Julia Donaldson was writing lively, irresistible songs for children even before she was writing her much-loved books, and 23 of those songs are collected in this lovely book. Lots of the subjects will be familiar to children – there’s a song based on The Hare and the Tortoise for example, and a number that accompany some of her best-loved books including The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom and The Snail and the Whale. Illustrations throughout are by her long-time collaborator Axel Scheffler, making this wonderful to look at too. And there’s a CD of Julia performing the songs so that we can all join in. A treasury indeed that will provide hours of happy reading, listening and singing! ~Andrea Reece