Edith Nesbit’s prose is the kind that endures: clear as a bell, funny, poised in its economy and understatement. Inga Moore has turned one of Nesbit’s stories, The Book of Beasts (Walker Books pound;12.99) into a sparkling and enchanting picture book. Her fluid, expressive drawing heightens the imaginative vision, gentle humour and love of the absurd encapsulated in the original. The creator of The Railway Children and The Phoenix and the Carpet included this delightful tale in a story collection called The Book of Dragons more than a century ago.

Lionel, next in line to the throne, becomes fond of the royal library and of a magical book that releases the fantastical creatures within it to wreak havoc or bestow blessings. Inga Moore has skilfully abridged the text so that it sings with a fresh vitality, and her drawing is superb: shades of Maurice Sendak with the knowledgeable line of an Edward Ardizzone or E H Shepard. Her measured use of colour, composition and line, her playful characterisation and witty cameos, odd little details dropped in just so, make every turn of the page utterly pleasurable. A book to be shared, read out and poured over in class and at home.

Illustrator P J Lynch has also produced a memorable book about a dragon - this time a creature in search of his fire and his true nature. Ignis by Gina Wilson (Walker Books pound;12.99) is a beautiful story and Lynch has accompanied the text with huge panoramic flights of gothic fancy, his shapes and colours creating a rich and compelling magical landscape.