Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism

Georgia Byng

Macmillan, (pounds) 12.99 (for age 9+)

''PREPARE to be dazzled,'' yelled the publicity and, by gum, we were. For months now the children's book world has been swamped with Molly Moon give-aways. The normally staid Macmillan has been pelting us with Molly Moon mouse-mats, pencils, marshmallows, colour change mugs and copies of the book's metallic holographic jacket, complete with Petula the pug dog with her swirly hypnotised eyes.

Sadly, as with last year's so-called children's publishing sensation - Penguin's Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer - this is a triumph of hype and clever packaging over reality. Georgia Byng's first children's novel is a hugely entertaining read, with lots of comic inventiveness and some touches of pathos, but it is emphatically not the next Harry Potter.

Molly Moon is a skinny, blotchy girl with a liking for ketchup sandwiches and concentrated orange juice. She lives in a Dickensian orphanage from which she dreams of escaping.

An old book on hypnotism from her local library becomes her ticket to freedom. Soon she is hypnotising everybody in sight. Then she's off to New York where, in the swing of a pendulum and with a few funny looks, she's a Broadway starlet and a bank robber in quick succession, with all the gear and nosh a girl could ever want. A pathetic

baddie is easily outmanoeuvred and ere long our Molly is bent

on using her powers as a force

for good. Moral: (a) real friends are better than fame, popularity and money; and (b) it's okay to be yourself.

There's lots of humorous detail: snot sandwiches, for instance, and the idea of returning the baddie's booty to the bank stuffed inside garden gnomes. There are some clever observations about the hypnotic power

of advertising.

However, the central weakness of this book, as Molly herself admits at one point, is: ''It was all so easy!'' We love Joanne Rowling's Harry and Philip Pull-man's Lara because they win through against monumental odds. Molly has just to look her victims in the eye and they're putty in her hands.

Rowling is a walking encyclopedia on magic and there are strict limits on how she allows her characters to use it. Byng, by contrast, reveals no deeper knowledge of hypnotism than one could pick up in a Ladybird book on the subject. And because every problem in her story has a near instant solution, the narrative is robbed of dramatic tension. The adults are all flimsy caricatures and some of the detail simply doesn't work.

Overall, it's hard to resist the idea that the author sat down with her copy of HP, made a list of its outstanding features, then proceeded to produce her own version: orphan, magical powers, wicked/weak adult, friendship, animal, moral. Tick, tick, tick, tick . . . Lots of children will enjoy reading about Molly Moon, but this glittery book is far from being golden literature.

A Sailing Boat in the Sky

Quentin Blake

Cape, (pounds) 10.99 (for age 6+)

A new book from the magic paintbrush of Quentin Blake is always a treat. Despite his recognisable scratchy style, each time Blake manages to find a new door to open in his cavernous imagination. In this instance his is the only name on the cover, open it and there is a list of the children who helped him to write it, in alphabetical order from Adam to Zoe. It's the product of a project about humanitarian problems, developed with schoolchildren in south-west France, where Blake has a second home. Others joined in via the internet.

Blake came up with a ramshackle old wooden flying boat - a sort of marine equivalent of Mrs Armitage's bicycle - that goes round the world rescuing children from perilous situations suggested by his young collaborators. A girl (with green skin!) is saved from a racist attack. A child slave is rescued from a quarry. An asthmatic boy is snatched from a polluted city, and a young mother and baby from a war zone.

There are lots of splodgey watercolour clouds and some effective use of perspective. It manages to be heartening while avoiding cliche and resisting the temptation of a pat ending.

Frindle

Andrew Clements

Simon and Schuster, (pounds) 9.99 (for age 8+)

Clever, subtle, original books for newly fluent readers are a

rarity, so this one is a real find. Andrew Clements worked at the chalkface before a talk to some pupils about writing and the power of words gave him the idea for Frindle. Why is a pen called a pen? Why not call it a ''frindle''?

When nine-year-old Nick Allen shares that thought with his mates in primary five, he

is regarded as subversive by

his teachers. But ''frindle''

takes off and soon kids the world over are adopting the word.

Nick becomes a celebrity and discovers that fame has a price, too. This isn't just a story about how language changes and grows, but about the transforming power of inspirational teachers.

The Stolen

Alex Shearer

Macmillan, (pounds) 9.99 (for age 9+)

Alex Shearer should give up trying to play guitar and stick to what he does best - writing children's books. This is his second; the first, The Great Blue Yonder, an offbeat take on death and the afterlife, is out in paperback. In The Stolen, Carly is a typical 11-year-old: bored at school and unhappy about her hair, freckles and podgy bits. She tries to befriend Meredith, the strange new girl in her class who maltreats her granny. But things aren't what they seem.

Is Meredith really an old witch who has stolen a girl's young willowy body, leaving her so-called granny with her own wrinkly version? You're just convinced when there's a further twist and Carly finds her body stolen, too.

Compared with the saggy version she's left with, those freckles and podgy bits don't seem too bad. Can Carly get her body back? It's a dark, atmospheric tale and, while granny figures appear in many children's books, this one places the reader inside the tired frame of an old lady and forces them to see the world through her bleary eyes.

How Kind! by Mary Murphy

(Walker, (pounds) 7.99) for age 2+.

Hen gave an egg to pig who in turn gave

a carrot to rabbit. One good turn

deserves another in this farmyard cycle

of generosity which ends with a

cracking surprise. Vivid, naive illustrations using Murphy's distinctive thick

black outlines.

My Nose, Your Nose by Melanie Walsh (Doubleday, (pounds) 10.99) for age 2+.

Different but the same . . . children may have different hair, noses and skin colour, but they can still love and hate the same things. Chocolate cake and hair washing, for instance. Walsh works in blocks of vibrant colour and simple outlines which appeal to very young children.

Treasure Hunt by Allan Ahlberg and Gillian Tyler (Walker, (pounds) 9.99) for age 3+.

Whether it's her breakfast banana or chocolate pennies, life is one long treasure hunt for Tilly until bedtime when she's the treasure and mum and dad do the hunting. Tyler's delightful illustrations of this toddler are uncannily reminiscent of those of Janet, Allan Ahlberg's late wife and collaborator.

Stella Fairy of the Forest by Marie Louise Gay (Allen & Unwin, (pounds) 10.50) for age 3+.

The latest in a series about Stella, an exuberant, done-it-all older sister and her more diffident brother, Sam. This time they're looking for fairies in the forest and Sam is obviously older and bolder than in previous adventures. Maria Louise Gay uses collage to give pictures depth and atmosphere.

Oscar and Arabella by Neal Layton

(Hodder, (pounds) 9.99) for age 4+.

Oscar and Arabella are endearing woolly mammoths who yearn for adventures as long as they aren't too scary. Stone Age life can be perilous, but there's fun, too, and ultimately they have one another. Glasgow-based Neal Layton uses mixed media, including collage and felt-tip to create his anarchic books.

Gus and Button by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers (Arthur A Levine, (pounds) 9.99) age 4+.

Gus and Button are mushrooms. Join them as they encounter friendly fruit and discover an entire city made of vegetables. The creators carve faces on to characterful vegetable and sculpt others into buildings and landscapes, then photograph the resulting tableaux. A vegetarian visual feast.