Books for Children

BEAST Hunter by Katherine White (A&C Black; €7.10).

If you had once told your mother you had seen a UFO which turned out to be a balloon, she is unlikely to believe you think there is a crocodile in the local quarry. Even the local pest-control officer jokingly tells him that he will have to photograph the beast to convince anybody. But therein lies the problem — how do you take a picture of a crocodile without endangering yourself? Well worked twist on the Boy who Called Wolf. Fun, exciting read for seven and upwards.

PHILIP Ardagh’s book of Kings, Queens, Emperors and Rotten, Wart-Nosed Commoners (Macmillan; €11.90) is an amusing and informative volume which looks behind the portraits and dry as dust historical treatises to root out intriguing titbits of information. Who would have thought that Catherine the Great of Russia was actually called Figgy, but opportunistically changed her name to impress the 15-year old Peter, heir to the Russian throne? Or that Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria might have survived his assassination had he not, because of his vanity, been sewn into his costume for the day. Interesting etymological info as well — ie “going berserk” can be traced back to the unruly behaviour of a Norse tribe The Berserkers. Suitable for age nine and upwards.

Sister, Missing by Sophie McKenzie (Simon and Schuster; €11.90 HB) — this sequel to Girl, Missing sees Lauren reliving the horror of her own kidnapping when her eight-year old sister Madison is abducted. Her recently found birth-mother Annie, surprisingly allows her to take Madison to the beach, where, even more surprisingly, Lauren allows the child to go alone to buy ice-cream. What follows appears initially to be a copycat kidnapping by the original woman who had snatched Lauren 14 years previously. However, the reader will wonder why Annie had not told Lauren that the same lady had been recently released from jail. From this point the story, overloaded with characters, moves at breakneck speed. For 12 upwards.