Peace on Earth by Smriti Halls, illustrated by David Litchfield, Walker Books, £12.99
When a cheerful group of friends set out on a journey, a fiery argument threatens everything around them – but their determination to make peace welcomes back luminous joy in this beautiful, moving picture book.
The Robin Who Stole Christmas by Rachel Morrisroe, illustrated by Richard Merritt, Puffin, £7.99
The nefarious Rotten Robin has hatched a plan to steal Christmas, along with Fowl Owl and Unpleasant Pheasant. It’s up to the other robins to save the day in this picture-book yuletide caper full of bouncy rhymes and intricate, hilarious illustrations.
’Tis the Season by Richard Jones, Nosy Crow, £19.99
An entrancing Advent calendar in book form, with seasonal pictures hidden under flaps and atmospheric poems. With its colourful fold-out frieze and range of poets including Russell Hoban, John Agard and Coral Rumble, it’ll please children from preschool to primary.
What You Need to be Warm by Neil Gaiman, Bloomsbury, £12.99
Illustrated by a range of talent from Oliver Jeffers to Chris Riddell, with flashes of orange suggesting both cosiness and danger, this powerful 5+ picture book is published in support of UNHCR. Gaiman’s poetic text weaves together shared memories of warmth – iron radiators, thick gloves, family’s smiles – and culminates in the welcoming statement: “You have the right to be here.”
The Panda’s Child by Jackie Morris, illustrated by Cathy Fisher, Otter-Barry, £16.99
A lost baby is nurtured by a panda; nine years later, the boy saves the panda’s baby in turn, helped by the fierce, indomitable spirit of the forest. This handsome, oversized fable for 5+ readers (and listeners) is full of Fisher’s leafy, lush, involving landscapes, and Morris’s characteristic sense of the vital connection between human and animal worlds.
The Nutcracker by Alex T Smith, Macmillan, £15.99
Alex T Smith’s latest festive offering is a joyously silly retelling of The Nutcracker, in which the Mouse King’s cheese-based shenanigans must be foiled by courageous Clara, her brother Fritz and Walter the Nutcracker (not to mention a magical chicken called Brenda). Bright, boisterous and sweetshop-colourful, with just the right amount of bum jokes, it’s perfect for sharing with 5+ kids in the run-up to Christmas.
The Girl Who Became a Fish by Polly Ho-Yen, illustrated by Sojung Kim-McCarthy, Knights Of, £5.99
This heartfelt, deceptively simple little book follows anxious Ita, scared of her classmates, of drifting away from her family and, most of all, of water – until she discovers the river near her new home and the strange magic it contains. A transporting illustrated tale of courage and change, for readers of 5 or 6 and up.
An Animal a Day by Miranda Smith, illustrated by Kaja Kajfež, Santiago Calle, Mateo Markov and Max Rambaldi, Red Shed, £22
A spectacular year-long menagerie filled with creatures from the ogre-faced spider to the fennec fox, the tiger quoll to the fried egg jellyfish. Scientific names, animal groups and conservation status are included for budding zoologists, as well as brief, fascinating snapshots of each animal’s life and habits. Among the many wildlife reference books out there for 6 or 7+, this is a real winner for enticing readability.
The Ice Children by MG Leonard, illustrated by Penny Neville-Lee, Pan Macmillan, £12.99
After reading a mysterious book, Bianca’s little brother Finn is found frozen in the park, smiling on a pedestal of ice. His heart is beating – slowly – but he can’t be woken. As more and more children are frozen, Bianca’s desperate quest to thaw them before they’re lost for ever draws her into an enchanted winterland full of danger and illusion. This gripping adventure for 8+ is a sparkling, elegant homage to Andersen’s The Snow Queen, with a powerful conservationist slant.
The Firefly’s Light: The Secret Inventors of Our Natural World by Sarah Horne, Scholastic, £7.99
This picture book for 8+, illustrated in Horne’s characteristic comic, accessible style, is an enthralling, visually appealing introduction to inventions inspired by nature, from “cat’s eye” reflective road studs to the bullet train’s noise-cutting “beak”.
Best Friends Forever by Lisa Williamson, illustrated by Jess Bradley, Guppy, £7.99
When Lola and Evie, best friends from babyhood, find themselves in different classes at secondary school, Lola is horrified. Things at home are rubbish, she has to sit next to annoying Daniel, and now Evie’s trying to impress her show-offy new mate, Cleo – who hasn’t got time for Lola at all. Will she ever win her best friend back? A funny, sweet and touching “big school” book, ideal for 9+ fans of Jacqueline Wilson.
The Secret of Helmersbruk Manor by Eva Frantz, illustrated by Elin Sandström, translated by Annie Prime, Pushkin, £16.99
Flora isn’t keen to spend Christmas with her mother in a small seaside town – but the abandoned Helmersbruk Manor is weirdly fascinating. As Flora starts to explore the grounds, she wonders whether the house is really as deserted as it seems. And who is the boy in the green cap who wants to be her friend? Ideal to snuggle up with on a chilly evening, this evocative, gentle ghost story for 9+ has a hint of Tom’s Midnight Garden.
Bad Magic: A Skulduggery Pleasant Graphic Novel by Derek Landy, PJ Holden, Matt Soffe, Rob Jones and Pye Parr, HarperCollins, £14.99
When skeletal detective Skulduggery Pleasant and his partner Valkyrie Cain arrive in Termoncara, a small Irish town with an inexplicably high death rate, they’re prepared to find something monstrous. But evil can wear many faces – including human ones … Grisly, gripping and memorably satisfying, the first graphic novel in the hugely popular Skulduggery Pleasant series is also a perfect entry point for 14+ readers.
Only for the Holidays by Abiola Bello, Simon & Schuster, £8.99
When city girl Tia finds herself trapped at Saiyan Hedge Farm for Christmas, she hates it on sight. A sheep eats her coat, manure is everywhere, and there’s no wifi to stalk Mike, her on-a-break boyfriend back home. But there is one silver lining: Quincy Parker, whose family own the farm. Drop-dead gorgeous and in need of a partner for the glamorous Winter Ball, Quincy suggests a fake-dating ploy in return for a favour. A delectably festive YA romcom from the author of Love in Winter Wonderland.
You Better Watch Out by Sarah Naughton, Scholastic, £8.99
Eleri is opening an Advent calendar with a difference. Every day in December, someone has been leaving a gift for her behind a different door in the abandoned block of flats opposite her own. Is it Ras, her bad-boy crush at school? Or is her secret Santa someone more sinister? This spine-tingling suspense thriller for 14+ is ideal for fans of Holly Jackson.
