Book supplied by Netgalley for an honest review.

This is a typical Julia Donaldson, and that's a good thing. The story is short, well written and with a twist that the kids love! There's no Axel Scheffler and there's less rhyming than her other books, but the story is sweet with enough characters to keep the reader busy voicing them all!

Two giants of children's picture books team up for the first time in what could become an instant-classic, more because of its creators than necessarily standing alone on its content.

THE GIANT JUMPEREE is a charming little story of Rabbit and his friends, who are all too scared to enter or explore Rabbit's burrow because of the fearsome 'Giant Jumperee', who is 'taller than a tree' and threatens to 'sting you like a bee'.

For fans of Julia Donaldson's outstanding stories with Axel Scheffler (THE GRUFFALO, ZOG, ROOM ON THE BROOM, SNAIL AND THE WHALE, etc), this is a bit of departure in style and tone. Not just because the illustrator is the excellent Helen Oxenbury of WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT fame, rather than Scheffler. But because Donaldson adopts a different style to her own writing in this book, one more in keeping with WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT than THE GRUFFALO or ZOG.

Much of the story is more straightforward, not all of it is in rhyming verse, and there's less zaniness or action. There's a different feel to the rhythm as you read it aloud to your little one, but it flows well. More of a subtle, almost old-fashioned tone (this isn't a bad thing, just different).

THE GIANT JUMPEREE unfolds, building towards a nice finish. The illustrations bring to life the meadows surrounding Rabbit's burrow, and the animal friends. In a way the book almost adopts that quieter English countryside feel itself, feeling almost reminiscent of Beatrix Potter or THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS (Oxenbury's illustrations playing into that). It's a lovely story, a charming one, and one that I can see my two-year-old wanting to read again and again.

Like many a supergroup formed from talented and successful musicians, I'm not sure if Donaldson and Oxenbury's collaboration is greater than the sum of its parts, but it's an interesting experiment that has given us something different that's definitely worth having on your shelf at home.

When rabbit cannot get back in to his burrow because of a voice saying he is the "Giant Jumparee", who is going to be brave enough to challenge the interloper. This is another beautifully crafted work by Julia Donaldson; this time with some charming illustrations by the legend that is Helen Oxenbury. The twist at the end is going to totally thrill the audience. This is going on to my list of favourites to read out in School.

Again, lovely use of rhyme and the illustrations add another layer to the story. A comic look at how we deal with fear. I loved it, but my six year old thought the baby frog was really mean playing a trick on the other animals to scare them! He adored the pictures, and the text was at just the right level for him to read aloud.