The Twits

The Twits is the story of horrible people who did horrible things and how they got their just desserts. It's a classic underdog tale, where the victims rise up to teach the bullies a lesson they will never forget.

The chapters are short, about 1 or 2 pages long, and the language used is simple and easy to understand. The book can therefore be used as a bridge to take young readers from picture books to chapter books.

The illustrations are wonderful and depict the expressions and actions of Mr and Mrs Twit very well. For me, Quentin Blake's illustrations are the definitive illustrations for Roald Dahl's works. I own a copy of James and the Giant Peach that features another illustrator's illustrations and the reading experience was not the same. It somehow did not feel as satisfying.

This is another one of my all-time favourites so again, I shall have to give it 5 out of 5 stars.

Author: Roald Dahl
Illustrator: Quentin Blake
First published in 1980 by Jonathan Cape Ltd

Age range: 7 to 10 years old

NA's rating: 5/5

Fortunately, the Milk...

Fortunately, the Milk... is the unexpected adventure of a father who steps out to buy some milk. He meets all sorts of characters: pirates, vampires, angry volcano gods, aliens and a really cool dinosaur.

The story is fast-paced and compels you to keep turning the pages till you reach the end. There's action on almost every page and the illustrations just jump out of the page (even though the copy I have is not in colour). The characters are larger than life. All these elements combined make the story feel so alive and vibrant. It's great for reading aloud to your child, though I wouldn't recommend it as a bedtime story. Your kids will probably be bouncing off the walls instead of settling down to sleep.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and found myself reading certain parts aloud. I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrator: Chris Riddell
First published in 2013 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Age range: 7 to 9 years old

NA's rating: 4.5/5