ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week - Week Ending 6th December 2013 - "Murilla Gorilla and the Lost Parasol" by Jennifer Lloyd and Jacqui Lee (Simply Read Books)

Murilla Gorilla is back! We absolutely loved "Murilla Gorilla - Jungle Detective" and when that first book hinted at a sequel, we waited...and we waited...and we waited. Finally it's arrived after all our waiting (a bit like Murilla herself) and caused such excitement at home, Charlotte's eyes lit up.

Imagine The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency set in an animal world, with Murilla Gorilla as Mma Ramotswe and you'll start to get an idea of why we love this book. It also gives me a good excuse to do a ton of silly animal voices and the mini-chapter format of the book is a brilliant fit for Charlotte's current reading level, where she still loves lots and lots of illustrations but can handle chapters and text too.

So while I washed up, Charlotte began reading the story to me (I love it when this happens) and we learned about Murilla's latest case. Poor Murilla lives in a shack with a leaky roof and when she discovers her mop is broken (after hunting high and low in the house, and eventually finding it in the bath!) Murilla sets out to visit the market for a replacement.

After the huge rainstorm, the market is in a mess but Murilla soon tracks down a new mop, and also a rather forlorn Parrot parasol salesman who has lost a yellow parasol.

Murilla, complete with her detective backpack, is soon on the case. Stopping for a rain-soaked muffin and digging out her magnifying glass, Murilla's haphazard detective skills soon get to the bottom (or should we say top?) of the mystery.

To find out exactly what happened to that missing parasol, and to experience the sheer joy of finding a book that feels so vibrant and different that you just can't help diving in for another read as soon as you've finished, makes this a must-have. Jennifer and Jacqui have come up with a corking good character and we truly hope that Murilla is gearing up for case number three!

Charlotte's best bit: Soggy muffins are no problem when your tummy is rumbling!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Coming up with a multitude of crazy voices for Murilla, the mandrill, the parrot and all the other characters. My kind of book!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Simply Read Books)