Children’s books

THE PINK BICYCLE by Gill Lobel (Tamarind €7.10), gently deals with the trauma of outgrowing a favourite toy. Sunita’s little red bicycle is her pride and joy.

She cycles in all weathers. But when she begins to tumble off the bicycle, her parents say she has outgrown it. Dad buys her a new one, but it’s big and has no stabilisers. ‘I hate it and I’m never going to ride it,’ she says.

But her parents know how to win her over. Beautifully illustrated by Richard Watson, this is the perfect book for fast-growing 5- to 7-year-olds.

Pirate House Swap by Abie Longstaff, illustrated by Mark Chambers (Picture Corgi €7.10). When Mr Clark sees an ad for a seaside holiday house-swap the family is ecstatic. After the initial shock of finding that the ‘house’ is a grotty pirate ship in the ocean, the family adapts to splicing mainsails, accidentally firing cannons and sleeping in hammocks. The pirates put their nautical stamp on neat suburbia! Laugh-aloud fun for age 6+.

Naughty Nina by Juliet Mickelburgh, illustrated by Anna Laura Cantone (Bloomsbury €7.10), is the story of a well-behaved little girl who tires of being nice. She craves mischief. The thrill of painting on walls and winding up her teachers is satisfying to a point. Does she go back to being nice? Almost. The off-beat, surreal illustrations are splendid, especially the manic, cheesy-grin cat that encourages Nina’s escapades. The pull-out game at the end will amuse kids aged 6+.

Ocean Explorer by Angela Royston, and Save The Sea by Sarah Levete (A&C Black €11.90 each), both from the White Wolves non-fiction series. The former features the amazing sea creatures you meet while diving, some, like the stinging jellyfish, to be avoided.The latter reaches out to us land creatures with a list of practical ways we can respect this threatened natural resource. This series is a must for the junior school library.