Joseph Delaney used to be an English teacher, before becoming the best-selling author of the Spook's series, which has been published in 30 countries and sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide. The first book, The Spook's Apprentice, was adapted into a major motion picture starring Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

Joseph Delaney

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Shirley Hughes

Annie Rose and Alfie have lots of games they like to play together, like being scary monsters with Bernard, or running their own shop. But there are some things Annie Rose is too little to do and even some things Alfie would rather do without her. But if Annie Rose is ever sad or cross there is only one person who can make her feel better . . . her big brother. This is Shirley Hughes at her best - warm and wonderfully observed illustrations, and a touching text about the special bond between siblings.

Annie Rose Is My Little Sister

Pat Hutchins

A TITCH storybook by award winning author, Pat Hutchins. Titch is the smallest and the youngest in his family. His brother Pete and his sister Mary have bigger biokes than Titch, kites that fly high-up in the sky and instruments that make much BIGGER noises. But when Titch plants a tiny seed thay all find out that starting off small is just the first stage of GROWING!!!

Titch

John Burningham

Once upon a time there were two geese called Mr and Mrs Plumpster. Each Spring they returned to the marshes of their ancestors, and Mrs Plumpster laid her eggs. Soon six fine young Plumpsters hatched: Archie, Freda, Jennifer, Oswald, Timothy and Borka. But Borka was different. Borka had no feathers and could not fly. When winter came the other geese flew off in search of warmer climates, leaving Borka all alone. But her adventure was only just beginning . . .

Borka: The Adventures of a Goose With No Feathers

A classic story celebrating the power of babies... and avocados! 
 
The Hargraves family want their new baby to grow up big and strong. But the puny mite will hardly eat a thing... until Mrs Hargraves finds an avocado in the fruit bowl and the baby gobbles it up. Soon, the baby gets incredible strength, and the strangest things start to happen! 
 
This classic story from the bestselling author and illustrator John Burningham has been delighting families for over 40 years. 
 
“Amusing for adults, impressive for toddlers, good for greengrocers” The Observer 
 
“John Burningham is one of the most outstanding author-illustrators of children’s books today . . .” Twentieth-Century Children’s Writers 
 
John Burningham is the much-loved creator of Mr Gumpy's Outing and Would You Rather.

Avocado Baby

Babette Cole

Girls and boys are always curious and sometimes even alarmed by the behaviour of their bodies as they grow up. Puberty being a particularly unsettling time, Babette Cole has made this the subject of the fifth title in her bestselling series of 'family dilemmas'. Who else but Babette would have the temerity to tackle this subject in a picture book and the genius to carry it off! In Hair in Funny Places her artwork is without exaggeration some of the best she has ever done: it is brilliant. The text takes the form of a conversation between a small girl and her teddy bear, and is ingenious and funny. It is the behaviour of Mr and Mrs Hormone (wonderfully depicted) which is responsible for and plays havoc with the physical and emotional states of  girls and boys throughout puberty. This book is bound to be controversial but Babette has never taken the conventional path and her readers love her for her outrageous approach to little mentioned topics.

Hair In Funny Places

Alfie loves being outside and in this gorgeous collection of stories and poems he plays in the garden, camps in the countryside, shares a picnic on the beach, splashes in the paddling pool and lots more! Full of snapshots of family life, this is a book to treasure.

The Big Alfie Out of Doors Storybook

Mairi Hedderwick

Welcome to the Island of Struay, home of one of the best-loved characters in children's books and as seen on TV - Katie Morag McColl! 
 
This lavish book is packed with brand-new stories and poems featuring favourite characters from Katie Morag's island home. Whether she's trying to keep the secret of Baking Day from her little brother Liam, befriending a baby seal with the Holiday Children, or even smoothing out troubles between her two very different grannies, Katie Morag is always at the heart of this island and its special way of life.

The Big Katie Morag Storybook

Benedict Blathwayt

Another charming tale in The Little Red Train series which will appeal to all little boys and girls obsessed with engines, trains and things that go! 
 
There's a big surprise around every bend in the railway track to Birchcombe village - but Duffy Driver, The Little Red Train and all their friends are ready to come to the rescue EVERY time!

The Little Red Train: To The Rescue

Georgie has got a new bed, but it's not like other beds. For each night, Georgie says the magic word and it whisks him away on a fantastic adventure. He loves his bed, but one day he and his family go on holiday, and when they come back, Granny has a big surprise for Georgie . . .

The Magic Bed

Josephine Poole

Angela Barrett

How did an ordinary little girl come to live such an extraordinary life? This picture book biography tells the incredible story of Anne Frank for a younger audience. 
 
Anne Frank's diary telling the story of her years in hiding from the Nazis has affected millions of people. But what was she like as a small girl, at home with her family and friends; at play and at school? In the first half of the book we meet Anne as a small child growing up with her family in Germany. Then we follow her flight to Holland to escape the Nazis; the German invasion and the gradual isolation, then outright persecution, of the Jewish population which forces the family into hiding; the years in the Secret Annex; and her last heart-breaking journey. 
 
Told with haunting, meticulously researched illustrations, this is the ideal introduction to Anne Frank's story.

Anne Frank

Quentin Blake

A bouncing, read-aloud rhyme about a very special friend, from the nation's favourite llustrator, Quentin Blake! 
 
Meet Fantastic Daisy Artichoke. She's got three fat cats we like to stroke and a pond in which she likes to soak. . . . She isn't quite like other folk! 
 
"Blake is beyond brilliant . . . I've never met a child who doesn't love Quentin Blake" - Daily Telegraph 
 
Quentin Blake is one of Britain's best-loved and most successful author-illustrators, and was made the first Children's Laureate in 1999. He has won the Whitbread Award, the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration, and the Kate Greenaway Medal. among others.

Fantastic Daisy Artichoke

Albert and his mum and dad go walking one day in the mountains. Unfortunately, Albert slips and disappears over the edge of a cliff; his parents are very upset. Albert is lucky though - the Cloud Children see his fall and speak the magic words ("They either said, Fumble gralley goggle ho hee", or "Teetum waggle bari se nee", or was it "Gargle giggle fiddle num dee?") that make Albert light enough to float among the clouds, with them. Albert sleeps that night drifting in the sky. The next day, Albert and the Cloud Children have lots of fun: jumping off tall clouds, making as much noise as they can in the thunderstorm, swimming in the rain, painting pictures next to the rainbow and walking on the filmy traces left by passing aircraft. When Albert wants to go home again, the Queen arranges for his cloud to drift near his home, and for him to gently float down - but not before they all have feasted with the Man in the Moon!

Cloudland

Gene Zion

Everyone thinks Harry looks lovely in his new knitted jacket covered in roses - except Harry! So Harry is on a mission to rid his back of those ridiculous roses...!

No Roses For Harry

Click-clack, clicketty-clack, whoo . . . eee! Disaster! The fast rain to Pebblecombe has broken down. Everyone on the train wants to get to the fair and enjoy a great day out but now they're all stuck on the tracks. It is up to the Little Red Train and Duffy Driver to save the day. Do the little Red Train speeds up and is determined to get her passengers to the fair on time. As Duffy remarks at the end of the journey, 'You're the Little Red Express now!' 
 
Follow the train on its speedy journey and marvel at the wealth of detail in every picture.

Little Red Train: Faster, Faster

Clara Vulliamy

A dark and stormy night, a camping trip gone awry, and an old house which looks like it might be ... haunted? 
 
Dixie and Percy need to stick together in this mysterious adventure full of scrapes, peril, and spooky goings-on! 
 
These first chapter books from mother-daughter pairing Shirley Hughes and Clara Vulliamy have one chapter for each night of the week and are full of maps, and fun extra activities. 
 
“A witty and beautifully designed series for emerging readers” THE SUNDAY TIMES

Dixie O'Day and the Haunted House

Roberto Innocenti

Ian McEwan

Rose Blanche was the name of a group of young German citizens who, at their peril, protested against the war. Like them, Rose observes all the changes going on around her which others choose to ignore. She watches as the streets of her small German town fill with soldiers. One day she sees a little boy escaping from the back of a truck, only to be captured by the mayor and shoved back into it. Rose follows the truck to a desolate place out of town, where she discovers many other children, staring hungrily from behind an electric barbed wire fence.  She starts bringing the children food, instinctively sensing the need for secrecy, even with her mother. Until the tide of the war turns and soldiers in different uniforms stream in from the East, and Rose and the imprisoned children disappear for ever . . .

Rose Blanche

Ars Armitage arrives on the beach with her surfboard and her faithful dog Breakspear, and paddles out to sea to wait for the Big Wave. But, of course, Mrs Armitage can't be satisfied with just an ordinary surfboard and she is soon adding a hilarious variety of gadgets and contraptions. And when the Big Wave finally arrives, Mrs Armitage certainly surfs with style!

Mrs Armitage And The Big Wave

Introducing Dixie O’Day and also, of course, his friend Percy! This dashing duo are always getting into adventures – here they enter the All-Day Car Race little knowing what is ahead of them! Dixie and Percy run into all sorts of peril, as does their arch enemy, Lou Ella. But who will win, and will Lou Ella get her comeuppance?

Dixie O'Day: In The Fast Lane

John Burningham brings us this poetic tale about a special friendship between a lonely girl and her secret friend, Aldo. With Aldo around, sunshine and laughter fill the little girl's life and she forgets her everyday fears.

Aldo

When the children bring Courtney home he's just a loveable scruffy old dog. But the-mongrel-that-nobody-wants has the most amazing talents. He can cook! He can juggle! He can even play the violin! Then one day Courtney the wonder dog packs up his trunk and leaves home - but the children find out his helping paw is not far away. . .

Courtney

Maurice Sendak

A daring imagination has woven a simple rhyme into a brilliantly original tale about Jennie, the Sealyham terrier, who seeks Experience and becomes the star of the World Mother Goose Theatre.

Higglety Pigglety Pop!

or There Must Be More to Life

Can Snuff's great idea save the day? A marvellous tale of creativity and quick-wittedness from the nation's favourite illustrator, Quentin Blake. 
 
Snuff dreams of being a brave and noble knight. But no matter how hard Sir Thomas Magpie tries to teach him, Snuff just can't seem to get anything right! The one day the Bootmaker gets raided by thieves, and Snuff might just have a clever idea to save the day - in his own unique and creative way! 
 
"Blake is beyond brilliant . . . I've never met a child who doesn't love Quentin Blake" - Daily Telegraph 
 
Quentin Blake is one of Britain's best-loved and most successful author-illustrators, and was made the first Children's Laureate in 1999. He has won the Whitbread Award, the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration, and the Kate Greenaway Medal. among others.

Snuff

Part of the BBC’s Quentin Blake’s Box of Treasures

When Duffy the driver is told to keep on going until the lights change, that's exactly what he does - so he doesn't even notice that he's driven Little Red Train right under the channel to France! 
 
This is a gloriously detailed book that will be a joy to return to again and again. 
 
With a minimal text and bright, busy pages, Ben Blathwayt's picture books have enormous appeal for young children.

The Little Red Train: Green Light

It's time to get out of the bath but Shirley's not listening. She's floated away to a secret watery land beyond the plughole - to where knights ride white horses, and kings and queens float in moats around their castles. . .

Time To Get Out Of The Bath, Shirley

It's a perfect day for a picnic so Hen picks some berries, Goose picks some apples and Duck picks some pears. Then the three friends set off to look for the perfect spot to enjoy their feast. 
 
But the three friends aren't the only ones who are hungry. As the picnic basket gets lighter and lighter, readers will be laughing harder and harder. 
 
A wonderfully funny tale from the creator of Rosie's Walk

We're Going On A Picnic

'Six farm eggs, a cake for tea, a pound of pears and don't forget the bacon.'A young boy sets out to do the shopping, determined to remember his simple list but as the sights and sounds of town distract him he finds himself in a terrible muddle.

Don't Forget The Bacon

When a lorry driver scoffs at the Little Red Train for looking old and useless, Duffy is quite upset. But the Little Red Train soon proves its worth when terrible traffic, breakdowns and faulty lights stop the lorries being able to deliver. And the Little Red Train doesn't look quite so useless, or little, after all! 
 
Ben Blathwayt's Little Red Train books, with minimal text and big, busy pages full of intricate detail, have enormous appeal for young children.

The Little Red Train: Great Big Train

Welcome to the Island of Struay, home of one of the best-loved characters in children's books and as seen on TV - Katie Morag McColl! 
 
Discover some of the secrets of Katie Morag's island home in the many stories, poems and pictures in this treasure-trove of a collection. Find out if Castle McColl really is haunted, discover the identity of the hairy hermit who never visits the village, and join in the birthday celebrations with Grannie Island and Granma Mainland. There's never a dull moment with Katie Morag!

The Second Katie Morag Storybook

Kes Gray

Another BRILLIANT laugh-out-loud Daisy adventure, from the bestselling author of the Oi Frog series, Kes Gray. 
 
Here comes trouble! 
 
Daisy has a lot to learn when it comes to saving and making money. 
 
When her best friend Gabby gets the most awesome, immense, water-squirting micro-scooter Daisy’s ever seen, she MUST have one too! 
 
The trouble is, is they cost a LOT of money. So Daisy and Gabby hatch a money-making plan. Surely nothing will go wrong?

Daisy and the Trouble with Piggy Banks

Meet the extraordinary baby, Zagazoo! A classic tale from the nation's favourite illustrator, Quentin Blake. 
 
Zagazoo is a baby like no other. In this quite exceptional picture book young readers will be delighted by the hilarious and unexpected changes in his behaviour as Zagazoo grows up. Parents may detect some strange echoes of family life. There have been many classic picture books from the incomparable pen of Quentin Blake, but never one more extraordinary. 
 
"Blake is beyond brilliant . . . I've never met a child who doesn't love Quentin Blake" - Daily Telegraph 
 
Quentin Blake is one of Britain's best-loved and most successful author-illustrators, and was made the first Children's Laureate in 1999. He has won the Whitbread Award, the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration, and the Kate Greenaway Medal. among others.

Zagazoo

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