I’ve been planning for ages to let you know about couple of truly outstanding “five star” offerings for children from Maverick… my excuse is our recent move to Brighton, it took me a while to adjust to the new place, find my ways around the city etc, this is why I’ve been neglecting my blog for last couple of months, but I’m back now (!)

The first of the books is “The Black and White Club” written by Alice Hemming and illustrated by Kimberley Scott.

Very smart tale about George the giraffe who not being black or white has felt left out when he could not join the club set up by the penguins. After several tries he came out with clever plan to unite all of the animals and have fun together… except for the mean penguins who stuck to playing dominoes.

My girls loved the story and cute, detailed illustrations, especially the spider drinking his lemonade through the stripy straw.

“The Black and White Club”

AUTHOR: Alice Hemming
ILLUSTRATOR: Kimberley Scott
PUBLISHER: Maverick Arts Publishing
FORMAT: Paperback
SIZE: 236 x 234 x 8 mm
PAGES: 28
LANGUAGE: English
ISBN: 978-1848860964
PUBLISHED: 28th September 2013

Smart tale about feeling left out… and mean penguins!

5 out of 5 stars

Available also from Amazon.

The second book I would like to introduce you is “Hegdehugs” illustrated by Lucy Tapper & written by Steve Wilson.

So now everything is clear… the mystery has been solved, we all finally know where all those missing socks go (!) This is absolutely adorable story of two hedgehogs: Horace & Hattie who were longing for hug together but being so prickly could never have it and finding their way out of this difficult (and scratchy) situation.

Brilliant writing and extremely cute illustrations which both my girls (3 & 8 years old) loved. They just could not have enough of this book…

“Hedgehugs”

AUTHOR: Steve Wilson
ILLUSTRATOR: Lucy Tapper
PUBLISHER: Maverick Arts Publishing
FORMAT: Paperback
SIZE: 220 x 220 x 4 mm
PAGES: 32
LANGUAGE: English
ISBN: 978-1848861114
PUBLISHED: 14th January 2014

Absolutely adorable story of two hedgehogs, longing for hug and solved mystery of missing socks.

5 out of 5 stars

Available also from Amazon.

“Miss Dorothy-Jane Was Ever So Vain” written by Julie Fulton and illustrated by Jona Jung is part of “The Ever So” series and as excellent as the previous two titles. I have reviewed one of them before – “Tabitha Posy Was Ever So Nosy”.

Miss Doroty-Jane is really vain person, all she cares about it her look… until one day something completely unexpected happens. She is forgetting all about her outfit and gets all dirty to do something good. People now admire her for her actions and who she really is rather that for her beautiful dresses.

“Miss Dorothy-Jane Was Ever So Vain”

AUTHOR: Julie Fulton
ILLUSTRATOR: Jona Jung
PUBLISHER: Maverick Arts Publishing
FORMAT: Paperback
SIZE: 260 x 258 x 8 mm
PAGES: 32
LANGUAGE: English
ISBN: 978-1848861060
PUBLISHED: 19th September 2013

Doroty-Jane is really vain person until one day something change her…

5 out of 5 stars

Available also from Amazon.

The last but not the least is “Princess Stay Awake” written by Giles Paley-Phillips and illustrated by Adriana J. Puglisi. Giles Paley-Phillips is also an author of famous “Fearsome Beastie” and “Tamara Small and The Monsters’ Ball” which we have loved and read many, many times. But the “Princess Stay Awake” is even closer to our hearts… the little princess Layla on her scooter is just like our 3 years old Ella who is never tired and can never fall asleep. Only yesterday I have actually fallen asleep next to her bed trying to put her to sleep, just like the King and the Queen from the book.

Parents unsuccessfully try all kinds of tricks to make Layla fall asleep, but even the little stubborn princess can be outsmarted by the right person… and this is where grandmothers come handy (!) Super book, must read for any family with small children, I’m sure they would find this utterly adorable and funny, as we do.

“Princess Stay Awake”

AUTHOR: Giles Paley-Phillips
ILLUSTRATOR: Adriana J. Puglisi
PUBLISHER: Maverick Arts Publishing
FORMAT: Paperback
SIZE: 260 x 254 x 6 mm
PAGES: 32
LANGUAGE: English
ISBN: 978-1848861091
PUBLISHED: 28th January 2014

Superb, adorable, funny – must read for any family with small children.

5 out of 5 stars

Available also from Amazon.

You can find parts of this article between my other reviews on Amazon website.

DISCLOSURE: I received all four titles from Maverick for review purposes. I was not financially compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.