Best books for kids to find under the Xmas tree

From a new fairytale adventure from J.K Rowling to fun footy heroes by Kevin Sheedy, these are the best books to buy budding young readers.

Books make a great gift for budding young readers. Here are the best for under the Christmas tree.

Let your budding young reader explore different worlds with this list of great books sure to expand their minds and get their imaginations firing.

THE ICKABOG by J.K. ROWLING

LITTLE, BROWN BOOKS, RRP $45

J.K. Rowling fans will devour this hardback fairytale adventure about a mythical monster whose presence near the kingdom of Cornucopia is enough to scare kids to behave. Two kids test the myth and their own bravery in a tale of hope and friendship.

BRICKMAN’S FAMILY CHALLENGE BOOK by RYAN MCNAUGHT

MURDOCH BOOKS, RRP $35

The Melbourne Lego guru known around the world as Brickman is challenging your family to a block party. Ryan McNaught, seenon TV’s Lego Masters, has set up 30 creative tests for Lego fanatics of all ages and skill levels.

THE TREE by GRAEME BASE

PUFFIN, RRP $25

Animalia creator Graeme Base’s new tale about peace, sharing and caring is bound to be another classic. Cow and Duck livesolitary lives because they’re worried about coming under attack or losing their possessions. But a storm sparks co-operationand friendship.

SHINE YOUR MAGIC TORCH: MAGICAL CREATURES AND MYTHICAL BEASTS

by PROFESSOR & MILLIE MORTIMER, ILLUSTRATED BY VICTO NGAI

MAGIC CAT, RRP $45

Junior explorers can dim the lights and switch on a magic torch to shine an ultraviolet light on a hidden world of natural and man-made wonders and magical and mythical figures. Check out Northern Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway, hunt for goblins inAmsterdam and try to spy Scotland’s Loch Ness monster.

CAT KID COMIC CLUB by DAV PILKEY

SCHOLASTIC, RRP $19

The cat’s out of the bag … Dog Man creator Dav Pilkey has a new graphic novel series sure to be a hit with his millions offans. The star is Li’l Petey, aka Cat Kid, who joins pals Flippy the Fish and Molly in trying to teach baby frogs to createcomics.

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS 2021

GUINNESS, RRP $45

Fill in Christmas arvo thumbing through the latest record-breaking feats. Look for the weird and wonderful, plus Aussies such as the Oakleigh wall of 1075 doughnuts and Sam Newstead and Julian O’Shea, owners of the altitude skateboarding record of5700m at the Sairecabur Volcano in Chile’s Atacama Desert.

HOLLOWPOX: THE HUNT FOR MORRIGAN CROW by JESSICA TOWNSEND

LOTHIAN, RRP $18

In this timely third book in the hit Nevermoor series, Morrigan Crow faces her biggest challenge as a strange illness takeshold of Nevermoor, turning its Wunimals into mindless, vicious unnimals. As Hollowpox victims multiply, panic spreads. Perfect

pandemic reading.

CODE NAME BANANAS by DAVID WALLIAMS

ILLUSTRATED BY TONY ROSS

HARPERCOLLINS, RRP $23

Only hilarious David Walliams could turn a wartime setting into a laugh-out-loud tale involving London zoo, a gorilla (namedGertrude), a boy, a zookeeper and a top-secret Nazi plot discovered in a seaside hideaway.

KEVIN SHEEDY’S HEROES OF FOOTY

ILLUSTRATED BY MICHAEL WELDON

AFFIRM PRESS, RRP $30

Legendary Sheeds fuels kids’ AFL dreams with his team of heroes who’ve made Aussie rules great. It runs from Gary Ablett Jrto Tim Watson, with the likes of Tony Lockett, Alex Jesaulenko, Dipper, Erin Phillips and Jim Stynes making up a pack of 30 idols.

THE DEEP END: DIARY OF A WIMPY KID by JEFF KINNEY

PUFFIN, RRP $15

If you’re buying for a Wimpy Kid fanatic, you can’t go wrong with the 15th book in this hit series. Join Greg Heffley and his family on a camping road trip that takes a soggy turn. But still expect loads of laughs and adventure.