It’s been a long time since Postman Pat and Thomas the Tank Engine were regular bedtime reads in our household.

Thank heavens – Marmite stories every one.

Loved by kids.

Bottom of the reading aloud pile for adults.

Sadly, Fred Arthur’s Twenty Four Days to Christmas is also a little bit Marmite.Of course, the kids will love little Poppy, who is counting the days to Christmas, and is convinced she won’t be able to contain her excitement.

And, no doubt they’ll share her frustration – how can she possibly wait so long for Santa to arrive?

But her parents have a cunning plan – and every day Poppy completes a different Christmas themed activity to keep her busy until the big day.

Cheesy rhymes and jolly pictures

Told in rhyming couplets, with illustrations by Paul Winward, Twenty Four Days is an Advent Calendar of a book, which can be read one day at a time or as a complete story.

Supposedly aimed at seven-to-nine year olds, this is probably more suited to being read-aloud to pre-school children, who’ll no doubt love the cheesy rhymes and the jolly pictures.

Their parents will probably groan in sympathy with Poppy’s mum and dad, struggling to contain the impatience of a child who fears she’ll be in her old age before Santa and his reindeers come calling.

“Twenty four days,” says Poppy. “That’s nearly a lifetime.”

Not quite – but it’ll feel like it to mum and dad.

Definitely a Marmite book.

NB: Fred Arthur is the pen name of Pincher Martin and Mike Dineen, both Commanders in the Royal Navy.

NB: Fred Arthur is the pen name of Pincher Martin and Mike Dineen, both Commanders in the Royal Navy.

Review by Sue Featherstone.

Available to buy on Amazon.