As Charlotte stretches her fledgeling reading wings, we're slowly but surely finding that chapter books are making their way into our review schedules. We still love picture books, but Charlotte likes to read 6 pages of wordier stuff before bedtime until she feels sleepy - which is a great way to cram in even more booky goodness into her busy little schedule.

As she's currently favouring a great mix of different stories and styles, it was great to hear her chuckling away at two books recently, "Princess Disgrace: Second Term at Tall Towers" and "Shrinking Violet Absolutely Loves Ancient Egypt" by Lou Kuenzler.

We've previously encountered Lou's work through an awesome anthology of bedtime animal stories we reviewed a year ago, so it was great to catch up with two of her most popular characters and their latest adventures.

Princess Disgrace is our kind of princess. She's not prim, perfect and if truth be told she's a little bit clumsy, haphazard and her hair looks like she combed it with a hedgehog (I am already beginning to see why Charlotte loves her so much! Catching up with Princess Disgrace's second term at Tall Towers, a school for princesses, we find Princess Disgrace preparing for the school's talent contest. No easy task when you feel like you're completely hopeless at everything, eek!

In "Shrinking Violet Absolutely Loves Ancient Egypt" Charlotte was instantly drawn to this tale, loving the idea of a miniscule girl who can shrink down to the size of a lipstick or a fish finger, and her crazy adventures but loving even more the heady and exciting mix of riddles in the sand, scary egyptian gods and thoroughly rotten rotters! Violet, Anthony (her cousin) and her gran are off on a Nile cruise - but danger lurks at every corner. Can Violet use her rather spectacular superpower to good effect to solve the strangest mystery ever?

Both books got a huge thumbs up from Charlotte, and she's currently juggling both (no mean feat for a six year old!) It's a sheer delight to hear her giggling away!

Charlotte's best bit: "Daddy, who's Bastet?" - Er, OK that took some explaining! Thank goodness for the Ashmolean Museum's awesome Egyptian collection!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Corking summer reads from Lou, perfect for kids who love adventure, excitement and a few giggles!

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

Brighton Alumni (yay!) Sophy Henn's debut picture book for Puffin book plopped through our letterbox the other day and we've been cuddling it ever since.  Yesterday was publication day for "Where Bear?" but we just had to make it book of the week, it really is something rather special.

A boy and a bear - so many books take this simple premise and run with it, so coming up with an original and engaging story around this set-up is pretty tough but Sophy has managed it with aplomb.

We meet both boy and bear when they're tiny - but as the years pass, boy grows but bear also grows - rapidly getting far too big to stay at home with the boy. So what can they do? Find somewhere new to live? But where bear? Where!

The boy struggles at first. Bear doesn't want to live at the zoo, or in a dank cave. But after frantic searching and a lovely blue lolly or two, boy and bear hit on the perfect idea.

We won't spoil the book by telling you where Boy and Bear end up but Sophy's subtle message tucked neatly in between furry bear and boy is rather touching and lovely, and important too - We took it as a missive on animals in captivity, perhaps even a look at how our relationship with animals is often a tricky thing to balance (I could go into a huge ramble about zoos and safari parks, or even farm parks and how they jar a bit but let's concentrate on this fab book instead).

Sophy's art is deliciously gorgeous. Sophy's writing is taught, informed, engaging and the use of repetition makes this a read-aloud joy (particularly if, like me, you like to adopt a nice gruff voice when Bear shouts "Noooooo!" at each suggestion the boy comes up with of a new place to dwell).

Charlotte's best bit: Charlotte pointed out that blue lollies that the bear and boy eat (and the bear spills down his lovely white fur!) are bubblegum flavour. So now you know!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A hugely impressive debut for Puffin from Sophy. Keep an eye on her, she's going to be stratospherically huge in children's picture books, mark my words!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Picture Puffin)

A new 5 book arc continues for Frankie's Magic Football with "Frankie and the Dragon's Curse", released today.

Frankie and his football crew decide to take on some martial arts training to help improve their ball skills. Whisked away by a mysterious chinese puppet, Frankie and friends soon find themselves with more than just a football match at stake, as an evil warlord threatens to destroy the Great Wall of China with his army of terracotta animals. Can Frankie and his footballing chums save the day?

Frank Lampard's "Frankie" books are best sellers, encouraging reluctant readers to engage with a hero who is interested in the same things they are. Fast paced and full of variety, catch up with Frankie's latest adventure today.

Book 8 will be arriving later in the year, with a special festive theme! Watch out for it!


(Kindly sent to us for review by L & B Kids)

History is history! Time travelling is unravelling like a badly wound reel of loo paper as Danny and the Dinosaur take a trip back in time for the latest book from talented music and wordsmiths Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter, and poo-tastic illustrative talent Garry Parsons.

After a tummy-twisting dinner at Granny's house (picked out wonderfully in shades of grim green by Garry Parsons) Danny and Dinosaur hop into the garden to work off those catastrophic calories. Spotting a swing hanging from a tree, Danny and Dinosaur swing higher and higher until something completely crazy happens - the swing propels them back in time, past the Ancient Egyptians, through Ancient Greece and right back to prehistoric times.

Alas, the poor swing can't take the weight of a sprout-and-spinach-filled dinosaur and Danny, and promptly snaps, stranding our hapless heroes in the past with only three awesome little dinosaur dudes for company.

Is there absolutely ANY WAY a pooping dinosaur (and his three little buddies) can save the day and fix history itself?

We'll have to let you find out the answer yourself on August the 14th as another smasher from the McFly Boys and Garry Parsons (who by now has SURELY earned himself an honorary position in the band, can you play the tambourine or anything Garry?)

I got quite grumpy about these books, after all there's only so much poo a man can take in children's books before he explodes rather like that dinosaur's back end has a habit of doing. But what do I know? Charlotte absolutely loves these books and really truly loved this one (perhaps because she'd just come back from Grandma's house and a rather unfortunate incident with overcooked raw leaf spinach herself!)

At times they take their cues from the wrigglesome rhymes of Dr Seuss and at other times they're just a fantastic belly laugh. Above all we reached the rather pongy end of the book with two things in mind. 1) When's the next one coming, chaps? and 2) Can I wash my hands now?

Fantastic! In the words of a certain other famous McFly "It might be a bit much for you, but your kids are going to love it!"


Charlotte's best bit: Snorting and giggling at a rather grim description of ancient greeks and egyptians getting a mouthful of granny's lasagne poo!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Brilliant fun for tiddlers, beautifully illustrated and told

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

"We're Going on a Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury (Walker Books) is one of THE books that is absolutely essential for your child's book collection.
We nominated it as one of our "Book of the Week" selections back in 2012, but it's been around for a lot longer (it first saw the light of day 25 years ago, wow!)

To celebrate the book's anniversary and timeless appeal, a very special record attempt was made a few weeks ago in aid of the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). Alas we missed the live stream of a record-breaking mass reading of "We're going on a Bear Hunt" but didn't want you to miss out - so please do check out the video below, it's hugely entertaining. 1438 intrepid bear hunters joined Nikki Gamble and Michael Rosen and succeeded in smashing the record! Awesome work, everyone!


"We're Going on a Bear Hunt" has gone on to sell millions of copies worldwide, and has been turned into an animated feature and a stage show.

Find out more about the record breaking event, and also more about this utterly wonderful book on the Walker Books Website

Here's a welcome reprint for a book that is glitzy, glamorous and full of feline charm. "Glitter Kitty" tells the tale of a glamour puss who is getting ready for an evening's soiree at a local dance contest.

Cuddles can't resist lovely clothes and shoes, so she spends the day dashing around town helping her friends and shopping for an exquisite new outfit to wow the dancers at the competition with. After a long day of shopping though, Cuddles needs a nap (shopping IS tiring business after all). But Cuddles oversleeps! EEK!

Will Cuddles make the contest in time? With a little help from her friends perhaps...!

Glitter Kitty is glam and unashamedly girly but Charlotte is a huge Lydia Monks fan, and we loved Mara Bergman's story - in particular the many moggy characters that Cuddles meets (who could resist a charming cowbow-esque ginger tom called Sugarboy!)

Younger readers will love the textured glitter-encrusted pages, perfect for exploring fingers - and the story is a lovely length to polish off before bed where your little ones can dream of slinky cats, glitter balls and the cha cha!

First published back in 2005, "Glitter Kitty" by Mara Bergman and Lydia Monks will be re-released in softcover format in September by S & S Children's Books.

Charlotte's best bit: Cuddles extremely fashionable taste in shoes. They're a real wow!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Full of brilliant characters, a luxurious look at feline life!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Simon and Schuster Children's Books

NHS Monkey Well Being Packs have been distributed to UK primary schools. What an awesome looking pack!

Here at ReadItDaddy we aren't just interested in children's books, but in children's development and well being too. The National Health Service is a service we believe in and back to the hilt so it's been a pleasure to take a look at some details about the NHS "Monkey Well Being" packs and resources designed to help young children gain valuable information about the modern NHS, and engage with fun activities, stories and interactive web pages to enhance their understanding.

NHS packs have been distributed to primary school children, with the aim of heightening awareness and also perhaps addressing the understandable angst that children have about doctors and hospitals.

"Monkey" is the fun character designed to provide engagement, fun and interest for the packs and the campaign.
The schools pack was distributed to every primary school in England during 2013-14 and evaluation of its impact was undertaken by Liverpool John Moores University. The evaluation report concluded that the resource was deemed “useful, engaging and informative, catering to a wide range of abilities, including children with learning disabilities”.

Other conclusions include:

· Almost two-thirds of schools felt the resources successfully taught primary aged children about NHS Services

· In some cases children were able to teach parents about NHS services

· It was considered exciting and motivating for children and thought to add considerable value to the teaching process

· There was a demand from teachers for additional Monkey resources

· Over half of the schools felt pupils were better informed regarding the appropriate services to use, enabling informed choices and helping to avoid misuse of services and associated cost implications

Lots to do, lots to see, with Monkey!

ReadItDaddy has a new fan, Charlotte's baby cousin - who obviously LOVES "I Really Want to Eat a Child" by Sylviane Donnio and Dorothee De Montfried.

Look at her little legs kicking!

It's been really great to experience all the Tintin books again through Charlotte's eyes. Deep discussions at ReadItDaddy Towers extol the merits of Tintin as a comic book hero, over some of his compatriots (Charlotte pins her colours to Tintin rather than Asterix, despite actually loving both).

Here in "Tintin in America" by Herge, I had to reacquaint myself with the story. I had the dimmest of dim memories of it being a bit violent and close to the knuckle compared to other Tintin books and indeed it really feels like a complete departure from the sort of adventures you'd expect from everyone's favourite cow-licked hero. But it's fairly lightweight, certainly far less of a mindless experience than something like Ben 10 so we dived in.

Tintin is visiting the land of the free having carved out a successful career as a journalist and all-round mystery solver. Along with Snowy the dog, Tintin finds himself a stranger in a strange land - and in danger in a dangerous city. The mighty Al Capone has heard of Tintin's exploits and worries that he's coming over to act as a one-man gangbuster.

Criminals from all over the country converge to do Capone's bidding - rub out Tintin once and for all, so the mob underworld can rest easy in their beds.

A huge caper, ranging from the urban sprawl of New York to the unspoiled plains of the wild wild west, this is a rootin' tootin' Tintin adventure that is probably more suitable for children older than Charlotte (after all, trying to explain the whole 1920s and 30s gangster scene to a 6 year old without it all sounding a bit horrifying is no mean feat) but it's definitely one of Tintin's greatest adventures to date.


Charlotte's best bit: Charlotte was completely and utterly engrossed in this from page one. The only sound, the odd little giggle here and there every time Snowy barns "ooyahh ooyahh!"

Daddy's Favourite bit: Despite the setting, it's a completely timeless classic that features Tintin in peril at every turn. Utterly sublime!

A graduate from the awesome comics workshop week receives his certificate from none other than David Fickling himself!

Ace comics dude and all round good egg Neill Cameron was kind enough to invite us to a rather special event to celebrate the launch of his upcoming book "How to Draw Awesome Comics" - and also to celebrate the launch of a rather special comic indeed. After a week long workshop at Oxford's Story Museum, a gaggle of talented kids came up with their own set of brilliant comic strips with lots of top tips from Neill.

A truly talented bunch of boys and girls, the genius author-artists  and their awesome comic creation

Encouraging creativity and fostering a love of comics. David Fickling and Neill Cameron at the launch of "How to Make Awesome Comics"