November's pick of six good books for kids

Have you ever tried to write a book? Or just a story? asks children's book reviewer CAROLINE FRANKLIN. A long time ago my teenage son and I, both of us admirers of Agatha Christie, decided that all that was needed to write a good mystery was to think up a plot (his job) and then pad it out with different characters and a few red herrings – that was down to me. Simple – our fortunes were made. Easy. Except it wasn’t.

I don’t think we got as far as the first page, let alone the first chapter. Even writers of picture book stories for young children with very few words, all need to have that certain knack if they are to come up with a success. Which is why I admire anyone who actually tries and finishes a story whether it is about Eric the earwig or a successor to Miss Marple. What is important, if writing a story is your dream, is to have a go, after all even Agatha Christie had to have the courage to begin.

Here are a selection of books from people who have been successful – and which you might like to bear in mind now that Christmas is hovering in the wings.

Colourful illustrations of the insects, birds, crustaceans, fish and animals which share our planet with us fill the pages of Kind by Jess McGeachin. Did you know that November 13th is World Kindness Day? This is a book to remind readers of 5+ that “from the tiniest beetle to the most majestic whale” every single creature on earth must be valued by us and treated with kindness.

The illustrations include, for example, many beautifully coloured beetles I had never heard of such as the magnificent harlequin beetle, the impressive blue longhorn beetle and the temognatha alternate which has alternating bright colours going down its back. Frogs such as the blue poison dart and the brightly coloured southern corroboree, spiders, crabs, owls, whales and many more are illustrated here with a plea to be kind to all of them – and finally to remember to be kind to people, too.

Published by Allen and Unwin at £11.99 (HB)

Stay Curious and Keep Exploring by Emily Calandrelli has in its brightly coloured pages 50 bubbly and creative experiments for the whole family to enjoy carrying out. This is as far from a dull scientific tome as you can imagine and although there is much knowledge to acquire, the aim is for it all to be fun.The experiments range through Flying Teabag Ghosts a Mini Vortex Blaster, Walking on Eggs and a Floating Stick Woman to Soap Monsters, Self Inflating Balloons and an Exploding Witch’s Brew and that’s just a few of the delights for the young scientist, helped, as the careful instructions often point out, by an adult. So fun for everyone.

An absolute delight of a science lesson for children aged eight and upwards.

Published by Chronicle Prism at £17.99 (HB)

Some days just go wrong from start to finish and in Jill Murphy’s Just One Of Those Days that’s how it is with the Bear family on one particular day. Having got up late Mr and Mrs Bear take Baby Bear to the nursery – he doesn’t want to go and things go from bad to worse for him when he’s asked to dance like a tree in the wind – well, I sympathise with that.

Meanwhile his Mum and Dad aren’t getting on very well at their work. All in all, it’s a bad day – AND it’s raining when Baby Bear and Mum walk home. However, little by little, and what with Mr Bear bringing home a pizza for tea plus a present for Baby B everything is suddenly better. Cosily and beautifully illustrated throughout, this picture book is just right to share with children aged three or so.

Published by Macmillan at £12.99 (HB)

Oliver Jeffries’ Meanwhile Back on Earth is a fascinating book which makes it clear that we – that is Earth – are just a very very small part of what is in space. The author takes two children on imaginary space journeys which visit far away places (occasionally saying such things as “if we’d made that right turn towards Mars…”) On the way, having worked out how long, for example, it will take them to reach Mercury (150 years) the author looks back at what was happening on earth late in the 1800s, i.e. 150 years ago.

It is a clever idea, with large colourful illustrations (loved the fighting cavemen) which will interest children aged 7+, especially those with an interest in the distant worlds which revolve in the skies around us.

Published by Harper Collins at £16.99 (HB)

The jolly sky blue seaside cover of Fiona Longmuir’s Looking For Emily rather belies the fact that this fast-moving adventure story occasionally becomes forbidding, as well as exciting. When Lily, a newcomer to the seaside town, discovers a small, unvisited museum which has items relating to a girl who vanished many years ago, it is the beginning of a quest for Lily and her two friends to uncover the mystery. What really happened to Emily and who created the museum is the task the friends set out to solve, hampered by the dangerous Mr Snyde whose interest revolves around a missing, very large diamond.

Looking for Emily is a cracking adventure story which those aged 8+ will enjoy.

Published by Nosy Crow at £7.99 (PB)

What Do You See? is a fun slide-and-find book for children aged three to five. An acetate sheet with lines on is in the storage pocket at the front of the book and by sliding this over the scrambled pictures on the sturdy board pages and lining up the black stripes, more than one image appears. A life buoy turns into someone wearing glasses, a camel becomes a hat – you get the picture?

Created by Renata Bueno, What Do You See? is something different for the very young.

Published by Twirl at £12.99 (HB)