0-5 years
Eleanor's Eyebrows
Timothy Knapman and David Tazzyman
9780857078414
£6.99
The more biologically-savvy among you may be able to explain exactly what one's eyebrows are for. But it's not something your average youngster understands, and poor Eleanor can't fathom it at all. She's so very dismissive of them that one night, her eyebrows go their separate ways. They try out a variety of new career options, as butterflies in a zoo or a magician's moustache, without much success. Meanwhile Eleanor slowly comes round to realising that she wants them back. But how does one lured back one's AWOL eyebrows?
Equal parts silly and sweet – and never too much of either – this is delightfully off-beat stuff, which contains all the little moral messages you'd want in a children's book, but squirreled away in a light, engaging story. Illustrator Tazzyman, best known for Andy Stanton's Mr Gum books, captures the tone of gentle lunacy just right.
5-9 years
Black Dog
Levi Pinfold
9781848777484
£6.99
Occasionally a picture book will pitch itself slightly older than usual, with enough substance – and text – to appeal to beginner readers. This is the tale of the Hope family, who wake up one winter's morning to find a black dog lurking outside. Mr Hope sees it first, and thinks it's pretty big. Mrs Hope thinks it's even bigger. Their children think it's positively ginormous. They hide and ring the police, but then Small, the youngest of the Hopes wakes up, wraps up warm, and strides out to confront the monster. Needless to say, she runs rings around it – and it swiftly starts to shrink down so small it can enter the house though the catflap.
It's a nifty allegory about perspective and courage, which might be beyond really tiny readers. The rich, detailed illustrations are gorgeous – the snowy setting, the family members and, of course, the variably-sized dog are vividly rendered. Effortlessly classy, this is an unusual, superior read with a strong sense of timelessness which should win it admirers for many years to come.
9-12 years
Out of This World
Ali Sparkes
£6.99
9780192794123
Ali Sparkes won the Blue Peter Book of the Year award in 2010, and has built a devoted young following with her Shapeshifters series. This new sci-fi thriller is effectively a prequel to that series, but it works fine as a standalone read. It introduces Tyrone, a troubled, lonely young lad who spends most of his spare time down at the local nature reserve. One night he discovers a curious glowing stone – and once he touches it, he's gifted with extraordinary telekinetic powers. Clearly this occurrence hasn't gone unnoticed, because Tyrone now finds he's being pursued by mysterious agents. So he goes on the run, only to cross paths with a small group of people in exactly the same situation as he is...
There's a generous tip of the hat here to classic Marvel tales of ordinary folk discovering that they've become superheroes – and life becoming that much harder as a result. But this is distinctly modern and British, with a nice line in humour marbled into the tumultuous jeopardy. The unlikely cluster of main characters is hugely engaging, and it all makes for a terrific action-adventure yarn for young adults.
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