Kitty’s excitement on a day trip to the zoo is in contrast to the mood of her less enthusiastic older sister, Clara. Once they arrive with their father, Kitty gets straight to work drawing pictures for her mother, but Clara declares it all too ‘boring!’ and just stays on her phone. It seems that Clara doesn’t want to be there.
After the Incident That Must Never Be Mentioned Again, Sam Wu has to prove to the school bully that he is not a scaredy cat. No easy task when he is indeed even scared of his own cat Butterbutt. With a gift for talking big and acting small, Sam finds himself the reluctant owner of a large pet snake that impresses his friends but terrifies himself. When the creature escapes, the lights go off and clanking noises are heard from upstairs, Sam has to dig deep to find his own true courage.
This entertaining book gives the reader a real, first-hand insight into how NOT to make a picturebook.
Allan Ahlberg fancies that he has a great idea for a picturebook, all about a happy family and their adventures with a snappy crocodile. Unfortunately, every effort he makes to write his story is thwarted, either by coffee-splashing cats, family seaside holidays or paper-eating snails.
Marcus, the worm, is about to be eaten by a chicken, Laurence, when his courage makes his inevitable fate take an unexpected turn. The pair ends up on a voyage to Kenya – well, really the local zoo – where Laurence, who believes he is a flamingo, wants to meet his fellow flamingos. On the supposedly long journey, they meet many perils and dangerous characters who try to thwart their plans, but their loyalty to each other wins the day.
Poor, lonely Stick Insect is looking for love in all the wrong places – so blinded is he by passion that he gets the wrong end of the, ahem, stick and falls for a twig! Despite numerous warnings from Butterfly, Stick Insect makes a total plank out of himself with attempts to woo the wooden object of his affection with talk of trips to the seaside, surfing the ocean waves, skating, hang gliding and,
in one memorable spread, speeding on a motorbike with the wind in their feelers!
‘Knock knock!’ Who could that be? A little girl opens her door to find a pirate captain with skeleton earrings and wild purple hair. Searching for treasure, the captain and her crew burst inside, ransacking every room in their hunt for gold. But there are no spoils to be found! In a desperate bid to get rid of her unwanted visitors, the little girl hands over a road map with a promise of treasure at the red dot. Delighted with her help, the pirates decide to take the girl and her whole house with them on their quest.
Bif is a little monster who has a BIG problem. It is a BIG, RED ROCK! And the problem is the big red rock is in his way. Bif enlists a number of his monster friends (and their friends) to help him move the big red rock. These helpers very conveniently include a Big Red Rock Eater, a Green Rock Driller and a Purple Rock Tickler, among others. But try as they might, none of them can move the big red rock. Eventually, in frustration, a monster dance party breaks out and all is resolved – or is it?
When Stanley’s mum had to go away, Stanley decided to go on a trip of his own – all the way to Mars. After a short while the spaceship returns, but Stanley doesn’t; in his place is a Martian, who, although he resembles Stanley physically, is not very well behaved. This bold Martian won’t eat his veg, won’t wash his hands or brush his teeth and definitely won’t take off his colander helmet in bed.
A modern take on the classic orphan tale, King Bones tells the story of young Danny who is sent to his truly terrible Aunt Ratbag after his loving but misguided parents are imprisoned for stealing the crown jewels.
Welcome to Maudlin Towers School for the Not Particularly Bright Sons of the Not Especially Wealthy, a gloomy, creepy boarding school that’s home to a delightfully quirky cast of nefarious teachers and miserable students, where Viking ghost sightings are scary but the possibility of your parents stopping by unannounced is truly terrifying.
