Dave Eggers – The Wild Things (Hamish Hamilton, £14.99) **
If a film of Maurice Sendak’s marvellous picturebook Where The Wild Things Are seems like a questionable plan, then the associated novel must be doubly so.
The problem is, Eggers makes Max a well-realised character, when the beauty of the picturebook was that Max could be every child reading the story, even every adult reading it to them.
And if we’re not sure quite what Wild Things would say to each other, we know it wouldn’t be, “Carol, can I speak to you for a second?”.
Alex Sarll David Walliams – Mr Stink (HarperCollins, £12.99)****
Comedian David Walliams, best known for his Little Britain antics, takes his second foray into the world of children’s literature with this heavily Roald Dahl-influenced story.
Mr Stink is a very smelly tramp, who nobody talks to except for an unpopular little girl called Chloe. With delightful drawings from the well-loved Dahl collaborator Quentin Blake, there are obvious parallels with Sophie and the BFG.
Walliams weaves a wonderful tale of an unlikely friendship – a joy for kids both big and small.
Kate Whiting
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