Children's books for Christmas
Juliet Townsend part of the charm of giving books to children at Christmas is that they are so easy to wrap. After an evening spent wrestling with a variety of soft toys with elongated limbs and tails, a large combine harvester, an assortment of weapons and a pogo stick, it is a relief to settle down to all those nice regular rectangles. Christmas is also the only time that many children get given hardbacks, and the opportunity to enjoy a book as an object, not simply for its contents.
One agreeable object is the latest edition of Clement Moore's well known poem The Night Before Christmas, with beautiful blackand-white cut-paper illustrations by Niroot Puttapipat (Walker Books, £12.99.) The final pop-up of sledge and reindeer in full flight is stunning, although it might have a short life in the hands of any but the most careful child. It now seems de rigueur for very small children to be able to feel or smell their books as well as look at them. Usborne's 'Sparkly TouchyFeely' series includes Father Christmas by E Watt and R. Finn (£9.99,) a chance to fondle various parts of the poor old man's clothes, while those who do not find it slightly presumptuous can do the same in Baby Jesus by Caroline Jayne Church (Lion, £5.99.) The same publisher offers The Story of Jesus by Andrea Skevington with many colour illustrations by Angelo Ruta (9.99.) This is an excellent introduction to the Gospels for children of 7-10. The stories of the Old Testament are well told by Berlie Doherty in The Oxford Book of Bible Stories, a handsome book well illustrated by Jason Cockcroft which includes some of the less familiar stories. The Oxford Book of Children's Poetry by Michael Harrison and Christopher Stuart-Clark is another goodlooking book with a very well chosen selection of verse old and new which will appeal to children of all ages. Either of these, published to mark 100 years of Oxford children's books, would make an excellent present. Both cost £14.99. Also issued to mark this anniversary, at £10.99, is a facsimile edition of Clarke Hutton's delightfulA Picture History of Britain. First published in 1945, this will bring back memories to many readers and epitomises the best in mid-20th-century book illustration.
Very young children will enjoy the lively illustrations and rhythmic repetition of Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett (Macmillan, £9.99.) Repetition also plays a part in The Bear in the Cave by Michael Rosen, who wrote We're Going on a Bear Hunt. With its colourful illustrations by Adrian Reynolds, this is a good book to read aloud to small children. If you get bored of doing so, a CD is included in the £10.99 price, which is good value from Bloomsbury. A book I particularly enjoyed for this youngest age group is Tiddler, The Storytelling Fish by Julia Donaldson, creator of the much loved Gruffalo. The story of Tiddler, teller of dramatic tall stories who unexpectedly finds himself in the middle of a real adventure, is told in catchy and humorous verse, while the ocean world is brought vividly to life in Axel Scheffler's excellent illustrations (Alison Green Books, £10.99.) Slightly older children with an interest in the past will relish Stone Age Boy, a picture book by Satoshi Kitamura (Walker Books, £10.99). This is the story of a boy who goes back in time to the Stone Age and discovers a completely different way of life 15,000 years ago. Also set in the past, though a mere 1,500 years ago, is the new version of Beowulf by Nicky Raven (Templar, £14.99.) Even the grim hours spent wrestling in my youth with the difficult Anglo-Saxon text did not quite succeed in killing the magic, and this well told version has a strong sense of its Saxon roots, with a clear introduction and reproductions of pages of the original script. John Howe's illustrations are suitably gruesome, with Grendel's mother's teeth being particularly repellent. This book could perhaps be read in conjunction with the film of the same name which has just been released.
There are some excellent novels for older readers. The Red Necklace, A Story of the French Revolution (Orion £9.99) sounds like something by Henty. It is in fact Sally Gardner's latest foray into historical fiction. When I reviewed her earlier book, I, Coriander; I found it difficult to put my finger on the particular quality which sets her apart. Since then, I have learned that she is severely dyslexic, and that explains a great deal which is individual about her writing. Hers is a truly original voice. Like many dyslexic people, her ideas and vision come out of her own head rather than someone else's. The Red Necklace is a thrilling read, following the hero, Yann Margoza, through the last doomed days of the ancien regime, where the vacuous frivolity of the less estimable members of the aristocracy is particularly well evoked, into the Revolution and the start of the Terror. Unusually for a children's novelist, the author sees the Revolution as a noble idea which became corrupted. As in I, Coriander, there is a strong thread of magic running alongside the factual history. Yann has supernatural gifts, which stand him in good stead when he and his friends are trying to escape the guillotine and from the clutches of that most sinister of villains, Count Kalliovski. Also published by Orion at £9.99 is Dolphin Song by Lauren St John, the sequel to her acclaimed first novel The White Giraffe. Martine leaves her home on the African game reserve and her beloved giraffe Jemmy, to take part in an ill-fated school trip culminating in storm and shipwreck. Martine and her companions are rescued by dolphins and taken to a deserted island where they struggle to survive, not helped by hostilitywithin the group. The Lord of the Flies meets Coral Island, with a dash of magic thrown in, for in this book too the main character has supernatural powers which drive the plot. This is an exciting story with characters who grow and develop through their experiences, even the arrogant and selfish rich boy Claudius, who is much improved by a little danger and privation. A book which should appeal to teenage readers, especially girls, is Set in Stone by Linda Newbery (David Fickling Books, £12.99), aimed at what is now known as the 'young adult market'. It is 1898, and the unworldly young artist, Samuel Godwin, is engaged to go as tutor to the beautiful but neurotic Marianne and her somewhat sluggish sister Juliana at Fourwinds, a romantic but secluded country house. 'Beneath its immaculate surface, corruption lurked unchecked.' It did indeed. The two girls, their father, Ernest Farrow, and their young governess, Charlotte Agnew, are caught up in a network of secrecy, incest, madness and passion. There are overtones of The Woman in White, especially in the narrative method, with tutor and governess recounting alternate chapters. There is something of Rebecca too, and a hint of The Turn of the Screw — a heady cocktail. As Charlotte rightly observes, 'Relationships, as you can see, are somewhat confused in this household.' It must have been difficult to live with, but it makes for a compelling read.
Young children who like cooking can enjoy the combination of story and recipes inEddie's Kitchen and How to Make Good Things to Eat by Sarah Garland (Frances Lincoln, £11.99.) With its lively illustrations, this is the perfect way to introduce a fiveor six-year-old to helping make a few simple but satisfying dishes. A more ambitious book for the older age group is Get Cooking (Walker Books, £9.99) by Sam Stern, `the world-famous teenage cook,' which contains a tempting selection of straightforward but mouth-watering recipes. Serious fans of the books of Jacqueline Wilson can test their knowledge in Totally Jacqueline Wilson (Doubleday, £12.99) which contains quizzes, information and four new stories.
Finally, if you want to keep the children laughing over the festive season, there are two excellent paperback stocking-fillers which should do the trick. Cressida Cowell's series of the memoirs of Hiccup the Viking are funny, outrageous and will lure in the most reluctant reader, with a welter of exclamation marks, capital letters and wild drawings of Hiccup, his father, Stoick the Vast, his teacher, Gobber the Belch, and a full cast of other eccentric Vikings and their dragons, including Hiccup's useless Hunting Dragon, Toothless. The latest in the series is How to Twist a Dragon's Tale (Hodder, £5.99). Horrid Henry, with his manic pin-point eyes, is a favourite fiend in many families, and his latest adventures, Horrid Henry's Christmas Stocking by Francesca Simon (Orion, £9.99) is in a double pack with Horrid Henry's Jolly Joke Book They will probably be funnier than the ones in the crackers.
Previous page
