RUPERT Bear first made an appearance in the Daily Express just before Christmas in 1920 – and nearly 90 years on he is still as popular as ever with children.

The 2010 album has him in four new stories – Rupert and the Dam, Rupert and the Golden Carp, Rupert and the Lost Sheep and Rupert and the Cut. With four pictures to each page, they follow the usual style with two lines of poetry under each picture and the story in length along the foot of the pages.

The original artist was Mary Tourtel and the original map of Nutwood, Rupert’s home, provides an interesting intro to the book. There is a secret decoder to write messages no-one else can read, instructions to make a golden carp in origami, a spot the difference, a large wordsearch, lost sheep maze and a memory test.

The stories in this book are lengthy, colourful and interesting and should keep the young ones occupied for hours. There are also details of some special Rupert books and limited editions of previous annuals from the 50s and 60s, for you to buy.

Rupert’s 2010 album is aimed at five years and over, is published by Egmont and costs £7.99.