Tug of War by John Burningham (Cape, £10.99). Age: 4+
Clever Hare! Having been mercilessly bullied by both Elephant and Hippopotamus, he hatches a plan to get his own back. Hare challenges each of his foes to a tug of war. Of course, each thinks they can easily out-pull feeble Hare, whom they regularly abuse and torment on account of his long floppy ears, twitching whiskers and inability to do anything but hop about. But Hare knows a trick or two.
Handing one end of the rope to Elephant and the other to Hippopotamus he sets up the tug of war. Through a long day, twilight, sunset and a long night, Elephant and Hippopotamus keep on pulling. Each believes he is pulling against Hare, and goaded by his whisperings, neither will give in. Pulling towards each other along the rope, the two eventually come face to face, by which time Hare has hopped to safety.
John Burningham's adaptation of an African folk story featuring stunning illustrations spanning double-page spreads with cleverly changing perspectives and the use of vibrant colours for the changing time frames pulls no punches. Within a beautiful picture book it gives a salutary and inspiring lesson about the importance of fighting back against abuse.
Toys in Space by Mini Grey (Cape, £10.99). Age: 5+
Ever wondered what happens to toys when you are not there? Mini Grey's deliciously inventive story told through illustrations with familiar speech bubble comments will make even the stoniest and least imaginative hearts and minds believe in this beautifully imagined fantasy.
Forgotten as darkness falls, seven toys realise they have been left overnight in the garden. Terrified by the brilliance of the stars as they burst out, the toys need a story to keep up their spirits. Luckily, WonderDoll begins. In her story, the toys are swiftly beamed up into a passing spaceship where they find a terrifying alien who they fear may drool all over them or, worse still, probe their stuffing. But lost toys are nothing new to this alien. With his Room of a Thousand Lost Toys, in different stages of repose from Slightly Drowsy to Suspended Animation, he's seen it all before. Appalled by what they regard as theft, the toys make the alien send all the collected toys back, and then set about helping him to find his own missing Cuddles.
Jokes abound, as in the entertaining spread of the thousand lost toys gently parachuting back to earth to be found by their very surprised owners, but there is pathos, too, in this touching story about losing something that is much loved.
This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins, £11.99). Age: 5+
Oliver Jeffers's seemingly simple illustrations have an unusual ability to catch the intense and sometimes conflicting emotions surrounding friendship and loneliness. They are subjects he has explored in previous titles, including Lost and Found and The Heart and the Bottle. Here, Wilfred decides that the moose he finds is his. Calling him Marcel, he teaches the moose the most important things about being a pet, which are also the most important things about being a friend. Marcel is excellent at some of them, such as "not making too much noise as Wilfred listens to his record collection" and "knocking down things that are out of Wilfred's reach". But, not only does Marcel sometimes do his own thing, as all good friends will and should, he also turns out not to belong to Wilfred.
How Wilfred learns to enjoy Marcel's company on a more reasonable and realistic basis is a tender and un-didactic lesson in ownership and sharing. As ever, Jeffers's illustrations delight, inspire and surprise with their variety and ingenuity.
