Charlie Cook's Favourite Book

I wanted to like this book, but it has no plot and doesn’t hold my kid’s interest and he generally LOVES books. He’ll request to read pretty much anything repeatedly. You can skip this book.

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This author and illustrator team is a family favorite. My kids 6 and 8 year old never get bored of this book and we read a lot. They also love the Gruffulo series. This is a wonderful book to add to your family library.

My 3 year old son has many of Julia Donaldson's books and this is one of his favorites. The illustrations are beautifully done and really enhance the story. This book makes refernces to other books within the story and keeps it interesting. I think my son will enjoy this story for years to come.

This is a corker of a children's book, on a par with Room On the Broom - immediately engaging, entertaining for both children and adults alike, memorable, and beautifully illustrated - a real page-turner. This is one of the few children's books that one would willingly read and re-read on request: it does not patronise the child by avoiding interesting words, is well-paced, very funny and also rather clever. Both my children love it and, I must admit, I'm delighted by it, too! Great value for money and I would imagine even older children would enjoy reading about a pirate who walked the plank and swam ashore to find buried treasure (a book), a ghost who put her head back on after a night of haunting (to read a book), and a knight who made a dragon laugh by telling a joke (from his favourite book). The message is that there are few things in life more enjoyable than a good book. Hear, hear.

I'm a huge fan of this author/illustrator team, and this book is another great one. The concept is very clever and engaging. I enjoy reading it almost as much as my daughter loves hearing it.

I don't think there's a better writer of children's books out there today than Julia Donaldson. Her books are perfect for reading aloud to a toddler: just the right length to keep the attention of reader and listener, great rhymes, and clever stories. This new book is no exception, and is worthy of a spot on your child's bookshelf alongside "The Gruffalo" and "The Snail & The Whale." This book is the literary equivalent of holding up a mirror while you're looking in a mirror: there are layers of stories within stories. Little Charlie Cook likes a particular book, the characters in his book like another book, the characters in that book like another book, etc., so that every page (whimsically numbered in a non-consecutive fashion) basically takes you into another book. The overall effect is like browsing through a whole children's library in a single book: you get a pirate story, an animal story, a knight/dragon story, an alien story, etc. I won't give away the ending, but suffice it to say it's clever like all of Julia Donaldson's endings. Bottom line: this book should appeal mightily to all the little budding bookworms out there, and to their big bookworm parents.