CHILDREN’S SALLY MORRIS
TEN GREEN BOTTOMS
by Barry Timms Illustrated by Mike Byrne (Macmillan €9.30, 32pp) INSPIRED by the counting song Ten Green Bottles, this very funny rhyming countdown adventure sees ten green-bottomed aliens arrive on Earth by green-bottomed spaceship and wreak havoc.
From chucking socks and pants around a shop, slipping in hippo poo, and making a stinky smell, they leave a trail of chaos as each disappears, until the last little bum makes its solitary way to the fart-powered spacecraft — only to find his friends all travelling, windassisted, back to their home.
With a final, open-out gatefold and simple sums, this is a wonderful introduction to numbers. Age 3+
A DROP OF GOLDEN SUN
by Kate Saunders (Faber €11.20, 324pp) COSTA-WINNING author Kate Saunders died last year, but fortunately left this last novel to remind us of her talent.
It’s 1973 and lonely, ten-yearold Jenny is chosen to be one of four child actors starring in a new musical film (The Sound Of Music by any other name), and travels to France with her single mother to film it.
The other kids have troubled family backgrounds and gradually, after a bumpy start, they become a supportive group and their respective parents also undergo a transformation.
Although it touches on themes of bullying and mental health, it’s refreshingly sunny and upbeat, with all loose ends satisfyingly tied up before the closing credits roll. 9+
THE WHISPERWICKS by Jordan Lees (Puffin €15, 432pp)
THE gripping opening of this fantasy series draws you in to a labyrinth of dark magic, poppet dolls, good versus evil and fierce sibling love.
In magical Wreathenwold, twins Edwid and Elizabella become estranged before Edwid goes missing.
Meanwhile, in the real world, anxious 11-year-old Benjamin Creek is sent a mysterious doll that can shape-shift into a bird. When it leads him into Wreathenwold, he tries to help Elizabella find Edwid and discover his own way home. 10+