• Fave Rave: Benny the Breakdown Truck
• Honorable mention: 10 Little Monsters

THIS MONTH'S FAVE RAVE:
Benny the Breakdown Truck, written by Keren Ludlow and illustrated by Willy Smax

Benny is a likeable character who is illustrated in a more subtle way than many books about vehicles that can talk and feel, featuring retro artwork colours rather than bright primaries. The books are a good size to hold at storytime and, comfortingly, some of the same characters appear in all four books. These include Mike McCannick and his handy bag of tools, and Benny himself.

Set in Brummingham, the two stories with especially good punchlines are Benny and the Bubble Car and Benny Goes to the Seaside. In the latter title, Benny is frustrated with Mike McCannick, who insists on caryying out essential checks before they can set off for a day at the seaside. This is a good device for fitting in technical details like pumping the tyres, and adding water to the radiator to prevent it from overheating. The destination Sea Cove is lovely, with text that tells us 'Benny couldn't believe his headlamps' when he first catches sight of it. You'll enjoy Benny's attempts at fishing on the quayside (remember he's a breakdown truck), and when he prevaricates about going home, you can hear echoes of all the children who have visited the seaside for the day and want it to carry on forever.

Published by Dolphin, £2.50

HONOURABLE MENTION:
10 Little Monsters, created by Jonathan Emmett and illustrated by Ant Parker
This counting book from one to ten has a different pop-up each time you turn a page, and features numbers as big as your hand.

The little monsters frolic in a tree, squeeze into the same coat, fly through the sky trapeze-style, and then wave goodbye to you at the end.

There are some clever touches: on the first page, one monster is reading a book with the bold number 1 on the front cover (the book pops out from the page). If we peep behind and look at what the little monster is reading, there's an exact repeat of the page we have just seen: the little monster reading a book all about number 1.

My favourite image is that for number 6, where six little monsters are swimming in the sea. Their bright eyes peep above the cut-out waves, and when the pages are opened and closed gently, the monsters bob up and down on the water.

Dad of a two-year-old comments: "My daughter it just becoming interested in numbers, and these monsters are great. They get up to the kinds of things she does, only they're more outrageous - at the moment anyway."

Published by Kingfisher, £7.99