I Want A Pet by Lauren Child (Frances Lincoln, £5.99)Lauren Child's tale of an animal loving little girl and her not-so-keen family has typically witty rhetoric and inventive, sketchy illustrations. Children who find their demands for a menagerie

365 Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental and Joelle Jolivet (Abrams, £9.95)Would your child like to have a pet penguin? How about 365? Discover the perils of keeping penguins as pets along with simple maths problems and cool monochrome illustrations

There's more than a hint of Christopher Robin charm about Belle and Boo, the delightful creations of Mandy Sutcliffe of the cutest little girl with an auburn bob, Belle, and her pet rabbit, Boo. This sweet tale tells of a birthday surprise

That Pesky Rat by Lauren Child (Orchard, £5.99)"That Pesky Rat lives alone in a dustbin, but is looking up at the stars, longing to be somebody's pet. A wonderful story about love and loneliness in the big city".Buy That Pesky Rat

, to Dr Seuss, any books by Anthony Browne, through Famous Five, Narnia, and now our eldest is into Patrick Ness.How do you feel about the rise of E-readers and storybook apps?The new technologies definitely have their place and can be a useful tool

’s Got Talent. Now it’s the turn of dapper doggy Archie to take centre stage in a sartorial adventure. When a mystery package arrives from Great Aunt Betty, it turns out to be a sewing machine, which gives Archie a bright idea. How about creating a smart

Coconutterly Fair, isn't enough) including fairground attractions, a traditional petting farm and, er, bare-toe wrestling. Book for London or Manchester now! To find out about more fab festivals to fill your summer, check out our Junior Festivals Listings.

, or practise dressing a soft toy. There are also books about getting dressed  to familiarise your child with the routine. Recommended titles include Buster Gets Dressed by Rod Campbell and Black Dog Gets Dressed by Lizi Boyd.   More lifeskills from Junior

and packaging. I also really love those old Parisian circus posters from the Twenties.What would you like your next book to be about?I’d love to write a book about goats! The goats in Prague Zoo had me utterly captivated recently. I spent ages petting them

it into a solid picture book.I always try to write about what excited me as a child in the hope that children will share that same excitement. Stories of feral Mogli-esque children have always fascinated me and as a child I adored animals and daydreamed