Children’s books

LITTLE FISH (Caterpillar Books; €7.55) is a tactile board book, which follows a small fish on his journey under the sea.

On his way he meets scratchy starfish, lumpy seaweed, shiny shells and other friendly sea creatures. But when he comes up against the glittering teeth of a shark he must think fast! The strong, textured illustrations by Kate Saunders are delightfully geared to age two to four.

For the same age group Ten Shiny Snails by Ruth Galloway (Little Tiger Press; €11.58) is a clever counting book that doesn’t smack of “learning”. Ten shiny 3D snails are embedded in different depths of holes on each page. Each time the child turns a page a snail will disappear to have fun elsewhere, until there is just one snail left. All come together again in a final pop-up. Imaginative and fun.