The clear lines and bright colours attract immediate interest and the pop-up animals are satisfyingly chunky and
The clear lines and bright colours attract immediate interest, and the pop-up animals are satisfyingly chunky and tough enough to resist a fair bit of tugging. And when the dribbling stage is over, your infant will have a few simple facts to read, too.How much: pounds 4.99 (Campbell Books, paperback)22WHIFF, OR HOW THE BEAUTIFUL BIG FAT SMELLY BABY FOUND A FRIENDBy Ian Whybrow, illus Russell Ayto Whiff is a big, fat, smelly baby warthog. He is very well behaved, and has very nice table manners, but every time he gets invited out by new friends, he comes home in disgrace. And then he meets Baby Littlebird, who appreciates him for what he is. Energetic illustrations spice up this readable, reassuring story.How much: pounds 9.99 (Doubleday)23CLARICE BEAN, THAT’S MEBy Lauren ChildClarice is searching for some peace and quiet But it’s not that easy. She has an annoying twit of a younger brother, a self-obsessed older sister who is always telling her to “GO AWAY!”, and an older brother who’s lost in the “dark tunnel of adolescence” and a pile of stinking socks.
A fresh, playful, wonderfully chaotic look at family life that will make you laugh out loud.How much: pounds 0.99 (Orchard)24KENSUKE’S KINGDOMBy Michael Morpurgo Desert-island stories have a long lineage in children’s literature, and this novel shows that the genre still has a lot going for it. Wrecked and apparently marooned, young Michael finds he shares a small island with an ancient Japanese soldier left over from the last war. Gradually they become friends, combining forces to fend off some evil hunters out to kidnap babies from the island’s orang-utan colony. This is a magical, serene story, fetchingly illustrated by the excellent Michael Foreman.How much: pounds 8.99 (Heinemann)25MISTER SPACEMANBy Lesley Howarth This is a truly excellent novel. Young Thomas Moon wants to be a spaceman, so much so that everything else – in particular, school – seems of no importance. Parents and teachers get increasingly fed up with him, but this is a boy with a mission.
Told partly in emails sent to his best friend, this story is funny and touching, and highlights a problem in the education system whereby eccentric pupils are sometimes seen as little more than a threat to a school’s overall academic standards. A lovely book.How much: pounds 9.99 (Walker Books)26HERE COMES MOTHER GOOSEEdited by Iona Opie, illus Rosemary WellsA sequel to My Very First Mother Goose, this treasury has more rhymes, both familiar and obscure, to delight young readers The pleasure of this collection lies in indulgence. The format is big, the colours are rich, it’s well stocked with beautiful images, and the use of space is generous. So, whether it’s dancing around the mulberry bush or tipping like a teapot, this sumptuous slab is a book to really take your time over.How much: pounds 4.99 (Walker)27I WANT A SISTERBy Tony Ross When the Little Princess is told that there is to be a new addition to the family, the royal tot declares firmly that it must be a sister: brothers are smelly, rough and have all the wrong toys But even little princesses don’t always have their way.
This inventive variation on the new sibling theme was extremely popular with my son when his longed-for baby brother turned out to be a baby sister.How much: pounds 8.99 (Andersen)28THE GREAT CASTLE OF MASHMANGLEBy Malachy Doyle, illus Paul Hess A little boy goes to stay with his Granddaddy. That’s the basic story, but the real subject of this wonderful book is words and the fun that can be had with them The boy discovers that Granddaddy has a special language. He calls water “soggadrop”, stairs “the wooden hill”, bed is a “fortywink cockpit” – and so gradually a treasury of rich and evocative words is revealed.How much: pounds 9.99 (Andersen)29TELLING TALESBy Susan Price Susan Price is a master storyteller, as anyone who has read her superb The Sterkarm Handshake will surely agree. This collection of 2 original stories weaves traditional themes within modern needs and contexts. As three generations of storytellers sit around a fire sewing, one story runs into another as seamlessly as the bride’s new clothes featured in the first tale of this bewitching assembly.How much: pounds 4.99 (Hodder, paperback)30THE STONES ARE HATCHINGBy Geraldine McCaughrean Geraldine McCaughrean always offers something special, possessing as she does the wildest, strangest imagination in children’s literature today. This story features an ordinary child unwillingly travelling back to a spirit world where there are heroic acts he is required to perform.
