Rosalind Kerven picks out her favourite reads for little bookworms this Christmas.

TODDLERS AND PRE-SCHOOLERS: The Big Baby Bear Book by John Prater (Red Box, £7.99) would be a great present for any toddler. It features lots of favourite nursery rhymes - and some original variations too - all illustrated with boisterous pictures of Baby Bear and his Grandbear acting them out. Hours of repetitious fun guaranteed. (1-3)

You're All My Favourites (Walker, £9.99) is from Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram - the team that created the world best-selling Guess How Much I Love You. Here we meet three little bears who each believe that their mummy and daddy love the others more - but they soon discover that brothers and sisters in a family can all easily be "the most wonderful baby bears in the world". Bound to be a favourite! (1-3)

If you know someone small who enjoys making machine noises, give them Choo Choo Clickety-Clack! by Margaret Mayo and Alex Aycliffe (Orchard, £10.99). It's a celebration of trains, planes, cars, boats and lots more, all illustrated with bright, bold pictures full of speed and action - and the text has lots of noises to join in with. (2-4)

Stories And Songs For Bedtime, illustrated by Ian Beck, (Oxford, £12.99) is a truly beautiful collection of five favourite fairy tales and many lullabies. Each is stunningly illustrated and there's as much enjoyment to be had from flicking through the colourful pages as from the delightful stories. (2-4)

Benedict Blathwayt's Little Red Train books are much more fun to read than Thomas the Tank Engine, and the pictures are beautifully painted and full of interesting detail. Now you can buy four mini-hardback stories as a special boxed set (Random House, £9.99). It's presented in a cardboard pull-along train, offering hours of both story sharing and imaginative play. (2-5)

YOUNGER CHILDREN

You'd be hard put to find a more delightful book than Sally Gardner's Fairy Shopping (Dolphin, £5.99). It takes us straight to Silverbell Street where all the most wonderful fairy tale characters offer their wares for sale. There are goblin-gobstoppers, embroidered waistcoats stitched by mice, flying umbrellas, wands, wings, perfumed oil lamps with genies in and much, much more. The pictures are full of magic and fascinating detail - a real pleasure to pore over. (4-7)

A cartoon book by Posy Simmonds is always a real treat. Baker Cat (Jonathan Cape, £10.99) is about a poor, overworked cat, forced by the baker and his wife to do all the work and catch mice. Without a good show of mouse tails in the morning, there's no food - but he's too exhausted to go mouse-hunting. In the end, it's the mice themselves who trick the baker into feeding him - and then leaving the shop for good. A great tale (tail?) of little heroes outwitting a nasty villain, full of festive goodwill. (5-8)

For a wonderful collection of folk tales hitherto unknown in the West, try Tales Told In Tents by Sally Pomme Clayton, illustrated by Sophie Herxheimer (Frances Lincoln, £12.99). Collected from Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and other Central Asian republics, they're imbued with the magic of an exotic world of yurt-tents, camels and hand-woven carpets. Marvellous stories retold by a talented author and embellished by local proverbs and her own travellers' tales from the region. (6-9)

OLDER CHILDREN

Many children adore North-East author Terry Deary's Horrible Histories series with their jokey collections of fascinating historical facts. So Deary's The Mad Miscellany (Scholastic, £9.99) will be just perfect for them with its round-up of gruesome games, funny fashions, beheadings, school punishments, mad monarchs and much more from around the world and through the ages. (7-11)

For sheer enjoyment, No Time Like Show Time by Michael Hoeye (Puffin, £9.99) is highly recommended. It's a vastly entertaining thriller adventure about the mouse hero Hermux Tantamoq, set in the theatre. Its action-packed plot is full of surprises and there's a colourful cast of animal characters including film-stars, villains, a swashbuckling adventuress and a very endearing pet ladybird. Even those who don't normally like stories about talking animals will find this one impossible to put down. (8-11)

For those who prefer scary reads, The Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delaney (Bodley Head, £8.99) should fit the bill. Young Thomas has special powers because he is a seventh son of a seventh son. He finds himself learning the trade of a 'spook' who has to rid the countryside of ghosts, witches and boggarts. Look forward to meeting all sorts of nasties, both alive and dead, including a family of unspeakably wicked, child-eating witches. A splendid and unusual read for the strong-hearted with a wise and happy ending. (9-12)

Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Macmillan, £9.99) is original, humorous, exciting and heartwarming. It's about two brothers who one day find a huge bag full of money that comes flying through the air to land at their feet. Damian believes it to be a gift from God - but actually it's part of the loot stolen in a major train robbery. How they try to spend it fruitfully makes for a fast moving, sometimes hilarious story which ends in an astonishing climax, with a strong moral too. (8-12)

Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver (Orion, £8.99) is a marvellous epic quest story set amongst nomadic tribes in a northern forest 6,000 years ago. Its hero, a 12-year old boy called Torak, is orphaned when an enormous, demonic bear kills his father. To destroy the bear he must make the dangerous journey to the Mountain of the World Spirit, accompanied by his faithful wolf cub. A truly marvellous read for youngsters who enjoy wild adventure interlaced by myth and mysticism. (9-13)

For any child with a passion for Arthurian romance, King Arthur's World by Kevin Crossley-Holland (Orion, £6.99) is a must-have. It's a mini-encyclopaedia of everything to do with the King Arthur stories from chivalry and love to Camelot, the leading ladies and the original story tellers. Attractively illustrated, it promises many fascinating hours of browsing. (9-13)

Fancy eating some Dino Dung, Flies in Amber or Primordial Sludge? There are easy to make recipes for all these and much more in Dinosaur Dishes And Fossil Food by Susan Martineau and Martin Ursell (b small publishing £3.99). Ideal for creative kids who want to conjure up a change from festive fare. (8-12)

Look! by Gillian Wolfe (Frances Lincoln, £12.99) is a wonderful book for any child who's interested in art. It takes 17 great paintings from a variety of artistic traditions and explores the body language and facial expressions of each one. Stunning pictures and fascinating text encourage readers to look at art in a totally new way and also to try some creative work of their own. (8-teenage)

TEENAGERS

One Girl, Two Decks, Three Degrees Of Love by Johnny Zucker (Piccadilly £5.99) opens with a familiar scene: a parent standing at the bedroom door yelling at her offspring to turn the music down! However, this is no ordinary music, for 14-year-old Zo is teaching herself to become a DJ. As she struggles to achieve her ambition in a male-dominated world, she has to hone her skills, get round her mum, cope with unrequited love and survive a mega-fallout with her two best friends. A good story, packed with incident and lots of information about the DJ business. (11-14)

Gangsta Rap by Benjamin Zephaniah (Bloomsbury £5.99) can't fail to please streetwise teenagers. Its heroes are three boys excluded from school for bad behaviour, who end up as a top selling rap band. Love, death, gun culture, music and a sinister mystery plot are all crammed into this highly readable novel. Its colourful and exciting multi-cultural world is vividly described from the inside and it has a really positive message of hope and peace. (12-15).

Published: 30/11/2004