Funny books

This high-contrast, fold-out book with cut-outs for fingers makes for an ideal stimulus during a baby’s tummy time. One side of the fold-out has a simple text with each illustration where you can use your finger to be a bunny’s ear, puppy’s tail or elephant’s trunk, for instance. The flip side shows wordless scenes with visually stimulating shapes and patterns. This interactive ‘finger wiggle’ element is a great way to aid parents, carers or siblings in engaging with tummy time, too!

Nibbles the Very Hungry Book Monster is a brilliantly inventive and wildly imaginative picturebook that takes young readers on an interactive adventure through the world of books. Chaos ensues when this mischievous monster nibbles his way into classic fairy tales, causing mayhem as he rewrites the endings in hilariously unexpected ways and turns story time into an adventure.

Oliver Jeffers is back with another cleverly illustrated picturebook, in this case a (nearly forgotten) birthday book.

A familiar feeling we have all experienced, sometimes more than once, is explored in this lively and funny story that captures a very real human truth: hunger can stir up some very big emotions.

Everyone has their own tastes and ways of living that they think are perfect so it is hard when visitors come to stay and have different ideas, especially when it is family. Readers observe Colin navigate through these experiences of being a host and making his Grandma feel welcomed. The characters are funny, fussy and most of all love each other. With the help of duck, they find ways to compromise. Colin’s parting advice is ‘it’s always good to try new things!’

The story of Peter Pan, the boy who wouldn’t grow up, is so permeated within the culture of childhood that it’s often easy to forget that the story itself was first and foremost a play. Since it was first performed in 1904, successive generation’s experience of Neverland has often been mediated first through literary adaptation, and more recently film, so it is pleasing to see the story revisited in a book form which attempts to somewhat capture the magic of the theatre.

This book is packed with material for the young sleuth who is interested in ghosts, the supernatural and, indeed, in history and folklore. Written in a very accessible style, each double-page spread deals with a different aspect of the topic of ghosts. There is a wealth of information about everything from timeslips, to spirit photography, to enduring legends.

Eleven-year-old Daisy dreams of becoming a famous actor, but her ordinary life is in sharp contrast to her cousin’s – the very famous Maxxy Bloom. Daisy and Maxxy were once close, before Maxxy made the move to LA, and became an actual TV star. Now Daisy feels that she is very different to her cousin, and that Maxxy’s success only serves to highlight Daisy’s shortcomings.

What to do when your three-year-old is adamant they are a flamingo, insisting they wear their pink flamingo onesie on a hot summer’s day? This is the delightful dilemma facing a dad trying to get his daughter dressed and out of the house on time without drama.

Yazmin and her grandmother live in different countries and have never met, so there is great excitement when she discovers that Nani is visiting. Yazmin’s delight in the preparations is palpable – plaits in her hair, hands decorated with mehndi (henna), assembling her squad of action figures to play with Nani. However, when Nani arrives, Yazmin realises they don’t speak the same language; they cannot understand or communicate with each other. Silence and sadness ensue until Nani starts sewing.