Jeff Brown and Scott Nash. Published by HarperTrophy. ISBN9780060097912. Age 7 to 10 years. 65 pages. 130mm X 191mm (5.1in X 7.5in). Paperback.

One morning, Stanley Lambchop woke up being only half an inch thick. An enormous bulletin board has fallen on him during the night.

Being flat has its advantages. Stanley was able to move through closed door by sliding in and out of the crack at the bottom. Once, Mrs. Lambchop's ring fell into a dark shaft on the pavement and Stanley was able to retrieve it for her by sliding through the bars of the grating covering the shaft. Stanley also helped the police to catch some sneak thieves.

Stanley was getting all the attention, so much so that Arthur, his younger brother, became jealous. One day, Arthur tried to flatten himself by placing huge books on top of him. But it didn't work.

After a while, the novelty of being flat soon wore off. In fact, some people started to tease Stanley and call him all kinds of name. One night, Arthur was woken by the sound of crying. Stanley was feeling very miserable and wished to be a normal-shaped boy again. Arthur comforted his big brother. Suddenly, he had an idea! How did Arthur managed to make Stanley round again?

The mostly full-page black and white pictures appear on alternate pages.

This is a suitable book for a young reader on the transition from short stories to novel-type paperback. There are pictures on alternate pages and the font size is relatively large. As a result, although the book is 65 pages long, roughly more than twice the length of most picture books, kids are likely to finish it in one reading.

In addition, its small size and light weight render it 'readable' at any place and any time.

Basically of the fantasy genre, the story also explore the issue of sibling rivalry and bonding. Arthur, the younger brother, felt left out, what with all the cool stuff Stanley could do. Stanley tried to be nice by letting Arthur fly him as a kite. Unfortunately, that ended with Stanley dangling on a tree branch for 15 minutes before anyone came to his rescue.

However, when Stanley was crying at night from the misery of being laughed at, the two brothers sat together on the bed in the darkness, being friends. An intriguing yet touching story for children.

Patrick Skene Catling. Published by HarperTrophy. ISBN-10:0688161332. ISBN-13:9780688161330. Age 8-12 years. 126pages. 130mm X 191mm (5.1in X 7.5in). 2006. Paperback.

John Midas was mad about candy, especially chocolate. He would rather have "chocolate all the time" than anything else. So, when he found a peculiar coin and at the same time, came across a candy store which he had not noticed before, he wasted no time in buying one of the biggest box of chocolate home. He ate it furtively and went to sleep.

The next morning, when he brushed his teeth, the toothpaste tasted like chocolate in his mouth. He couldn't believe his luck! He ate up the whole tube. Soon, everything he put into his mouth turned into chocolate. At the beginning, it was thrilling. There was his breakfast and his gloves which he absentmindedly chewed on his way to school. Then, he began to get into trouble, like when his pencil turned into chocolate during a test. With strong chocolate taste constantly in his mouth, he started to feel thirsty. But whatever he drank turned into chocolate liquid.

His 'chocolate power' became stronger as the day passed. It spread from only things in his mouth to the parts that were outside his mouth. There was nothing anyone could do. He and Mr. Midas tried to look for the candy store but it was nowhere in sight. When Mrs. Midas too was turned into chocolate as John kissed her to console her, he freaked out and ran wildly out of the house. How was John going to stop his chocolate power and get his mother back?

There is a picture on every 4 to 6 pages.

This is a case of too much of a good thing, or rather favourite food. It dwelled into possible consequences beyond the immediate effect of tummy upset. This gives the child an idea of the impact of an action on other aspects of one's life. Apart from feeling thirsty all the time, John was also losing friends as he literally ate up his good friend's prized possession. The last straw was when his mother turned into a chocolate statue.

The virtue of being concerned about others was stressed too. John was a self-centred boy who blamed his troubles on others. It was when John finally learnt to care for others did he manage to lose his chocolate touch.

Parents should use this opportunity to impress upon the child the need for moderation in situations such as:

• food intake - when the child is obsessed on certain food.
• medicine intake - when he seems to like the sweet cough syrup too much. Assess the your child and the situation, it may be opportune to introduce the difference between medicine (small amount) and addiction (excessive amount), i.e. the drugs menace.

The font size is appropriate for children at this age and the regular one-page pictures help to maintain the child's interest. Overall, it is an interesting story.

Andrew Clements. Published by Aladdin Paperbacks. ISBN9780689818769. Age 8-12 years. 105 pages. 130mm X 191mm (5.1in X 7.5in). 1998. Paperback.

Was Nick Allen a troublemaker? No, it was just that he was always full of ideas and he did not hesitate to implement them.

Two years ago, when he was 8 years old, he turned Miss Deaver's classroom into a tropical island by getting his classmates to make palm trees out of green and brown construction paper. Nick was also very good at asking 'delaying questions' in order to sidetrack the teachers into forgetting to give homework assignment.

"Who says that d-o-g means the thing that goes 'woof' and wags its tail? Who says so?" asked Nick of Mrs. Granger, a language arts teacher who had a reputation of being prim and proper, sharp and who loved dictionaries.

"You do, Nicholas. You and I and everyone in this class and this school and this town...." That was the answer that gave Nick the inspiration to create a new word, 'frindle', to replace 'pen'.

It started off as a simple experiment. It was fun getting his friends to use the new word at the shop and during class. Mrs. Granger was angry at first and she tried to stop them from using it. She talked to Nick and made those who used the word stayed back for detention. However, the more resistance she put up, the the more popular the word became.

Soon, the story appeared in the local newspaper, which was then picked up by a television station. 'Frindle' does not belong to Nick anymore. The new word is spreading across the country!

Ten years later, Nick received a parcel from Mrs. Granger. Guess what was in the parcel.

An inspiring story that encourages children to think 'out of the box' and more importantly, dare to take the risk of experimenting with their ideas. Experiments need not be confined to science laboratories and results need not be drawn from answers in the books. The world in general and the school in particular, are the best testing grounds.

Nick was a smart boy and his ideas were mainly to liven up lessons in class. He tried out things he learnt as practical supplementary to theories. The school was his 'laboratory'. Teachers and other adults in school were naturally his targets because it was both exciting and intimidating to challenge the authorities.

However, Nick was not rude or rebellious. Instead, he was creative and innovative. It helped too that his mother supported his experiment and justification; and his teacher had the ability to see the potential in him. What makes it more appealing is that this hero did not have superstar-look like those usually found in children's television shows. Nick was small, had curly hair and wore a pair of round spectacles.

So, with the right environment and a belief in himself, Nick created a new word that eventually got listed in the dictionary. This would be the kind of exposure we hope our children will get, to realise their true potential.