Sometimes the only way to quiet down a group of rowdy 10-year-olds is to read to them about another group of rowdy 10-year-olds. This is where Nicholas comes in handy. Author René Goscinny is better known for creating the Asterix comics but here he teams with illustrator Jean-Jacques Sempé (of New Yorker fame) to relate mischievous adventures at a typically strict French school. First published in 1959, these are elegant, universal tales marked by simplicity and a disarming innocence. Despite the tendency of the boys to solve every argument by boffing someone on the nose these 19 yarns are a precious document of the time before any woe arrives. To suit particularly boys aged between eight and twelve.

Vince Chadwick