Age 3-6

Grey has produced a splendidly tongue-in-cheek picturebook about a little boy’s commando doll — Traction Man — and his daredevil adventures fuelled by the child’s imagination: on Planet Duvet, fighting the Evil Pillows; in the washing up, taking on the poisonous Dishcloth; in the garden, rescuing half-buried Barbies from the Wicked Professor Spade. Nothing phases Traction Man, even when he faces the worst: having to wear an all-in-one knitted green romper suit and matching bonnet that have been specially made by the boy’s granny. Funny, satirical and inventive, the narrative combines the fantasy play with interpolations of grown-ups’ real speech in a separate collage. But much of the story is revealed by the pictures, which ingeniously combine Traction Man’s exploits and what is happening in the boy’s real life. Visually enticing, the book uses varied perspectives, comic-book techniques and lots of revealing detail that make you want to keep checking back over each excitingly planned page. Traction Man is a delight, from his square-cornered jaw to his dazzle-painted battle pants.

(Cape £10.99)

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