Once a series like Maisy takes off and becomes a feature in every discount and department store, it’s easy to forget what made you love her in the first place.

And while the monopolisation of series like Maisy in chain store aisles undoubtedly takes shelf space away from the huge variety of other creative and talented authors out there, it is nice to know that there is a quality children’s book available very accessibly.

I love Lucy Cousin’s bold colours in all her books and the clever use of concepts that appeal to babies and toddlers. In the pop-up and lift-the-flap editions of Maisy in particular, the illustrations are always a little bit quirky, and reveal something unexpected.

Rowan knows ‘Maisy’ as ‘Mimi’ ‘cos he has a Maisy DVD where you can select the language, and I’ve only ever played it to him in French. (One day he’ll get me back for doing things like that…) I know some mums who find the character dialogue in the Maisy animated series annoying. But what I only just discovered is that the character voices and sound effects were recorded in London by Australia’s own comedy duo, The Umbilical Brothers. That puts it in a new light!

For Melbourne Maisy lovers, Readings stores have a promotion this month, giving away a mini Maisy plush toy with every hardback Maisy book purchase. (We bought Maisy at the Farm, pictured here.)

And speaking of oldies but goodies, check out this lovely post on Media Macaroni titled Why Charlie and Lola Makes Me Want to Procreate.