Books for children

Frank and Teddy Make Friends, Louise Yates (Red Fox; €7.10) is a charming story of friendship.

Professor Frank Mouse is a genius at making things, but lives a lonely life. Using his great skill he makes a teddy bear friend from all sorts of oddments. But when teddy tries to emulate Frank’s feats of creativity, things go horribly wrong and he’s sent away. However, as in the best toddler tales, all ends well. Age three and upwards.

Zero To Hero, Seb Goffe (A&C Black; €7.10). Because of his lack of height, young Will is never picked for the soccer team. He watches enviously from the sideline, wishing he could be out there. But it doesn’t stop him from practising football skills alone in his backyard. His moment comes when a boy is taken ill and Will is rushed in to take his place — wearing gear that’s too big. Can he cope with the challenge? The simple text and excellent realistic line illustrations will attract even the most reluctant reader. Age nine and upwards.

Drive By, Jim Carrington (Bloomsbury; €8.35). Johnny and his three pals fall foul of an old lady whom they christen The Poisoned Dwarf, as she has deliberately burst their precious football. Their revenge turns horribly wrong when shortly after they squirt her with water pistols, she has a heart attack and dies. Johnny’s narrative portrays his genuine grief and guilt. A girl called Summer, the alternating narrator, is also trying to come to terms with the absence of a father figure — her own father having been killed in a car accident before she was born. Her search for information about his death has been re-ignited by the death of her grandmother — the Poisoned Dwarf. The complication is that thanks to Johnny assisting her grandfather who had fallen on the street, the two meet, gradually edging towards a romantic relationship with neither of them aware of how they are linked by tragedy. The topic of responsibility is extremely well dissected, with credible setting and teen dialogue. Age 12 upwards.