Bad lads and Bogwoppits

Juliet Townsend selects the best of this year’s reading for toddlers through to teenagers

In these straitened times one can only be grateful for the excellent value offered by picture books for young children, which have remained at the same price for several years. Since the migration of their production to the Far East, some have become ever more elaborate, with pop-up versions accompanied by sound effects, resulting in something which is more a toy than a book. There are, however, many excellent writers and illustrators represented this Christmas.

For the youngest children, Christmas Time by Alison Jay (Templar, £10.99) with minimal text and colourful and original pictures, takes us on a seasonal journey, full of reindeer, carol singers, polar bears and snowmen. Children will enjoy finding the visual links between each page.

The tragic tale of the accidental destruction of the very last dodo egg is told in amusing verse by Kaye Umansky in Dodo doo-doo (Hodder, £10.99,)