with the most curious gardens. Riddell expertly draws us into the story of Ada and her ghostly companion, a tiny mouse named Ishmael, and the strange goings-on around Goth Manor. There's something deliciously dark about these books, drawing in influences as diverse as Frances Hodgson Burnett and Diana Wynne Jones, but underpinned beautifully by Chris's drawings (and of course his wonderful end-paper maps of Ada's amazing home).

The series goes from strength to strength, in fact they just get funnier as they go along - particularly for adults who will appreciate some of the humour that sails completely over their kids' heads.

Of course Chris is equally at home illustrating amazing books by other authors, including "The Sleeper and the Spindle" - a collaboration with Neil Gaiman, who needs no introduction at all - as one of the primary figures in fantasy fiction, and a god amongst men when it comes to spinning up amazing stories.

This one is more of a grown up fairy tale, a response to the rather antiquated views of the handsome prince rushing to save the sleeping princess from a thousand year snooze.

Woven with Chris's talent for drawing gorgeous fantasy bookscapes, but with a thoroughly modern and bang-up-to-the-minute exploration of what loves means, regardless of gender, this one is probably one to keep for when your kids are a bit older.

It's mesmerisingly good stuff though.



Chris has even managed to salvage an utter wreck of a celebrity book from being completely disastrous. Russell Brand's Trickster Tales was obviously meant to spin out into a story series, but the first book arrived to a deafeningly ambivalent reaction from the book-buying public.

That said, the best thing about "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" is the inventive way Chris draws up the characters from this rather self indulgent version of the classic fairy tale, proof positive that he can turn even a dog's breakfast into a book of the week.

Following Chris on Twitter is a joy - when he's tweeting about various book-type things or having a go at our dreadful government, his enviable talent shines through.

God I'd love to be able to draw like him.


Original Review Links: 

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell (Bloomsbury)

Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse by Chris Riddell (Macmillan Children's Books)

ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week - Week Ending 7th November 2014 - "Russell Brand's Trickster Tales - The Pied Piper of Hamelin" by Russell Brand and Chris Riddell (Canongate Books)

ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week - Week Ending 23rd January 2015 - "Goth Girl - A Fete Worse than Death" by Chris Riddell (HarperCollins Children's Books)

Something Else by Kathryn Cave and Chris Riddell (Picture Puffin)

ReadItDaddy's Chapter Book of the Week - Week Ending 11th October 2019: "Guardians of Magic (The Cloud Horse Chronicles Book1)" by Chris Riddell (Macmillan Children's Books)

"A Kid in my Class" by Rachel Rooney and Chris Riddell (Otter-Barry Books)

A Great Big Cuddle - Poems for the Very Young by Michael Rosen, Illustrated by Chris Riddell (Walker Books)

"Fortunately the Milk" by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell / Skottie Young (Bloomsbury Publishing)

ReadItDaddy's Chapter Book of the Week - Week Ending 3rd August 2018: "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell (Bloomsbury Children's Books)