What has happened to children reading for pleasure? The recent report by the National Literacy Trust that only 35 per cent of eight- to 18-year-olds enjoy reading in their spare time – the lowest in two decades – is heart-sinking.
All books for children should give joy, but too many have become celebrity brand add-ons or vehicles for propaganda. A great book should get a child not just reading but rereading, enthralled by a pinch of magic that enriches their lives forever.
One of the best is King Winter’s Birthday (Pushkin Children’s Books, £12.99) by Ulrich Boschwitz, a German Jew killed aged 27. As well as his adult classic The Passenger, he left us a perfect fairy story for 3 to 5s, now exquisitely illustrated by Emily Sutton and reworked by Jonathan Freedland. King Winter longs to see his siblings, Summer, Spring and Autumn, but as the seasons gather to party, disaster ensues. “Sometimes we cannot be with the ones we love, except in our dreams,” he realises.
Bothered by Bugs (Two Hoots, £12.99) also has an ecological message, and Emily Gravett conveys it with characteristically witty illustrations. Badger and friends rid the woods of every “pest” – only to discover that bugs are crucial to pollinate fruit trees, break down poo and make nature work. A deliciously funny gift for ages 4+, with added recipes.
One Snowy Christmas Eve by Marc Bratcher and Korky Paul (UCLan Publishing, £7.99) features a disabled man who is gradually transformed into Santa by generous and ingenious villagers. The hero’s expressions of manic panic being modulated into saintly jolliness works a treat for ages 5+.
The Christmas story is, above all, about refugees, love and family. Onjali Q Raúf’s The Girl at the Front of the Class (Hodder, £12.99) is narrated by a little boy who notices a girl who never speaks at school but draws scenes of fire and terror: “things I had never seen before”. How he befriends her by making happier pictures is vividly illustrated by Pippa Curnick, and it is an affecting story for ages 6 and over.
Another quest for love and home lies at the heart of Sally Gardner’s Pernickety Boo (HarperCollins, £12.99), where an enchanted umbrella is absent-mindedly brought to life by a “careless sorcerer”. Illustrated by Chris Mould and recounted in deliciously funny prose, the umbrella develops language, a taste for gloves and a friendship with Sylvie. Pure delight for ages 7+.
Hilary McKay is best known for her series about kindly bohemian families. However, Rosa by Starlight (Macmillan, £12.99) has an orphaned heroine adopted by an aunt and uncle as wicked as any in Harry Potter: their business is plastic grass and murder. What saves Rosa is an imperious talking cat, a trip to Venice and a bracelet of bright glass beads. Brimming with imaginative sympathy and gentle magic, this is a treat for nines and over.
Fox Goes North (Scholastic, £14.99) was written when the author Jeremy Strong was dying of cancer. Ostensibly about a fox and friends who journey to see the Northern Lights, it’s really about how we need art, music, books, biscuits, friendship and children as we move towards death. Illustrated by Heegyum Kim, it’s a poignant classic for ages 7+.
Frances Hardinge’s Gothic genius is married to Emily Gravett’s quirkiest illustrations in The Forest of a Thousand Eyes (Two Hoots, £14.99; for ages 9+). A brave girl and her scaled ferret venture through the carnivorous, ubiquitous forest to retrieve a stolen spyglass that is vital to her people. Through various encounters her eyes are opened to human ingenuity and cooperation. Outstandingly imaginative, with a dash of Mervyn Peake – but those with a taste for epic quests may prefer Piers Torday’s Midnight Treasure (Quercus Children’s Books, £14.99; 11+). Tibor is a young werewolf, adopted by vampire Baron Ambrus whom he loves and trusts for rescuing him and his friend Roza from an orphanage. But the Baron knows Tibor is the only child who can lead vampires to the Midnight Treasure, impeding the boy’s destiny and stripping the almost extinguished mortal race of all hope and power. A wholly compelling adventure by the stunningly talented author, this has echoes of every great yarn from Indiana Jones to His Dark Materials and is my Children’s book of the year.
This year marks the centenary of Joan Aiken’s birth, and although The Wolves of Willoughby Chase remains her best-known classic, those seeking great stories about boys should get her Felix Trilogy (Red Fox, £6,99 each; 11+). Its irrepressibly dauntless, good-hearted, trickster hero Felix moves from boy to man as he journeys from 19th-century Spain to England and back again. His odyssey contains outstanding prose, thrilling adventures, great jokes, treasure, poetry, murders and a love story that is as unexpected as it is enthralling. If your child has lost the joy of reading then get them this above all for Christmas. It is something that the whole family can revel in and reread.
[See also: The haunted wood of children’s literature]
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