CHILDREN'S BOOKS: Get ready for Christmas with hands-on activity books

The run-up to Christmas just got an extra glitter and glow with a magical selection of activity books perfectly created for the family’s youngest readers

Age 3 plus  
Disney Princess Magical Worlds
Pop-Up Play Set
The Walt Disney Company

STEP into the magical worlds of Disney Princesses Cinderella, Aurora and Jasmine with this dazzling interactive pop-up play set! Cinderella is ready for the ball, Aurora is exploring the forest, Jasmine is flying above the market of Agrabah on a magical carpet. Compact and sturdy, the play set opens to reveal three beautifully illustrated scenes of Cinderella's Kingdom, Aurora’s forest and Jasmine’s world from the Disney movies. There are twelve character play pieces – including Prince Charming, Prince Phillip and Aladdin – and readers can choose different paths for their characters each time they open this book. Will Cinderella make it the ball and meet Prince Charming, will Aurora dance with her forest friends or with Prince Phillip, and will Jasmine visit the market or fly high above Agrabah? With original artwork and expertly paper-engineered pop-ups, this exciting play set is guaranteed to be a treasured gift for your young Disney fans!
(Studio Press, hardback, £20, published on December 10)

Age 7 plus
Where's Spidey? A Marvel Spider-Man Search & Find Book

NEW York City is under attack… where’s Spidey when you need him? Dive into this limited edition Christmas-themed and action-packed Spider-Man search-and-find book which is packed full of original illustrations. Villains are causing mayhem across the city, and there’s only one person who can stop them… Spider-Man! But where is he? Search for Spidey among the crowds around NYC before the whole city falls to chaos. From Green Goblin attacking a bridge to strange experiments in Doctor Octopus' lab, Spidey fans will love hunting down the villains and spotting lots of hidden details along the way. This fantastic new edition features three new Christmas-themed search-and-find scenes. Turn your concentration powers to full throttle and see if you spot Spidey and his friends amongst the Christmas festivities!
(Studio Press, paperback, £8.99)

Age 6 plus
Usborne Scratch Activities Christmas
Rosie Dickins and Samantha Meredith

START your Christmas season from scratch with this sparkling activity book which is filled with magical Christmas scenes and inviting patches to scratch. With special holographic foil to give added sparkle and an attached wooden tool for scratch art, children can scratch off whole patches to reveal hidden details, or make lines and patterns to create their own Christmas-themed designs. And that’s not all inside this creative book… every scratch art page has a facing page of festive Christmas colouring and puzzles to enjoy. Easy to use and with satisfying results guaranteed, this is an ideal activity book for simply relaxing and enjoying.
(Usborne Publishing, paperback, £7.99)

Age 5 plus
Winnie-the-Pooh: Advent Calendar Book Collection
By A.A. Milne
with decorations by E.H. Shepard

‘One fine winter’s day when Piglet was brushing away the snow in front of his house, he happened to look up, and there was Winnie-the-Pooh.’ 

ON the 100^th anniversary of Winnie-the-Pooh’s creation, treat your young Pooh fans to this official Christmas Advent gift calendar which features a stunning festive collection of 24 attached envelopes to open every day… with each one containing miniature books of stories and poetry from the originals by A.A.Milne and E.H.Shepard. Youngsters will love counting down to Christmas with all their favourite characters from the Hundred Acre Wood, including Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, Christopher Robin and, of course, Pooh himself. Shepard’s original, iconic artwork has been reproduced for this very special advent calendar collection to ensure it pays homage to the vividness of the original artwork which accompanied Milne’s classic stories starring the nation’s favourite teddy bear. With Milne’s gently humorous stories teaching lessons about friendship and kindness, and the excitement of opening an envelope every day, this beautiful calendar will be a joy for all the family and the ideal way to put extra fun and anticipation into the holiday season.
(Farshore, hardback, £21.99)

Age 5 plus
Disney Mickey and Friends Christmas Magic
The Walt Disney Company

WHAT could be better than a colouring book set in the cute and cosy world of Mickey Mouse? Grab your pens and bring Mickey and his friends to life in over 40 scenes as the favourite Disney characters decorate the Christmas tree, wrap presents and visit a Christmas market. Featuring Mickey and Friends characters like Minnie, Daisy, Donald and Goofy in adorable scenes, this super colouring book will help to relieve stress and relax young minds. Each scene is paired with a sweet quote to set the tone and there are plenty of adorable details to colour on each page. Ideal wind-down entertainment for over-excited children!
(Studio Press, paperback, £7.99)

Age 5 plus
The Muppets: A Cute and Cosy Colouring Book
The Walt Disney Company

JOIN Disney’s Muppets and bring them to life in adorable scenes in this fun-filled colouring book. There are over 40 detailed scenes to colour, including Miss Piggy washing her hair, Kermit taking a nap and Fozzie Bear treating himself to a snack. Each scene is paired with a cute quote to match the illustration and with plenty of favourite Muppet characters to colour in on each page, this is a hands-on winner for little artists.
(Studio Press, paperback, £7.99, published on November 19)

Age 3 plus
Winter Wonderland Story Jigsaw Book
Sam Taplin and Federica Iossa

IF your youngsters need some pre-Christmas boredom-busting activities, keep them out of mischief with this inventive jigsaw book which contains three nine-piece jigsaws inside the pages. It’s nearly Christmas and a cast of adorable woodland animals are having lots of fun in the snow. Little children will enjoy completing the magical scenes, before slotting them back into the book for safe storage. Packed with delightful details to spot and talk about, this is an ideal activity to keep your youngsters amused in the run-up to Christmas.
(Usborne Publishing, board book, £8.99)

Age 3 plus
My First Sticker Book Merry Christmas
Jessica Greenwell, Lucy Barnard
and Kathrin Fehrl 

LITTLE ones will love joining a merry host of animal characters in the magical build-up to Christmas as they choose and decorate a tree, visit a Christmas market and a light trail, go ice skating and build snow people. Then, visit Santa and help him with his important jobs, from checking his list to delivering all the presents on Christmas Eve. With beautiful illustrations and a vast array of over 500 stickers to choose from, this colourful, hands-on book is ideal for encouraging creativity and helping develop motor skills and independent thinking. Guaranteed to keep your youngsters busy all the way through the festive season!
(Usborne Publishing, paperback, £9.99)

Age 3 plus
Wipe-Clean Wintertime Activities
Kirsteen Robson and Manuela Berti 

KEEP little hands and minds busy with this engaging activity book packed full of winter-themed activities. Encourage young children to join the dots, spot differences, solve the mazes and trace the dotted lines with the special pen provided and then add on the fun of letting them wipe the page clean and repeat. Young children need plenty of practice in pen control – an essential skill they must learn before starting to form letters and numbers – and these brilliant wipe-clean pages, which leave no inky mess, mean they can play the games time and time again. A practical and educational activity book with a special brand of child appeal.
(Usborne Publishing, paperback, £6.99)

Age one plus
Puzzle Parade: Jungle Train
Illustrated by Thierry Bedouet

MEET four jungle animals on the move in this chunky jigsaw book which features a reversible jigsaw puzzle and playmat in one. Line up the jungle steam train then flip the pieces to make your own drive-around track! Puzzle Parade: Jungle Train is a pint-size puzzle book containing four chunky jigsaw pieces, held snuggly within the page. Enjoy Tiger driving the train, Monkey playing about, Elephant buying her ticket and Crocodile taking some holiday snaps. All four pieces slot together to make a horizontal vehicle parade or little ones can turn them over and piece them into a square playmat format, creating an adorable mini-track to drive their own toys across. A rhyming text makes the pages perfect to read aloud, calming children and encouraging their language development. Reading and playing in one clever package!
(Templar Books, board book, £7.99, published on November 21)

Age one plus
Santa goes Ho Ho Ho!
Becky Davies and Mitch Miller

‘Santa goes through the naughty list. Santa goes down the chimney. Santa goes Ho Ho Ho!’ 

FIVE favourite Christmas characters are waiting to make little ones giggle in this cheeky, chunky and colourful sound book from author Becky Davies and illustrator Mitch Miller. Meet Santa, Reindeer, Elf, Polar Bear and Snowman, discover each character doing funny things, and then press the page to listen to the silly sound they make. Santa goes Ho Ho Ho! is the second title in a humorous new sound book series for toddlers, with modern art, a lively text and a refrain that children will love to join in with!
(Little Tiger Press, board book, £9.99)

Age one plus
Santa’s Wobbly Bottom
Kit Frost and Sam Rennocks

BOTTOMS up! Mischief-makers will love this ‘cheeky’ novelty board book which comes with a wibbly-wobbly rhyming adventure and fun sliders to push, pull and play. Who’s got a wobbly bottom? Santa has! Do YOU? If you’ve got a wobbly bottom, there’s so much you can do!
Join Santa and his friends and see if YOU can do the Wobbly Bottom dance! Perfect for playful pre-schoolers, Santa’s Wobbly Bottom helps toddlers to develop fine-motor skills and makes reading SO much fun!
(Farshore, board book, £6.99)

Age from birth
Lights and Sounds Winter Wonderland
Sam Taplin and Craig Shuttlewood

IT'S snowing! This beautiful lights and sounds book from Usborne Publishing captures all the excitement and wonder of a winter’s day, from ice-skating in the park to joining in with a festive choir and gazing up at fireworks in the frosty air. Press the button on each page, and from fire trucks to unicorns, little ones will hear the winter wonderland come to life and see lanterns and fairy lights twinkling. The perfect way for the family’s youngest members to relish all the excitement and magic of the Christmas season.
(Usborne Publishing, board book, £12.99)

Do You See What I See?

A Christmas Murder Mystery

Peter Swanson

IF you’re looking for that perfect Christmas stocking filler for your crime mystery fans, then this murderously clever novella from Peter Swanson, one of America’s best psychological thriller writers, should be top of your list.

Rightly labelled the grand master of misdirection, award-winning Massachusetts-based Swanson’s awesome literary brain loves nothing better than to defy readers’ expectations, and this stunning and ingeniously plotted thriller is a festive feast of devilish deceits.

Through a reading journey of just 151 pages, this master of suspense manages to string together more twists and turns than a marathon game of snakes and ladders as we join a rather rancid Cape Cod Christmas gathering where both guests and family are far from feeling festive.

After being dropped by his publisher, struggling mystery writer Nicholas Child is commissioned by his agent to help one of her more successful authors finish the overdue follow-up to his breakout bestseller.

In the week before Christmas, he travels to Grey Gables, the sprawling Cape Cod estate of Marco Tavares who has hit a writer’s block after the success of a number one bestseller. But what Nicholas discovers is a house decked out in twinkling lights and a towering Christmas tree yet short on festive cheer and full of secrets. There are also some very strange people in the house – not least Marco’s family members – and every one of them seems to have a grudge against their host.

As Christmas Day approaches, a single boozy night culminates in two shocking deaths, and Nicholas becomes convinced that the whole thing was a setup from the start. And as he tries to write his account of what happened, a perfectly fiendish puzzle starts to emerge… can Nicholas uncover the truth before the killer strikes again?

Can You See What I See? is a thriller-chiller to relish as Swanson (pictured above) employs his wonderfully addictive sense of mischief and brain-teasing machinations to a brilliantly conceived and plotted short story which delivers all the classic mystery tropes but then subverts them in the most delightful and entertaining manner.

Perspective and storytelling narratives are cleverly manipulated as this tantalising, slow-burn Christmas cracker delves into the darkest corners of the human psyche whilst springing a series of breathtaking twists and turns on unsuspecting readers. Expect a tension-packed countdown to a fabulous finale which is best consumed by firelight with a stiff drink to hand!
(Faber & Faber, hardback, £10)

Let the Bells Ring Out

Milly Johnson

IF love, laughs, new beginnings and second chances are what you’re looking for as the Christmas season draws near, head off on a rollercoaster train ‘ride’ with the inimitable Milly Johnson, an author whose gift is to give her readers the book hug they long for.

There can be no better way to get ready for the season of family, friendship and togetherness than to escape into one of the dazzling wintertime worlds conjured up by this bestselling Barnsley author whose warm-hearted stories are the perfect match for her hearty Yorkshire humour.

Loved by readers for her eternal optimism and feel-good fiction, Johnson (pictured below) has turned rom-coms into a very special art form, bringing us stories that blend heartfelt emotions with laugh-out-loud comedy, gritty reality with gorgeous romance, and moments of sheer magic with the downright prosaic.

And she’s back with Let the Bells Ring Out, a veritable blitz of drama featuring seven people, four days and a snowy Christmas on board a luxury sleeper train which gives a whole new meaning to ‘getting away from it all’ as a snowstorm stalls their festive plans.   

When seven strangers, all trying to get to their destinations for the holidays, find themselves stranded on a snowy platform just days before Christmas, they find shelter in the Yorkshire Belle, a glamorous steam train all decked out for an escapist festive getaway.

Each with their own hopes and dreams, secrets and sorrows, they board the train as strangers, but as the snow keeps falling and they realise they are going nowhere fast, they are forced to slow down and embrace the present.

For Elizabeth, this is a welcome delay from facing the wrath of her family and her fiancé. For Roo, it’s a distraction from her ex’s wedding taking place on Christmas Eve, and Frank hopes this might be a chance to reconnect with his wife Grace after their tragic loss. Taxi driver Vincent is ignoring his growing feelings for Elizabeth, Santa-for-hire Tim is acting more like the Grinch and problem-fixer Jane can’t get a grip on her own. And is a mysterious new arrival the kindly man he appears to be?

This Christmas on board the Yorkshire Belle, will the friendships they make change their lives forever and will each of them find happiness again?

Billed as the ‘sister book’ to another of her much-loved Christmas crackers, I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day, this new romp includes some hidden, related gems for readers to spot on their journey through a big-hearted and life-enhancing  tale of second chances, unexpected friendships and the joy to be found in the kindness of strangers.

With Johnson’s trademark cast of wonderfully portrayed characters, a big dollop of the author’s wit and wisdom, the guarantee of both laughter and tears, a mountain of snow and a sprinkling of magic, readers will be letting the bells ring out for their favourite book of the season!
(Simon & Schuster, paperback, £9.99)