Hervé Tullet at the Imagine Children's Festival

It's at times like this that I wish I still lived in London...

Hervé Tullet is the creator of two of our absolute favourite books - the books we buy for all new babies - Press Here and The Game of Light - and I would have loved to take my boys to this event.

If you're lucky enough to be in London, don't miss it! (And perhaps he'll come up north in the future.)

A Tale of Two Mommies/A Tale of Two Daddies by Vanita Oelschlager

I downloaded these books from NetGalley because I'm always looking for books featuring "alternative lifestyles" (for want of an alternative phrase) and the illustrations looked particularly cute. I'm featuring the two books together because they're pretty similar.

A Tale of Two Daddies starts with a little boy asking a little girl about her two dads. She tells him that she has a Poppa and a Daddy and he goes on to ask her which of her dads does certain things for her.

"Who's your dad when your hair needs braids? Who's your dad when you're afraid?"

"Poppa's the one when I need braids. Daddy is there when I'm afraid."

The book continues in this vein. Sometimes the answer is both daddies and sometimes the little girl can do things herself. I particularly like the ending: "Who is your dad when you're sad and need some love?" "Both, of course."

A Tale of Two Mommies begins with the question: "If you have a momma and a mommy, who fixes things when they break?" which immediately made me indignant, but I imagine it's pretty true to life, since gender roles are so ingrained in society and I appreciate that both of these books challenge that (for example, one of the daddies bakes, one of the mommies takes the little boy fishing).

The weakness of these books is that they're more about introducing the issue of same sex parents and less about a readable text. Some of the rhymes are a bit laboured, some don't scan so well and the ending of A Tale of Two Mommies is a bit sudden and unsatisfying, but this is actually more than made up for by the glorious illustrations. There's an explanation of how they were made in the back of each book and they're just beautiful. There's more than one that I'd like framed. This one may be my favourite, but it's hard to choose:

Niggles aside, these books are a charming and simple introduction to the idea of same sex parents for younger children.

Whatever by William Bee

I picked this one up in the library because of the bright cover and then realised that it's basically a modern update of one of my old favourites: Pierre (who only would say "I don't care!") by Maurice Sendak.

No matter what Billy's dad shows him, Billy's only response is "...whatever." Something very tall, something very small, the world's bounciest castle, or steamiest train - "...whatever." Even a trip in a rocket to the edge of outer space fails to impress Billy.

And then his dad shows him the world's hungriest tiger... with inevitable (and Pierre-esque) results. The ending of Whatever is darker than that of Pierre and it made my children laugh, whereas they seem unconvinced by Pierre - for whom being eaten by a lion teaches him that he does indeed care. (Even I find myself thinking "Yeah, Pierre. But for how long?")

It's Not Fair by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

We bought an iPad. I've quite fancied one since they came out, but the real Apple fanboy in the family - almost-8-year-old Harry - has been desperate for one. So we finally bought one and Harry described it as a "dream come true."

We've downloaded quite a few picture book apps, which I'll write about another time, but the first actual picture book we downloaded was Amy Krouse Rosenthal's I'm Not Fair.

I love Rosenthal's books - particularly Yes Day, which is also illustrated (beautifully) by Tom Lichtenheld (who, I just realised, also wrote and illustrated the wonderful E-mergency!) - and It's Not Fair is another treat, written in rhyme (which doesn't always work without an American accent!), children and more complain about how life isn't fair. You know, like children do ALL THE TIME.

But the most successful part of this book was the following:

'Why can't I have curly locks?'
'Why can't I have my own box?'
Why now, chicken pox?!'

Since I was reading it to 3-year-old Joe, who is indeed suffering from chicken pox. He was so excited to see it in the book, it was hilarious. (The book also features a 'Complaint at Law in the Circuit Court of Fairness' that I'm sure many parents will appreciate.)

One thing I will say is that after spending the day playing with book apps, a plain old book seemed a bit, you know, limited. This is, I know, ridiculous, since I've been reading books for 40 years and, at the time of reading It's Not Fair, had had the iPad for about four hours, and yet I found myself tapping the picture and expecting it to do something. Sigh. You can, however, zoom in, which was great for looking at the chicken pox up close and is also good for isolating particular words or parts of pictures.

Squish Rabbit by Katherine Battersby

I read Squish Rabbit via We Give Books, a fantastic site created by the Penguin Group and the Pearson Foundation that donates to selected charities for each book read online.

I was attracted by the cute, uncluttered cover and the book is equally cute and uncluttered. It's the story of a little rabbit named Squish because he's so little he keeps getting, well, squished. He's also so little that people don't notice him, so he's lonely too. Eventually, of course, Squish finds a friend and the illustrations of them meeting each other are really adorable. In fact, every page is adorable. I love it when illustrators manage to convey emotion in such simple characters.

I also love that Squish makes himself a friend and also, at one point, has a tantrum - I'm sure many children will identify. It would be a great book for a child who is struggling to make friends - perhaps one who has just started at nursery or preschool.

Squish Rabbit is a really sweet book that I'm pleased to have discovered. I'll definitely check out the 'real' version one day too. I suspect the illustrations are even more lovely in 'real life'.

E-mergency! by Tom Lichtenheld & Ezra Fields-Meyer

How would you manage if you couldn't use the letter E? Not very well, I'd imagine. (I've used it ten times in this post already.)

In E-mergency, the letters of the alphabet all share a house and, one morning, E falls down the stairs. ("Eeeee!") The other letters all rally round and once the "EMTs" have "rushed in with an IV, ready to perform CPR", she's rushed to the ER.

They letters get together and nominate O to replace E while she recuperates. On TV, there's a "Spocial Bullotin" to announce the news. D and C go to Washington to alert the government. The other letters go on the talk shows (including O). But for some reason, E just isn't getting better. But then they realise. One person is still using the letter E and it's the narrator of the book...

This book is such good fun to read (although also quite tricky), plus it's crammed with so many jokes, that I still haven't read them all (we particularly love the letter P in the bathroom). My boys both love it and because I'm holding some of the gags back, I know we'll continue to enjoy it for a while to come.

Thanks so much to Tina of ABRAMS & Chronicle Books for sending it.

The Great Explorer by Chris Judge

Another wonderful library find, I picked this one up because of the bright and happy cover and then took it home because I liked the theme of exploring.

Tom finds out that his 'Famous Explorer' father is lost in the North Pole and sets off to rescue him. The journey does not go well. His ship runs aground on an iceberg. His hot air balloon pops. He's attacked by a bear. But every time something goes wrong, Tom comes up with a solution and carries on to find his father.

I loved how resourceful Tom was and how even when things went horribly wrong, Tom kept his purpose and even enjoyed the adventure. This is reinforced by the glorious illustrations, which are, yes, simple and retro (just the way I like 'em).

The book brings up lots of discussion points too - about exploring and transport and wildlife in other parts of the world. We all really loved it. It ends with Tom and his father pondering their next adventure. I can't wait.

Stuck by Oliver Jeffers

It seems redundant writing about an Oliver Jeffers book because everyone knows how awesome they are, surely. In fact, after I mentioned on Twitter that I'd picked up Stuck at the library, I got lots of tweets telling me how fabulous it is. They were right too.

It all begins when Floyd gets his kite stuck up a tree. To knock it down, he throws up his "favourite shoe". When this doesn't work - the shoe also gets stuck in the tree - he tries his other shoe... which also gets stuck. He then tries pretty much everything he can get his hands on - from a pot of paint to a big boat (really) - and it all gets stuck.

There are a couple of bits that made me laugh out loud and a brilliant entertaing-for-the-adults ending that's also great for asking children what they would do in the same situation.

After I read it to Joe for the first time, he asked for 'a song about the Stuck book' at bedtime. And I had to make one up. I don't think you get much higher praise than that. (Joe requesting a song, not me singing - that was probably more of an inadvertent insult.)

See also: The Incredible Book-Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers

Jump on Board the Animal Train by Naomi Kefford & Lynne Moore

Joe picked this one up in the library because of the gorgeous bright cover.

Inside is just as bright and gorgeous as a little boy walks along with his mummy and realises something is following him. On the left page you see a bear's hand poking out of a hedge and the right page is split so that when you turn it, there's the boy's mummy walking on oblivious while the split page has revealed the bear... who follows the boy and his mum.

As they walk on, more and more animals join in and Joe loved spotting them and the fact that the mum doesn't know they're there.

It's a lovely book to read aloud too - its repetitive rhymes reminded me of Hairy Maclary:

The elephant's feet plod down the street, 
The tiger's tail swishes the rail, 
The bear's paws pad on the floor. 

There Are No Cats in This Book by Viviane Schwarz

We all absolutely loved There Are Cats in This Book, so I was excited to spot the follow-up There Are No Cats in This Book in our local library. (We actually got the first book from there too and Harry asked if we could just never take it back.)

I think I may like this book even more than the first. In this one, the very cute cats have decided they'd like to get out of the book and see the world. They try pushing their way out and then jumping out (which leads to a surprise pop-up page), but when that doesn't work, they wish their way out. We know that this works because the next two pages are blank apart from a postcard. From the cats. When they come back, they bring lots of friends, who are all very happy to be in a book.

When I got to the page with the postcard I experienced a moment of cheer - I was thrilled that they'd got out of the book. And I'm 40 years old. I can't wait to see how my children react to it. It really is a lovely, inventive, sweet and funny book. Just like the first one. I highly recommend them both.

Plum and Rabbit and Me by Emma Chichester Clark

I picked this book up in the library, just because the cover is so cute. Once I'd had a quick look through it, I knew I had to get it.

Plum is Humber's little sister and, like Chloe in Chloe, Instead, she's a bit of a pest. But when Granny gives Chloe a toy rabbit and Humber a book, he's jealous. And when Plum won't let him play with it, no matter what he offers to trade, Humber hits her.

It was at this point in the book that my boys went still and silent. I can't think of another book we've read where a child has hit another child and they were clearly intrigued.

Humber and Plum's mum reacts in almost exactly the same way I would. She doesn't shout and she certainly doesn't hit Humber, she sends him to his room and very calmly discusses why what he's done is wrong. Of course Humber apologises and the book ends with Mum cuddling Hum and saying "Well done."

I really loved this book. I loved the storyline and the illustrations are beautiful. It was lovely to see a relatively serious subject dealt with in such a simple and gentle way. This is the third Humber and Plum book and I'll definitely have to check out the other two.

Quack Quack Moo, We See You! by Mij Kelly

I found this book in the library and it's been a massive hit with all of us.

Poppa Bombola knows he's put his "darling daughter" somewhere safe, but he just can't remember where. From the first page, the reader can see that his daughter is in a baby carrier on his back, but he's unaware of this and so turns the farm upside down looking for her, asking the animals in turn "I know I put her down somewhere, so where's my darling daughter?"

My 3-year-old, Joe, loved that he knew where the child was and the daddy didn't. From the first page, he was pointing and shouting "She's THERE!"

It's great fun to read and we've even started to sing the refrain. As a parent, I particularly liked the fact that no mother is mentioned, the father is looking after the daughter alone and even though he can't quite remember where the child is, it's clear that she really is precious to him.

Great fun (as are the illustrations by Katharine McEwen).

Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems

I've already mentioned how much we love Mo Willems, and we first discovered him via this very funny story. 

Trixie and Knuffle Bunny’s trip to the laundromat goes terribly wrong when Trixie realizes her bunny’s been left behind! Her attempts to alert her Dad all the way home are unsuccessful (even when she tries "going boneless"), until Mum points out that Knuffle Bunny is missing and the family hotfoot it back to the laundromat. Fortunately, KB is safe, if a little wet…

The book is filled with jokes for children and parents alike, and completemented by gorgeous illustrations, which - I hope you can see on the cover - are colour drawings on photographs of Park Slope, Brooklyn (where Willems lives) (Trixie, the toddler, is based on Willems’ own daughter). 

This is definitely one of our favourites and I can also highly recommend Knuffle Bunny Too and Knuffle Bunny Free. 

A Walk in New York by Salvatore Rubbino

Because I'm well-known to be New York-crazy, a friend bought this for my 40th birthday and it's just gorgeous.

There’s no story as such, it’s just a boy and his dad exploring New York with accompanying facts and figures (like ‘More hot dogs are eaten in New York than anywhere else in the USA’) and gorgeous retro illustrations.

They take in some of New York’s most famous landmarks (the Empire State Building gets a fold-out page) and well-known streets, meeting New Yorkers and discovering how the iconic city looks, sounds, smells, tastes and feels…

I read it with 7-year-old Harry and he immediately demanded that we head to New York asap. If only. A lovely book.

(We are, however, going to London in a couple of months, so we'll definitely invest in Rubbino's A Walk in London.)

Martha and the Bunny Brothers by Clara Vulliamy

When I got this book last week, there was almost a fight - it's just so bright and happy-looking, we all wanted to get our hands on it. I won, obviously (the envelope was addressed to me) and after a quick flick through, knew it was going to be a popular one.

It's Martha's first day of school and she's really excited, but she's a bit worried about how her two little brothers will manage without her, so she forms the Happy Bunny Club to keep them occupied. Then she gets on with the important business of getting herself ready for school.

Martha is adorable and I really enjoyed reading this one aloud... which was lucky, since Joe has requested it every night since (this is VERY unusual for Joe). There's lots to read on every page and the illustrations are - as you can see - bright and gorgeous. (Oh and I particularly love that when Martha gets home, her brothers "go mad with joy" to see her.)

The publishers describe it as 'pure sunshine in picture book format' and they're spot on. It's LOVELY.

Thanks so much to HarperCollins for sending it to me.

We *heart* We Give Books

It's the Easter hols in about three hours, so I (Keris) won't be posting for the next couple of weeks, but before I skip off into the sunshine (there is still sunshine, isn't there?) I thought I'd mention We Give Books.

Created by the Penguin Group and the Pearson Foundation, We Give Books is an online initiative that features a growing digital library of stories you can read with your child for free - whenever you like, no matter where you are - and each time you read a book online, Penguin will give a hardcover or paperback book to a child in need.

Simple, effective, wonderful.

Chloe, Instead by Micah Player

Who could resist this cover? When I received the bumper box of books from lovely Tina at Abrams & Chronicle Books, it was the first book I grabbed and the first book both Joe and Harry picked up. And the inside is just as bright and lively as the cover.

Molly always wanted a little sister, but Chloe is not exactly what she had in mind. Chloe eats crayons, tears the pages out of Molly's books, messes up her things and interferes when Molly's practicing playing the keyboard.

Molly, of course, comes round to the idea that Chloe is her own little person and that's okay, but it actually happened a little bit too quickly for me. One page Molly is screaming at Chloe and the next page everything is fine. I think the story would have flowed a little better if Molly had taken a touch longer to come around to Chloe's antics, but apart from that, I really enjoyed this book. The ending is particularly gorgeous. I also loved the look at both the upsides and downsides of a new baby in the family and so did Harry, since he's been there himself.

It would make a lovely gift for a child who's about to have a new baby brother or sister.

We *heart* Sandra Boynton

I bought a copy of Hippos Go Berserk before I even had children. My husband used to read it to my belly during pregnancy and he even attempted to recite it to me during labour (not sure what he was trying to achieve with that, but it made me laugh).

Since then, I've bought quite a few Sandra Boynton books and have loads more on my wishlist. This morning I read the Belly Button Book to Joe and he loved it (toddlers love showing off their belly buttons, no?) and we've also started reading Pajama Time at night and Hey! Wake Up! in the morning (I love how that one starts "Hey little guys, open your eyes! What do you say, it's a brand new day!") Oh and What's Wrong, Little Pookie ("What's wrong, Little Pookie? Your bright eyes are wet. Come over and tell me why you are upset.") LOVE.

Boynton's illustrations are consistently hilarious and the books are fun to read for adults as well as children. Just writing about them now, I've found lots more I neeeeeed to buy. (Philadelphia Chickens has been on my wishlist for years. That one had better be first.)

What's your favourite Boynton book?

Picture Books for Kindle - If You Have a Hat by Gerald Hawksley

I love my Kindle. My boys (aged 3 and 7) would love to get their hands on it, but they're not the most gentle of children and I fear for its safety, but when we went on holiday last year, I didn't want to take a bunch of books in our case and so I downloaded some Kindle books for them, including this one - If You Have a Hat by Gerald Hawksley.

I didn't have incredibly high hopes. Kindle isn't really designed for picture books - or rather, my old, black and white Kindle isn't - but If You Have a Hat was a huge success. Its subtitle is 'A silly rhyming picture book' and it's actually also very simple, which is perfect for Kindle.

The first page features an illustration of a hat, accompanied by 'If you have a hat -'. The next page: the cover illustration of a child wearing the hat, with the text 'put it on your head.' Then we have a cute, waving insect with 'If you have a bed bug -'... can you guess the next line? It's 'tuck it up in bed' with a picture of the cute bed bug, yes, tucked up in bed. The illustrations are simple and cute enough that it doesn't matter that they're not in colour.

Joe (3) loved it because it's funny and he could guess what was coming next. Harry (7) loved it because he could read it himself (which was actually one of the reasons I loved it too - listening to Harry reading to his little brother for the first time...).

(My only complaint is rhyming "wee mouse" with "tree house" - it doesn't really scan and it bugs me every time I read it.)

We also bought Silly Monsters ABC, which was equally successful, and I've just noticed there are five more Gerald Hawksley books for Kindle and I'll be buying them in time for our next holiday.

Never Say NO To a Princess by Tracey Corderoy & Kate Leake

A fun and feisty princess picture book served up with a good helping of adventure, friendship and finally...manners!  The little princess wants her own dragon and no one Ever says NO to a princess, do they?

We meet the young princess as she's in the process of demanding a variety of things and because her parents, the King and Queen are too busy doing royal things, they are happy to instruct servants to give her what she wants.  Her biggest threat to them is that if she doesn't get what she wants, she'll howl and cry and throw a tantrum.

When she sees a dragon, she demands that she should have one.  All manner of antics follow where the servants attempt to snag the dragon, but no joy.  This results in a huge crying spell for the princess and in fact, she cries so much, she floods the castle and the lands and gets swept out on a flood of tears into the dark scary woods.

She's more than JUST a bit scared but help is at hand, in the shape of the very same dragon she desperately wanted for herself.  The dragon is kindly, and the princess demands, quite rudely to be taken home, immediately.  Of course the dragon in turn demands the magic word and the princess is stumped.

Eventually she does figure out what the dragon means by the magic word and after spending the night with him, drying out and chatting, he flies her home.

The princess is reunited with her parents who notice something about her immediately.  She's no longer miserable, she's changed.  The princess dispatches an invitation to her friend and invites the friend to a party and behold: the princess is happy and smiling.  Not only has she made a new friend, but she's also happy.

I loved Never Say NO to a Princess.  The artwork is fresh and cute and full of mad sparkles, and gives us the idea of chaos this princess' life is all about - what she demands, she gets, no questions asked.  She's rude, arrogant, and has no manners.  Yet it takes a run-in with a fearsome monster who has far better manners than her, to teach her this lesson, someone to stand up to her, ignoring the wailing and the bad manners.

Smart and funky, Never Say NO to a Princess, is a great read for readers 3+.  The lesson is pretty obvious but done in a very charming way so that even as an adult, I didn't felt preached to.  Which I think is a great lesson to learn: being polite makes you a better person and invariably makes you friends.