AGE 6-9

KNIGHTHOOD FOR BEGINNERS by Elys Dolan (OUP £6.99)

BETTER known for her picture books, this first foray into young fiction by Elys Dolan is a laugh-outloud triumph.

Young Dave is struggling to become a fully rounded dragon — eating villagers makes him feel ‘sicky’ — so when he finds a volume called Knighthood For Beginners he starts a quest to win his spurs instead.

With a sturdy steed — a goat called Albrecht — he sets out on an adventure and discovers that many others are also fulfilling roles to which they are unsuited, including a doctor who wants to be a jester and a princess who wants to marry a frog without it turning into a prince . . .

With plenty of wildly imaginative black-and-white illustrations, this is the perfect step up from picture books.

ST GRIZZLE’S SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, GHOSTS AND RUNAWAY GRANNIES by Karen McCombie, illustrated by Becka Moor (Stripes £5.99)

WHEN Dani’s mum goes to study penguins’ bottoms in Antarctica, St Grizelda’s School For Girls seems the perfect place for Dani to stay. So when she is chosen to direct a film called Why We Love Where i Live for a local competition, she’s determined to win. But the other pupils are undisciplined and only Dani’s granny Viv seems to understand the importance of the project. Fizzing with mayhem, this is a welcome addition to the popular boarding school genre — ideal for the age range.

THE TALE OF ANGELINO BROWN by David Almond, illustrated by Alex T. Smith (Walker Books £10.99)

DAVID ALMOND’S talent for mining the humour and emotion of potentially sad situations is unequalled, no more so than in this story involving the sudden appearance in bus driver Bert’s top pocket of a tiny angel whom he takes home to his wife Betty.

The couple’s only son died some years earlier and they name the sweet (if flatulent) spirit Angelino.

The schoolchildren where Betty is dinner lady adore him, but the acting headteacher certainly does not — and when a plot is hatched by sinister thugs to kidnap Angelino and sell him to the highest bidder, there can be only one winner.

With shades of Pinocchio, this is a warm-hearted lesson in the importance of love, and a reminder that not all learning takes place in the classroom.