Harry the Hog and a shrew called Lil are best friends. In this story, told in rhyming couplets, they go searching for the source of a scary noise in their village, and meet a series of wild animals before the drama is resolved. Age 3+

Candy Stripe Lil (a shrew) and Harry the Hog are on their way to Badger’s birthday party. The guests have been told to wear hats, and when the wind blows Lil’s cap away, she must fly after it. Age 3+

Candy Stripe Lil invited Harry the Hog to tea (warm jellied maggots!), but he hasn’t turned up. Lost in the fog, he’s stepped in a bog – but luckily, Lil has set off to find him. Age 3+

‘I’m a circle. You’re a square. You’re a tiger. I’m a bear’... Two children play an imaginary game of opposites and contrasts in this beautifully illustrated and stimulating board book. Age 18 months+.

Mouse House and The Mouse Wife are unusual mousey tales that parents will love to read as much as children will love to hear them – again and again. With drawings by Martin Ursell. Age 3+

Michael Rosen introduces Causley’s epic tale in verse telling of the Trinosaur that comes to life after millions of years and causes a kerfuffle among the townsfolk of Dunborough. Age 5+

A wonderful demonstration of how much fun you can have with words, Carol Ann Duffy’s collection of poems includes ‘A Stick Insect’s Funeral Poem’, a whole herd of ‘Manchester Cows’, haikus, a tremendous search for breakfast in ‘Ran Out of Sugar’ and the progress of ‘The Hat’ through literary history, on poetic heads from Chaucer to Ted Hughes. Age 7+

Jinpa lives with his widowed mother, high in the mountains of Tibet. In this magical folk tale, he earns three silver coins and leaves the mountains to seek his fortune by spending the money wisely. Age 7+

These eight fairy tales are about traditional fairy tale things – castles, ogres, princesses and frogs – but they are all brand new, written by some of Ireland’s best storytellers.

From the ancient Chimaera to grey aliens, this book profiles 44 monsters, with full-page artworks and information on the creatures’ physical attributes, where they come from and what they do. Age 7+

Lisa is eleven years old and unhappy with her new stepfather and siblings; but within the old mirrors in her mother’s room there is a ghostly and much older world to explore. Age 10+

Fast-paced and wise-cracking, this first book of the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard trilogy introduces Magnus, son of the Norse god Frey, currently homeless in Boston. Young adult.

When Precious Ramotswe discovers that her new friend Nancy has only a photograph and a necklace of carved zebras to remind her of her missing parents, the girls set off to find them. It is another case for Precious, the girl from the No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, and an exciting adventure in the wilds of Botswana. Age 7+

Ben and Fee MacTavish’s new school is the School Ship Tobermory, where young people train to be sailors, and this is its very first adventure: the meeting with the mysterious Albatross. Age 9+

The Tobermory sets sail for its second trip, an exploration of the Caribbean that is cut short when a new Tobermory recruit jumps ship and they follow him to the sinister Shark Island. Age 9+

Mervyn Peake’s Sunday books were stories and drawings made for his two sons during the 1940s, when the family lived on Sark. None of the stories were written down, but the brightly coloured drawings of pirates, cowboys, monsters and jungle animals have survived. Peake’s friend and fellow writer Michael Moorcock has written tales of piracy, a shipwrecked circus and nightmare horse races to accompany these hugely entertaining pictures.

Children will have fun exploring the globe through this colourful atlas. The 20 maps are illustrated with the produce, plants, animals, industries, geographical features, people and landmarks of each area, while highly informative panels provide key facts and descriptions of the region’s geography, history and culture. 7–11 years.

Marked-out boards for versions of the game known in Britain as Nine Men's Morris have been discovered on classical ruins, ancient clay tiles and even in a Viking ship burial, the longevity and wide reach of the game attesting to its appeal. This compendium explains Nine Men’s Morris and eight other enduring games, such as Hangman and Battleships, with rules, strategy tips, printed playing boards and grids.

Written specially for Junior Classics, this audiobook explains how we learned about dinosaurs from fossils and traces their development from the Triassic era to their extinction. Read by Benjamin Soames, with music by Borodin, Glazunov and Rubinstein. 2 CDs; total time 2hrs 34mins.

HE Marshall (1867–1941) incorporated folk legends and focused on famous people and dramatic events in her books to give children a lively and engaging introduction to British history. Anna Bentinck and Daniel Philpott read the unabridged third volume, covering the period from James I and Guy Fawkes to Queen Victoria. 4 CDs; total time 4hrs 42mins.

Using a combination of storytelling and excerpts from the plays, a cast led by Anton Lesser introduce the plots and main characters in Shakespeare’s eight plays about the Plantagenet kings Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI and Richard III. Unabridged. 3 CDs; total time 3hrs 52mins.

‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm’, ‘The Teddy Bears’ Picnic’, ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’, and songs from Snow White ... This double CD album contains some of the greatest recordings made for children between 1911 and 1950 and performed by artists such as Danny Kaye, Gracie Fields and Paul Robeson. Altogether there are 38 tracks on 2 CDs; total time 2hrs 26mins.

Based on Susan Coolidge’s own upbringing in a well-to-do New England family, the Katy books are among the best-loved of children’s classics. This second book in the series sees Katy and her sister Clover adjusting to life in boarding school. Here, the American actress Laurel Lefkow reads an abridged version. 2 CDs; total time 2hrs 27mins.

Written in 1857 with the intention of giving boys ‘valuable information, much pleasure, great profit and unbounded amusement’, this is the story of Ralph, Jack and Peterkin, three boys shipwrecked on a desert island, kidnapped by pirates, attacked by sharks... but Ralph always longed for adventure. This abridged version is read by Wayne Forester. 3 CDs; total time 3hrs 3mins.

‘It’s the dramatic, astonishing, comic or eye-popping truth that you’ll hear about in Pirates! ’ Roy McMillan traces the history of piracy on the high seas – often more extraordinary than fiction – since antiquity and tells the stories of notorious individuals such as Blackbeard, Anne Bonny, Barbarossa and Mary Read. Read by Jasper Britton. 2 CDs; total time 2hrs 38mins.

In Kipling's magical stories, Puck is accidentally conjured up by two children performing their version of A Midsummer Night's Dream near an ancient shrine. Puck and his friends tell the children stories, weaving together ancient and medieval history, myth, folklore and fantasy. Read by Peter Kenny. Unabridged. 5 CDs; total time 5hrs 53mins.

Packed full of information, this book introduces the age of the dinosaurs, illustrates and describes different species and their survival tactics, and pits dinosaur against dinosaur in staged battles. Age 8+

In 1926, Evie O’Neill arrives in New York where a serial killer lurks amid the flappers and partying; but Evie has a supernatural secret that could catch the murderer – if he doesn’t catch her first. Young adult.

The performance poet and comedian John Hegley presents an A–Z of poems about animals, from Ants to a spotty Zebra, plus a few about people and ‘other creatures’, such as Fishtoes and the Quibble. Age 8+

Having saved the school from a bully, Nick, Molly and Karl find themselves on the wrong side of the new zero-tolerance policy. Age 8–12

Karl is invited to join MLEZ, the secret organization that runs the school. Molly and Nick must save Karl from himself and the school from weird Karl. Age 8–12

Because he’s so short, Nick is stuffed into his locker by Bully-boy Roy. The school counsellor says Roy has issues: Molly and Karl say he’s a mutant troll who must be defeated. Age 8–12

Mr Leakey is a very practical magician who bewitches animals to be his servants, flies around on a magic carpet and often becomes invisible. Introduced and illustrated by Quentin Blake. Age 9+

This 1883 fantasy story by George MacDonald is the sequel to The Princess and the Goblin. Princess Irene and Curdie, the miner’s boy, are reunited in a quest to save the king, Irene’s father. Age 9+

Marco Loristan and his friend Rat, a London street urchin, go on a secret mission for Marco’s father. Travelling across Europe, they deliver the message that triggers a revolution. First published in 1915. Age 9+

Penelope Lively’s amazing animal odyssey follows a group of seven animals, including Stanley, as they explore a flooded, people-less world on board QV66 and search for another animal like Stanley. Age 9+

Sent out of London to avoid a cholera epidemic, a clergyman’s son and daughter become concerned about the children in nearby Drouet’s Academy, a notorious Victorian school for pauper children. Age 9+

In 1485, as Henry Tudor becomes king, a fleeing Yorkist leaves his cosseted 15-year-old daughter Cecily with his elder sister at Mantlemass in the Sussex countryside – to make a new life. Age 9+

Written in 1944, this romantic novel is set in the medieval castle of Windri and its nearby woods – the trysting place of the Knight of the Golden Feather and the unhappy Philippa, betrothed to another. Age 9+

Originally published in 1948, this is the story of one of history’s most famous horses, the Godolphin Arabian, and his 18th-century journey from Morocco to an English racing stable – and triumph. Age 9+

If the alphabet goes from A to Z, what goes from Z to A? Here are more than 300 clever, funny and sometimes quite tricky riddles and brain teasers to work out. The answers are at the back. Age 7+

Sam is scared of dentists, but Mr Murgatroyd can spin a yarn as well as mend teeth: so amazing are his tales of tigers’, whales’ and crocodiles’ teeth, that Sam doesn’t notice his own being fixed. Age 4+

Glumps live in caves where they sit still and think; peebles dance and twirl in the moonlight. This story is about a peeble who wanted to sit still and think and a glump who wanted to dance. Age 3+

This board book explains such interesting stuff as why giraffes have long necks and how elephants drink – plus press-out and slot-together models of a tiger, an elephant, a giraffe and a crocodile. Age 3+ Not Suitable for children under 36 months due to small pieces.

As well as interesting facts about work on the farm and sheep, cows, pigs and horses, this colourful board book has press-out and slot-together models of the four animals. Age 3+. Not Suitable for children under 36 months due to small pieces

This collection brings together short stories and poems by one of the greatest children’s writers. The 15 stories include some of Aiken’s favourites: 'Humblepuppy', 'Lob’s Girl' and 'Crusader’s Toby'. Age 7+

In another of Carolina Rabei’s acclaimed illustrated versions of poems from Walter de la Mare’s Peacock Pie (1913), children explore the farmyard as the animals bed down for the night. Age 3+

Starting their journey on a farm, two boys – adventurous would-be zoologists – travel the world, looking at wild animals, making informative notes, painting pictures and being very careful. Age 6+. Slightly off-mint.