A Puffin Book

Rediscover the A Puffin Book series and bring the best-loved classics to a new generation - including this thrilling edition of The Shadow Guests.

Following the double disappearance of his mother and older brother, Cosmo Curtoy is sent to live with his strange cousin in England.

When he arrives, Cosmo decides to explore the ancient Mill House on his cousins' estate - where he meets the Mill's spirited guests. . .

But can he trust them?

Join Cosmo on this supernatural time-travelling adventure and break the Curtoy's curse!

Once upon a time, many years ago - when our grandfathers were little children - there was a doctor, and his name was Dolittle - John Dolittle M.D.

Doctor Dolittle likes animals. In fact, he likes them so much he fills his house with every kind of creature imaginable and even learns to talk their language. And when the Doctor hears of a terrible sickness among the monkeys in Africa, soon he and his animal friends are setting off on the most unforgettable adventure . . .

The Borrowers live in the secret places of quiet old houses - behind the mantelpiece, inside the harpsichord, under the kitchen clock. Everything they have is borrowed from the 'human beans', who don't even know they exist. But then young Arrietty makes friends with a boy - a 'human bean' - and from that moment danger is never far away for, above all else, they must avoid the great disaster of 'being seen'.
In The Borrowers Afield the Pod family escape to the fields where their cousins live, but it's a long and dangerous journey. In The Borrowers Afloat Arrietty looks forward to a life away from the dark country cottage, to one full of sunshine. In The Borrowers Aloft: the family are now living in the model village of Little Fordham. All they have to do is avoid being seen by the visitors . . . In The Borrowers Avenged Pod, Homily and Arrietty have managed to escape with the help of Spiller. They move into the old rectory where they live happily until the Potters come looking for them.
Poor Stainless: Young Stainless, a Borrower boy, goes missing on a mission to borrow some parsley and an enormous search ensues.

Emily and Jess Volnik have returned for another Scottish adventure, joining their old friend Tommy and Mr Maconochie, the new owner of Castle Keep, on a trip to Loch Ness, where a new expedition is determined to find the fabled monster.

The fun-loving Boggart - a mischievous shape-shifting spirit who has lived in the castle for centuries -comes along for the ride, but this time the Boggart has a serious mission. His cousin Nessie is trapped in the monster shape he took on long ago, and it's up to the Boggart to keep Nessie from being discovered by the expedition's high-tech equipment. Is modern science any match for the Boggart's ancient magic?

Accidentally transported from his remote Scottish castle to the bright, fast-moving, hi-tech city of Toronto, the highly mischievous Boggart simply can't resist the opportunity for pranks, and wreaks havoc for the Volnik family, inheritors of his distant castle home. But the Boggart doesn't mean any real harm, and when he begins to pine for the rolling Scottish mists and the sound of bagpipes, he turns to his two young friends, Emily and Jessup Volnik, for help.

A delightfully funny and moving story for children.

Discovered as a foundling in a lambing pen, Spider Sparrow grows up surrounded by animals. From sheep and horses to wild otters and foxes, Spider loves them all, even the crows he must scare away from the newly sown wheat. Crowstarving is the ideal job for Spider - he is on his own, yet never alone for all around him are animals of one sort or another. Amazingly, every animal who meets Spider implicitly trusts the young boy. This magical rapport is Spider's unique gift, but nothing else in his tough life is so easy.

Ruskin Splinter is small and thin, with knock-knees, thick glasses and a squeaky voice, and the idea of him taming a dragon makes the whole class laugh. Big, strong Elvis is stupid but he looks like a hero. So who is more likely to get the big part in the school play? But when the mysterious beast, Krindlekrax, threatens Lizard Street and everyone who lives there, it is Ruskin who saves the day and proves he is the stuff that heros are made of after all.

Class 3 of Hampstead Primary School are off on a school trip to Paris! Morgan is the first to spot the bearded man in the black Citroen car, cruising behind their school bus, and feels sure he is following them. The plot thickens when a second mysterious bearded man appears on the ferry boat, Soon Class 3 find themselves entangled with a group of art thieves intent upon stealing the Mona Lisa...!

It all begins when Nick breaks the classroom window with his football, and the Headmaster says Nick has to pay for the damage. Nick has no more hope of raising the money than of going to the Moon, so that's when Ted's and Toppy's gangs decide to sign a truce and plan Operation Glazier to get the money for Nick. The plan goes smoothly and soon the money has been collected, but when it goes missing the boys turn detective to try and find the culprit.

Christmas with the Chrystals is a gorgeous short story about how an influx of cheery young cousins at Christmas warms the heart of a haughty grandmother and lights up her chilly home. This very special Yuletide story is accompanied by several Streatfeild Christmas extracts from her many children's novels, including an (almost) never-before-seen sequel chapter to her bestseller Ballet Shoes. There are also recollections of the author's own childhood Christmases (taken from the Noel Streatfeild Christmas Holiday Book).

The very funny stories of Clever Polly and the stupid wolf, gathered together in one volume, including Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf, Polly and the Wolf Again, Tales of Polly and the Hungry Wolf and More Stories of Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf.
Drawing occasionally on well-known fairy tales, and skilfully blending fantasy and reality, these stories are bursting with humour, originality and charm. And Polly, not scared at all, outwits the wolf on each and every occasion!

Pod, Homily and Arrietty are a family of tiny people who live beneath the floor, behind the grandfather clock in the old rectory. They own nothing - everything they have is borrowed from the 'human beans' who don't even know they exist. Arrietty's father, Pod, is an expert borrower. He can scale curtains using a hatpin and bring back a doll's teacup without breaking it. Girl's aren't supposed to go borrowing, but as Arrietty is an only child, Pod breaks the rules. But when she is in the house borrowing, something happens which changes their lives. Arrietty makes friends with 'the boy upstairs'.

The exciting prequel to The Animals of Farthing Wood.

There had always been otters in the stream running through Farthing Wood - and that had never been a problem for the other animals before but when there is a shortage of fish in the stream, the otters are forced to hunt on land.The otters are taking valuable prey and the foxes and other Farthing Wood animals have to compete for food. Lean Vixen is determined to protect her family from starvation, and that means deciding on a plan to drive the otters out once and for all.

Sid, Peggy and Amy adore the two gerbils, Bubble and Squeak, but their mother detests them. A major family battle results, and it's clear life is never going to be quite the same again. But after a near fatal encounter between Bubble and Ginger the cat, Mrs Sparrow begins to see that life with 2 gerbils might not be so bad after all.

In this thrilling re-telling of the Anglo-Saxon legend, Rosemary Sutcliff recounts Beowulf's most terrifying quests: against Grendel the man-wolf, against the hideous sea-hag and, most courageous of all - his fight to the death with the monstrous fire-drake.