Dogs Are My Favourite Things written by Judy Hindley and illustrated by Margaret Chamberlain (Bodley Head, 9.99)
A book packed from the first to last page with dogs - so many different kinds of dogs, presented in such a lively and interesting way, that even I, as a non- dog-lover, find the book appealing. The artist has really worked hard. For every snippet of text about the appearance of dogs, or their personalities, or the way they walk, there are likeable illustrations to go with it. My favourite is the 'very old slow dog', who has funny old whiskers, a contented smile, wrinkles round his eyes and a soft saggy belly. The text rolls off the tongue nicely, and has rhymes that are not too in-your-face. With the range of comments to make about dogs being admirably exhaustive, when we reach the punchline at the end - the girl thinks one dog will do nicely - the contrast is effective.
Small by Clara Vulliamy (Collins, 9.99)
For some reason, most stories about children going to stay with their grandparents tend to be rather predictable, but this one has a strong make-believe element that sets it apart. Tom packs so many things into his suitcase that he will need at Granny's that it is bursting at the clasps. But when he gets to the point of going to sleep at his grandmother's house, he realises he has left behind his cuddly toy, Small.
Meanwhile, back home, Small is sitting disconsolate in the middle of the duvet. Then in comic strip-style panels the toy is pictured climbing up the bedroom curtains to reach the window, shinning down the drainpipe and racing off into the night. He runs the gauntlet of scary things including a big cat, howling wind and pouring rain until he reaches Granny's house. It's a heart-stopping moment when Tom is shown creeping downstairs, determined to find Small. Will he venture out on his own? Just under the letterbox Tom spots the toy, tumbled on the mat. Taking Tim back to bed, Granny says she thinks Small must have been there all along, but we know better - which is a nice position for your young listeners to be in!
Squeaky Clean by Simon Puttock and Mary McQuillan (Random House, Pounds 9.99)
Like the old nursery rhyme about 'the three little kittens who lost their mittens', both in subject (the mum is a bit stern) and language, this story about bathing three mucky little pigs is really likeable. The piglets sometimes act in unison, for example when they don't want to get in the bath - and then don't want to get out of it because they like it so much. But their personalities are also individually drawn, and Piglet Three has his own mind. When Mama Pig catches her three clean pigs creeping out to get dirty again so they can have another lovely bath, she puts them back to bed. However, we can see that only two of the three piglet bunks are occupied - and that's because Piglet Three is busy sploshing in another bath. Like all good picture books, the text and pictures work well together.
The Boy Who Was Brought Up By Teddy Bears written by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Susan Varley (Anderson Press, 9.99)
Here's another story about separation, although of a very different kind. As a parent I find the story rather harrowing, while enjoying the humour. A baby boy is whisked away by fairies while he lies in his pram and his mother turns her back to pick woodland flowers. The fairies take the baby to where some friendly bears live. They attempt to bring him up, finding, unlike teddy bears, that he does not like eating sawdust. On his third birthday, the boy's bedraggled mother turns up at the door - her unrelenting search for her son now over - and she takes him and the teddy bears back home. But I wondered what was going to happen to that lovely teddy bear house? It wouldn't be the same after the boy left.
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie written by Laura Joffe Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond (HarperCollins, 7.99)
The story starts with a scene out in the front garden, where a boy is offering a cookie to a mouse that strays on to his patch. It's all rather American for the UK market, but there are lots of ideas children can relate to, like the milk moustache the mouse is worried about after drinking a glass of milk to wash down the cookie. The storyline builds progressively as the energetic mouse visitor makes more and more demands on the young boy. At the end, after all that running around, the mouse is thirsty again and ready for a drink of milk. But of course he needs a cookie to go with it. The young boy finds the packet of cookies, gives him one, and promptly falls asleep surrounded by utter chaos.
