Books for children

Silly Sea by Jack Tickle (Caterpillar Books; €10.66 HB) is a big aquatic book with a pop-up water-spouting whale, a pincer-snapping crab, a clapping seal and many more in-your-face marine creatures, each accompanied with a jaunty rhyme.

Best read spread out on the floor, this is a happy, colourful book for age three to five.

Food Chain by MP Robertson (Frances Lincoln; €8.35) begins with a mischievous boy flushing his goldfish down the toilet. The poor creature has to find his way along a sewerage pipe, only to be swallowed by a bigger fish, which is then gobbled by an even bigger, uglier fish, and so it goes on until the climax ­ — a great big hungry whale. The plot circle comes together in a dramatic ending. The wonderful illustrations and dark humour will delight youngsters aged eight and upwards.