YOUNGEST READERS

FINDING a really special book that works for babies and toddlers isn't easy, but Star Baby by Ian Whybrow, illustrated by Jason Cockroft (Orchard, £5.99) certainly fits the bill. Its theme is babies, both human and animal - lamb, foal, calf and chicks - all snuggling up and sharing affection with their mums.

Narrated in gentle verse with stunningly beautiful pictures. (Age 0-2) Buy someone small The Best Ever Nursery Rhymes and Tales illustrated by Jonathan Langley (HarperCollins, £16.99) and they'll keep quiet and happy for most of the year. It contains dozens - nay, hundreds - of wonderful rhymes - some well known, others forgotten gems, plus six well loved stories, all cheerfully and colourfully illustrated. (0-4) Gossie and Friends by Oliver Dunrea (Walker, £7.99) is a delightful flap book about five colourful goslings, with fun lessons about colours, opposites, seasons and numbers. It's got bright, simple pictures and sturdy board pages. (1-3) In Hello, Who's There? by Satoshi Kitamura (Andersen Press, £7.99) little ones have to pull the chunky tabs on each page to see who's hiding in the bushes. There's Rabbit, Butterfly, Squirrel and more, with a happy surprise at the end. (1-4) Small children always love pop-up books, so The Very Smiley Snowman by Jack Tickle (Little Tiger, £7.99) is sure to please. Each spread features a different winter animal popping up in a cheerful, colourful pose (chirping robins, skating penguins etc. ) Great paper engineering and full of seasonal cheer. (1-4) Do you know what a Hugglewug is? Well, it's big, bright, smiley and bubbling over with fun (see picture on right).

You can meet these endearing fantasy creatures in I'm a Happy Hugglewug by Niamh Sharkey (Walker, £10.99). Follow their day, visit their school, practise counting and spot things in their busy pictures. A truly wonderful creation. (2-5) Absolutely adorable pictures of animals and a heartwarming and subtly profound take on the nativity story make Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell and Jason Cockcroft (Orchard, £10.99) a must-read to finish off Christmas Day. Kind Ox has a place for every creature in his stable - and animals that usually attack each other find sanctuary together in his presence. (3-5)

SCHOOLCHILDREN WHAT can pirates possibly have in common with characters like Old Mother Hubbard or Hansel and Gretel? You can find out in Colin and Jackqui Hawkins' Pirate Treasure Map (Walker, £10.99). It's a zany picture story in which a quest to find a lost treasure chest gets tangled up with the adventures of everyone's favourite fairy tale characters. Totally daft but lots of fun. (5-8) German author Cornelia Funke has the rare gift of writing exactly on children's level. When Santa Fell to Earth (Chicken House, £9.99) is a beautifully bound Christmas story - an adventuresome novel full of snow, elves, angels, toys, an invisible flying reindeer and a battle between good and evil. (6-9) Dragon's Egg by Claire Hawcock and Niroot Puttapipat (Walker, £12.99) comes in a slightly tacky looking gift box, but inside is a wonderfully imagined instruction booklet on how to raise a baby dragon - hatching out, grooming, feeding, teaching it fire breathing and flying. Delightfully described, and illustrated in intimate detail, the box also includes an 'egg' containing a pop-up dragon, ancient scroll and a magic ring. It should provide hours of play value as well as reading. (6-10) Beauty and the Beast is one of the loveliest and most romantic of all fairy tales. Max Eilenberg's retelling (Walker, £12.99) is written in lyrical language that brings both the characters and the story vividly alive. Illustrated with exquisitely magical paintings by Angela Barrett and printed on luxuriously thick paper, it's truly a gift to treasure. (6-10) For hours of quiet fun while everyone digests their dinner try Castles by Colin Thompson (Red Fox, £5.99). Each highly inventive double page picture comprises an extraordinary fantasy castle - ranging from the Red Castle of Mars to a Mushroom Castle. The task is to find over 100 kings, queens, princes and princesses hidden inside them - great for sharp eyes and enquiring minds. (6-11) Books don't necessarily mean stories!

For those who prefer facts to fiction, Trains by Robert Crowther (Walker, £12.99) is sure to be a winner. Each page of pop-up and pull-the-tab pictures is also crammed with interesting information about trains and railways both past and present, providing endless fun for browsing. (7-11) Lots of junior age children love spooky things, so an ideal gift would be Ghosts! by Richard Brassey (Orion, £10.99), which bills itself as the ultimate guide for ghost hunters. It's crammed full of British ghost stories and lore (How to Keep Ghosts Away, Top Ten Creepy places, etc. Easy to read and generously illustrated. (7-11) The ancient story of Beowulf is part of our national heritage. In this beautifully presented version (Walker, £12.99) Michael Morpurgo retells the story of the great, monster slaying hero in a style that's both readable and faithful to the Anglo-Saxon original. Michael Foreman's dramatic pictures are displayed in authentic looking decorative borders. (8 - 12) For a great read that should provide a laugh a minute, give them Alex Shearer's I was a Schoolboy Bridegroom (Hodder, £5.99). Young Bosworth's parents decide that an arranged marriage might cure his errant behaviour - and persuade him to agree with the promise of receiving a large dowry. But they haven't counted on his chosen bride being the most horribly formidable girl ever. A really entertaining novel full of adventure as well as humour. (8-12)

TEENAGERSELIZA Rose by Mary Hooper (Bloomsbury, £6.99) is a really gripping and satisfying girly read set in the 17th century. It follows the fortunes of a naive country lass who goes up to London and finds herself thrown into prison, then rescued by the mother of Nell Gwyn. Nell herself befriends her and introduces her to the royal court where she's an up and coming mistress to Charles II. Vivid scene setting, wonderful characters (especially the King himself and a glamorous highwayman), lots of drama and romance. (11+) Teenagers who enjoy intrigue and high adventure will be riveted by Robert Muchamore's Man vs Beast (Hodder, £5.99). It's the latest title in the Cherub series, about a training school for youthful secret agents who are regularly sent on dangerous assignments.

Here they infiltrate an extremist animal liberation group, complete with disguised identities, car chases and shoot-outs. In fact, the whole series (there are six titles so far) would make an excellent gift. (12+) An equally exciting book is Catherine MacPhail's Nemesis - Into the Shadows (Bloomsbury, £5.99). This is a dark and mysterious thriller in which a boy without a memory finds himself lost, homeless, accused of a vicious murder and pursued by unknown evil agents. With the different characters' viewpoints cleverly interwoven and no secrets given away, this novel will keep you gripped right until the end. (12+)