It's not easy being a parent at times, particularly if your little girl is slightly obsessed with princesses. You have to try and balance that with ticking all the "right-on parent" boxes by encouraging your little girl to seek better role models than pink coiffured pretty princesses with perfect complexions and ridiculously unrealistic body shapes.

We don't really put as much effort into achieving this balance as others do, if we're brutally honest. Children are children for such a short time that we don't actually mind Charlotte buying into the onslaught of Disneyfication or pinkness, as long as she's enjoying herself, having fun - and of course being a kid.

So when we find books that help us out a little with this balancing act, we embrace them enthusiastically. Bloomsbury's range is always full of interesting and diverse books and none more so than a range of Princess books with a difference.

Kate Lum and Sue Hellard's "Princess are not just" range are fantastic for several reasons. They do actually feature pink-clad princesses with wonderful dresses, cool accessories and cute little pets that appeal to Charlotte's girly side - but they're also princesses with huge hearts as you'll see in this tale.

Princess Allie (my favourite, she's got red hair and freckles like Charlotte's mum, who is also called Ali!), Princess Libby and Princess Mellie live in harmony until one day Princess Mellie boldly announces that she is the prettiest princess of them all. Naturally Allie and Libby disagree, but there's really only one way to settle the argument - Hold a royal beauty contest!

Four judges are rounded up, and long-suffering housekeeper Mrs Blue is rushed off her feet preparing for the big day.

Allie, Libby and Mellie put a huge effort into their costumes, their makeup and their beauty routines (this is actually one of the funniest bits in the book - did you know royal princesses bathe in vast tubs of greeny-brown goo? You do now!)

As the three make their way to the contest, things go a little awry as the good townsfolk need help. Are the princesses too pretty and proud to pitch in?

We'll let you read the book and find out! Kate Lum and Sue Hellard's "Princess are not" range are absolutely fantastic (Check out Princesses are not Perfect and Princesses are not Quitters - We really want to read these too!)

"Princesses are not just Pretty" is out on March 27th 2014. Don't miss it!

Charlotte's best bit: Princess Libby the expert swimmer, saving a gorgeous kitten from drowning!

Daddy's Favourite bit: They're pink, they're beautiful, but they've got big brains and huge hearts! That's how we like our princesses!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Bloomsbury Publishing)

I'm quite surprised we haven't reviewed Mini Grey's "Egg Drop" before. Mini is a superstar when it comes to writing and illustrating some of our favourite children's books. We really love her "Traction Man" series, and we've had our eye out for "Egg Drop" for quite a while.

Up it popped in our library stack, so we grabbed it.

It's the story of a young chicken. A very young chicken. In fact, a chicken that hasn't even hatched yet - but dreams of flight, of soaring through the air with the greatest of ease. Our egg-bound chum is smart but very very impatient, and immediately starts making plans for a first flight. Dreaming of rockets and wings, of zeppelins and various other means, Egg comes up with the ultimate idea. Gain some height, take a leap of faith and see what happens...

Eggs and gravity - bad mix, right?

We'll leave you to discover what happens to plucky little egg in this fun tale. Mini's trademark humour and beautiful illustrations make this book soar through the clouds as light as a feather. Which is more than we can say for our eggy chum!

Charlotte's best bit: Poor egg's post-crash patch-up job (those screws and nails look like they hurt!)

Daddy's Favourite bit: Patience is a virtue and this tale tells it like it is perfectly.

RAAAAGH! I'M GOING TO EAT YOU!!

Actually I'm not, but what would you do if you were a cute, adorable pink-nosed furry bunny and a raging monster with a huge appetite came running after you with rabbit stew, rabbit canapes and rabbit souffle in mind?

We'd probably have a rabbit-in-the-headlights (har har) moment. In "Don't play with your Food" the bunnies are smarter than that. Buddy (the raging hungry monster) decides to put rabbit at the top of his menu, and encounters the aforementioned adorable (and did we mention cute? Oh we did!) bunnies.

Before he can chow down though, the Bunnies have a better idea. In fact they have several. Before long, Buddy is run ragged and he's far too full, or tired, or absolutely befuddled to even think about scoffing bunnies.

You KNOW we love monster books, you KNOW Charlotte loves bunnies so imagine putting the two together in a book that's an absolute riot of chaos and fun. Bob Shea's fantastic retro-futuristic artwork, crazy comic dialogue and oh so adorable (and did we mention cute? Oh we did already! Sheesh!) bunnies are a fantastic combination. We haven't seen many titles from Disney / Hyperion but we truly loved this, and hope it's just book one in a huge series for Buddy and Bunnies alike. Do not miss!

Charlotte's best bit: Buddy being completely flummoxed when the Bunnies start their own "Stripey Monster Fan Club"

Daddy's Favourite bit: This is brilliant, like a crazed episode of Ren and Stimpy crossed with Monsters Inc. Oh and with the cutest (did we mention cute? ALRIGHT THEY'RE CUTE!) bunnies you'll ever meet in a funny kid's book

(Kindly sent to us for review by Disney / Hyperion)

This is how things usually go at ReadItDaddy Towers when a new sticker (dolly) dressing book arrives from Usborne.

"Hey Charlotte there's a new Sticker Book from Usb...."

(Before I've even finished the sentence, a whirling curly-haired dervish has snatched the book away, and proceeds to bury herself in it for HOURS.

We'd heard of the Sticker Dressing - Shakespeare book before Usborne kindly offered to send us one. I was rather keen to see it because I was interested to see how Usborne could make Shakespeare's plays and sonnets more kid-friendly.

Knowing that Charlotte loves history helped a little, she particularly loves exploring what people did and wore in ancient times but with Shakespeare's plays often crossing time, often set in different periods, how would she cope and adapt?

"Sticker Dressing - Shakespeare" is beautifully illustrated by Diego Diaz, with a whole brace of quotable quotes from Shakespeare's works. Lots of background is given along with a typical scene featuring characters from the plays.

Charlotte already knows who Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet are (Thanks largely to Gnomeo and Juliet, alas!) This book was great for introducing her to some of my favourite works (The Tempest and King Lear) and the plays she'll undoubtedly be familiar with once she hits senior school.

The main lure for a six year old though are the fantastic characters and costumes. It's not exactly easy to explain what a codpiece is or what Leg Hoses are for, but with Usborne's peerless sticker books, one little girl now knows a little bit more about the bard, and can't wait to find out more about Shakespeare's works and the period he lived in (I'll leave all that controversy about whether the Bard wrote all those plays till we can have a good debate about them one day! Go Chris Marlowe!) With over 200 stickers to get busy with, once again you're guaranteed hours of peace and quiet while your little ones work on this (well, until they start asking about those hoses!)

Charlotte's best bit: The beautiful Lady Macbeth (I didn't fill in some of her less...er...desirable characteristics)

Daddy's Favourite bit: What a fantastic way to introduce children to Shakespeare, perfect for the Bard's 450th Annivesary, kicking off the upcoming Shakespeare Weeks planned for throughout 2014.

Dahlov Ipcar's fantastic children's books are now getting a timely reprint courtesy of Flying Eye Books. You can join in with our Dahlov love-in if you take a look at our review of "The Wonderful Egg".

For a pet-obsessed little girl, "I Like Animals" is also brilliant with a lovely sing-song rhythm to the text as we imagine what it would be like to be a zookeeper, or perhaps a pet-store owner, maybe even a woodsman!

Charlotte's choice of favourite animal changes like the weather, though it was great to be able to spot species we'd just seen at Marwell Zoo during a birthday visit. Everything from Bushbabies to Anteaters crop up, rendered in Dahlov's beautiful painted style.

If you love animals, you'll love this book!

Charlotte's best bit: Being a pet store owner, and having lots and lots of mice, guinea pigs and rabbits

Daddy's Favourite bit: Another corker of a reprint from Flying Eye Books. We really hope more of Dahlov's work is on the way!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Bounce Marketing / Flying Eye Books)

Claude is on the case (Images © Alex T Smith)

Discover Story's "The Big Write – Stories Remixed" festival opens this week. Starting on 6th March and running till the 16th, you can join in with a fantastic set of events during March.

The festival includes a spectacular programme for all ages with authors, illustrators, visual artists, popstars and comic makers joining us for all that is best and brilliant about writing and stories.

Some of the big names in this year’s guest events include Korky Paul (Winnie the Witch), Axel Scheffler (The Gruffalo), Nadia Shireen (Good Little Wolf), John Hegley (I am a Poetato), Cerrie Burnell (CBeebies) and Guy Parker–Rees (Giraffes Can’t Dance).

You can also create a pop song with Boogaloo Stu and enjoy a pop gig with Catherine Bennett Live!

Discover Story's fantastic events programme runs throughout 2014. More details can be found on the Discover Story website.

www.discover.org.uk

Check out some of the brilliant event pics below:

Axel Scheffler (Photo: © Discover / Tim Mitchell)

Codename Comic Maker! (Photo: © Discover / Tim Mitchell)

The divine Sarah Mcintyre (Photo: © Discover / Tim Mitchell)

The Big Write! (Photo © Discover / Tim Mitchell)

Troll-taming genius Adam Stower (Photo © Discover / Tim Mitchell)

What better way to celebrate World Book Day than with a fantastic collection of poems for children, a big thick weighty book - just how we like our poetry collections!

To celebrate World Book Day a little early, we entered into a rather mysterious event with other bloggers, each choosing a book for a mystery blogger recipient. Someone obviously knows us very well because they chose "Poems for Children" for us. A huge collection of tons of our favourite poems, covering many different subjects.

Classic authors are very well represented in this book, everyone from Edward Lear to Rudyard Kipling, from Lewis Carroll to Kate Greenaway. There truly is something for everyone in here.

Nice to see a lovely colourful cover from one of our twit-mates, Mark Chambers too!

You can grab your very own copy of this wonderful collection from the Miles Kelly Website.

Happy World Book Day for Thursday everyone!

Charlotte's favourite Poem: "The Cats have Come to Tea" by Kate Greenaway

Daddy's Favourite Poem: Edward Lear's wonderful "There was an old man"

(Kindly sent to us for review as part of World Book Day by Miles Kelly Publishing)

Dahlov Ipcar is, without a doubt, a living legend in children's picture books. Swiftly approaching her centenary (she was born in 1917 and still continues to paint on a daily basis, and attend gallery events, wowsers!) Dahlov is one of the most influential author-illustrators on the planet, and her books have been a happy discovery for us. During the 1950s and 1960s her work peaked with a series of informative and brilliant children's books that laid the foundations for other books to follow.

Dahlov recognised a trend in children's books that she didn't agree with. A trend to 'baby' children with books that were simplistic in form, and providing no long term satisfaction or immersion.

Dahlov's books are now being reprinted in part by Flying Eye Books (look out for a review of "I Like Animals" soon) so it's a fantastic chance for folk to catch up with her work, and introduce her wonderful books to their children - starting here with The Wonderful Egg.

Part story, part non-fiction book, "The Wonderful Egg" introduces children to dinosaurs in a fun and engaging way. A mysterious egg appears in the prehistoric landscape - and it's up to the reader to decide which dinosaur laid that egg. Was it the Triceratops? The Diplodocus? Perhaps the mighty and fearsome Tyrannosaurus. Introducing factual elements into the story, and then teaching children how to 'sound out' the names of those dinosaurs at the end of the book is something years ahead of its time. Dahlov's artwork is also amazing, both eye-catching and colourful yet using a fairly reduced pallette.

Considering that this book was first published in 1960, and that dinosaur books still follow this exact pattern today (for instance, take a look at Jonny Duddle's brilliant "Gigantosaurus" for more in this ilk) it really is something special, and testament to one extremely talented lady that it hasn't dated one iota.

Find out more about Dahlov Ipcar on her website.

Charlotte's best bit: Deep and meaningful discussion about what Dinosaurs could've eventually evolved into

Daddy's Favourite bit: It feels amazing to see books by an author who is such a huge and important influence in children's literature still affecting and influencing books today

(Kindly sent to us for review by Bounce Marketing / Flying Eye Books)

How adept are children at appreciating great design - particularly graphic design? Surprisingly adept as a matter of fact. With each new generation, children are soaking up more clever designs in their formative years than their parents have probably been exposed to their entire lives.

We've previously appreciated the cool and clever designs of Patrick George books in "When I Grow Up" - a book which lets children imagine what they might become when they first take a few faltering steps on their chosen career path.

In "My Big Book of the Five Senses" Patrick George Books have rounded up previous sensory books into one delicious tome - and what this book has in common with all the other Patrick George titles is that clever design.

Obviously, though the target age is a little younger than Charlotte, she appreciates the thought that has gone into this book to make it engaging - and dare we say "clever" in a way that children can relate to and tap into.

Our five senses (Taste, Touch, Smell, Hearing and Sight) are explored in fun illustrations that beautifully compliment and flow into each other. Though the book lacks the acetates (clear pages) that the previous 'single sense' editions had, the illustrations still flow together beautifully and children will enjoy finding all the 'objects within objects' in each scene.

Each picture comes with a minimalist word count to accompany it, but opens the door for discussion and exploration as children enjoy picking out the way each picture retains elements of the opposite (or previous) page during our sensory exploration.

It's been really interesting to see Charlotte's level of engagement with this - though your younger children might not marvel at the neat design ideas here, they'll love identifying the way images are hidden within others, or each themed illustration contains elements of the senses being described.

"My Big Book of the Five Senses" is due for release on the 1st of May 2014. In the meantime, here's a great clip of "I See..." which is a previously available title, elements of which are included in this sensory collection.

‘I See…’ by PatrickGeorge from PatrickGeorge on Vimeo.

Charlotte's best bit: Exploring taste and sight.

Daddy's Favourite bit: Fabulous design that children will absolutely love exploring in a nice round-up of previous titles.

(Preview copy kindly sent to us for review by Patrick George Books)

We love surprises, we also love it when books we've never seen before or heard of silently drop through our letterbox to wriggle their way into our hearts. I'm sure my other half would be the first to agree that I'm definitely not "The Yes" but have been known to be "The Maybe" from time to time.

Here's a book that is glowing and full of positive energy. We have now read it several times and it's a very uplifting "Glass is half full" book, as you'll see as we expand on that in our review.

"The Yes" is a huge orange creature, which reminded Charlotte of a cross between Pac-Man and an elephant (her words!) The Yes lives in a barren landscape, the where - and the where is inhabited by The Nos. The Nos are scribbly scrobbly scratchy little creatures - and every time The Yes wants to do something, The Nos are always there to try and drag him down.

Can The Yes climb a tall fruit tree? "No No!" squeal the Nos, and they try to smother The Yes - but The Yes says "Yes yes!" and is soon scaling the tree to find the delicious fruits at the top.

The Yes embarks on a journey across the land, dogged at every step by those pesky Nos but never giving up hope.

Sarah Bee's lovely nonsense-like text (nonsense in a good way, we mean - like Edward Lear but dreamier!) couples perfectly with Satoshi Kitamura's utterly beautiful stylised artwork. It's almost like the book creates its very own soundscape as you read, you can imagine the noises The No would make - and the peaceful calming voice of The Yes.

As we said at the top of the review, a lovely surprise. Satoshi Kitamura is a regular favourite on the blog and this has been a wonderful introduction to Sarah Bee's writing too. We say a huge orange-glowy YES to this one!

Charlotte's best bit: The Yes at the bottom of the big blue sea

Daddy's Favourite bit: This is so much fun to read aloud, you can really play with the words and really enjoy the way this book flows. Sumptuous and gorgeous illustrations also make it completely entrancing. Yes indeed!

(Kindly sent to us by Andersen Children's Books)