World Book Day: a guide to the books on offer

It's time for World Book Day again, frighteningly already in its 14th year. The focus has expanded from primary school-aged-children to secondary school and includes a flip book to appeal to older children from Chris Priestley and Philip Reeves and an exclusive online story from Queen of Teen Louise Rennison.

The £1 flip-books for children are all written and published exclusively for World Book Day 2011 with something to appeal to all children.

Ages 3+

Dr Seuss on the Loose! (HarperCollins)

A collection of extracts from some of Dr Seuss' best-loved books including The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham and Horton Hears a Who, from the master of nonsense rhymes.

Ages 5+

Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne, illustrated by E. H. Shepard (Egmont)

Includes three much-loved tales from this classic story about the affable, poetry-spouting bear.

AND

Humphrey's Tiny Tales: My Treasure Hunt Trouble! By Betty G. Birney (Faber and Faber)

Another hilarious story from Humphrey the Hamster as he embarks on yet another fun-filled adventure.

Ages 5+

Gargoylz Make Some Noise by Burchett & Vogler (Random House)

Set on World Book Day, the Gargoylz make mischief in the library. Perfect for boys.

AND

SWITCH: Bug Battle by Ali Sparkes, illustrated by Ross Collins

The boys get turned into bugs by Petty Pots' SWITCH spray and fight it out with each other. This will appeal to boys by Blue Peter winner Ali Sparkes.

Ages 7+

The Great Pet-Shop Panic by Katie Davies, illustrated by Hannah Shaw (Simon and Schuster)

When a pet shop opens on their street, the kids have to resort to a pet shop heist when their mum tells them can't have a pet. Another hilarious story from the highly talented Katie Davies, winner of the Waterstones Children's Books Prize.

AND

Spy Dog Got Talent by Andrew Cope, illustrated by James de la Rue (Puffin Books)

Another hilarious episode from Spy Dog as they prepare for a Talent Show for a chance to win a spot at the Royal Variety Performance.

Ages 9+

A Jiggy McCue Story: Evilutuion: The Troof by Michael Lawrence (Orchard Books)

Another crazy escapade from stressed out Jiggy as he finds out all about 'Evilution'.

AND

Do Bugs Have Bottoms by Glenn Murphy (Macmillan Children's Books)

Blue Peter shortlisted author Glenn Murphy answers answers to really important questions like why do sweaty feet stink? And why is the sky blue? from The Science Museum.

Ages 11+

The Teacher's Tales of Terror by Chris Priestley (Bloomsbury Children's Books)

A mysterious supply teacher terrifies his class by reading out a collection of Victorian short stories in this chilling story set on World Book Day by the master of ghost stories.

AND

Traction City by Philip Reeve (Scholastic Children's Books)

A mysterious killer is aboard in the Great Traction City of London. Fans of Mortal Engines will be pleased to see a spine-chilling story for World Book Day.

Ages 12+

'How to Make Any Twit Fall in Love With You' by Louise Rennison (HarperCollins)

A succession of ten hilarious diary entries, told by Georgia Nicolson - Rennison's much-loved character from the bestselling Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series - and featuring Tallulah Casey, Georgia's ultra-dramatic, thespian cousin and main character of Rennison's new teen series Withering Tights. Fans will be able to read a new instalment on www.LoveTwit.co.uk every day for ten days.

And although this isn't one of the official books for World Book Day I was very pleased to see It's A Book by Lane Smith (Macmillan Children's Books) publishing in the UK this month. All about a book-loving Gorilla trying to explain the concept of a book to a jackass, this is a refreshing take on the ebooks versus physical books debate. You can see an animation of the American version here.

You can hear all the flipbooks read by the authors or actors on the World Book Day website here.