Children’s Books

Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel (David Fickling; €13.03 HB).

Zan, a baby chimpanzee, is adopted by the Tomlin family and is reared as one of their own. The experiment is initially a tremendous success as Ben Tomlin comes to accept Zan as a brother and equal. As boy and animal become closer, the challenge to raise Zan as a human becomes all-consuming and impacts on the boy’s relationships at school. Although Zan doesn’t speak, he becomes quite adept at sign language, a skill which stands him in good stead when he later has only Ben to help him through his greatest crisis. An interesting study of relationships within the family and in the unusual friendship.

Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin (Bloomsbury; €8.35) is a modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. Avery Hood is trying to remember the details of her parents’ deaths. Putting her life back together again becomes somewhat easier when she befriends Ben, the mysterious new boy at school. She learns to trust him, but is puzzled by his over-zealous love of forest lore and is taken aback when she realises he is a werewolf.! A clever, atmospheric modernisation.

In the Sea there are Crocodiles by Fabio Geda (David Fickling; €13.03 HB) is a remarkable, heart-warming story of courage and endurance in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, as told by Enaiatollah Akbari to author Fabio Geda. Deposited near the Pakistan border by his mother, 10-year-old Enaiat has to leave his native Afghanistan and make his way, via hostile Iran, to seek asylum in Europe. The five-year odyssey sees him learn to survive and cope with the pain of parting from people who help him on his journey. Lessons learned at his mother’s side stand to him, as his willingness to work hard, live frugally and save his wages enables him to pay his way when necessary. It helps that he is a likeable character and the few snatches of dialogue between him and Geda highlight his honesty and vulnerability. This is a truly inspirational recreation of the boy’s experiences. Highly recommended for age 12 up to adult.