Bright and cheery? Check. Silly title? Check. Cute penguin with pants on his head? Check.

Katie Abey’s book cover leapt out at me from the review pile. We Wear Pants is a fun romp through getting dressed, packed with engaging animals.

There’s no narrative story but plenty to entertain on the colourful pages full of a winning cast of characters trying on different items of clothing. It’s a book that younger children could ‘read’ on their own, spotting their favourite animal on each spread. Speech bubbles add questions and counting tasks for older children.

Maybe some readers would prefer a more logical thread through getting dressed building up from pants and ending up with pyjamas but I liked the random nature of socks appearing later than wellies. And I was really pleased to see a whole double spread of characters in glasses as we need more positive images of spectacles rather than just a way of signposting the ‘brainy’ kid (speaking as a mum who had to persuade a two-year-old to keep their glasses on).

But the main joy of this book is the endearing animal illustrations. More books featuring them please, Bloomsbury. My favourite is the koala, or maybe the goat…no, definitely the rabbit.

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