Our first Picture Book of the Week this week lulls you into a false sense of security by posing the question "How complicated can an Octopus's life be?"

"Honestly, if you don't like the way the new Star Wars movies are going, there's the door, don't let it hit your arse on the way out!"

It probably comes as no surprise to regular blogreaders that we're both complete Star Wars nuts. In the last few years, in fact ever since Disney bought Lucasfilm and started to plan out their new movies in the mega-successful franchise we've noticed two things happening - one we welcome with open arms and one we'd like to plant a size 10 Doctor Marten Boot up the backside of.

Tackling the 'good stuff' first, Star Wars (when I was at school at least) always seemed to be something that boys liked. Sure, there were girls in my class who loved the movies just as much as the boys but they probably got fed up with being dragged along to playground games to be Princess Leia, in dire need of being rescued by the multitude of us who wanted to be Han Solo (ironic really because if there was ever a Princess who didn't need rescuing, it was Leia).

Spinning on a few years, my daughter is now growing up with the new 'reboot' movies and thanks to three of them now has a huge selection of inspirational female characters to choose from - in fact now in the playground the girls lead the way when they're playing "Star Wars" with a dozen or so Reys, Roses, Holdos and of course Leias all running around swinging imaginary lightsabers or directing rebel attacks.

Of course, the 'bad' stuff always creeps out of the woodwork along with the good. The news this week that Kelly Marie Tran, the actress who played Rose Tico in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" (a movie that really ended up being massively divisive when it came to the opinions of 'fans') had been harassed almost constantly on social media since the movie released just makes us utterly furious.

There is more to this than fans just being upset about one actor's role in a movie that they didn't like. There's the sinister "We don't want girls playing in our den" attitude that fans of the movies - and in fact male fans of anything at all - seem to display, the sort of stupid internet trolling that makes you wish these idiots' parents would just cut off their wi fi access for a couple of years.

This type of behaviour seems to come from a narrow subset of humanity, mostly white male, mostly between the age of 14 - 36 (though in some cases I'm sad to see this type of misogynous behaviour becoming more commonplace across all age groups, even kids as young as my daughter).

I remember this sort of stuff was one of the reasons I went off online gaming, then gaming in general after the whole "Gamergate" thing exploded onto the internet like a cancer - with some of the main protagonists sadly still chirping up now and again to remind us all that they're still kicking around with far too much time on their hands (what tiny shred of respect I had for Notch - the creator of Minecraft - went right out of the window when it turned out that even becoming one of the richest men on the planet couldn't stop him being a complete arsehead to people online).

So now we get it with movies. Any movie that features inspirational and strong female characters (particularly characters whose emotional development and depth far outstrips the usual token female roles we used to see and hiss at in fantasy and sci fi movies) just gets rounded on, savaged by critics who just don't understand one key thing. We really do not care that they hate the damned movie, we just want them gone. If the #MeToo movement has taught us anything, it's that women have put up with enough of this kind of bullshit in the industry for far too long and also want it gone - gone for good.

So it is with books too and the #MeToo movement in publishing is also gathering pace.

Now and again you hear stories from across the industry of women being harassed by male colleagues, male authors, over-privileged folk higher up in the industry who still live in some bizarre alt-reality of their own creation where they think in appropriate / sexist / misogynist behaviour is acceptable in any form and won't be rounded on and torn to shreds by an ever-increasing movement of women - and men I'm proud to say - who don't want to see that crap any more. The more these instances are highlighted and spotlights shone on them, the more the movement gathers tangible evidence to use to affect change.

Like all parents, I want my daughter to grow up in a world where antisocial behaviour like this is stamped on as soon as it starts to appear. Not just here, but globally.

For the moment though all we can do is lend our support to those who might suffer a wobble in confidence, might feel the need to clear out their social media accounts or online presences because of harassment, and tell them that there are far more good people in the world, in publishing, in the movies and in videogames than there are bad.

If you've ever queued again and again for the awesome "It's a small world" ride at Disneyland, this book will be RIGHT up your street...

Here's a funky Father's Day book featuring an utterly adorable little tiger and his rather nattily dressed dad...

Here's a great little range of innovative colouring books from the Natural History Museum and Papio Press...

Most folk probably miss the teeming life that's seething away a stone's throw away from where they're enjoying their lovely summer picnic. But as paid-up members of the National Trust we're delighted to see this kit from the NT / Nosy Crow that lets you explore some truly amazing minibeasts.

The Minibeast Explorer's Kit is a treasure trove of items presented in a handy little see-through plastic backpack so you can instantly be up and ready for exploring what's creeping, crawling, slithering or flying through your local green space.

Coming with a handy sticker sheet, notebook (for writing down your discoveries), booklet and magnifying container to get a closer look at your bug finds (always be sure to put them back where you found them though, no keeping them as pets, OK?)

It's a lovely little kit this, just like the others in the NT / Nosy Crow range (look out for a similar kit for would-be Birdwatchers that also comes in handy when you're out and about birdspotting.

"Minibeast Explorer's Kit" is out now, from National Trust and Nosy Crow (kindly supplied for review). 

Make room for the mushroom. Time to be a fun-gi (or gal)...

I just knew C would demand that this became one of our "Comic of the Week" winners the moment she laid eyes on it...

Our Chapter Book of the Week this week once again proves that Chicken House Books have a superb eye for amazing writing talent, and once again they grace our Book of the Week slot with a fabulous debut from an author who lives just around the corner from ReadItDaddy Towers!

Nicki Thornton ought to know her stuff, having successfully co-run our favourite local indie bookstore "Mostly Books" for a number of years.

Now she's turning her expert eye for fabulous stories to actually writing them herself, cooking up "The Last Chance Hotel" - a superbly spooky story that had C, her mum and I gripped from page 1. I'm turning over the review to Mum and C to give you their thoughts on this book (and hopefully I'll get to read it in more depth once they've finished as they're not even letting me get a look in!)

The story introduces Seth, a lowly kitchen boy who works at the titular hotel itself. Put-upon as the lowest of the low by just about everyone else working there, Seth's life isn't exactly a laugh-a-minute.

The hotel is run by the villainous Bunn family who think nothing of mistreating Seth.

Thankfully he does at least have one friend, a black cat called Nightshade who is his constant companion.

Seth's life changes completely when a delegation of magicians arrive at the hotel for dinner, kicking off a mystery surrounding a poisoning, an impossible murder and a lot of finger pointing - unfortunately in Seth's direction!

Just as everyone is eating dessert the VIP guest dies. All eyes are turned on Seth, as he made a very special dessert just for the VIP guest. Seth knows he is innocent but needs to prove it. But how can he.

Can Seth somehow solve the mystery and clear his name?

We were very excited when this landed on our doorstep. We have known Nicki (and husband Mark) Thornton from Mostly Books (our fantastic indie bookshop in Abingdon now run by equally fantastic folk who are carrying on its good name).

The Last Chance Hotel is told from Seth's point of view as the lowly kitchen hand (or 'Saucepan Scrubber' in the eyes of Tiffany Bunn, the annoying daughter of the hotel owners).

Seth is such a likable character and we loved Nicki's inventive and amazing names such as Professor Papperspook and Gloria Troutbean (we are wondering which visitors to Mostly Books these people are based on), and the fancy food Seth has had to cook for the amazing dinner.

We're absolutely thrilled to be joined on the blog today by a hugely talented illustrator who has produced some of our favourite books.

Rebecca Cobb has now provided illustrations for one of our Picture Book of the Week winners for this week. "The Day the War Came" by Nicola Davies is a touching, heartwarming and thought provoking story of the migrant crisis and the terrors of war as seen through the eyes of a child.

Without further ado, let's chat to Rebecca about her amazing work.



1) Hi Rebecca. Thank you for joining us on ReadItDaddy, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Hello, thank you very much for having me! I am a picture book illustrator and author and I live in Cornwall with my husband and two young daughters. As far back as I can remember I have always drawn and made things. When I was little I used to write and illustrate little books and stick them together and I’m very lucky that I still get to do that!


2) We’ve been HUGE fans of your work since the blog began and have always loved your gift for creating the most amazing expressions in your characters. Can you tell us a bit more about your process?

Thank you, that is very kind of you to say! The character design is usually the first stage when I’m illustrating a book and working out not only what they will look like but also how they are feeling and what their personality is like. I have often caught myself subconsciously pulling the expressions that I am drawing on a character’s face! The next step is to storyboard the book, working out the layout and pacing of the whole thing and the compositions of each page. From there I will draw each page up very loosely and roughly in pencil and then when the book feels ready, I will use my light box to trace the rough drawings into final artworks with ink, pencil, coloured pencil and watercolour paints. I love to use this combination of media because of the different types of marks that I can make with them. The whole process, designing, editing, re-drawing, refining and then painting the finished illustrations, usually takes about 6 months.


3) With “The Day War Came” you’re tackling illustrations for a really tough subject. How difficult is it to adapt a style that’s usually full of gorgeous quirky humour to tackle a much darker subject.

When I’m illustrating a book the characters always feel like real people to me and this was particularly the case with this project because it is a story that is sadly relevant to our world today. It is very upsetting to think of anyone being in that situation, let alone thousands of children. I was working on the illustrations during my pregnancy, which was already an emotional time and Nicola’s beautiful, heartbreaking text really affected me. I think that I channelled a lot of my sadness and frustration into my drawings which resulted in them being darker than my previous work but it felt right for this book.



4) We’d love to know how you felt when you first read Nicola’s manuscript. We think this is such a hugely important book, quite different from the expected ‘norm’ of children’s picture books. Was that quite daunting?

I first read The Day War Came when it was published on the Guardian website as Nicola’s response to MPs voting against giving sanctuary to 3000 unaccompanied child refugees. Nicola had heard a story about a refugee child not being allowed to go to a school because they said there was no chair for her, and this little girl became the central character in Nicola’s powerful poem. I was incredibly moved by reading it and immediately drew a chair to add to the social media campaign #3000chairs that Nicola, Jackie Morris and Petr Horáček started, where drawings of chairs became symbolic of refuge and education for the 3000 children who were not going to be accepted into the UK. When I was asked about illustrating the book sometime later and I read it again, it somehow felt even more powerful as a picture book text. In my head I could picture the little girl and the devastating scenes around her and I was overwhelmed. But what I loved about it was the positive message of empathy and hope - things don’t have to be this way, if only we would be kind to each other, and often it is children who remind us of this. I was daunted by the responsibility of producing illustrations that lived up to to Nicola’s wonderful words because it felt like such a serious and important book, but I felt compelled to try!



5) I think our favourite book of yours is “Lunchtime” and I remember it being demanded almost daily when she was a tiny tiddler. How much fun was it to write?

I’m so pleased that you like Lunchtime, that is lovey to hear, thank you! I loved writing that one because it was a semi-autobiographical story about a little girl not wanting to eat - which was a very familiar situation to me as a child! I felt that mealtimes were an annoying interruption to my playing and drawing. I love books that have an ambiguity to them and I enjoyed not explaining the animals that the little girl meets in the book. I dedicated the book to my mum to apologise for all the trouble and worry that I put her through during all those years when I refused to eat!

"Lunchtime" by Rebecca Cobb. Utterly fantastic book!

6) We’ve been writing about children’s books for nearly ten years now (eek!) and one thing we’re always interested in are what authors and artists think might be the next big trends in picture books. What do you think we’ll see more (or less) of in the next few years in PBs?

I’m afraid that I’ve never been very good at realising what is trending or in fashion, perhaps because I am daydreaming a lot of the time! But I think that the picture book world has been getting more and more exciting recently and really celebrating the idea of a book as a beautiful, physical object to treasure. I really hope it continues this way in the future and I think it would also be amazing to see more illustrated books for early readers, YA and adult novels too.



7) You’ve worked with some amazing authors as well as writing and illustrating your own fantastic stories. Is there a ‘dream’ author you’d love to work with (You’ve obviously set the bar pretty high already with the likes of Julia Donaldson and Richard Curtis!)

Yes, you’re right, I’ve been so lucky and it might be greedy for me to wish for any more! Some of my favourite picture books are written by Nicola Davies so it has been amazing to work with her. I enjoyed drawing in pencil for The Day War Came and one day I would really like to do some black and white pencil illustrations, perhaps for an older book. I do love stories with dark humour, terrible villains and ridiculous adults so I think it would be fun to illustrate something like that.



8) What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received as an author / artist and how did that advice influence your work?

With hindsight, he may have been just saying it to get me out of his office, but in my early days of trying to get commissions, a publisher once asked me to come back and see him in a year to prove to him that I really wanted to be an illustrator and to see how my work developed. Although I never succeeded in getting an appointment to see him again, his words had a huge impact on me because I realised that I did need to show everyone that I was serious and it gave me the incentive to spend that year really pushing myself and developing my work.



9) Going back to “The Day War Came”, were there any influences you drew on to come up with the illustrations (which are fantastic btw, spine-tinglingly perfect in conjunction with Nicola’s words).

When I pictured the illustrations for this in my head they were very dark and shadowy so I wanted to draw using a lot of pencil and a limited colour palette. I did a lot of research looking at photographs from news websites which were very distressing and a constant reminder that this story is a reality for a lot of children in the world today. I also looked a lot at the work of illustrators that I admire: Jon Klassen, David Roberts, Beatrice Alemagna and Laura Carlin in particular because I love their absolutely beautiful drawing, compositions and use of colour.



10) Finally, Charlotte always loves to hear good advice from artists and authors on becoming a writer or illustrator. Any tips for a budding imagineer?


My main advice is to keep writing and drawing and don’t stop! I believe that if you have a passion for something and enough resilience and persistence then you can achieve it. I have always been so keen to draw pictures that I used to get told off at school for spending too long illustrating all my projects in every lesson. So I think that if it is what you want to do, then don’t give up!