Children’s books

You Do!, by Kes Gray with illustrations by Nick Sharratt (Red Fox €8.80), is a salutary lesson to mothers who ought to think before having a rant.

Each time Daisy’s mum tells her not to do something, Daisy responds with an emphatic “You do”. And it so happens that she’s right. Mum does wear her wellies in the house, she does talk with her mouth full and she does leave her clothes on the floor. The attached CD, read by Jenny Éclair, is one to listen to together and laugh aloud. Delightful for age 6+ (and mums).

For small boys with a penchant for buried treasure, sailing ships, cutlasses and eye patches, Extreme Pirate!, by Anna Claybourne (A&C Black €10.10), will shiver the timbers. Excellently illustrated throughout and with easy-to-read information-bites, this book tells all one needs to know about the life of a latter-day pirate. A book to fire the imagination for age 8+.