Kids book club - June

0-4 years

Here Comes the Poo Bus!

Andy Stanton / Noelle Davies-Broek

9781408313008

£10.99

You read it right the first time. Andy Stanton is a big hit with older readers, thanks to his fabulously unsavoury Mr Gum series. This is his first picture-book for pre-schoolers, but true to form, it's a mighty long way from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. A narrative rhyme with appropriately, um, grungy illustrations, it's more in the spirit of the classic tale of The Spider and the Fly – but even more gruesome, and far more pungent. At first Uncle Toad seems to be a benevolent fellow, collecting local beetles, houseflies and spiders to take on a trip to the seaside. But he intends to wolf them all down on arrival. (Come on, though: if you board a bus made of doings, you get everything you deserve.) Truth be told, it's often downright gruesome stuff and not every parent would want this on their nursery bookshelf. Mind you, children will relish every toe-curling development and hoot at all the ghastly yuckiness. Be assured that Stanton is gifted with a wicked sense of humour and an enviable lightness of touch: little readers are in very safe hands.

4-6 years

Stanley's Stick

John Hegley / Neal Layton

9780340988183

£10.99

Bespectacled poet John Hegley is no newcomer to the world of children's books, though previously he's kept to working for them in his chosen field. This then is his first full-blown illustrated tale, though it should come as no surprise that it's still enormously lyrical. Young Stockport lad Stanley is very attached to his beloved stick. He's an inventive little boy and he can conjure anything out of it, from prehistoric creatures to musical instruments. But Stanley's growing up all the time, and one day at the seaside he decides that he and his beloved stick should go their separate ways. Thankfully, this doesn't mean his sense of fun and wonder is deserting him. Hegley packs plenty of wry humour and character into the pages here, and Layton's illustrations match his verbal flourishes perfectly. Old-fashioned without being fusty, and never remotely cloying, but properly sweet, it's a beautifully crafted tale and a fond fanfare for childhood imagination. All in all a really cracking debut.

6-8 years

Meerkat Madness

Ian Whybrow

9780007411535

£4.99

If it's possible for a species to be fashionable, then meerkats certainly are: little known until a BBC documentary back in 1987, they've since starred in their own series (Meerkat Manor) and even headed up a popular advertising campaign (Aleksandr of comparethemarket.com). So it's perhaps inevitable that someone would latch onto the idea of using the critters in children's fiction. Thankfully the writer in question is Ian Whybrow, the smart, prolific creator of Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs. This is lightweight, inconsequential fare, but it's meant to be – a string of bite-sized adventures about the venerable Uncle Fearless, former star of a TV nature documentary and the young meerkats he now looks after. His bountiful tales of high adventure inspire the youngsters to seek out escapades of their own. A little slow to get into gear, perhaps, but it delivers plenty of fun and thrills once it does, and there's a good deal of comic mileage in the creatures' unique perspective on humans and our culture.

9-12 years

Mortlock

Jon Mayhew

9781408803936

 £6.99

 Thanks to a certain boy wizard, whole new generations of readers seem open to old-fashioned ripping adventure yarns. In that vein, this novel by Wirral-based author has much more depth and substance than the waves of recent Rowling wannabes. In 1854, esteemed stage magician the Great Cardamon is imprisoned and killed, but not before he's pointed his young assistant Josie in the direction of his greatest secret. Josie is astonished to discover that she has a twin brother, Alfie, who works as an undertaker's assistant. Initially, sparks fly between them, but together the siblings must follow Cardamom's clues in search of the mysterious Amarant plant that holds the gift of immortality. Other interested parties are in hot pursuit though, and the perils that face Josie and Alfie are not for the faint-hearted. There are some pretty dark moments here, and Mayhew serves up some grim and vivid creations. But for those that can take it, this engrossing tale boasts all the twisted strangeness, suspense and invention of Victorian Gothic fiction, perfectly packaged for young adult readers.

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