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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Leon Garfield

In a cave on the wild side of St James's Park live two ragged children; young Nick and his nine-year-old sister Jubilee. Once they had a father, but now they are alone – and Nick knows it is his responsibility to find Jubilee a husband. But who would want to marry a girl who can neither cook nor sew, read nor write?

Blewcoat Boy

Two boys, Lewis and Richard, travel to paris in 1789 for very different reasons, and find their ideals challenged in the events of the French Revolution and the September massacre.

The Prisoners of September

Rosemary Sutcliff

Jestyn the Englishman had once been Thormod the Viking's slave, but after saving Thormod's life he became his shoulder to shoulder man and sworn brother in the deadly blood feud to avenge Thormod's murdered father, a feud that would take them all the way to Constantinople.

Blood Feud

Harris and Bostock are best friends, but they are as different from one another as night and day. Harris thinks up harebrained schemes and Bostock gets in trouble for them. 
 
When Harris puts his baby sister Adelaide in the words to see if she will be adopted by a fox, little do they realize that they are starting a chain of events that will be remembered in their little seaside town as the Strange Affair of Adelaide Harris.

The Strange Affair of Adelaide Harris

The boy who takes up the spear and shield of Manhood on this day will become the most renowned of all the warriors of Ireland, men will follow at his call to the world's end, and his enemies will shudder at the thunder of his chariot wheels. 
 
So the ancient prophecy went, and as the boy Cuchulain heard it, he went forward to claim the weapons of his manhood. This is the story of how he became the greatest of heroes - the Hound of Ulster.

The Hound Of Ulster

Rosemary's Sutcliff's absorbing collection of stories cover the fall of Londinium to the building of Hadrian's Wall, and the final departure of the Romans from Britain. Set at the time of the Roman occupation of Britain, they follow the fortunes of one family over three hundred years. All soldiers, they are linked by the Capricorn bracelet, first worn by the centurion Lucius for distinguished conduct, then handed down through the generations.

The Capricorn Bracelet

Eleanor Farjeon

Edward Ardizzone

Every time he went out for his daily walk, Derry had to pass the corner where old Jim sat on his orange box. And every time he lingered there in the hope of a story. For Jim was a sailor who had grown too old for the sea, but who was never tired of his adventures on the good ship Rocking Horse under brave Captain Potts.

Jim at the Corner

'As far as the eye can see, scarlet men are marching . . . A rich and splendid company, but none more so than the drummer boy.' 
 
But a moment later, the sound of Charlie Samson's drum was swallowed in a wild thunder. The glorious scarlet troops had been ambushed. Men were dead and dying all around, and all the beauty was gone. All that was left was himself and his drum, and a few shady nightwalkers - cowards who came crawling from the ditches and knaves who scoured the dead for wealth . . .

The Drummer Boy

Life in eighteenth-century London was hard and especially so for the city's apprentices. For seven long years they struggled for their livelihoods among the fetid houses and sinister quays of old London. But despite their hardships there was hope and even fun. 
 
This compelling story-cycle follows them round the year, through the dark, cold winter nights to midsummer in the city, The lamplighter, the pawnbroker, the midwife or the clockmaker, their stories interweave delightfully to paint a colourful picture of life in London 200 years ago.

The Apprentices

Sword Song is the swashbuckling story of Bjarni, a Viking swordsman. Banished from his home, as a boy, for a murder he didn't intend to commit, Bjarni takes up a new life as a mercenary. He journeys to the islands off the west coast of Scotland and there his life is shaped for years to come. A life that will see him fighting among the clan chiefs in feuds as bitter and bloody as can be imagined.This enthralling novel was the last thing Rosemary Sutcliff wrote and was discovered in a drawer after her death. It is published here in paperback for the first time.

The Sword Song Of Bjarni Sigurdson

The Confidence Man follows 14-year-old Hans Ruppert and a band of Protestants as they leave their home town and seek peace and freedom from Persecution in the New World. They are led by a mysterious hussar, who has offered to lead then to safety. To Hans he is a fascinating figure, but to the others he is a swindler, likely to abandon them at any moment.

The Confidence Man

Sylvia Waugh

From the outside, 5 Brocklehurst Grove looks like an ordinary house - the windows are always clean, and the garden well tended. And from the inside, to hear the voices of the inhabitants, the Mennym family, you would think they were a perfectly ordinary family, too. But you'd be wrong, for the Mennyms are far from ordinary. The whole family shares an astonishing secret behind which it's hidden for forty years; a secret to which nobody has ever come close - until perhaps, now. When a letter arrives from Australia, the whole family is plunged into fear that now, for the first time, their secret is about to be exposed . . . 
 
Sylvia Waugh's extraordinary debut novel about the Mennyms, a family of life-sized rag dolls, won the 1994 Guardian Children's Fiction Award.

The Mennyms

One stormy December night some time in the eighteenth century, a coach came thundering down the long hill outside of Dorking on its usual journey into London. But something unusual was to happen that night as one of the passengers unepectedly gave birth to a child. 
 
Not until he was eight did Sam Chichester discover that the coachman and guard he called 'Ma and 'Pa' were not his real parents. Sam will need to grow up, leave home, and find love before he will finally uncover the truth about his parentage.

The Sound of Coaches

Mr Corbett is a cruel employer and his young apprentice Benjamin can't help but wish he were dead. So when a strange old man offers to make this wish come true, Benjamin finds it impossible to refuse. Sure enough, Mr Corbett meets an untimely death, but the tables turn on the terrified apprentice who finds himself cursed with the ghost of the man he hated most in the world . . . 
 
A brilliant collection of three short stories from a master story-teller, who will keep you turning the pages until the very end.

Mr Corbett's Ghost

Anthony grew up in the loveliest place in the world - his father called it the Eye of the Earth. But to Anthony, the 'eye of the earth' was the old mill-pond near his home - a place of mystery and enchantment. 
 
Anthony's childhood was full of happy moments, and sometimes strange ones, for he had been touched with magic as soon as he was born. When, as a man, he returned to his childhood home, there waiting for him were memories of his childhood - Mother Skip the Witch, the man who could hear the trees grow - and there, too, was the mill-pond in which all the fragments of his life were held as if in a kaleidoscope... 
 
A beautiful and timeless collection of stories - perfect for bedtime reading.

Kaleidoscope

A classic tale of adventure and bravery charting the transformation of Robert of Locksley into Robin Hood, the outlaw of myth and legend. 
 
Join Robin and his band of Merry Men as they battle injustice and seek to defeat the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham and Guy of Gisborne.

The Chronicles of Robin Hood

More than anything, Ella wants to go to the ball at the Royal Palace. 
 
But Ella is the slave of the household, waiting on every wish and whim of her horrible stepsisters. They call her Cinderella for the ashes that cling to her face, hands and hair. How can Ella go to the Royal Palace? 
 
Then, on the evening of the ball, something wonderful happens. Ella’s Fairy Godmother comes to her rescue. 
 
Now her dreams may come true at last . . .

The Glass Slipper

Set in the streets of London, the story follows the hopes and aspirations of young Tim and his pet monkey, Pistol, as they use their wits to get money out of rich folk. Their apparent success is brought to a halt one disasterous foggy evening , and Tim and Pistol are led off to Newgate Gaol . . .

The Boy and the Monkey

K M Peyton

Being in love with Patrick Pennington isn't easy. With his all-consuming passion for music, and his desperate need for freedom, Ruth isn't sure there's room for her in his life. Will he ever love and need her in return?

The Beethoven Medal

Book 2

This is the story of the twenty-six children of Zeal Monachorum who did not know their ABC, until one day Perkin the Pedlar came by. He told them a story and a verse for each letter of the alphabet, starting with Appledore and ending with their own Zeal Monarchorum. 
 
Eleanor Farjeon's unique gifts appear at their best in this enchanting alphabet book, where the little stories are in the enduring tradition of English folktale, and the verses pure, delightful poetry.

Perkin the Pedlar

For every day of the year Eleanor Farjeon provides a scrap of fun or fancy, poetry or nonsense, fact or fable. Here young readers can set out with Will Kemp on his nine-day dance from London to Norwich and read the lovely tale of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, as well as celebrate Lincoln's birthday with a poem, and Christmas with a carol. 
 
A wonderful, timeless and utterly unique read for the whole family.

The New Book of Days

'When you take out the heart of gold, you must put something back in its place. Otherwise our princess would die.' 
 
Giorgio, a poor student, sets out on a journey to win the heart of Princess Charlotte of Oberweselberg. On the way an old woman promises he shall have the princess - but for a price. Giorgio must bring her the princess's golden heart. Can he do the wicked deed which will possess for him the fortune he desires?

Guilt and Gingerbread

'Him what's born on the chime . . . he's the one what'll have communications with the devil.' 
 
At the age of fourteen, 'chime-child' Peter Gannet is apprenticed to a locksmith in Covent Garden. But his desperate longing to escape from the insufferable adults around him and go to sea leads him into some dubious undertakings. Before long, the old ship's carpenter's dire prophecy comes true, for in the locksmith's workroom he meets a phantom with an empty sleeve. 
 
Tense and atmospheric, this is a gripping thriller about ghosts, a wall of hands, envy, dishonesty and finally murder!

The Empty Sleeve

Tom Tiddler is going on a journey across London, with only a wise old owl and a really selfish and greedy goat for company. He is collecting and returning people's property so that they will, in turn, help him to rescue all the little girls in England from the gruesome giant Gogmagog, before he eats them! 
 
An enchanting, magical tale that will charm young and old alike.

The Tale of Tom Tiddler

On the night that Piggot’s Comet will appear over Brighton, the town plan to honour it with music and dancing. Harris, however, has other ideas. Being scientifically minded, he thinks only of observing the comet in detail. He persuades his good friend Bostock to part with his father’s telescope in exchange for the affections of Harris’s sister, Mary. Unfortunately, as Mary does not care for Bostock, Harris is forced to apply his powerful mind to the problems of courtship and love.

Bostock and Harris

Charles Dickens

The Mystery of Edwin Drood was Charles Dickens final novel, and remained unfinished at the time of his death. In this edition, beloved children's author Leon Garfield gives the story a satisfying ending.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Wandering minstrel, Martin Pippin, encounters a lovelorn ploughman who begs him to release his beloved by entertaining the six young women sworn to guard her. This Martin Pippin does - telling beautiful tales of heartbreak, betrayal and everlasting love. But will the imprisoned Gillian ever be freed? 
 
This delightful collection will be loved by adults and children alike - a perfect introduction to sophisticated fairy tales. 
 
'She is one of the few who can conceive and tell a fairytale . . . Before I had read five pages of Martin Pippin, I had forgotten who I was and where I lived. I was transported into a world of sunlight, of gay inconsequence, of emotional surprise, a world of poetry, delight and humour. And I lived and took my joy in that rare world, until all too soon my reading was done.' 
 
From J. D. Beresford's Foreword to the first American edition of 1922.

Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard

Secrets whispered up a chimney, a golden locket with a broken chain, murder in the streets of London – and suddenly young Barnacle is plunged into a terrifying mystery. The December Rose is a thrilling tale of deceit, espionage and murder set in the teeming, colourful Victorian London.

The December Rose

J. P. Martin

Quentin Blake

Uncle is a millionaire elephant who has a B.A. and wears a purple dressing gown. He lives in a labyrinth of skyscrapers connected by water chutes, lifts and railways, and littered with oil lakes, walls of sweets and towers of treacle. He and his followers amuse themselves by exploring his home and falling into adventures with its inhabitants, a collection of lunatics, dwarfs and ghosts. Uncle also frequently fights with the inhabitants of neighbouring Badfort, among them the repulsive Jellytussles (a quivering blob) and the cowardly Hitmouse.

Uncle

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