Children’s books

WHERE Snowflakes Fall, by Claire Freedman, illustrated by Tina Macnaughton (Little Tiger Press; €7.07), is set in cold places, telling how creatures survive the icy landscape of their habitat.

Baby polar bears slither about on the slippery snow, little penguins are sheltered from the raging blizzard by their protective parents, baby seal is cuddled by his mother. Each sweeping spread is breathtaking and the animals are delightfully depicted. A beautiful winter book-to-share for age three and upwards.

Mairi Hedderwick’s Katie Morag stories have delighted children for many years. In Katie Morag and the Birthdays (Red Fox; €7.07), the family are celebrating baby Flora’s January birthday. But when will it be Katie’s birthday? Month by month, the individual stories focus on the island folks’ birthday celebrations. With Hedderwick’s wonderful, credible characters, superbly detailed pictures of the windswept Isle of Struay and the cosy, untidy interiors of the houses, this is a timeless treasure. Age six and upwards.

Fugitives, by Aubrey Flegg (O’Brien; €7.99). The story is set in the early 1600s in a turbulent Ireland, where natives and settled Normans are holding out against the might of England. The main characters are 11-year-old James de Cashel, his twin sister, Sineád, and Fion and Con — respectively, nephew and son of Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone. The story begins in the Norman Castle of the de Cashel family, where James listens with hatred to the snores of Hugh O’Neill who, with his seven year-old Con, is staying as a guest. James blames O’Neill for involving his crippled father in the abortive Battle of Kinsale. This hatred is fuelled by James’s tutor, Fenton, who turns the boy’s loyalty towards the English. The seamless blend of fiction and historic facts gives reality to this well-researched story, which sparks with tension and excitement throughout.