Richard & Judy ... Aliens Love Underpants ... Alphaoops!

In book news, Richard and Judy are spreading their commercial literary expertise to start up a children’s book club. Channel 4, tonight at 8pm (competing for your attention with Waterloo Road over on BBC1 and some football match on Five).

And I’m pleased to report that the splendidly fun Aliens Love Underpants! by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort is on their initial list. Although placed in their Early (5+) category, I can confirm that it’s one of the current favourites of our just under three year old daughter.

One deserving book that hasn’t made it to their list but is a joy to read (over and over and over again) is Alphaoops! The Day Z Went First by Alethea Kontis and Bob Kolar which I picked up in San Francisco airport about eleven months ago. The story of what happens when the Z decides not to go last, and the other letters mess around too. Explains why we have a ("J is for") Jack-o'-Lantern in the house, rather than a pumpkin!

Update: The overnight viewing figures weren't so enthusiastic about Richard & Judy's Best Kid's Books - with only 684k viewers (2.9%) tuning in.

So far this year, this slot on Channel 4 normally averages 2.3m (10.9%). But as part of C4's Lost for Words literacy season, it may have been a worthwhile public service broadcasting gesture to schedule the programme in such a lucrative slot.

For comparison, Five captured 1.6m (7.4%) viewers on their sofas for Everton's Uefa Cup tie, while BBC 2 had 2.4m (11%) for The Truth About Property, BBC1 kept 4.6m (20.7%) behind after class for Waterloo Road, and ITV "beat" the competition with 4.9m (22%) tuning into The Bill. [source: Broadcast Magazine]