Books for children

Just Like My Daddy by Sharon Harmer (Caterpillar; €5.92 HB) is a sturdy, comfortable-sized boardbook.

Each spread features a baby animal that imitates its father. Eg, baby giraffe munches tasty leaves, “just like my daddy”. A companion or choice book is Just Like My Mummy. Both books feature tactile velvet patterns for little fingers. Eminently suitable for babies and toddlers.

Too Princessy by Jean Reidy, illustrated by Genevieve Leloup (Bloomsbury; €7.10) is a salutary lesson in over-doing the accumulation of toys. Too wet to play outside, a small girl checks through her vast collection of toys. But every toy is rejected. But hey, that empty box looks like fun. Excellent book for age four and upwards.

The doyen of off-beat tales, Maurice Sendak scores heavily with the extraordinary story of Bumble-Ardy (Harper Collins; €15.40 HB). When his fat family “got ate”, Aunt Adeline adopted him. On his ninth birthday, when she goes to work, Bumble-Ardy, who has never had a birthday party, invites a rum lot of ne’er-do-wells to an impromptu party. Not a good idea, as “at nine past nine the piggy swine/Broke down the door and guzzled brine”. What will Aunt Adeline say? Laugh-aloud fun for age seven and upwards.

Velvet by Mary Hooper (Bloomsbury; €11.93). Teenage Velvet works in a steamy laundry in Victorian London. Her mother is dead and Velvet feels responsible for her ne’er do well father’s disappearance. With credible characters — rich and poor — this well-researched, well-paced, atmospheric book draws the reader into the huge void between the Victorian underbelly of London with its poverty and dodgy businesses (including baby-farming) and the dazzling lifestyle of the rich. Thrilling and romantic read. Suitable for age 13 and upwards.