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)

We wanted to do something creative to celebrate Dirty Bertie's 10th birthday (or should that be "Bert-day"). In honour of the latest Dirty Bertie picture book "Pooh, is that you Bertie?" by David Roberts, we've compiled a list of "Bertie's Top 10 Trumps" - or ways to effectively focus your flatulence.

Here are 10 foods that are guaranteed to have you flumping and trumping long, loud and proud!

1) Baked Beans. 



They're tasty on toast but watch out for the after effects. Tangy tomato sauce can't mask the apocalyptic trumping that these beauties induce. Variously described as 'skinheads on a raft' by children of a certain generation, they're guaranteed to ensure a good trouser rumble.

Pong Rating - 3 out of 5
Deathly Decibels - 4 out of 5
Bertie Bot-Score - 4 out of 5

2) Haggis.

It'll put the wind up your kilt, Haggis may sound like it has a pretty yucky set of ingredients but it tastes fantastic (particularly with ketchup or with lollies found on the floor as a side dish).
The vegetarian version (yes, there is one!) is even more lethal due to the presence of lentils. More on those later!



Pong Rating - 5 out of 5
Deathly Decibels - 2 out of 5
Bertie Bot-Score - 2 out of 5

3) Jerusalem Artichokes. 

These should appeal to any budding Dirty Bertie wannabes, as they look like they've just been dug out of the garden. In fact, they have - they're a root vegetable with a super-secret superpower - the ability to blow a hole in your underpants. They don't really taste of much (they're a bit like a mashed turnip), and you probably won't feel the effects for a wee while but once these babies get to work, you'll need to open all the windows and plug your ears. They're titanic trumpers!



Pong Rating - 4 out of 5
Deathly Decibels - 4 out of 5
Bertie Bot-Score - 4 out of 5

4) Meringues.

Sweet and tempting but don't be fooled by these airy little desserts, they pack a pumping-trumping punch! The presence of whipped egg whites, a lot of air and the temptation to eat more than one does mean they're deceptively inoffensive to look at but will deliver a death blow to your nostrils. Pe-eewww sir!






Pong Rating - 5 out of 5
Deathly Decibels - 3 out of 5
Bertie Bot-Score - 4 out of 5

5) Spicy Beanburgers

When is a burger not a burger? When it's beany! Sneak in some fibre into your child's diet with something that looks like junk food but is utterly (and quite disgustingly) healthy. But be ready with a peg on your nose, spicy beanburgers produce clouds of green and offensive gas that you'll find very difficult to blame on the cat (Because no cat alive would touch one of these with a barge pole)




Pong Rating - 5 out of 5
Deathly Decibels - 2 out of 5
Bertie Bot-Score - 3 out of 5

6) Jacket Potatoes

Fine on their own, lovely with butter but don't be fooled by this relatively healthy and easily prepared teatime treat, trumps-a-plenty will ensue as the evening progresses after a hearty meal of these.

Fillings can also add to the ferocity of the flumps. Try Bertie's own recommendation of combining Tuna, Jelly Beans and Cheese and Onion Crisps lightly crumbled on top for added effect.






Pong Rating - 4 out of 5
Deathly Decibels - 3 out of 5
Bertie Bot-Score - 4 out of 5 (but only with the aforementioned toppings - or perhaps marmalade!)

7) Dog Biscuits

These should only be consumed when Mum and Dad aren't looking. Full of goodness, full of fibre, full of marrowbone jelly to ensure your hair is glossy and well kept.

The green ones taste like green opal fruits. True fact!







Pong Rating - 2 out of 5
Deathly Decibels - 2 out of 5
Bertie Bot-Score - 4 out of 5


8) Grandma's Sherry Trifle

Another slightly naughty one depending on how naughty Grandma is with the sherry, but more than one bowlful of this potent dessert is definitely not recommended!

Flumps ensue due to the high sponge content and whipped topping (which may or may not be cream). Definitely do not attempt to ride your tricycle after eating this either.



Pong Rating - 2 out of 5
Deathly Decibels - 3 out of 5
Bertie Bot-Score - 2 out of 5


9) Prunes

Not sure these should be included on the list because if Bertie is anything like any child ever born, they would never consider these to be a foodstuff. An interesting thing to fire from a catapult perhaps, or something to sneak into your sister's bed to make her think she's been visited by a gigantic pooping rabbit, but definitely not food.







Pong Rating - 2 out of 5
Deathly Decibels - 2 out of 5
Bertie Bot-Score - 0 out of 5, I'm not eating those!


10) Dandelion and Burdock

Last but by no means least, something to wash all that flatulent flumpy fare down with sir? But of course! And what better drink than Dandelion and Burdock which has the added bonus of working at both ends. Colossal burps followed by tweet-like trumps from this dark, delicious and gassy drink. Cheers!






Pong Rating - 3 out of 5
Deathly Decibels - 10 out of 5 (because both ends go at once!)
Bertie Bot-Score - 4 out of 5

DISCLAIMER!

We at ReadItDaddy take no responsibility for the after effects produced by these foods. We recommend trying them in a well-ventilated room, possibly with pegs (for the nose) to hand, and definitely not to be tried 5 minutes before Daddy's boss is due to arrive to talk about a new contract. 

Happy Trumping!

"Pooh, is that You Bertie?" by David Roberts is available from Little Tiger Press

It's "Happy Birthday Dirty Bertie" day on ReadItDaddy today, and along with the children's picture books there's a range of early chapter readers featuring the boy with a billion dirty habits, Dirty Bertie himself.

The range now comprises 100 books covering a wide range of stomach-churning topics such as "Pants", "Bogeys", "Loo!", "Fleas!", "Germs!" and a whole host of other subjects dear to our favourite little flatulent fellah's heart.

We dipped into a few titles that Little Tiger Press were kind enough to send through for review - and though they're pitched at children slightly older than Charlotte (let's face it, grim and gross subjects NEVER get old for kids!) they're brilliantly written by the talented fella behind CITV's "Horrid Henry" series, Alan Macdonald.

With original illustrations peppered throughout the books by Dirty Bertie's creator, David Roberts, there's a whole host of giggles and guffaws to be had. The range is very reasonably priced so it won't wear too much of a hole in your pocket either!

Happy Birthday Bertie! Long may your nose be picked!

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

We're celebrating 10 years of David Roberts' stinky little lad Dirty Bertie on ReadItDaddy today. So what did Bertie get up to next after his previous dog-licking plant-watering antics?

How can we put it delicately? Trouser trumps? Bottom fluffs? Tummy squeaks?

Whatever you like to call them, trumps are trumps and in "Pooh, is that you Bertie?" we find out that little Bertie is a lad with a big wind problem.

"He lets off at the dentist
He lets off during tea
He lets off in a wendy house
With wild abandoned glee!"

As Bertie quite rightly points out, he's not the only one floating air biscuits at home. Mum covers hers with a polite cough. Dad sneaks them out when he thinks no one's listening and Gran? Gran blames the cat!!

This fart-tastic book comes complete with buttons to press at each point in the story, to treat everyone in the family to a wide selection of genuine bronx cheers (we've completely run out of trump analogies now I'm afraid!)

Funny and fwoofy, if you have a trump-obsessed little one at home they'll be in tears of laughter over this.

Charlotte's best bit: Big Sister's rather musical bottom burps

Daddy's favourite bit: Mum's polite trouser cough-cover (ahem hem!)

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

We're celebrating 10 years of Dirty Bertie with lots and lots of Bertie goodness today on the blog, starting with a review of the book that started it all and introduced us to the little monster himself!

David Roberts' Bertie has a whole raft of gross habits. He loves eating sweeties he's found on the floor. He waters the flowerbeds (and by 'waters' we mean 'without the aid of a watering can'). If his pet dog licks him, he'll often lick him back. And have you seen his slug and snail collection?

Bertie soon learns that some habits lead to tummy aches, consequential acts of revenge (never EVER cross your older sister, boys!) and a furry tongue. But there's one habit Bertie just can't seem to break. Can you guess what it is?

Charlotte loved Dirty Bertie mostly because she's at the tender age where anything slightly icky or gross is immensely funny. Bertie's an enduring character, as you'll find out in the rest of today's posts as we take a look at "Poo! Is that you Bertie?" and also the range of Dirty Bertie young readers by David Roberts and Alan Macdonald.

Charlotte's best bit: Bertie turning green after eating a lolly he found on the floor. Ewww!

Daddy's favourite bit: Bertie's rather dubious choice of after dinner snack. Blooargh!

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

Far more desirable than a Sony Bravia 52" HD Telly surely?

For this week's theme, I must admit to having a huge gap in my knowledge so I'm hoping lots of you lovely folk will be able to help me plug the gaps. You see, on average we watch probably about 2-4 hours of TV a week at home so we don't often have time to hoover up some of the brilliant book-based programmes that children can discover new books through.

When I was a whippersnapper, two TV programmes about books used to be required viewing.

The mighty "Jackanory" is probably remembered by quite a few folk my age. Celebrities (even royalty) used to read a children's book over the space of a week, with some utterly scintillating titles and guests counting themselves amongst the Jackanory alumni. Here's a fantastic clip of a 'Young Ones'-era Rik Mayall reading Roald Dahl's "George's Marvellous Medicine" in his own inimitable style!


The other programme I loved to bits was The Book Tower. With an utterly cracking (if somewhat surreal) theme tune by Julian Lloyd Webber, and presented by the towering presence of my favourite Doctor Who of all time, Tom Baker, the Book Tower was stunning viewing even if you weren't that interested in books (luckily I most certainly was at that age!)


It probably looks a bit old and creaky now (much like me!) but it had bucketloads of atmosphere and always featured the sort of books I couldn't get enough of as a kid (by the likes of Ian Serrailler, C.S. Lewis etc).

Moving on, children today have far more choice. From an early age, kids can enjoy the CBeebies lunchtime and bedtime stories - either read by the fantastic CBeebies presenters or, like Jackanory, by willing celebrities who do a fantastic job of fleshing out some of our favourite children's books. Here's John Simm taking a break from Life on Mars to read "Winnie the Witch".


CBeebies is also home to a rather loveable storytelling Lion. I still struggle to marry up the image of Peter Serafinowicz as Bernard Butterfield in my head with the rather softly spoken Driver Dan but nevertheless, Driver Dan's Story Train has become a firm favourite with kids - leading into a story reading with a little story of its own featuring the multitude of (sometimes loopy) characters that inhabit Dan's world.


Flipping over to CITV, you've got plenty of choice too. We could not run a theme week on Book TV without mentioning the mighty Bookaboo. Fabulous, fantastic, rocking. We've run out of superlatives. Though we've only checked out a couple of episodes, and though it's often on when Charlotte is still at school we really ought to watch it more often as it's fab. Here's Mel C on Bookaboo.


(Yup still the most fanciable spice girl).

Last but by no means least we've got to mention Signed Stories, simply because they use Child's Play books - and we really love those books very much indeed. Signed Stories mixes read aloud stories with signing, and you can also download an app from iTunes too!

Check out a clip below of Natalie 'signing' Rumplestiltskin.


So there you have it, these are just a few of the book-based programmes that children can tap into on TV and hear about new books, hear new stories and get some brilliant ideas for that next visit to the bookshop or library.

Here's a rather charming little book featuring a slightly inept (but ultimately heroic) little bat who is The Witch's Assistant.

Franklin the Bat helps out around Templeton Towers, a creaky towering building protected by a fire breathing dragon, and home to several witches - including Franklin's best friend Dot.

Dot is concocting a very important spell one day when Franklin, ever helpful but very clumsy, makes a huge mess of carrying ingredients to and fro. The other witches are not pleased at all, and poor Franklin hangs his head in shame as Dot tries to clear up the unholy mess!

But Franklin has a special skill, the most highly tuned hearing in Templeton Towers - so when a mysterious creak and clunk are heard one evening, he decides to investigate!

We won't tell you what happens next, but this is a brilliant story of how Franklin turns things around and becomes the hero of the day. Great illustrations in conjunction with engaging and unique characters put this book a notch above most independently published titles.

If you're after a book for younger readers with plenty of substance and great cross-gender appeal then you should definitely check out Franklin's antics!

Charlotte's best bit: Charlotte thought Dot was by far the prettiest witch she'd ever seen. Awww!

Daddy's favourite bit: A good bottom roasting, well deserved!

(Kindly sent to us for review by New Generation Publishing)

How on earth can you possibly distil some of the world's best loved classics down to a tiny board book containing a handful of pages? HOW? It's impossible surely! Yet the Cozy Classics range has done exactly that, with plans to add more to their rather impressive line-up.

We took a look at three of the books and really could not choose between them for a 'book of the week' - and they're that good that we had to nominate all three.

In "Les Miserables", children are introduced to Victor Hugo's dark and sometimes disturbing world as we meet Jean Valjean and Cosette, learning how their paths cross and how this changes Jean Valjean's life and rather disreputable characteristics.

In "Moby Dick" a complex tale of madness and revenge is woven in an exciting and scary seafaring tale of a young sailor, an insane captain and his lust for revenge against the white whale that took his leg. Cozy Classics' version of Captain Ahab is fantastic, as is their whale (we just had to use him as our header for this piece).

Finally in Pride and Prejudice, we meet two of the Bennett sisters and the dashing (but grumpy) Mr Darcy. Heart-wrenching angst and romance play out in the backdrop of the English countryside.

Purists will scoff perhaps - pointing out that the Cozy Classics treatments of these tales won't actually help children understand the complex plots and machinations within the original novels - but in some ways that's missing the point. What these books successfully do is pique a child's curiosity when they're at Charlotte's age. In all honesty they're actually a bit young for her though it was great for her to be able to dive straight into a range of books and be able to read them all the way through on her own. You see, each page contains one word - rather cunningly picked to summarise particular scenes from the originals and it's done so effectively that you can't help but smile at the choices.

The main reason these have been demanded again, and again (and again! I'm not kidding, these have been read every day at least three times a day since we got them) is the sheer quality of production, presentation and illustration. Utterly delightful needlecraft and felt models of the characters and scenes mean that if you purely take these books as illustrated board books, they're some of the most beautiful you'll find nestling on children's book shelves. Every single character is instantly recognisable (and to Charlotte, the Bennett Sisters were utterly beautiful - particularly in the rather lovely wedding scene at the end of the version of Pride and Prejudice).

We dug out the original books and I read a couple of passages from them as Charlotte showed an interest. To her, this rather interesting 'stepping stone' between something child-friendly, and something fairly complicated and wordy, has been a journey of discovery. And that's pretty much what you'd want any book to be, even books that are as simple but so wonderfully presented as these.

There are plans for more in the series including War and Peace (!) and one I seriously can't wait for - Jane Eyre. Awesome! I'm sincerely hoping they're planning to also do Dracula and Frankenstein too!





Charlotte's best bit: The wedding scene at the end of 'Pride and Prejudice' "So beautiful!"

Daddy's favourite bit: The sinking of the Pequoud in "Moby Dick" - stunning.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Simply Read Books)

Anthony Browne's love letters to all things surreal and Magritte-shaped are always well received by us. Charlotte loves them because she can spend hours picking out all the hidden details in each sumptuously illustrated spread. I love them because I studied Rene Magritte's life and works while I was an art bum at college. So "Through the Magic Mirror" was a wonderful discovery at our local library.

Toby, the young lad in the story, is bored. Bored bored bored. Even being bored is boring, so when Toby discovers a magical mirror that leads to an alternate reality, he explores this topsy turvy world and all its bizarre sights and sounds.

Zoo animals roaming the streets (with plenty of trademark Anthony Browne gorillas in evidence!), crazy weather and a hefty dose of rainbow-hued surreality await young Toby as he ventures forth.

Browne's artwork is always a treat, though sometimes we're often disappointed by his stories and that's the case here. The book feels like it needs something extra, though it was easy to identify with the core theme of what children get up to and where their imaginations take them when they're kicking their heels during those long summer holidays.

Charlotte's best bit: Ooh ooh ooh! Gorilla!

Daddy's favourite bit: I never get tired of Browne's artwork, utterly brilliant, surreal, bonkers but always so beautifully done.

More dragons! We demand more dragons! Charlotte loves them and whenever we spy a dragon-based book at the library, it inevitably ends up in our pile.

This is something rather special though. Lovabye Dragon by Barbara Joosse and Randy Cecil celebrates friendship and caring as we find out all about a young girl who longs for a special friend - a dragony friend - to share her life.

She has a toy dragon, but it's just not the same!

Elsewhere, a lonely dragon lives out a fairly remote life in a cold dank cave. Surely there must be someone out there who can love a dragon, fiery breath and all?

This touching tale brings the two together for adventures and excitement. We loved Randy Cecil's artwork, quite distinctive and unusual for a children's book but absolutely steeped in atmosphere which lends the book a rather sombre feel at times.

Charlotte particularly liked the little princess in the book, clad in her beautiful Belle-type yellow dress - and the dragon is utterly awesome.

If you're looking for a touching tale of friendship, this is a brilliant book.

Charlotte's best bit: The Princess's dress (and toy dragon)

Daddy's favourite bit: Such an unusual book in tone, and a very distinctive art style. Fabulous and a break from the norm, loved it!