Old favourites

First published in 1984, In the Attic by Hiawyn Oram and Satoshi Kitamura (Andersen Press, £5.99) is the story of a little boy, who despite his million toys is bored. And so he heads for the empty attic, where he finds mice and beetles and windows that open onto windows that open up whole new worlds, a friend and an ever-changing game. But, of course, as his mum reminds him at the end of story, 'we don't have an attic'. This is a wonderful exploration of a child's imaginary world, and its themes will resonate with practitioners and children as much today as they did when the book was first published.

Another favourite in a new edition is The Heron and the Crane by John Yeoman and Quentin Blake (Andersen Press, paperback, £5.99), first published in 1999. In this story, Crane lives at one end of a swamp and Heron at the other. Feeling lonely, Crane asks heron to marry him. Heron declines his proposal then regrets it, so proposes to Crane, who declines….then regrets it. And so a to-and-fro of proposals begins. Will they ever live happily ever after?

And back in print for the first time in years is The Tiger-Skin Rug by Gerald Rose (Bloomsbury, paperback, £5.99), first published in 1979. Tiger is old, thin and struggling to find food, so when he decides he has had enough of his hard life, he swaps places with a tiger-skin rug in the Rajah's palace. There, he begins a life of luxury, but chomping his way through the family's scraps leaves him fatter, his coat shinier and his disguise ever more difficult to maintain. Then trouble arrives one night when three thieves try to break in, and Tiger has to decide whether to keep quiet, and hold on to his new lifestyle, or help the Rajah's family and risk being thrown out. This is a welcome return of a real adventure story, beautifully illustrated and charmingly told.