In both Christianity and Judaism, the egg is taken as a symbol of birth and joy, but also of suffering, transformation and death. The best children’s books have always been concerned with this, and if few achieve the concision of Eric Carle’s classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar, this Easter sees some fine examples.
The best is by the great Julia Donaldson. Gozzle (Macmillan, £12.99) is a cheeky little gosling who hatches out of her egg and believes that a bear is her daddy. It could all end badly, but the gosling’s dauntless adoration, imitative behaviour and determined pursuit wins the grumpy, solitary bear’s heart as she attempts to climb a tree in search of honey, dig for bulbs and do chores. Although irritated and exhausted, like many parents the bear is left broken-hearted when Gozzle finds a boyfriend, learns to fly and migrates to Canada with other geese. The pictures by Sara Ogilvie, here reunited with Donaldson after The Detective Dog, are as perfect as the pared-down prose. This will bring utter joy to ages 4+, and a few tears to parents and grandparents.
Once I Was a Tree (Nosy Crow, £12.99; 6+) is written by a tree, with some help from Eoin McLaughlin. Our conceited hero begins as a seed in a pine cone that has to be excreted by a squirrel in order to grow tall in the sunlight. Children are certain to laugh all the way through this inspired tale of poo, personal growth, death and reincarnation. The illustrations by Guilherme Karsten have a zany elegance that match the text. Perfect to read aloud, and a celebration of both trees and books.
Jamie Hammond’s Mo is an orphan, and a laughing stock in the village for Bogfort. He inherits the job of warden, or monster hunter, despite being useless at it. Determined to prove himself, he sets out to catch a monster but instead discovers a fortress for monsters being preyed upon by the fearsome Grumpsnatcher. Grumpfort (Usborne, £7.99; 7+) is lively fun with plenty of illustrations to encourage reluctant readers and should appeal to those who are scared of the dark.
Anthony McGowan won the Carnegie Medal for Lark, the fourth in his remarkable quartet of novels about a poor boy and his disabled brother. The Beck (Barrington Stoke, £7.99) is equally gritty. Kyle must live with his eccentric grandfather and a three-legged dog in Leeds while his quarrelling parents sort things out. Bored and resentful, he explores the stream at the bottom of the garden, meets a fierce girl, some crayfish and bad developers – all vividly depicted in McGowan’s clear, witty, dyslexia-friendly prose. When grandpa falls ill, it’s up to Kyle to defend the stream from polluters and bullies. Both laugh-out-loud funny and very moving, it’s like Kes for 8-13s but without the tragedy.
Mudlarking is key to two outstanding novels for 9+. Zohra Nabi’s Deep Dark (Simon & Schuster, £7.99) has elements of Pullman’s Lyra in its memorable heroine, Cassia, who searches for missing children with her ally Felix. She sells ballads at Bartholomew Fair by day before returning to Fleet Prison at night, and is determined to escape. Victorian London, with its thieves’ cant and immiseration by the rich, has rarely been evoked in such vivid prose, and the twisty plot mirrors the secret tunnels underneath the city, where a monster lurks.
In Hidden Treasure (Bloomsbury, £14.99), Bo is drawn into a mystery when she finds a jewel worth a lifetime of security on the River Thames shore. But when this treasure is discovered by the sinister Dr Muncaster, Bo and her new friend Eddie learn the jewel has supernatural properties that old river ballads may be able to decipher. An action-packed adventure by Jessie Burton, this lyrical story is as much about bereavement as it is about redemption in wartime London.
Pádraig Kenny’s After (Walker, £7.99; 9+) hurtles us into a bleak future in which machines have turned on humans, bringing about the collapse of civilisation. Travelling through an almost deserted world, the orphaned Jen is looked after by Father, an AI programme with a glitch who rescued her as a child. His non-human identity must be kept secret from the small community they find. Like The Last of Us and The Wild Robot, this is a deeply moving exploration of the relationship between parent and child, and what it means to be the best kind of guardian – and a good egg.
[See also: Capitalism (Taylor’s Version)]
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This article appears in the 10 Apr 2025 issue of the New Statesman, Spring Special 2025
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