Harvey, The Boy Who Couldn't Fart should prove a sure-fire Christmas choice. This nicely crafted comic story about windless Harvey includes a survey of his family’s farting habits and comes with a devious fart machine (a “Fart-o-matic”). But the back cover carries a lengthy, po-faced warning: “You must use the device only as described in these instructions…” The story itself is a gas – a rival to any Christmas cracker. Kate Kellaway Photograph: Walker
A House in the Woods is a beautiful book dominated, once again, by pigs. But these are uncommonly dainty pigs in a lavishly imagined forest, carpeted by gold leaves and moss. Trouble strikes when the pigs’ makeshift shelters are wrecked by their squatter friends: a rueful bear and a merry moose. More permanent accommodation is called for and the pigs hire a hilarious team of “beaver builders”, equipped with hard hats and a keen appetite for peanut butter sandwiches. The joy of their eventually constructed, reassuringly secure house will captivate parents and children alike. KK Photograph: Walker
The Pop Up Book of Poo is a compendious and surprisingly informative publication (“Because bat poo is so high in phosphorous and nitrogen, it was used to make gunpowder during the American civil war!”). KK Photograph: Walker
Salt water, fresh water, clean water, dirty water – these stories from around the Commonwealth capture the role of all kinds of water in everyone's survival. Whether it is too much or too little, gloriously flowing in rivers, gushing from wells or seeping through marshes, water is essential for people and animals everywhere. In this well-organised anthology, some stories are realist, others magical, but all will stimulate readers to think about protecting this vital resource. Jan Pienkowski's stunning silhouettes bring watery scenes vividly to life. Julia Eccleshare Photograph: Commonwealth Education Trust Book
Christmas at the Toy Museum: A Fairytale (Walker £11.99) is absurd, enchanting and simple. The toys rush to the tree and realise there is nothing there – no presents. One comes up with a proposition: “Why don’t we all give each other ourselves?” They set to work at once. And that more or less wraps the story up – once you have also thrown in a glorious, interventionist angel who traffics in stars and wishes. KK Photograph: Walker
"Keith’s forgot his royal crown/Kevin’s late (again)/Jason’s lost his frankincense: The Unwise Men.” There are no prizes for guessing what this brief poem is about. Ingman illustrates “Nativity” as a sweet and stumbling primary school play with the three small kings, identically clad in red robes and ermine, making a delightful mess of their stage debut. It is one of a collection of funny, fresh, easy-to-take-on-board poems by the indefatigable Ahlberg. KK Photograph: Walker
An elegant reprint of a 1970s tale, features four pigs with distinguished first names: Casimir, Isidor, Felix and Ferdinand. It describes their attempt to find homes for the snowy Christmas trees they have exuberantly dug up from a German pine forest. As they do the rounds, the point is not lost on the reader: doing the right thing is seldom easy. Everyone seems already to have a tree. But the pigs persevere – and start to understand what it is to be in want and what it means to give. A light-footed Christmas education (presents eventually distributed to patient pigs). KK Photograph: Phaidon
If what is required this Christmas is flight into a different culture, then Tales from India is the thing. This fabulous-looking collection of stories should be an answer to prayer. The Hindu recipe for creation in which a sea of milk is turned into butter is only the beginning but is given assured and dramatic treatment by Hall, who does not shrink from any of her exotic tasks, including the drawing of a serpent that doubles as a milk churn. KK Photograph: Templar
Christmas is a time for remembering absent family and friends, and My Henry is a picture book to touch the heart as well as make one laugh aloud. It is a new departure for Kerr, a deliciously singular extended daydream in which she imagines wild, airborne outings with her late husband, Henry. He is dressed in a pink cardigan and yellow tie and has sprouted some rather inefficient looking green wings to help him fly. Heaven, obviously, is his new address. And bliss, all round, is guaranteed. KK Photograph: HarperCollins
You don't have to like trains to love this simple and witty book. Trundling down the track goes a typical freight train, made beautiful by its bright colours, from the red guard's van through to the black tender and steam engine. Bold and clear, the colours stand out, until the train gathers speed and they are all whirled together as it hurtles through tunnels, over bridges, through night and day until, as trains do, it disappears. Nothing is said, nothing needs to be said; it's just a very satisfying experience. And a good introduction to colours, too. JE Photograph: Phoenix Yard
Jill Murphy follows her bestselling Peace At Last and Five Minutes Peace with a deliciously acerbic look at parent–toddler relationships. In the best spirit of maternal tolerance, Mother Bear indulges her little cub Bradley in his insatiable desire to play. Knowing she must encourage his creativity and foster his enthusiasm, Mum keeps up a steady stream of Bradley-entertaining suggestions. Bradley's stamina doesn't falter; Mum's does. Through gritted teeth Mum falls back on the old cliché. Readers will cheer when she does. JE Photograph: Puffin
There are magical monkeys, a daring tortoise, a tricksy locust who outsmarts a coyote, and many more besides. The essence of the different animals and the celebration of their individual attributes are a delight. John Yeoman retells these tales from around the world with vigour and enjoyment, while Quentin Blake's illustrations make them all original and bewitching. JE Photograph: Pavilion
