Booklist

Ronda Armitage and Arthur Robins
Small Knight and George
Orchard 9781846163760
There are lots of variations on stories using 'George' and 'Dragon' as a creative basis. Small Knight really wants to be playing football but has to go out, fully armed and mounted, to encounter the dragon. Many of the people he meets have had difficulties caused by dragon activity but then he comes across a friendly, rather timid, little dragon named George. Together they frighten the Court but are then in a position to offer practical dragon combat training to others. A good fun and nonsense story well put together and with very lively pictures.

Dawn Casey and Jago
Fox Fables
Mantra Lingua see individual dual-language ISBNs at http://www.mantralingua.com/
Here are two fables, one Chinese in origin and the other from Aesop, each featuring that most wily of creatures, clever and crafty but not nearly as fearsome as the wolf. The tales are clearly told with good pictures and the book also has some unobtrusive suggestions as to how each fable could lead into activities in art, maths, music and, of course, writing. But the stories are mainly to be enjoyed. The book is available in 33 different dual-language editions.

Emma Chichester Clark
Amazing Mr Zooty!
Andersen 9781842705926
Acts of kindness freely given and rewarded with the granting of wishes is a device cropping up frequently in folk and fairy tales from all over the world and echoed in this story. Mr Zooty is a cat who is inclined to be helpful when he meets a family needing assistance; in return they are able to help Mr Zooty too. The way in which phrases and sentences are repeated will be of great help to uncertain readers but this does not take away from the manner in which the story moves along. The pictures and the text go together perfectly with the sort of seamless ease which seems straightforward but is achieved through great artistry.

Peter Dixon and Natalie Chivers
Dad's Bug Bear
Red Fox 9780099472926
Dad does not like animals, but the boy's only pet, a humble goldfish, has died and he wants some other much more exciting pet as a replacement. A compensatory trip to the zoo to cheer up Mum is a disappointment as there has been a mass escape. The family return to find an unusual animal deposit on the step, and a polar bear invasion gives rise to vigorous antics until it is returned to the zoo. It is all very lively and a lot of fun - but lurking in the fridge, as readers and the boy can see, is another visitor just waiting...

Debi Gliori
Goodnight, Baby Bat
Doubleday 9780385606325
The spooky image of these creatures is always an attraction and the rather nice-looking large black bat on the cover is an immediate invitation to look inside the book. The pictures are not the obvious sort of bat portrayals and there are large flap openings to explore and a lovely snow impression as well. Baby Bat is far too energetic to want to sleep and has a good store of delaying tactics to bring into play. I guess the title really ought to say 'Good-day' as that's when bats sleep, but the situation is familiar to all. Many boys might seek to demonstrate bravado in company but love something cosy when no peers are around.

Bob Graham
The Trouble with Dogs!
Walker 9781406303384
There's a page of text before the title-page in this book about Dave, who's such a dashing about, full of life puppy that he's into everything and everybody. His disruption is such that Mum seeks help from Pupbreakers and The Brigadier duly arrives. The illustrations have lots of detail and the overall effect is homely, giving the impression of a gentle story. But there is a dilemma to be faced. How much of Dave is simply his personality and how much should be constrained? There are matters of care and responsibility as well as a real need for play. All is told through a lovely, involving story and there's an extra page at the end to match that at the opening.

Bob Hartman and Jacqueline East
The Three Billy Goats' Stuff
Lion 9780745960227
Troll is by far the biggest pupil at the Academy. He likes to sit under the playground climbing frame waiting to frighten any animals that might stray into range and relieving them of lunch-box goodies. The new one, a young billy-goat, seems easy to goad into submission but he holds his ground and threatens big-brother retaliation. Biggest brother turns out to be the new Head, retribution follows and Troll is moved to a school of giants and ogres, where he is relatively small, as his parents move to a new dwelling under a bridge. An audio CD accompanies the book and has the author, an accomplished storyteller, playing all the parts with obvious enthusiasm.

Rose Impey and Chris Mould
One Man Went to Mow
Hodder 9780340911723
A bit of agricultural culture here. The well-known song of 'One man went to mow ...' has the addition of 'his dog, Spot' who 'buried his bone' before they 'went to mow a meadow'. As each cumulative verse develops, the man, his lorry, an ever-increasing number of helpers, and the ever-present Spot appear. At the conclusion of each verse the dog buries something rhyming with 'bone': a garden gnome, a brass trombone, and so on until it's 'the key to get home' - the ignition key for the lorry. As all six men dig up the meadow, they uncover all Spot's buryings! A delight from start to finish with expressive faces for men and dog, lots of incidental detail in each picture, and a good collection of farm machines too.

David Lucas
The Robot and the Bluebird
Andersen 9781842706237
A robot has a broken heart but gives shelter to a migrating bluebird who alights on his scrapheap home. He shelters her in the space where his heart might have been and then assists her on her journey as only a robot could. But the effort is too much for him though the bird wins through. Yes, there are deliberate echoes of Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince here but the robot hero and the quite splendid writing and pictures work a treat. It is a modern take on an old favourite which complements and respects the original beautifully.

Sarah McConnell
Marvin's Funny Dance
Hodder 978040931882
Marvin is a meerkat, though it has to be said that the cover illustration is different from the usual 'aah - sweet' look given these creatures. The habitual communal activities of his group include taking morning exercise, but Marv's individual quirks mean that he doesn't take things seriously and causes some disruption too. However it is Marv who has a plan beyond general panicking to discourage the bullying buzzard. When a diversion is needed what better than Marv's dance, an astonishing, attention-grabbing solo in the manner of that hilarious dance in The Office. A funny, exuberant book full of lively pictures with movement and activity and the plan of a nice underground burrow to explore.

David Melling
The Scallywags
Hodder 9780340884065
The most recent paperback from this prolific but reliably high-quality book creator has two delightfully wayward young wolves out for fun and nothing but. A mixture of the size and placing of text emphasises the comedy, with one double-page spread turned top-to-toe as well. These jolly looking wolves leave a chaotic trail of broken things and total mess everywhere they go but in the end the only way they're able to keep their friends is by applying some thoughtfulness and good manners. It's extremely funny and with so many facial expressions and incidental happenings in each picture there's far more here than in the words alone.

David Melling's story The Tale of Jack Frost has been animated on TV and his series about a hapless knight and his horse reached the third book with The Three Wishes.

Lydia Monks
Ooo Ooo Ooo Gorilla!
Egmont 9781405227544
Gorilla is made to feel at home in every way the family can imagine when he comes to stay. But he's obviously not entirely comfortable when snow means skiing, skating and being cold. Then the boy gets an idea. Swinging - that's what gorillas like and there happens to be a chair-lift handy for just such amusement! Bright collage pictures and text which changes going up the page to show mountain height give a colourful look to everything. The repetition of a phrase involving 'wibbled' and 'wiggled' adds to the general joviality, as does one fold-out page.

Steve Smallman and Joelle Dreidemy
The Lamb Who Came for Dinner
Little Tiger Press 9781845065188
There's lots of playing about with words and gentle good humour in this story of a wide-eyed, innocent lamb asking a wolf for kindness. Of course 'came for dinner' means one thing and one thing only to the wolf, who names his visitor 'Hotpot' in delicious anticipation. But what causes a change of heart from such determinedly hungry expectation to having a bowl of vegetable soup to eat is heart-warming, exhilarating and wonderfully funny. It is a book for reading both the words and the pictures to find out what happens, and it will almost certainly become an absolute favourite for some.

Jeanne Willis and Adrian Reynolds
Who's in the Loo?
Andersen 9781842703359
This review also relates to the title Grill Pan Eddy.

I'm becoming certain that Jeanne Willis writes more brilliantly original and varied stories than there are illustrators to keep up with her. She could keep a team of them constantly busy and probably does. The loo tale is not just more nudge-nudge giggly toilet humour but a lovely build-up of a lengthening queue for the loo at the zoo. The pictures, with holding-on faces, are fantastic and the reason for the delay is well worth the wait in story terms.

A certain hit - as is the story of a somewhat naughty mouse who is the target for any catching and obliterating device the family can find. In lovely, easily absorbed and repeated rhyme he eludes trap, dog, owl and cat to find favour as a sheer survivor. But time takes its toll and just when peace might reign as Eddy departs this world, up pops young Freddy! The Willis - Ross partnership has produced some wonderful, and extraordinarily varied, books. See Tadpole's Promise for something completely different.

Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross
Grill Pan Eddy
Andersen 9781842703427

This title is reviewed along with Who's in the Loo?.