Children’s Books

Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel (David Fickling; €13.03 HB).

Zan, a baby chimpanzee, is adopted by the Tomlin family and is reared as one of their own. The experiment is initially a tremendous success as Ben Tomlin comes to accept Zan as a brother and equal. As boy and animal become closer, the challenge to raise Zan as a human becomes all-consuming and impacts on the boy’s relationships at school. Although Zan doesn’t speak, he becomes quite adept at sign language, a skill which stands him in good stead when he later has only Ben to help him through his greatest crisis. An interesting study of relationships within the family and in the unusual friendship.

Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin (Bloomsbury; €8.35) is a modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. Avery Hood is trying to remember the details of her parents’ deaths. Putting her life back together again becomes somewhat easier when she befriends Ben, the mysterious new boy at school. She learns to trust him, but is puzzled by his over-zealous love of forest lore and is taken aback when she realises he is a werewolf.! A clever, atmospheric modernisation.