The Best Bad Day Ever by Marianna Coppo, Frances Lincoln, £12.99
Everything’s going wrong for Wolfie today – and everyone else is happy, and no one understands. Then Penguin turns up in a similar grump, and they share a joyful afternoon: it’s the Best Bad Day Ever! A funny, sweet and resonant picture book of toddler crankiness ameliorated by friendship.
The Concrete Garden by Bob Graham, Walker, £12.99
When, after a long winter, the children spill outdoors “like sweets from a box”, Amanda comes last, with her box of chalks – and a wild garden grows from many inventive fingers. Restrained, poetic, humorous text and joyously burgeoning pictures speak to the perennial power of shared imagination.
