'Rattle my Ribs!" Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor by Mervyn Peake (Walker Books £12.99 in UK) is crewed by the weirdest wackiest characters: Billy Bottle, Jonas Joints, Timothy Twitch, Charlie Choice and Peter Poop, as well as purple "preposterous creatures" including the Dignipomp, and the Saggerdroop.
It is the story of a fierce pirate who befriends a strange yellow creature on a desert island and ends up a changed man. This wonderful imaginative book, first published in 1939, is full of zest. This shows in both the text, and the colour-tinted black and white pen drawings. The mad spirit of adventure shines through in every spread. "Yo-ho!"
Five Little Fiends, written and illustrated by Sarah Dyer (Bloomsbury £9.99 UK), is a wonderful book celebrating our world and the pleasure of sharing. Every day the five little fiends marvel at the world. One day each fiend decides to take home their favourite element, be it the moon, sun, sky, land or sea. However, they learn that the elements depend on each other, and that they belong together for everyone to enjoy. Dyer's simple text works in harmony with the pictures. She makes wonderful use of negative white space. The illustrations are really special; they are strong and graphic in nature. The fiends are little red devilish characters, with horns and sorrowful eyes. But don't worry they're not too scary. I would liken them to Jim Henson's Muppet characters.
In I loved Baloney (Henry P.) by John Scieszka and Lane Smith (Viking £12.99 in UK). Henry P. is a little green alien who is facing permanent detention unless he comes up with a good excuse for being late for school. This book is modern, original, bizarre and full of energy. It's really good fun to read aloud, and I think it would be a particularly good book to buy for the boys in your life, or for reluctant readers who love aliens!
The Water Hole by William Base (Abrams £12.95 in UK) is a completely different type of book. I must admit that I didn't like the fussy cover. But I found the illustrations inside intriguing and amazing, not unlike the paintings of Arcimbolo. The Water Hole is an ingenious fusion of counting book, puzzle book and storybook. You could spend endless hours poring over the fascinating artwork, trying to find all of the animals hiding within the landscape.
Judith Kerr's The Other Goose (Collins, £9.99 in UK) is about a lonely goose looking for a friend. Katerina sees her reflection in the side of Mr Buswell's car, and longs for "the other goose" to come out. There are some lovely drawings of Katerina in the snow. Kerr's gentle artwork reminds me of the illustrations of Raymond Briggs.
Michael Foreman gives us a dog's-eye view of a Cornish fishing village in Saving Sinbad (Anderson Press, £9.99 in UK ). A boat's in trouble out at sea and everyone in the town; the builders, the barber, the barman, the butcher's boy and even the bridegroom take part in the rescue! There are some great scenes, but I think I prefer Michael Foreman's more imaginative fairytale illustrations.
Good News Bad News by Colin McNaughton (Collins, £9.99 in UK) is great fun. "Good News! It's a beautiful day. Hooray! Bad News! It's a school day. Boo!" One minute a boy is walking to the dentist, the next moment he's confronted by all sorts of characters; his worst teacher, aliens, a big hairy monster, elephants and witches, all determined to stop him getting to his final destination. A smashing picture book combining text and pictures in a fun and comic way.
Kids will love Shrek by William Steig (Puffin, £4.99 in UK) They will delight in how horrid Shrek is and in how much he loves stinky repulsive things! Shrek is a green monster who leaves home in search of an equally repugnant bride. He's so vile that "any snake dumb enough to bite him instantly got convulsions and died". Steig's language is peppered with "big words" giving readers a chance to expand the vocabulary, with wonderful idiosyncratic rhymes and the weirdest sounds. Shrek, having found his stunningly ugly princess (she is illustrated with blue lips and spiky teeth and hair. A real horror show!) cries "Your horny warts, your rosy wens, like slimy bogs and fusty fens, thrill me." The princess replies equally enamoured with Shrek "Your lumpy nose, your pointy head, your wicked eyes, so livid red, just kill me." William Steig's illustrations are suitably vulgar, comical and witty.
They are executed in a childlike way with a sketchy wobbly black line. This book is a wonderful introduction to the work of William Steig "King of Cartoons". Steig was born in New York in 1907. He didn't start writing and illustrating children's books until he was in his 60s, but having started back in 1968, he has become one of America's most brilliant children's writers and illustrators. I think boys would especially love this book, which is very different from the Dreamworks adaptation. Wonderful stuff!
Niamh Sharkey is the illustrator of a number of children's books, including Tales of Wisdom and Wonder. She is currently writing, as well as illustrating, a picture book for Walker Books