Simply having books around the house is the best way to interest a child in reading. Add to your existing collection of children’s books and wrap a good read as a gift. Here is a collection of brand-new releases to consider.

 

This is the literary equivalent of buried treasure. Seuss scholar and collector Charles D. Cohen has hunted down seven rarely seen stories by Dr Seuss. Originally published in magazines between 1950 and 1951, they include The Bear, the Rabbit, and the Zinniga-Zanniga, Gustav the Goldfish, Tadd and Todd, Steak for Supper, The Bippolo Seed, in which a scheming feline leads a duck to make a bad decision, The Strange Shirt Spot, the inspiration for the bathtub-ring scene in The Cat in the Hat Comes Back and The Great Henry McBride, about a boy whose far-flung career fantasies are only bested by those of the Dr Seuss himself – a collector’s item for children from the age of four to seven.

 

Freya is an ordinary girl living in modern Britain, but with a twist: people still worship the Viking gods. She’s caught in her parents’ divorce, and shuttling between bickering adults is no fun. One evening, stuck with her dad on his shift at the British Museum, she is drawn to the Lewis Chessmen and Heimdall’s Horn. Unable to resist, she blows the horn, waking three chess pieces from their enchantment. They are summoned to Asgard and told they must go on a perilous journey to save the youth gods. If Freya refuses she will be turned into an ivory chess piece. A brilliantly funny read for children aged eight to 12 with a whole new take on the Norse myths.

 

This is a story about a stubborn little dragon with a favourite book and a fiery temper. It’s nearly Cedric the dragon’s bedtime, and there is just enough time for his mom to read him his book. Unfortunately, Cedric likes the story so much that he wants to hear it again, and again… with incendiary consequences. Again! is a typically clever and quite irresistible book from the talented, Emily Gravett. Her quaint humour, storylines full of surprises and lively illustrations always give children from the age of three something to look forward to. Gravett has twice won the Kate Greenaway Medal as well as the Nestle’s Children’s Book Prize Bronze Award for Wolves and Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears.

 

Introduce your nine to 12 year old to the ever-popular Asterix, Obelix and the other enduring characters from this series. Young Asterix fans will have hours of fun searching for their favourite characters amidst a variety of fascinating scenes. This is a fun and funny volume full of hilarious scenes featuring Asterix and his friends in a range of different escapades. If the book is a hit, visit the official Asterix website, asterix.net.au, where you can browse a list of all the Asterix comics published through the years. Dating back to the 1960s you can invest in Asterix and the Banquet, Asterix in Spain, through to the 1970s classic Asterix and the Laurel Wreath and 2000’s Asterix and the Actress.

 

Zoe knows exactly what she wants for Christmas, and to make sure Father Christmas does too, she and Beans take a trip all the way to the North Pole. But with a baby polar bear to rescue and a swirling snowstorm to contend with, will they ever make it? This is a wonderful, warm Christmas story with a surprise pullout page. Mick Inkpen is one of today’s most popular picture book authors and illustrators and the famous creator of both Kipper and Wibbly Pig. Mick has won the Children's Book Award for Threadbear and the British Book Award twice, for Penguin Small and Lullabyhullaballoo. Mick’s daughter, Chloe Inkpen, was awarded second place in the Macmillan Prize for Illustration in 2008.

 

Adapted from one of Bob Marley’s songs, One Love brings the joyful spirit and unforgettable lyrics of his music to life for a new generation. Readers will delight in dancing to the beat and feeling the positive groove of change when one girl enlists her community to help transform her neighbourhood for the better. Adapted by Cedella Marley, Bob Marley’s daughter and illustrated by Vanessa Newton, this heart-warming picture book offers an upbeat testament to the amazing things that can happen when we all get together with one love in our hearts. Cedella’s life has been rooted in music and culture. As the oldest child of Marley, she has dedicated herself to keeping her father’s message and memory alive.

 

This is a fantastic bumper volume of classic stories from a much-loved author that every child between seven and 12 should have. Teens can plunge into Blyton’s magical world of toys that come alive, animals that talk and magical folk who get into all sorts of scrapes. Blyton was the queen of short, quirky stories full of imaginative adventures and unusual characters. Packed full of magic and wonder, there are 60 tales that will delight children everywhere. More than 600 million copies of Blyton’s books have to date been sold worldwide and even though she passed away in 1968, in the decade from 2000 she was still one of the world’s top 10 authors, selling more than seven million copies in the UK alone.

 

Rigg is well trained at keeping secrets. Only his father knows the truth about Rigg’s strange talent for seeing the paths of people’s pasts. But when his father dies, Rigg is stunned to learn just how many secrets his dad had kept from him; secrets about Rigg’s own past, his identity, and his destiny. And when Rigg discovers that he has the power not only to see the past, but also to change it, his future suddenly becomes anything but certain. Rigg’s birthright sets him on a path that leaves him caught between two factions, one that wants him crowned and one that wants him dead. He will be forced to question everything he thinks he knows, choose who to trust, and push the limits of his talent. The book is recommended for children 12 and older.