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AGES SEVEN TO NINE:IN THIS AGE group, where the ability and willingness to read vary so much between different children, even the most advanced readers prefer some kind of visual invitation to pick up a book, and will choose the one with good pictures over the well-told story in a dull or daunting format, writes Giles Newington

One that grabs the eye immediately is the black-velvet-covered Highway Robbery, the latest from four-time Bisto Award winner Kate Thompson (Bodley Head, £7.99), which promises and delivers the ideal package of a clever but simple story and evocative illustrations (by Jonny Duddle). It's a tall tale spun by an apparently guileless 18th-century street urchin, explaining how he has come into possession of what he claims is Dick Turpin's horse, Black Bess. The winning twist for children is that he's less vulnerable than he appears, and a lot sharper than the adults he's trying to convince.