| | Review by The Spectator

One agreeable object is the latest edition of Clement Moore’s well known poem The Night Before Christmas, with beautiful black- and-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 Touchy-Feely’ series includes Father Christmas by F. 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 good- looking 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 delightful A 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 Story-telling 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.