It’s getting hard to turn on the radio these days.

As these book-lovers point out, current affairs is starting to resemble some sort of surreal, post-apocalyptic realm.

Death and disaster loom from every new corner, while political mayhem reigns supreme.

In times such as these, we crave sanctuary: a comfort fix that stretches beyond your average mac ‘n cheese doughnut.

And, while all novels offer an element of escapism, children’s books do it the best of all.

In the pages of our favourite childhood reads, we find a positive skew on the world that’s all too elusive in reality.

In the place of adult cynicism, we have wonderment and humour. Instead of division, friendship is often writ large. And while bad things do still happen in children’s books, no-one ever starts venting on Twitter as a result.

Here are a few of our favourite children’s books to revisit as an adult, for a dose of literary balm:

5 children’s books to find sanctuary in when the going gets tough