Friends in deed; The subject of friendship is a popular one in new

FOLLOWING such classics as Peace At Last, Five Minutes Peace and The Worst Witch must be daunting and there is no doubt that Jill Murphy's pace has slackened since the mid-1990s. However, she's back with All For One (Walker, (pounds) 10.99), a lively story in which the little green monster, Marlon, finds himself left out of his friends' activities. His mother does her best to help him integrate, while his scary-looking grandmother huffs at the resulting indulgences. This isn't ground-breaking literature but it has a lightness of touch that lifts it above many other titles occupying similar territory. Add to that illustrations that are full of detail and wit and the result is a book that will easily stand the test of time. If the titular literary allusion drifts above the heads of your three to five-year-old, the message remains resoundingly clear - real friends count you in, not out.

Real friends have their disadvantages however. There's such a thing as becoming too close, as the classmates in Scritch Scratch (Orchard, (pounds) 4.99) prove. Their chummy fascination for each other's hair provides the perfect breeding ground for the nits originally nesting in the cascading curls of Miss Calypso. Nits are no joking matter and although there is plenty for carers and four to seven-year-olds to chortle at in the lyrically entertaining story and wacky illustrations (when you're not scratching in sympathy), the book has all you need to know about ridding heads of lice, and keeping them bug-free. And there's a staff room love affair to boot.

Now into her fifth decade as a published writer and illustrator, the remarkable Shirley Hughes' observations of pre-school society are as needle-sharp as ever. Annie Rose Is My Little Sister (Bodley Head, (pounds) 10.99) has Alfie's younger sibling up on her feet - except when she's throwing a tantrum. As always, Hughes creates the physicality of life at that age through immediately appealing illustrations. We feel the lumpiness of Annie Rose's toy-strewn cot; we hear the raucous laughter Bernard elicits; we watch the absorbed way in which the children observe their mother make a daisy chain. It's impossible not to feel moved by the very adult emotional root system of this story. We're in safe and kind hands, though - Shirley Hughes has lots of experience.

Such writers and illustrators as Terry Deary and Martin Brown have transformed non-fiction over the past decade. The Horrible History series in particular has turned a potentially dusty subject into a topic of lively playtime conversation. But varieties of approaches are important and the stylish Gold (Hodder, (pounds) 14.99), for six to 10-year-olds, takes an almost reverent tone to explore the journey through time and place of a nugget of gold found first in Ancient Egypt. Meredith Hooper's almost poetic narrative demonstrates the richness of source material in telling an extraordinary story. Stephen Biesty illustrates his heart out on broad canvasses, detailing 15 periods from 1400BC to the beginning of this century. Detail is his hallmark and there is much to be gained by close study.

Why Are Castles Castle-Shaped? 100 Questions About Castles Answered (Faber, (pounds) 4.99) is more of a triumph of words over pictures, although the diagrams are very helpful in illuminating the various facts covered in the answers. Philip Ardagh's delivery is less manic here than it can sometimes be, and the inclusion of a glossary and index lends a more sober impression to the book. But it is certainly never dull and the amount of information per square centimetre is commendable. It's a great investment for those who are "doing" medieval times, but serves well as bed-time reading for eight to 12-year-olds too.

Tim Bowler's Starseeker (Oxford University Press, (pounds) 10.99) is a bruiser of a book. For a start it's much longer than most of his previous novels, typified by the compact and challenging River Boy, which won the prestigious Carnegie Medal. But more importantly, it is hugely ambitious in scope and depth, incorporating one of the darkest stories of bullying yet described in a book for young people, a painful evocation of a mother and her son trying to work out how to accommodate the fact that their family will never be complete again, and a disturbing mystery in which an old lady abducts a helpless child.

Too much? For some, yes, but Bowler writes for readers seeking dramas that touch emotions they are beginning to own. He may protest that he writes simply to be read, but the market targeted by his publisher is one in which young people are heading - with varying degrees of enthusiasm - towards adulthood.

He provides neither narrative safety net nor trite resolution but does offer an ending suffused with hope, a future where none seemed previously possible. This is not writing for the faint-hearted and there will be those who find it too overwhelming. However Bowler's dexterous, flowing language and dramatic plotting has earned him a growing following of readers who will rise to his considerable challenge.

Anne Fine has certainly kept a high profile during her first year and a half as Children's Laureate. Travelling the length and breadth of the UK to promote her Home Library initiative, contributing to panel discussions about the nature of children's literature and writing for teenagers, she flies the flag for an industry not quite sure how to exploit the limelight afforded by such publishing phenomena as Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy or the first four Harry Potter novels.

It's not an enviable role, especially as it all but prevents the chosen writer from writing, but Fine has found the time to compile three poetry books. Published as a series called A Shame To Miss Poetry (Corgi, (pounds) 5.99 each), it is a project she has clearly enjoyed.

In the sparky introductions to each book Fine pre-empts those who may quarrel with her choice with customary robust irreverence. Her comments at the foot of some of the poems are charming and apposite. Poetry anthologies should never live a solitary life - this trio is an excellent start to a life-long collection, ideal for nine-year- olds upwards.

The wheels are beginning to growl into action for the appointment of the next Children's Laureate in May 2003. The nominations procedure is a complex one but children will be able to vote for the author or illustrator they consider most deserving in Waterstone's bookshops and through the My Home Library website during the early autumn.

Copyright 2002
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