1st October Julie Andrews Edwards (1935)

Julie Andrews Edwards is an author of children's books , but she is also Julie Andrews, the singer and actress responsible for hit movies such as The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins. Together with her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton she is the author of a series of picture books about Dumpy, a dump truck and more recently what appears to be a series of books about Geraldine, a small girl who is convinced she is a fairy.

Dumpy the Dumptruck, is the first of a series about the tractors and

trucks on Merryhill Farm. These stories for truck-loving readers have worthwhile themes, even if you aren't enamoured with the illustrations and slight predictable plots. In this first story the themes of loyalty, co-operation and collaboration and respect for the elderly shine through. The boys in my library who like the Benny the Breakdown Truck series by William Smax and Keren Ludlow also enjoy Dumpy.

The newer books, The Very Fairy Princess and The Very Fairy Princess Takes the Stage, both illustrated by Christine Davenier appeal to my girls who are besotted by Pinklicious, (Victoria Kann) Princess Poppy (Janey Jones) and The Adventures of Pinkie (Maddy Rose).