CHILDREN’S BOOKS
EMILY BEARN picks her favourites
The sorrows of lockdown have inspired some of the most joyful picture books this year, with an increasing emphasis on themes of love and separation. While We Can’t Hug by Eoin Mclaughlin (Faber, 32pp, £6.99) tells the heart-warming story of a hedgehog and a tortoise who must learn how to show affection while social distancing. ‘Hedgehog and Tortoise were the best of friends. They wanted to give each other a great, big hug. But they weren’t allowed to touch,’ the story begins – in a scenario with which many grandparents will be all too familiar. With enchanting illustrations by Polly Dunbar, this is a story that will be read long after hugging is allowed again. And Pug Hug by Zehra Hicks (Hodder, 32pp, £6.99) is the highly engaging story of a friendly pet pug, who cannot find anyone to return his affection. Cat doesn’t like hugs, Rabbit is too busy, and Hamster is too quick. ‘I’ll give you a hug,’ says Crocodile, whose surprise appearance provides the perfect balance of comedy and suspense.
The Longest, Strongest Thread by Inbal Leitner (Scallywag, 32pp, £12.99) tells the touching story of a little girl who is moving with her parents to a new country and is worried about leaving her grandmother behind. ‘Grandma can’t walk all the way to my new home. So I am making her an aeroplane she can fly with.’
Meanwhile Monsieur Roscoe on Holiday (Hodder, 32pp, £12.99), by Jim Field, is the perfect present for any toddler who made a lockdown resolution to learn French. In this action-packed picture book, an accident-prone dog tours France on his summer holidays, learning some vital vocabulary along the way. And in children’s poetry,
The B on your Thumb (Frances Lincoln, 80pp, £9.99) by Colette Hiller and Tor Freeman is a collection of masterful rhymes, intended to help young readers learn to spell. ‘Q met U/ while in a queue/ waiting for/ a bus,’ begins a romantic ballad about Q and U. ‘“How I love U,”/ announced the Q … “I love Q too,”/ replied the U./ “I’ll be your queen forever.”’
In chapter books, old-fashioned adventure stories have dominated the market for readers of seven-plus. Fans of Enid Blyton will love Jack’s Secret Summer (Hodder, 224pp, £6.99), a debut novel by the actor Jack Ryder. In a story inspired by the summer holidays of his own childhood, this absorbing drama features an ivy-clad house, whose mysteries are guarded by a girl with no memory. And in another outstanding debut, The Island That Didn’t Exist by Joe Wilson (OUP, 256pp, £6.99) tells the story of a 12-year-old boy, who is plunged into mishap when he inherits a remote island. As with Jack’s Secret Summer, this is a nostalgic adventure story, with a satisfyingly modern twist.
For slightly older readers, Sky Pirates (Simon & Schuster, 3524pp, £6.99) is a wonderfully inventive debut novel by Alex English, recounting the adventures of Echo, who has grown up imprisoned in the kingdom of Lockfort, and dreams of exploring the world. Her chance comes when an eccentric professor crash lands his airship outside her bedroom window. And Death D Sets Sail (Puffin, 400pp, £6.99) £ is the much-awaited final instalment in Robin Stevens’s bestselling detective series Murder Most Unladylike, in which the author combines 1930s schoolgirl high-jinx with crimes worthy of Agatha Christie. In their ninth adventure, our intrepid heroines Daisy and Holly must rise to the rescue during a holiday in Egypt, when a passenger on their cruise ship is found stabbed to death in her cabin.
One of last year’s most exciting debuts was The Umbrella Mouse by Anna Fargher, about a young mouse called Pip, who is orphaned in the London blitz. In this summer’s highly satisfying sequel – Umbrella Mouse to the Rescue (Macmillan, 256pp, £6.99) – we find Pip in France, fighting for the resistance.
And don’t miss The Midnight Guardians (Walker, 400pp, £7.99), the new WWII fantasy by Ross Montgomery, author of Max and the Millions. In Montgomery’s most ambitious book to date, a young boy discovers a world of magic when his imaginary friends come to life, and join him in a race to save his sister from Blitz-bombed London.
This has also been a bumper year for books about the natural world. The Big Book of Blooms (AVA, 64pp, £15.26) is the latest in the artist Yuval Zommer’s sumptuously illustrated Big Book series, whose subjects have so far included Bugs, Birds, and Beasts. With an introduction instructing children on all the skills needed to be a botanist, this latest volume answers vital questions about everything from the diet of a Venus fly trap, to the strength of a giant water lily. And no budding scientist should be without When Darwin Sailed t the Sea by David Long (Wide Eyed E Editions, 80pp, £12.99) – a concise c and beautifully illustrated biography b of Charles Darwin, published pub to mark the 200th anniversary of the launch of the HMS Beagle.