Of the plethora of bright and beautiful picture books produced each year, only a few can truly be described as outstanding or original. It's not an easy brief. In a short number of pages, a lively plot must unfold with comprehensible prose, appealing characters, an interesting setting, plenty of humour and/or pathos and a dash of pedagogic ethics. And this before the artwork, which can be more than half the book's appeal! All Christy wants in Christy's Dream by Caroline Binch (Mammoth, £9.99 ) is to own his own horse. Like other boys on his Dublin estate, he has worked in the stables of the horse project and saved every punt from birthdays and odd jobs. The only problem is - Ma's dead set against it! Both the text and the illustrations are the work of Ms.Binch. This has all the charm, warmth and humour of Into the West, minus the fantasy element. And though it's all about boys, my girl-child reader gave it full marks.
Jane Ray's artwork is the stuff of collectors. Hansel and Gretel (Walker Books, £5.99 in UK) has a Byzantine look, highly stylised with exquisite minutiae and a generous use of gold. In fact, the gingerbread house looks like an Orthodox Church. Alas, the text offers nothing new, with the usual wicked witch and stepmother, while Dad is embraced at story's end despite abandoning his children to their doom.
Jan Mark's The Midas Touch (Walker Books, £10.99 in UK), illustrated by Juan Wijngaard, presents the classical myth in simple but lyrical modern language. "Long ago, when the world was still finding its feet, there lived creatures you would never see today". The photographic images are framed in a tessellated background of vine leaves and grapes, evoking ancient art. Children will enjoy the tale of the hapless king's "gift" from the mischievous god Dionysus. The wrong picture was chosen for the cover of Douglas Wood's Grandad's Prayers of the Earth (Walker Books, £10.99 in UK), illustrated by P.J. Lynch. Though a fine interior, its muted brown hues are initially offputting and both adult and child readers came reluctantly to the book. Once inside, the poignant story of the love between a boy and his grandfather is well worth the read. The pictures are quietly spectacular: crisp winter forests, true-to-life people and a stunning portrait of a child's grief as he stares blindly out a rain-washed window. "And the world seemed dark and lonely without my Grandad in it". Read it and weep.
Two stories about Antarctica are also tales of males who are nurturing and non-aggressive. In Meredith Hooper's Tom's Rabbit: A True Story from Scott's Last Voyage, illustrated by Bert Kitchen (Frances Lincoln, £5.99), a shipful of kindly sailors take loving care of a cat, a parrot, husky dogs, ponies and the title's rabbit. The latter belongs to Tom Crean, an Irish survivor of Scott's last expedition. The rabbit was mentioned in the famous explorer's journal for having given birth to 17 bunnies on Christmas Day. In The Emperor's Egg by Martin Jenkins, illustrated by Jane Chapman (Walker Books, £9.99 in UK), we discover equality of the sexes among Emperor penguins. Having laid her single egg, the female leaves it to the male to cradle and hatch over the long frozen months of Antarctica's winter. The human male author does not conceal his incredulity and even some indignation over Daddy penguin's lot. The big, bright and simple pictures are ideal for the very young.
Unicorn Dreams by Dyan Sheldon, illustrated by Neil Reed (Red Fox, £4.99 in UK) is a tale of magic in ordinary places. Little Dan is followed by a unicorn on the bus, in the school yard and back home to his flat. At first the other children laugh at "Dreamy Dan" and the teacher gets cross. But at storytime the power of the imagination triumphs when Dan brings them all into the unicorn's world. Photographic realism is the latest fashion in children's picture books and here, suffused with light, it's a fine contrast to the mystical theme. A real winner - one suspects the writer was a Dreamy Dan himself.
G.V. Whelan is a novelist, screenwriter and critic. Her books for young adults are published under the name of Orla Melling.