Sally Gets a Job by Stephen Huneck

When her family goes off to work in the morning, leaving her home alone, Sally the dog starts daydreaming about what jobs she might like to do. Teaching, zookeeping, archaeology, paleontology and farming all cross her mind; until her people arrive home and she realises that she already has a brilliant job – looking after her family.

Huneck's coloured woodcut illustrations give the book a distinctly retro feel, that brought back memories of psychedelic 70s children’s cartoon Crystal Tipps and Alistair. Whilst the story itself has a sweet sentiment, and the woodcuts are clearly accomplished, Sally's static expressions (inevitable by the nature of this medium) are sometimes mildly disturbing.

The Magic Rabbit by Annette LeBlanc Cate

Unusually for a picture flat, The Magic Rabbit is illustrated almost entirely in black and white, with only occasional details being accented in yellow. But far from feeling drab, the use of monochrome actually adds to the magic of this atmospheric tale. There is more than a touch of the Sally Gardner about LeBlanc Cate's style, particularly in the boggle-eyed facial expressions and elaborately detailed spreads.

The opening spread pictures the two main characters - the magician Ray and his assistant, Bunny – in their urban apartment, which is brimming with books, trinkets and magical accessories. You could easily spend several minutes just contemplating this one scene, but for the promise of an intriguing story ahead.

As well as being business partners, Ray and Bunny are the best of friends, and go everywhere together, until one day Bunny gets scared by a dog during their act, and runs off into the busy street. As Bunny finds himself lost in the city crowds, he misses Ray terribly, and it's only when he starts nibbling on some discarded popcorn, that he spots a some magic stars and follows their trail all the way back to his own magic hat, and a delighted Ray. A charming little story about the everyday magic of friendship, brought beautifully to life by its skilfully evocative illustrations, The Magic Rabbit is an impressive début.

The Chocolate Cat by Sue Stainton, illustrated by Anne Mortimer

Following on from Santa’s Snow Cat and The Lighthouse Cat, this established author/illustrator team return with another fantastical feline story, this time featuring that winning ingredient, chocolate.

Mortimer’s lavish illustrations bring to mouthwatering life the exotic creations of the chocolate shop owner, whose cat acquires a taste for chocolate mice and takes it upon himself to deposit them all around the town. Soon business is booming and everyone is smiling, including the previously downcast chocolatier.

There’s no doubt that chocolate can lift the spirits, but it should be pointed out that it can actually be poisonous to cats, so please don’t try this at home!

Frog In Love by Max Velthuijs

Originally published in 1989, Frog in Love was the first of 17 books to have been published in this classic character series. Taking the very grown-up theme of romance and presenting it on a level that children can appreciate is quite an ambitious endeavour, but this gentle and touching tale manages to pull it off with grace and sincerity.

At first Frog thinks the thumping in his chest must be an illness, until Hare diagnoses him as being in love. Anxiety turns to elation as Frog proclaims the object of his desire to be a beautiful white duck, and then back to anxiety again as he is too shy to tell her his feelings. But despite Pig’s reservations about the feasibility of an inter-species relationship (slight political undertones perhaps?), Frog finally gets Duck’s attention by showing off and doing the biggest jump EVER.

For such a simplistic character who really bears little anatomical resemblance to an amphibian, Frog is unfalteringly lovable and bursting with personality. Let’s hope that the re-release, with its more contemporary cover design, will keep Frog bouncing through the generations into the hearts of children for years to come.

I Love You Muddy Bear by Jane Simmons

Mousse the dog loves Muddy Bear almost as much as his best doggy-friend Nut. So when Muddy Bear gets accidentally rolled up into a snowdog, Mousse is distraught and sets off to find him with the help of Nut. Some well-meaning but misguided rabbits send them off on an erroneous mission to confront Big Bear, whom they think might have taken Muddy Bear, but they only succeed in needlessly waking a grumpy Big Bear form hibernation. Eventually Muddy Bear turns up, but not before Mousse has endured a fretful night without him.

The lost toy scenario is one which has been tackled by many a children’s book before, but the winning combination of lovable yet quirky characters, some clever tension building and a heart-warming happy ending make this a pleasantly refreshing take.

Elephant by Petr Horáček

Most children invent an imaginary playmate at some point, and for the little boy in this book, it’s an elephant. But is it imaginary? Just like Bernard’s monster in Not Now Bernard, the parents (or in this case, grandparents) can’t see the child’s unusual companion, and the child gets blamed for all the mess and destruction caused. But this un-named boy enjoys many an adventure with his elephant friend, and eventually the grandparents join in the game.

Softly drawn with grey scribbly skin and a docile friendly face, the elephant is surprisingly inanimate and lacks the personality of his anarchic anthropomorphic forbears - The Tiger Who Came to Tea, The Wild Things or even Bernard’s monster. The repetitious expressions on the human faces also make the characters feel slightly cold and removed, though the illustrations are by no means unpleasant. A simple if rather dispassionate tale, the themes of make believe and making a mess will surely appeal.

Miki by Stephen Mackey

Despite its highly accomplished and beguiling illustrations, the presence of both penguins and polar bears in a single environment (a classic schoolboy error) was an immediate turn-off to this otherwise magical tale.

Topographical technicalities aside, Miki is a sweet and ethereal character, whose midwinter wishes take her on a strange underwater voyage where she encounters all kinds of weird and wonderful creatures.

In an unfortunate design flaw, black text on a dark background made bedtime reading difficult on several of the pages - interrupting the pleasantly rhythmic flow of the text. The author/illustrator Stephen Mackey, an established commerical artist, has certainly carved himself a new niche in the children’s picture book market with this enchanting tale - let’s just hope he does his geography homework in future.