Julia Donaldson has to be one of the finest writers for tempo in children's writing today; the rhythm in her books is simple and flawless (even if she does cheat occasionally on her rhyming couplets). Zog is another example of a beautiful book that dances along as you read it out loud, with sections of repeated verse that any child you are reading this with can latch onto and join along with before the end of the book. It's a lovely tale about a little dragon (the eponymous Zog) who is learning to be a big boy and on the way gets help from a little girl who turns out to be a princess. It may not quite have the universal appeal of the Gruffalo, but it's a great book nonetheless and the story is perfectly paced, easy to understand for younger children and has its own message which is well worth teaching.