ONCE UPON A WILD WOOD

(Macmillan £12.99, 32 pp) forMer Children’s Laureate Chris riddell weaves traditional fairytale characters throughout this story in which his heroine, Little Green raincape, is invited to rapunzel’s party deep in the wild woods.

As she wends her way through the trees, she meets an old lady offering a rosy apple and a ‘helpful’ wolf, stops at a house owned by three bears and comforts a lonely Beast, pining for his Beauty.

There’s extraordinary detail in the illustrations and, while children will enjoy spotting the familiar faces, the way in which riddell subverts the original stories introduces a fresh take on age- old adventures, heroes and villains.