Books for Children

Little Parrot by Katie Saunders (Caterpillar; €7.10 HB) is a touchy-feely board book that tells of a curious little parrot who sets out to explore his island neighbourhood.

The creatures and growing things he encounters are tactile­ gritty sand, hairy coconuts, smooth fangs, scaly backs. But what he finds at the end is the best surprise. A book to enjoy with baby.

Wanda Wallaby Finds Her Bounce by Jonathan Emmett and Mark Chambers (Bloomsbury; €7.10). Wanda likes walking, but wallabies are meant to hop and bounce. “What does a bounce look like?” she asks her father. He assures her that she will find it. Thus she sets off to do that. On her journey she meets lots of creatures that try to help. A clever, funny book for age three and upwards.

The Ghost In The Bath by Jeremy Strong (Barrington Stoke; €5.34) Luke and his parents have moved to a 200 year-old house. As if that isn’t enough to contend with, being the new boy at the local school is an even greater challenge. When the class is given a project to write about Victorian times, Luke As he soaks in the bath a young woman materialises from the soap-suds. Her ghostly mission is to find out what became of the young man, who had lived in the house and whom she was to marry in the early 1900s. Now Jack has his project — which largely centres around the Titanic. His antics with the ghost (who can only become visible in water), and the sparkling dialogue make this a highly entertaining read for age eight and upwards. Scoular Anderson’s line and wash illustrations add to the fun.

The Scouting Puzzle Book by Amanda Li (Macmillan; €5.92) is liberally spiced with a multitude of games, puzzles, anagrams, word-searches, etc., the purpose of the book is to educate new members in the lore of the wild and the tenets of being a scout. A must for scouts of any age.