Children: Bears, bombers and a very scary fairy

The best alphabet books for infants are now exuberantly entertaining too, with James Dunn's ABC UK (Frances Lincoln, £11.99) the latest example. Fabulously illustrated by Helen Bate, contents include B is for The Beatles and V is for Vindaloo. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star: A Bedtime Book of Lullabies (Little Tiger Press, £5.99) contains old favourites plus a few new ones. Illustrated in soft watercolours by Gail Yerrill, this book has more chance than most of bringing about that blessed state of infantile sleep parents desire.

Not so Lauren Child's Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Puffin, £12.99), a deliciously creepy version of the tale featuring dolls made by R John Wright posed in sets created by theatre designer Emily Jenkins. Made up from photographs by Polly Borland, this haunting picture book follows the adventures of a blank-faced Goldilocks in a world of miniature furniture and tiny spoons. Less subtle but also very good, Nick Sharratt's Octopus Socktopus (Scholastic, £10.99) has a gratifying number of tabs to pull and flaps to lift while young readers enjoy verbal fun.

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For children aged five to eight, one of the most beautiful books of the year must be Jan Pienkowski's Nut Cracker (Puffin, £17.99). Skillfully re-told by David Walser, this account of how some heroic toys take on the evil Mouse King is superbly illustrated by Pienkowski with his trademark cut-out silhouettes. The book ends with a multi-layered, 3-D tableau of intricate paper cuts. More earthy but bursting with comic energy, Giles Andreae's Nat Fantastic (Orchard, £10.99) features a small boy who turns into a junior superman whenever his mother leaves him during a bedtime reading session. Vigorously illustrated by Katherine McEwen, it could lead to a run on silver pyjamas, which Nat wears while foiling bank robbers.

For real-life adventures, there is Mick Manning's Tail-End Charlie (Frances Lincoln, £11.99). Brilliantly illustrated by Brita Granström, it tells the true story of the author's father as a youthful airman during the Second World War. Using comic strip, contemporary photographs and full-page pictures, it covers both everyday details and moments of extreme danger.

Alan Durant's Cinderella: The Fairytale Files (Walker, £7.99) is excellent value. Wittily illustrated by Ross Collins, it is designed as a case history by one Rumple Stiltskin, the detective hired by Magnus the Magnificent to investigate whether Cinderella, who has enchanted his son, is as nice as she looks.

Readers aged eight to 11 who enjoy a good laugh should hurry to Dinah Capparucci's Aliens Don't Eat Dog Food (Scholastic, £4.99). This story of three schoolboys trying to make contact with outer space and ending up on a reality show from hell is extremely funny from start to finish. The same is true of Jeremy Strong's The Battle for Christmas (Puffin, £4.99), involving children first shrunk and then involved in a battle against a scary Christmas fairy.

Older readers in search of Christmas cheer should seize on John van de Ruit's wonderful Spud (Penguin, £6.99). Written as the painfully honest diary of a 13-year-old boy at a single-sex South African boarding school, it describes with a wit not seen since Adrian Mole the ups and downs of life with a collection of weird room-mates. Also excellent, Jamila Gavin's The Robber Baron's Daughter (Egmont, £7.99) tells how wealthy young Nettie finally discovers, with the help of her janitor's son, that her adored father is an international crook involved in people-smuggling. For unadulterated romance at its most dramatic, look no further than Jan Page's Selina Penaluna (Doubleday, £12.99), a seductive reworking of a mermaid story set in modern Cornwall.