Now the movie The Golden Compass has finally opened, there are at least four books to accompany the film inspired by Oxford author Philip Pullman.

Publishers Scholastic have produced four tie-in titles to help young readers understand the complex themes contained in Mr Pullman's His Dark Materials novel Northern Lights.

A good place to start is the most child-friendly of the four books, The Golden Compass Movie Storybook by Kay Woodward (£4.99), a simple re-telling of Northern Lights, with images from the movie used as illustration.

The World of The Golden Compass by Clive Gifford (6.99) is a guide to the fictional world of the film, focusing on the characters, creatures, daemons and inventions populating its startling landscape. Young readers are bound to enjoy the cardboard insert featuring an array of press-out characters and the sticker sheet of images from the movie.

The Golden Compass: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion by Brian Sibley (14.99) is more for adults, providing a detailed technical guide to the making of the movie, plus interviews with the director and cast members. This book includes some intriguing facts on the make-up, costumes and special effects.

Finally, The Golden Compass: Visual Explorer by Philip Wilkinson (£19.99) is also targeted at older readers, and it is hard to imagine many parents splashing out for this movie gift book, which comes complete with three gift 'photograms'. This final volume is beautifully illustrated, but it focuses on the film technology and does not have the universal appeal of the other three books.