The feel of the boys annual 2011 is very now, it has a real retro boys own feel to it, however, once you take a look inside it is very current and Maxi couldn’t wait to get his hands on it.

The girls annual 2011 is pink and silver which scored it well with my daughter before she’d opened the cover! Inside, the book was packed with magic tricks, things to make, puzzles, baking ideas and stories aimed at girls.

All the statistics about the solar system are kept at hand in this cube book, which is a fun way of keeping your planets all to hand. Both the boys love the solar system and the planets and have been using the cube to keep us all informed about the size and location of the planets. The cube book is fun to use and once you start playing with it, you just can not stop.

I had been eagerly anticipating seeing my Little Miss, Ella, in print with the ‘It’s Your Story’ Book and I was not disappointed when it arrived and I pulled out the lovely Fairy Girl Book. It’s titled “Ella and Fairy Girl’s Unicorn Hunt”. Produced in association with ‘Bang on the Door’, the cover is heavy, laminated paper with bright, bold graphics and Ella’s picture as the face of the main character. It’s really an adorable book. The pages are a heavy paper and it’s very professionally produced. You can also have a special message written to your child which appears on the first paper page of the book as a dedication.

Little Croc’s Purse is a gorgeous little book that explores the issues of honesty and generosity in a fun, cute way. The illustrations are lovely, and Flea still regularly asks to read this story a couple of months after it first came into the house.

When I was asked to review a book entitled “Toilet Trivia” with my children, I was a little apprehensive about what this would be like! However from the moment I opened it we were in stitches and amazement. For example – did you know that in Australia you can’t wear hot-pink trousers past 4 o’clock on a Sunday or that in France it’s against the law to die unless you’ve already purchased a cemetery plot?! (Like what are they going to do – sue you?! Haha)

Nappy Duck and Potty Pig is a nice simple book, which shows characters using the potty without pushing the agenda too hard. It seems to have worked for us, as well as being a favourite book to look at (over and over again) Ben is now potty training.

These toddler-proof books are perfect for Kai and designed to withstand some bashing – other books we have from the series are still going strong after months of use. Kai loved exploring the different textures in each page and the simple, repetitive story. As is the usual, each page hides a little white mouse somewhere in the picture and Kai loves looking for it and spotting it.

The Christmas themes for these two particular books are lovely – Kai may not have much of an understanding of what Christmas is yet but it made ME feel Christmasy to sit and read them to him! The Santa book seemed to be his favourite and features a wider variety of textures.

This beautiful, large ‘touchy-feely’ board book from Usborne contains fun things to find on every page behind lots of little flaps and different textures for curious fingers to explore.

My Perfect Christmas is beautiful personalised book. It made us feel warm, fuzzy, and festive inside. We all enjoyed the pictures, the story and the sentiment behind the book. To receive in time for Christmas, order before 14th December.