Sibling rivalry, the new baby, temper tantrums, night terrors, fussy eaters... the list goes on. Whatever problem your child has there's sure to be a relevant book. Or fifteen. And very helpful they may be.

But what about reading to the under-6s for sheer fun? Reading to celebrate the daftness and idiosyncracies of life?

Shoe Shoe Baby (David and Charles, £9.99) fits the bill exactly. Written by Bernard Lodge and illustrated by his daughter, Katherine, it's a dotty story about the shoes in a shoe shop - and the weird and wonderful characters who come to buy them. (Look out for Conchita from Costa Rica who gets shoes with a view!) Both words and pictures are a total delight; it's fresh, funny and truly original.

The Hairy Toe (Walker Books, £4.99) is guaranteed to have the nervous refusing to go to bed ever again (especially if they just happen to have picked up a hairy toe), but the tough will love it.

Daniel Postgate has illustrated this traditional American tale with real gusto: watch that huge dark shadow coming nearer... and nearer... and nearer. Any parent who enjoys showing off will have a ball with the SWOOSH of the wind and the CRE-E-EAK of the floor, let alone moaning "Where's my Hair-r-ry To-o-oe? Who's got my Hair-r-ry To-o-oe?"

Completely different (and perfectly safe for every young reader) is Where's Caterpillar? by Sarah Godwin and Louise Batchelor (Frances Lincoln, £4.99). Mouse is looking for Caterpillar, and he travels through a glorious swirl of colours and patterns before he finds her. He goes through a dark room, a forest, to the ocean, and beyond - and hidden on each page is a different animal, camouflaged in the background. Peep through the cut-out or turn the page and, bingo!, the animal appears (and the camel goes from lying down to standing up).

Daft verse has always had a fascination for the very young: "It was midsummer night in winter/ and snow was on the ground..." Ruth Brown's beautiful pictures in Mad Summer Night's Dream (Red Fox, £4.99) let the reader float gently away into a dream world of magic and enchantment. Don't rush the last page; my testers loved finding the real objects that sourced the nonsense.

David Wojowycz's Animal 123 (David and Charles, £9.99) is really a counting book, but it's such fun you don't need any educational excuse to read it over and over again. The colours zing, the birds and animals are the maddest you've ever seen, and the action takes place in an amazingly complex hotel inhabited by mice. Have you ever imagined a large lamb with a curiously strong resemblance to Boy George? Have a look at seven Singing Sheep, and see who else you oldies recognise...

And finally, the queen of the idiosyncratic - Sara Fanelli. Children - and adults - either love her or hate her, but if ever you ordered up food for the imagination, Dreamtime (Heinemann Young Books, £9.99) would have to be on the main menu. The end papers alone stand hours of scrutiny; don't flick past a single page of this book.

The story tells how Zeno, Bubu and Bird follow their dreams and help Marty the Martian find his little pet Martini. The strange scratchy drawings, picture strips and collage intrigue kids; it's a language they understand better than adults do. And the words are great - "As a reward, the teacher gave me an umbrella to protect me from shooting stars." Brilliant stuff!