BOOKS FOR CHILDREN

AN UNUSUAL friendship is the theme of Quick, Slow, Mango! By Anik McGrory (Bloomsbury; €7.10).

Kidogo the baby elephant prefers to play rather than drink at the waterhole with the rest of the herd. In another part of the jungle, PolePole the monkey also ignores breakfast to play. When she drops her collection of mangoes into the river, they sail down to Kidogo, who gathers them up for the monkey. An affectionate story with excellent illustrations for age three and upwards.

Now You See Me by Tish Rabe and Christopher Moroney (Bantam; €7.50) features Dr Seuss’s familiar character, The Cat in the Hat, in a story. Sally is bored with hide-and-seek because Nick always finds her. Trust that Cat to take the youngsters to the jungle and introduce them to Gecko, who can blend in with any hiding place. With simple, bouncy rhyme, the familiar characters, this easy to hold book is an ideal, funny read for newly independent readers.