Ambrose the rabbit moves to a new area and finds it hard to make friends with the other rabbits because he feels he has little in common with them. But by the end, he is playing music with Maisie, building a train with Charles and even gives a heart-warming hug to the shy Charlotte. At the very end of the book Ambrose and all his rabbit friends are shown diving off a bridge into the water for a swim – a uniting interest. The artwork is a great combination of large-scale characters with strong expressions your child can relate to, and tiny background details that you can look for on repeat readings. 

Published by Red Fox, £4.99

HONOURABLE MENTION:
Dream Snow, by Eric Carle
This big gift-book is pricey, but if you like to look at the detail of texture, pattern and colour in pictures, and you know The Very Hungry Caterpillar book by the same creator, then there's lots of wonderful stuff for you here. 

Also, if you buy into the romantic dream of a white Christmas (which I most certainly do) you will find the story appealing, although perhaps like me, a little disappointing until the 'PUSH HERE' button at the end, which contains a sound chip.

It's an exquisite, tinkly metallic sound, evocative of brittle frost and cold Christmas skies. Wonderful.

Mother of a two-and-a-bit year-old comments: "My daughter goes again and again to the press-button at the end, because – in my view – the sound is really special. Sometimes we have a race to see who can reach it first."

Published by Hamish Hamilton, £14.99

For more books in this age range see our baby books archive.