Our bumper book bazaar

With so much choice for young readers in the bookshops, N2 children’s book reviewer CAROLINE FRANKLIN offers help with a pick of Christmas titles

FIRSTLY, a very merry preChristmas to you all!

Without wishing to dowse the Christmas spirit, you may have seen that a Cambridge University archive is being updated to include ‘trigger warnings’ in certain children’s books which they consider include “slavery, colonialism or racism”? The researchers have some 10,000 books to go through so it may take a while.

Among the children’s books likely to be flagged are, I read, The Water Babies and The Wizard of Oz ,and well known names such as Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl will be coming under the spotlight. Whether the archive includes old annuals, I don’t know, but if so some of my friend Rupert Bear’s tales may also end up being flagged.

Everyone will have their own opinion and of course the researchers have the protection of children at heart. Nevertheless, I’m with Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, when he says he believes that the whole point of much of children’s literature is to introduce them to alternative worlds. Just so. So let’s wish the researchers wisdom and a happy Christmas and get on with looking at some of the books which will make wonderful presents for a lucky child. There are multitude of Christmas books for the age group three to five and you couldn’t get more Christmassy than Fly, Fly, Fly Your Sleigh (Macmillan £6.99 PB).The elves are busy packing presents, but Santa has had enough of delivering and wants to opt out. Elves and the reindeer sing merry songs and in the end Santa gives in – to get away from all that singing. A fun, colourful book, with opportunities for mum or dad to exercise their vocal chords and make the young listener laugh.

Santa’s New Sleigh (Faber £6.99) by Caroline Crowe and Jess Pauwels, is another jolly Christmassy book, with a different problem. Santa’s willing to fly off – but his sleigh is broken! He’s in a stew, the elves are dashing about to find an alternative and the post office is closed. AAAAGH!

One handyman elf comes up with a solution – an electric climatefriendly sleigh! All it needs is the battery charged by the elves cycling. Bingo... all done. Another story the very young will love. The gorgeous Robin, Robin (Two Hoots £12.99 HB) is the story of an egg which came the way of a family of mice who were surprised when it cracked and a small robin stepped out. The trouble was that where mice can creep about and pick up crumbs, Robin just couldn’t get the hang of it. It takes a friendly magpie to show him what he was born to do and then, at last, he can help his mouse friends. A heartwarming story by Dan Ojari and Mikey Please with delightful illustrations by Briony May Smith for three or four-year-olds.

The Lights That

Dance In The Night (Oxford University Press £12.99 HB) by Yuval Zommer is the story of the stars and northern lights which start as “specks of dust blown to Earth from the Sun” and which seem miraculous to the animals and birds which live in the frozen lands below. The descriptive words make this indeed a magical book for children aged four/five. Grace and the Christmas Angel (Macmillan £12.99 HB) is one of my favourite books in this group. Grace and her brother are taking part in the school Christmas play, but their father, the captain of a fishing boat is caught in a storm and doesn’t get home in time to see them. It takes Hope, the angel of the title, to sort out the waves and get him back in time for Christmas Day. Another heartwarming story, by Lucinda Riley and Harry Whittaker, illustrated by Jane Ray, full of colour and with an angel ribbon marker adding a final

Christmassy touch.

Alex T Smith’s How Winston Came Home for Christmas (Macmillan £14.99 HB) should ideally be given as a very early present, for its 24 chapters are meant to be read one a day from December 1. However, any child will quickly catch up on the variety of short stories and Christmassy things to make – including Lebkuchen (German cookies), Rosenmunaar (it’s a Swedish biscuit) and Christmassy ornaments. With fun illustrations this is a book six-year-olds and upwards will enjoy. Many celebrities have taken to writing children’s books recently, not all successfully. Paul O’Grady is an exception with Eddie Albert and the Amazing Animal Gang (Harper Collins £12.99 HB). Any child aged nine plus will love this story of Eddie, who can speak to animals, but doesn’t fit in so well with people. When he is sent to his aunt in Amsterdam, however, he discovers he fits in very well indeed. When he sees a sadeyed orang-utan in captivity, Eddie, his aunt. a new chum, Flo, plus a hoard of animals with whom he can communicate of course, set out to save the unhappy animal. Touching and hilarious, an ideal present.

Another animal – or rather bird – story is Einstein the Penguin (Harper Collins £12.99HB) by Iona Rangeley, illustrated by David Tazzyman.When the Stewart family visit the zoo, they have no idea what is in store for them. One penguin is very friendly to the two children, but they didn’t expect him to turn up at their front door, complete with rucksack the next day!

Einstein, who has escaped from the Sydney zoo in Australia, is desperately searching for his friend, Isaac, a rockhopper penguin who has been sent to another zoo in Edinburgh. The story of how the Stewart family help to reunite the friends is a hilarious and, just occasionally, poignant story for the nines-plus.

Australian born Nandi always looks forward to her Greek Aunt Elena’s visits and the tales her aunt tells her of the gods of ancient Greece and her stories of Ithaca, the island where she lives. When Elena is no longer able to make the journey to Australia, Nandi decides that when her education is finished, she will go to Ithaca and rediscover her aunt. What happens when she gets there makes excellent reading in Michael Morpurgo’s When Fishes FlewThe Story of Elena’s War (Harper Collins £12.99 HB). With the help of a talking flying fish who tells her the full story of Elena’s brave activities during the war, Nandi realises that her favourite aunt is an extraordinary person. But, where is she? The nines-plus will enjoy discovering.

For an older child aged 10 upwards who is having difficulty with reading, there’s a whole range of graphic novels which will help – and make a good present. The one which came to my desk is Shakespeare’s Hamlet (Usborne Books

£9.99 PB). The classic tale is retold with simplified text and is richly and colourfully illustrated. At the end of the story is an explanation of how the tale came to be written and a little about its author. Children with or without reading problems will enjoy reading one of the author’s best known stories. It is the time of the Cuban missile crisis and the question is whether President Kennedy can save the world.This is the background for The Week At World’s End (Faber £12.99 HB) a thrilling story by Emma Carroll telling how Stevie found a girl living in the family’s coal shed. Anna says that she is on the run from people who want to poison her. As the international situation worsens, so Anna’s behaviour becomes more mysterious.

Then Stevie discovers a dark secret which makes her wonder if, in fact, Anna has come specifically to see her. Every page will keep the reader wondering what will happen next in this action-packed story. A gem of a present for children aged 10 plus. Finally two small books which could be stocking fillers or simply a little present for the child next door. In Raffles Discovers the Magic (Grosvenor House Publishing £7.99 PB) Florence’s dog, Raffles, is left for the day with her grandad who owns an antique shop, it is not long before he discovers that the shop has hidden wonders, sparked off by magic dust.

A big sneeze... and Raffles is transported to India with an old stuffed monkey toy from the shop.

It’s all very exciting, but how will Raffles get back to grandad? A good story by Sally and Lowri Seagar, illustrated by Layla Cope ,for seven/eight-year-olds.

And lastly an old favourite, Greyfriars Bobby (Puffin Classics £7.99 PB). The story of the little dog who remained faithful when his shepherd master died and returned each night to sleep by his grave, is based on fact, for there was indeed a Greyfriars Bobby.

This story by Eleanor Atkinson, is one for all the family to enjoy, probably to shed a tear over, but to admire the little Skye terrier’s devotion and, perhaps, to give their own dog an extra cuddle.

Good luck with all that Christmas shopping, I hope these ideas have been helpful.