SHARK IN THE DARK!

is a delightful blend of loud colours, bold line, quirky story and – for an extra thrill – an enigmatic glowing shape. A boy looks through his telescope at the night sky. What is that shape outlined against the moon?

Each peephole-page reveals just what those scary shapes are. But what lurks on the final spread? A book to share at bedtime with age three-plus.

You never know when you might see a witch up close. The Everyday Witch by Liz Martinez and Mark Beech (Bloomsbury; €7.55) tells of young Jimmy’s worries that his mother might be a witch – after all she’d once had a wart, she wears stripy stockings, she fiddles about with herbs with names like bergamot, and can heal “with a power that’s divine”. But when he confronts her, Mum has the perfect explanation to put his mind at rest. Told in jaunty rhyme with fun illustrations, this will banish any witchphobia.