Illustrated by Garry Parsons.
First mate Hugh has got the whole crew and the pirate ship ready, but they can’t set sail until they find a captain! Come on this salty adventure as Hugh and his scurvy seadogs try to find the perfect pirate for the job. Rather than a peg leg or a hook, it turns out what their captain needs is the brains to lead.
Illustrated by Steve May
The Pet Defenders Code: 1. The safety of Planet Earth depends on you. 2. Humans MUST NOT know the truth. GOOD LUCK – you’ll need it…
Animals are disappearing from Nothington-on-Sea and the Pet Defenders suspect alien activity. Secret agents Biskit and Mitzy find themselves caught up in the Planet Bogey Games. Biskit suspects the contest might hold the key to finding his missing partner, Champ. Can our heroes win the game? And what’s more, can they get back home after?
This fast-paced funny series features action, mystery and animal antics. Perfect for wannabe detectives and kids who love Spy Dog and The Adventures of Captain Underpants!
Lettie Peppercorn hasn’t left her house-on-stilts for over ten years. She dare not. Her mother left a very specific warning on the day she left – stepping outside could kill her.
But when a mysterious, frozen man, who claims to be an alchemist, arrives at the door with a miraculous invention, Lettie’s life is changed forever and she has no choice but to risk the perils lurking in the world outside if she wants to see her mother again.
A pair of feisty and resourceful children have their work cut out trying to get the better of a cast of comical, but deadly, adversaries in this wildly imaginative fantasy adventure. The text is interspersed with expressive pen and ink illustrations.
Aya.Takeo is a story of Space, Time, Civilization and Star-Crossed Love. Set in a distant wrinkle of space where some things are familiar and others are forever surprising. Noblewoman Aya perseveres with her love for the lowly warrior Takeo amidst a backdrop of a neo-classical Japan under invasion by spider mecha… but who is the true enemy? This full-colour, large format volume collects together the first year of the online comic updated every sunday at ayatakeo.com
Once Upon a Time… stories of our time, the here and now. What challenges do we face when we have to grow up? Look through the eyes of different people as they deal with their personal battles, face the truth and determine their futures. Life’s lessons can only be learnt from living it.
Winston Wallaby, like most Wallabies, loves to bounce. However, Winston can’t seem to ever sit still and when he starts school he needs help to concentrate…
Luckily his teacher Mrs Calm shows Winston how to settle down and focus his mind in class, and he learns new ways to help him with touch, feel, attention and awareness.
This fun, illustrated storybook will help children aged 5-10 with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) recognise their sensory needs and develop tools to support them. A helpful introduction for parents and carers explains hyperactivity and how it can affect a child’s perception of the world, and the appendices at the back provide useful strategies to be adopted at school and at home.
Deep inside everyone, a red beast lies sleeping.
When it is asleep, the red beast is quite small, but when it wakes up, it begins to grow and grow.
This is the story of a red beast that was awakened.
Rufus is in the school playground when his friend John kicks a ball that hit him in the stomach, and wakes up the sleeping red beast: `I hate you – I’m gonna get you!’. The red beast doesn’t hear the teacher asking if he’s okay. It doesn’t see that John is sorry – how can Rufus tame the red beast?
This vibrant fully illustrated children’s storybook is written for children aged 5-9, and is an accessible, fun way to talk about anger, with useful tips about how to ‘tame the red beast’ and guidance for parents on how anger affects children with Asperger’s Syndrome.
Have you ever felt a sense of dread and worry creeping over you?
That might be the Panicosaurus coming out to play…
Sometimes the Panicosaurus tricks Mabel’s brain into panicking about certain challenges, such as walking past a big dog on the street or when her favourite teacher is not at school. With the help of Smartosaurus, who lets her know there is really nothing to be afraid of, Mabel discovers different ways to manage Panicosaurus, and defeat the challenges he creates for her.
This fun, easy-to-read and fully illustrated storybook will inspire children who experience anxiety, and encourage them to banish their own Panicosauruses with help from Mabel’s strategies. Parents and carers will like the helpful introduction, explaining anxiety in children, and the list of techniques for lessening anxiety at the end of the book.
Pia lives on the last zoo: a floating armada that houses the strangest collection of creatures the world’s ever seen, from genies to mirror-orangutans to hummingdragons. Collectively called ‘voilas’, they each have a special ability, and everyone hopes these will help save the world from environmental catastrophe.
Pia looks after the angels, their greatest hope. Then one morning they vanish. Panicked, she desperately searches the zoo for any sign of them – but finds something else altogether. An invisible creature is stalking the zoo, sinister forces are at work, and Pia and her friends must find a way to stop it before everything falls apart.
The Last Zoo is a first-class novel with exceptional world-building. An adventure-quest with lightly fantastical elements, it’s fast-paced, has lots of humour and a wonderful range of characters. A brilliant book for anyone looking for a new world to get lost in, it has an environmental message and hints of dystopia whilst also being incredibly hopeful.
The bloodthirsty Czar of Petrossia is boiling mad. Despite the protection of his poodle Bloodbath, and his fearsome War Council, two scruffy children have turned his son into a fluffy-wuffy kitten. But Pieter and Teresa are no ordinary children – Pieter is a master mathemagician and Teresa an imaginative alchemist.
Their second potion makes the kitten bigger than a dinosaur, in order to control the all-conquering Czar, who wants to turn his gentle son into a ferocious warrior. However, when Pieter is thrown into the dungeons to await execution and Teresa disappears in a puff of cobflour, all hope seems lost…
This gloriously imaginative tale from Carnegie Medal nominee Sam Gayton is the perfect book for readers curled up by the fire with a mug of khave, made from half a nib of sugarcane and a smidge of blazing pip, ready to be transported to a fantastical kingdom.
