Get fully booked for easter with these fantastic kids reads

We have selected some of the best kids reads for Easter time[NC] PICTURE BOOKS Harry the Hog has an important engagement at 3pm: tea with Lil (who lives over the hill). However, when Harry

doesn't arrive, Lil starts to worry and sets off on a search. Hog In The Fog by Julia Copus and Eunyoung Seo (Faber, £11.99) is a perfect combination of clever rhymes and beautiful

illustrations. There is farmyard fun in Rabbits Don't Lay Eggs by Paula Metcalf and Cally Johnson-Isaacs (Macmillan, £11.99). Poor Rupert the rabbit is desperate to join the rest of the

animals on the farm but first he has to prove himself useful. A First Book Of Nature by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Mark Hearld (Walker, £12.99), is a treasury of poems, pictures and

recipes, taking children on a journey through the seasons and showing them the beauty of the world around them. My Little Box Of Springtime Stories (Little Tiger Press, £9.99) is ideal for

children on the move and comes with five fun stories about bunnies, ducklings and a mysterious egg. If you are looking for the perfect Easter book for a toddler, try Charlie Chick by Nick

Denchfield, illustrated by Ant Parker (Campbell, £7.99). Excellent pop-ups and a big surprise at the end. Follow the journey of Harry the Hog as he looks for his friend [NC] YOUNG READERS

Life is pretty dull for Hannah until Armitage Shank and his Impossible Circus roll into town. However this circus is not what it seems and a dastardly plan is afoot. Circus Of Thieves And

The Raffle Of Doom (Simon & Schuster, £6.99) is William Sutcliffe’s first novel for children. Funny, bizarre and brilliantly illustrated by David Tazzyman, this is perfect for anyone who

loves Mr Gum. Knightmare: Life Stinks! by Peter Bently (Little Tiger, £5.99) follows the mayhem and mishaps of trainee knight Cedric Thatchbottom, squire to Sir Percy the Proud. The problem

is that life as a squire is not quite what Cedric was expecting. A winning mix of funny illustrations and plenty of poo jokes. Archie’s War: My Scrapbook Of The First World War by Marcia

Williams (Walker, £7.99) tells the story of the First World War from the viewpoint of Archie Albright, 10. Packed with comic strips, clippings and letters from his father and uncle who are

fighting in France, this is a funny, touching and unique insight into life for a child during the war. Cat lovers will enjoy Squishy McFluff The Invisible Cat! by Pip Jones and illustrated

by Ella Okstad (Faber, £5.99). Squishy is Ava’s imaginary cat so should be the perfect pet (no food, no vet’s bills) but Squishy is naughty. Who else could be drawing on the curtains or

putting water in Mum’s wellies? Cedric Thatchbottom is fast finding that life as a squire is highly unglamourous [NC] OLDER READERS When her mother starts giving her vital life lessons,

Olivia knows that something is going on. But surely her mother’s illness is just flu? Dandelion Clocks by Rebecca Westcott (Puffin, £6.99) is beautifully written and grips you from the

start. Be warned: have a tissue handy! You will need a few more for Clare Furniss’s Year Of The Rat (Simon & Schuster, £12.99) as Pearl struggles with the heartbreaking loss of her

mother and the arrival of her baby sister; a constant reminder of why her mother is no longer around. A painful and touching debut dealing with love, loss and the need to keep living. A Boy

Called Hope by Lara Williamson (Usborne, £6.99) tells the story of Dan Hope. Dan would like a lot of things to happen (his sister to go to the North Pole, for example) but mostly he would

just like his father back. Ever since he ran off with the lady from the chip shop, life has been a bit weird. Maybe Dan’s school project is just the thing to impress Dad and bring him home.

Or maybe the person he needs is a little closer to home already. Jasper Fforde is seriously funny. The Eye of Zoltar (Hodder & Stoughton, £12.99) is the final instalment in his Last

Dragonslayer series and it is packed with magic and invention: a spiky heroine called Jennifer Strange, an unruly young princess and most importantly a flying car and plenty of dragon

action. Watch out, Terry Pratchett! In Stories Of WW1 (Orchard, £7.99), Tony Bradman has brought together some of today’s bestselling authors. Malorie Blackman, Geraldine McCaughrean and

many others share their stories of soldiers, life in the trenches and the people left at home in a collection which shows the horror but also the camaraderie of war. Marooned In Manhattan by

Sheila Agnew (O’Brien, £6.99) sounds like a dream come true for a 12 year old but not Evie Brooks. After the death of her mother, Evie is sent to live with her Uncle Scott, a vet in New

York. It is not what she wants and it is certainly not what Scott’s girlfriend wants. Evie agrees to give it a go, just for the summer, but soon finds that she has to make the biggest

decision of her life. A Boy Called Hope follows a child's search for his father [NC] TEENAGERS Predicted to be one of this year’s bestsellers, Half Bad by Sally Green (Penguin, £7.99)

is a supernatural thriller set in a parallel world of witches. Caught in the middle of good and evil is Nathan Byrn, descended from both sides and hunted by both. Amazingly, this is both

Green’s first novel and the first of a trilogy. You are immediately pulled into her magical world of healers, killers and a boy in a cage. Fans of Twilight and The Hunger Games will love

this. Love is in the air in Jennifer E Smith’s The Geography Of You And Me (Headline, £9.99). Owen lives in the basement, Lucy lives on the 24th floor but, thanks to a power cut, they find

themselves stuck in a lift between the 10th and 11th floors. Can a chance encounter lead to romance? There is more romance in the new Heartside Bay series from Cathy Cole. The New Girl

(Scholastic, £6.99) is the first instalment in a 12-part series following the lives and loves of students at Heartside High. Laini Taylor’s bestselling Daughter Of Smoke And Bone trilogy

comes to an end this month with the publication of Dreams Of Gods And Monsters (Hodder & Stoughton, £14.99). Karou and Akiva must join forces against the seraph army trespassing into the

human world but there may yet be bigger threats to face. When Maya Van Wagenen found a copy of a Fifties teenage guide to popularity, it marked the start of a year-long experiment. A

self-confessed social outcast, 15-year-old Maya decided to live her life according to these rules, even if they did involve wearing a string of pearls and a girdle! The result was Popular

(Penguin, £7.99), a quirky, funny guide to teenage life.