What's hot for tots

WE ALL like to take something meaty to read on holiday, so why should the youngest member of the family be any different? At 105 pages, Louie’s Little Zoo by Yves Got (Zero to Ten, 5.99) is more extensive than most first-word books. With its square format, enticing padded cover and charming, childlike pictures of more than 100 animals, it will keep babies happily pointing long after you’ve finished your blockbuster.

There’s more wildlife to be found in Ten Wriggly, Wiggly Caterpillars (Little Tiger Press, 7.99) and there’s something tremendously appealing about the ten tiny 3-D creatures which march and munch their way through Debbie Tarbett’s novelty counting rhyme. As each page is turned, a caterpillar is left behind until the "pop-up-surprise" arrives. The plastic caterpillars are satisfyingly tactile - and securely fixed to the page. A cheerful, toddler-friendly introduction to counting and the natural world.

Millie and Friends Make a Sandcastle (Scholastic, 8.99) is the first in a new series by Catherine Vase about the everyday dramas in a toddler’s life. When Elephant decides to play with his bouncy beach ball right next to Cat and Giraffe’s splendid sandcastle, disaster strikes. Vase’s ice-cream coloured illustrations and easy-to-read text make this a lovely story to share.

It is a phrase familiar to many families and in John Prater’s exuberant picture book, There’s Always One! (Hodder, 4.99), Mum and Dad Rabbit know that "the one" in their large family will always be Jacob. He races into the sea fully clothed, juggles with carrots and generally messes around. But all that energy and curiosity come into their own at the beach ...

FOR 4 TO 7-YEAR-OLDS

THE acquatic theme continues with Mr Seahorse (Puffin, 12.99), a new book by Eric Carle. Using his trademark colourful collages to create a jewel-like undersea world, Carle focuses on the role some male fish play in looking after their young. As Mr Seahorse swims off with his pouch full of eggs, he meets the stickleback, the pipefish and others fulfilling their parental responsibilities in highly unusual ways. Mr Kurtus has his eggs stuck to his head - cue hilarity among readers. But Mr Seahorse isn’t just about "new male" fish, it’s also a great lesson in camouflage, with colourful acetate sheets hiding sea creatures.

Wilbie, Footie Mad! by Sally Chambers (Piccadilly Press, 4.99) was published last year, but with Euro 2004 it’s the perfect book right now for young football fans. Wilbie the duck has a passion for football but his try-out for the local team is a disaster. So his dad suggests they practise and they have so much fun that Wilbie hardly notices how much he is improving until the day he helps score the winning goal. A funny, gentle story, which subtly encourages dads and lads to take more exercise together.

Princess Poppy: Saffron’s Wedding (Peppermint Press, 4.99) is strictly for the girls. East Lothian writer/illustrator Janey Jones has had success with her books about a girl who loves to dress and act like a princess, but who has a healthy sense of mischief. Saffron’s Wedding is a likeable, pink and pretty tale sure to be a hit with Princess Poppy’s many fans. Just as surely, Madonna’s fans will buy her third picture book, Yakov and the Seven Thieves (Puffin, 12.99). Set in an 18th-century European village and illustrated in lavish, fine-art style by Russian artist Gennady Spirin, it is the tale of how a cobbler’s son is saved from death by a wise old man and the seven thieves of the title. The message is that "all of us have the ability to unlock the gates of heaven - no matter how unworthy we think we are". The point is weakened by the fact that the thieves are not only dishonest, but nearly all have a physical deficiency - one is called Boris the Barefoot Midget, another Stinky Pasha.

FOR 7 TO 10-YEAR-OLDS

BACK to the seaside again with Heather Dyer’s entertaining The Fish in Room 11 (Chicken House, 8.99). Toby has lived and worked in a seaside hotel since he was abandoned as a baby. He is lonely until he meets the Flot family, who happen to be mermaids. There aren’t enough good reads for this age group so this old-fashioned fantasy by Peter Bailey, with short chapters, large print and excellent pictures, is a breath of fresh, sea air.

It was the title of Do-wrong Ron (Allen & Unwin, 4.99) that initally intrigued me, but it’s unlikely that young readers will find themselves adding "da do ron-ron" every time they read it. On reading, the story didn’t disappoint and youngsters should enjoy this easy-to-read, free verse novel by Australian poet Steve Herrick. As his nickname suggests, Ron never quite gets things right, although it’s not for want of trying. For a time Ron’s only friend is Charlie the guinea-pig, but new girl Isabelle sees past Ron’s clumsiness and becomes his friend. A happy, humorous and thoughtful tale. Measle and the Wrathmonk (Oxford, 8.99) is actor Ian Ogilvy’s first sortie into writing for children and this edge-of-the-seat fantasy is an impressive debut. When Measle Stubb’s parents go missing, he’s sent to live with guardian Basil Tramplebone. But Basil is an evil wizard who shrinks Measle and makes him live as a villager in his model train set along with his other victims and a man-eating bat, Cuddlebug. Chris Mould’s spikey drawings add to the weird, gothic atmosphere.

FOR 9 TO 12-YEAR-OLDS

FANS of Debi Gliori’s Pure Dead series about the outlandish Strega-Borgia family will not be disappointed by her fourth book, Deep Trouble (Doubleday, 10.99). The deliciously outrageous plot mixes love, marriage, midges, acne and sulphur. Deep Trouble is as fast, witty and wildly inventive as the first three books.

Troll Fell (Collins, 10.99) by Katherine Langrish is set in the 10th century and inspired by the old Norse tales, but its tone, drama and humour are thoroughly contemporary. When Peer’s father dies he goes to live with his vile uncles at their mill near Troll Fell. Life is harsh, but he soon finds that in true wicked guardian fashion they plan to sell Peer and his friend Hilde to the troll king as slaves. This atmospheric folk tale of good and evil will appeal to boys and girls alike.

Eva Ibbotson was born in Vienna in 1925 and she has set her latest novel, The Star of Kazan (Macmillan, 12.99), in the late 19th century in the same city. Two servants find a baby girl and take her home to Vienna, where their employers, three professors, allow her to be brought up. She rapidly becomes proficient in all the domestic arts, but then her longed-for, unknown mother turns up and her life is suddenly, shockingly changed. This is a rich, magical and superbly plotted tale of family, friendship and belonging. Ibbotson delivers rollicking adventures, but it’s the deeper meanings that linger in the mind.