What happened on Easter Day “many years ago” in Sweden?

Goran the bull escaped.

This is a great book about a rural escapade. The illustrations are brilliant – lots of excellent characters and homely detail, such as a row of children’s new Easter shoes and scrounging cats under the breakfast table. There is wonderful humour in the words: The hero, Karl, is introduced as being like every other Swedish farm boy “with blue eyes, blond hair and a runny nose”. Goran’s escape causes complex problems on the farm – how are they to milk the cows with angry Goran loose in the yard? I won’t spoil the ending by saying how the problem is resolved.

This is a simple tale of Swedish rural life, of gentle telling with delightful rustic detail. Hardback edition.

Saffia Farr

This is a very different book and I was interested to see how my children would react to it. They all listened carefully then offered their conclusions – the 7 year old said it was silly, the five year old said it was “really good” and the two year old said “read it again”. I read it once more, then my two year old sat and turned the pages, reading the story to herself. The story is very simple. There are few words. The pictures are sparse and modern – a white egg on a white background. Some will perceive this as cool, others maybe boring. The book is square and the pages are thick. There is a modern twist to a flap at the end. This book is expensive for the amount of words and pages but it is striking and different. For that reason I think some will dislike it, others love it. But while I write this, my two year old is still reading it. Saffia Farr

This book reverses the stereotype that people with ginger hair wish it was another colour. In this story, Calum McGregor wishes that he HAD ginger hair, like the rest of his family. He tries various methods to change the colour of his hair before discovering “there was more to being a McGregor than having ginger hair”.

A funny story about coming to terms with being the way you are.

Described as a “charming story”, this book tells of Hamish’s efforts to cheer up the grumpy heron in his local park. While trying to cheer up the heron, lots of other wonderful things happen – they clear up litter, plant some flowers and have a party, transforming this inner city park into an integral part of the community. I liked that as you got further into the book, more was happening in the park, which is initially desolate and unused, so I found two positive messages; the second is Hamish’s conclusion about the heron. A great story about a park!