Slightly Invisible by Lauren Child

Lauren Child is my favourite picture book author (you may have noticed) and I've wanted to read Charlie and Lola's most recent adventure for a while, so when I spotted it in the library I snapped it up.

Slightly Invisible sees Lola spoiling Charlie and Marv's games and insisting they play with her and her imaginary friend, Soren Lorensen. The boys aren't convinced until Soren helps them catch the "most strange and terrifyingly tricky creature in the universe".

Lola is her usual annoying self and I imagine how annoying you find Lola impacts directly on your enjoyment of the Charlie & Lola books, but I think she's hilarious and an extremely convincing portrayal of a 4-year-old (I have known many Lolas over the years...). I think you need to 'perform' Lola to really get the most out of the Charlie & Lola books. Fortunately, I don't seem to struggle to capture her bossy, self-absorbed, slightly facetious personality... huh. This is one of my favourite bits:

And Lola says, "You can only see me because you know what I look like. You can't see Soren Lorensen at all." 


"That's because there is NO such person as Soren Lorensen," I say. 


"Well, if there is no such person, then who ate all the biscuits?" says Lola. 


Marv says, "WHAT? Your friend Soren Lorensen ate all the biscuits?" 


Lola says, "Oh yes, I am afraid Soren Lorensen is quite greedy." 

Soren Lorensen is actually one of my favourite characters and he features heavily in this book. Actually 'heavily' probably isn't the right word, since part of my love for Soren stems from how brilliantly Child draws him: transparent and glossy, so you can only see him when the light catches the book in the right way.

Slightly Invisible joins I Am Too Absolutely Small for School, I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato and I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go To Bed on our favourite books shelf... No, not the library book - my boys loved it so much that they've insisted on a copy to keep. Praise doesn't come much higher than that!

The Princess and the Pea by Lauren Child

I do love Lauren Child's books. From Charlie and Lola to Clarice Bean and (our personal family favourite) That Pesky Rat so I had to buy The Princess and the Pea.

The illustrations in this book are slightly different from Child's other books because she actually created little 3D rooms and scenes, a few of which I saw at an exhibition of her work a couple of years ago. They're all gorgeously detailed, my favourite being the Princess leaving her tree house home - the tree lit with lanterns and the path littered with letters.

You know the story, of course, but here it's written with Child's trademark wit and plenty of nods to the improbability of fairytales. It's a lovely book that would make an equally lovely gift.

Who Wants to be a Poodle? I don't by Lauren Child

I adore Lauren Child's books. From Charlie and Lola to That Pesky Rat to Clarice Bean, I love them all. So when I spotted Who Wants to be a Poodle in the library, I pounced on it.

It's the story Trixie Twinkle Toes Trot-a-lot Delight - a poodle who doesn't want to be primped and pampered, but instead yearns to splash in puddles and be a Dazzlingly Dangerous Daring Dog!

I loved this book and so did my 7-year-old (and his toy dog Buster who wagged his tail throughout - with a little help from Harry, obviously). It's written in Child's usual quirky style and has some laugh out loud moments for both children and adults. (Harry loved that Trixie gave the pet psychic fleas, I loved the pet psychiatrist.)

It's illustrated in Child's usual collage style with fabulous attention to detail.

I also loved the message of this story - that you don't have to be who or what people expect you to be. Or, as the back cover says, "Don't you ever yearn just to be YOU?"

One extra detail I enjoyed - despite the fact she hates being pampered and wants to be daring, Trixie is a girl dog. When the vet comes to check on her, the vet is a woman. I appreciate the non-traditional gender representations - I'm always on the look out for that in picture books.

Recommended.