Mr Creep the Crook ¦ Mrs Jolly's Joke Shop ¦ Miss Dose the Doctors' Daughter

The 'Happy Families' series seems to be the exception to the general rule that, on the whole, the more books there are in a series the more feeble they become. I have no idea how the Ahlbergs do it but everything they do is magic and these three books by Allan Ahlberg are winners all over aging.

Mr Creep the Crook is not only a funny and clever story written with both simplicity and sophistication but it has references back to other books in the series which make young readers feel very well read as they recognise them. Andre Amstutz's illustrations are just right for the cartoony sort of characters involved. Mrs Jolly is a wonderful joke in itself since the whole plot, if that's the word I want, is based on awful old jokes. If your heart sinks when your six-year-olds say, 'Do you want to hear a joke?', then don't buy this book ... it's full of them!

Miss Dose is another of Allan Ahlberg's resourceful and ambitious female characters, saving the day when the whole family, in fact the whole town' goes down with spots.