Booklist

Eoin Colfer
The Legend of the Worst Boy in the World
Puffin (85 pages) 9780141381312
Will feels put out, believing that his brothers get more of his mum's attention than he does, so he shares his problems with his lighthouse dwelling grandad. But Grandad always seems able to trump Will's concerns with far more exciting matters, so Will eventually turns to Dad. Then comes a story about being abandoned by a brother - but this is not the place to give too much away. The style of storytelling here has a gentle ease - good humour mixed with an acute awareness of the perceptions of the young - and makes for another winner from this accomplished author. It is no surprise to note that two previous books for the younger age group, The Legend of Spud Murphy and The Supernaturalist, both feature as Chatterbooks readers' choices.

Anne Fine
Ivan the Terrible
Egmont (103 pages) 9781405233248
A new boy at school has come from Russia so as he doesn't speak English, bilingual Boris is the obvious choice to help him. But Ivan is a very bolshie, strong-minded individual who issues Russian insults left, right and centre and wants to know the English for words about fighting and cruelty. Poor Boris is in a quandary and so tells people that Ivan has said what he thinks they'd like to hear. But there's an unexpected pitfall and the whole thing is brilliantly put across, very amusingly and with the true-to-life characterisation that this fine writer can convey in a simple, straightforward manner.

Simon Hutton
Brilliant Billy's Big Book of Dinosaurs
Andersen (76 pages) 9781842705698
This is a storybook, not the sort of general information book the title implies. In fact it is Billy who is the dinosaur expert and he decides to put his enthusiasm to good use by entering a local writing competition. But he gets to a blank stop with the dreaded writer's block and when he eventually completes his work it is only to lose it all completely. However, he learns that winning isn't everything and his great effort was worthwhile after all. Here is a clever integration of pre-historic monster fascination into a subtly portrayed tale with good values.

Dick King-Smith illustrated by Mini Grey
The Twin Giants
Walker (78 pages) 9781406300703
Here is a book which might be expected to be for younger ones only, but has interest and fun to offer to older readers too. The unusual tall shape of the book is entirely fitting for a tall tale concerning giant folk. Twin brothers Normus and Lottavim have only one difference: vegetarianism and meat-eating. At the height of 18 feet and aged 20 they search for wives. After some heartbreaks, caused especially by incompatibility over food, another pair of twins seems just right and the old, old happy-ever-after ending looms. The largish print has a varied mixture of type size and placing and the illustrations are appropriately jovial adding visual humour to a fine text.

Hilary McKay
Charlie - and the Cat Flap
Scholastic (65 pages) 9780439968799
Largish print, lots of pictures and cryptic speech bubbles give this third Charlie book an immediate attraction for many children. The two 7-year-old buddies are typically both inseparable and annoyingly quarrelsome; they are also prone to causing trouble and calamities. This is a good story, very boy-centred and involves friends, enemies, a hamster-craving cat and not so much a sleepover as a wakeover. Hilary McKay is tremendous at family-based tales and brings unexpectedly touching passages into the middle of the most uproarious events.

Jan Mark illustrated by Tony Ross
King John and the Abbot
Barrington Stoke (54 pages) 9781842993859
This publisher specialises in books for readers with difficulties by commissioning books from high-quality writers and by being quite precise as to the demands of words and language. Here is a Robin Hood story from one of the most brilliant of writers for the young which adapts a traditional tale into a plain, straightforward retelling without the slightest hint of condescension. Along the way it is also very amusing: '… King John. He's the baddy. Boo! Hiss!' The Abbot has to solve three riddles posed by the King. Jack Shepherd takes on the task wearing the Abbot's hooded robe as a disguise. The final riddle is 'What am I thinking?' Jack says that the King is thinking that he is the Abbot, but it's Jack - all solved, situation rescued. This is certainly not second-rate reading practice. There is good print on cream paper and Tony Ross's drawings add an additional flourish to a high-quality book.

Barbara Mitchelhill
Damian Drooth Supersleuth: Spycatcher
Andersen Tigers (64 pages) 9781842705674
Damian seeks out mysteries to solve so he and three friends investigate a neighbour's uncharacteristic behaviour. The old man is an inventor. Blueprint plans are being stolen and with the luck of coincidences and in spite of mishaps Damian encounters the thief who trips over him as he's spying in the garden. There's a lot of rollicking humour as this gang of lads cause mayhem, but with the best of intentions, in this assured and easy, but none the less satisfying, read.

Francesca Simon and Tony Ross
Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman
Orion (86 pages) 9781842550700
Sales of over nine million in the UK bear witness to the runaway success of these stories with the 5 to 8 age range. The style of Tony Ross's cover illustrations is crucial for young enthusiasts seeking the books, which is why he is listed with the author in the title line. The joviality of the subversive but not mean-minded Henry makes for an absolutely winning character and Francesca Simon has kept up a remarkably sparkling freshness throughout sixteen books so far. This most recent of the 'standard' format paperbacks has four stories as usual and in the first Moody Margaret and Sour Susan argue, via a snowball fight, over a snowman competition. Naturally Henry decides to win but inevitably his extra trickiness proves his undoing. The stories are terrific read-alouds and familiarity with the characters helps readers beginning to read them for themselves.

Francesca Simon and Tony Ross
Don't Be Horrid, Henry!
Orion (60 pages) 9781842556726
This is just one story from a previous book in much larger typefaces. With few words to each page and lots of new and full-colour pictures, it is in the usual paperback size with a good, strong, sewn binding. It's a perfect introduction to our horrid hero when he was younger and as he indulges his naughtiness in wanton jealousy of new brother, Peter. In the end he does the right thing as a reaction to sudden danger. A good story and a lovely addition to reading practice resources.

There are a number of Horrid Henry extra books including a recent Horrid Henry's Jolly Joke Book, with his friends being allowed to contribute some of the jokes.

Francesca Simon writes: 'A key ingredient is not to be po-faced. Kids this age (5s to 8s) adore humour, with lots of snappy dialogue, and not much description. I get hundreds of letters a month from children telling me what they love most about my books is how funny they are. They also love plot twists, and seeing themselves in the characters …' From The Guardian 'Look at a Book' supplement, 2005.

Su Swallow
A Head Full of Stories
Evans (Twisters) (32 pages) 9780237530693
Twister Books encourage beginner readers into read-alone confidence. There are not many words on each page but this book still creates an engaging story. The opening has Mum calling Jack in for storytime but Jack wants to tell stories instead of listening. Further involvement for the reader comes in picture clues for interpreting who is hearing a story and which favourite fairy tale it is. Eventually all the family have been lulled into a snoring snooze - except of course Jack! There's much here to engage and please readers and for them to talk over later.

Hazel Townson
Vanishing Village
Andersen (80 pages) 9781842704721
The dramatic burning building on the cover indicates a good bit of excitement in the story. Hazel Townson is a very experienced writer producing extremely readable books for the middle and older primary years. In this one she succinctly manages to place a number of strands in relatively few pages and weaves them into a gripping story. After his parent's divorce Matthew has to move from the city to a country area with unfriendly and even strangely antagonistic neighbours. Matthew could be just imagining everything or maybe there's a mystery to solve. Their lodger seems somewhat odd too.

Karen Wallace
Li Fu's Great Aim
A and C Black (64 pages) 9781408104026
Sub-titled 'The Inside Story of the Terracotta Archer', this is both topical with terracotta warrior publicity in the news and timeless too. The story is of a harp player, Li Fu, whose music soothes the Emperor's temper and so makes things easier, and more tolerable, for everyone at the Court. But his success with the harp seems to drive Li Fu's ambition to become an archer impossibly far away until he uncovers a plot to kill his master. There's interest, humour and excitement galore in this well-paced tale in good-sized print.

Simon Weston in collaboration with David Fitzgerald; illustrated by Jac Jones
A Nod from Nelson
Pont (48 pages) 9781843238133
The cover picture by Jac Jones, whose finely drawn cartoon-like illustrations adorn the book, shows a shire horse with pencil poised in mouth over a crossword - a superb lure to check out the contents. Inside there are lots of puns on names and a farmyard of animal and bird characters, including rugby-playing ducks - the All Quacks captained by Francis Drake. Nelson has just retired from pulling a milk float and as he's spent years out and about he is the wise old man of this assemblage, solving problems and wittily observing goings-on. He it is who leads the way when their environment is under dire threat from spilled oil and he ensures the milk gets through. (Yes, as everybody who sees the book asks, the author is the inspiringly humane survivor and campaigner.)