The Horrible History of the World.

The first coloured Horrible Histories has been republished as part of the dinky Handbooks series.

Smaller than a normal paperback, with a plastic cover, it's an excellent introduction to Terry Deary's books.

He takes youngsters through thousands of years with puns, puzzles, cartoons, quips and gratuitous gore.

It's a mix sure to delight -- and educate -- over-eights as it ranges from ancient Egypt, Rome and China to knights, Tudors, Victorians and the World Wars.

David Knights.

Broken Sky -- the Twilight War.

Chris Wooding's saga Broken Sky was originally published as 27 mini-books aimed at getting boys to read.

They found a richly-plotted fantasy that, despite a few too many adjectives, was very good on action and characterisation.

Now the tale is being published as three books, with Twilight War introducing us to teenage warrior twins Ryushi and Kia.

Plucked from a remote farm, they are thrust into a good versus evil struggle that involves two worlds and many factions.

Expect a fast-moving and vividly-described mix of conflict, emotion and magic for children aged around 11.

David Knights