Peter Hawes: The Fame Files

The perennial search for good reading for boys has turned up this great little series by Peter Hawes, who has beamed his famously silly wit onto the doers of history, good and bad, with unputdownable results. The four books, all illustrated and divided into 10 lively profiles, include Adventurers and Explorers, Inventors and Scientists, Outlaws and Scoundrels and - just out - Leaders and Emperors. Warriors and Risk Takers and Record Breakers will follow later this year.

And, of course, there's nothing to stop girls enjoying these books, too.

* Whitcoulls, $14.99