An alternate cover for this isbn can be found here.After a shy and rather withdrawn eight-year-old begins receiving frightening supernatural images and messages, he learns about a family legacy which could be considered a curse or a rare gift.

    Her selection of her favorite stories describes powerful—and sometimes exceedingly silly—monarchs, and commoners who are every bit their match; musicians and dancers who live for art rather than earthly reward; and a goldfish who wishes to “marry the Moon, surpass the Sun, and possess the World.”

    Unrest is spreading among the peasants of Southern England, who are tired of the injustice they suffer at the hands of landlords. Rebellion is in the air, and life is about to change for man and dog.

    Then, from every side, from under leaves and from behind rocks, creatures began to appear.To begin with, all the creatures were rather alike - they had no idea what they were going to become. Some wanted to become lions, so they practised being lions. But other creatures - including the whale, the elephant, the cat and the donkey - came about in different ways.There are eleven animal stories in this collection for younger children to enjoy. They are particularly suitable for reading aloud and Ted Hughes himself read them to his own children when they were young.Ted Hughes' classic text is accompanied by the beautiful illustrations of Jackie Morris to bring a lyrical and witty version of the creation myths.

    The father is a dustman and the mother a washerwoman, but because they are poor the children find even greater opportunities for adventure in their ordinary lives.

    . .

    But why is she so strange? For a start, she just appeared, grinning, on the doorstep, as if from nowhere. Why have Mum and Dad never mentioned her before—after all, she is supposed to be Granny's sister, isn't she?Soon Tim and Beth start noticing more and more odd things about the great-aunt they've nicknamed 'Grinny.' And before long, they make a horrifying discovery. She isn't even human, she's as dangerous as a time-bomb and she has a fearful task to perform which involves them…

    He's madly sane and cleverly dotty. Professor Branestawm is the most absent-minded inventor you'll ever meet and no matter how hard he tries his brilliant ideas never seem to keep him out of crazy scrapes.

    Even his little sister can beat him at swimming. But Jack's uncle Parker has come up with a plan to make him and Zero shine: they'll pretend that Jack can tell the future! If only they could foresee what chaos the plan will cause.Helen Cresswell is the much-loved writer of over 40 children's books. She's the author of classics such as Lizzie Dripping as well as having adapted The Demon Headmaster for television. She has been runner-up for the Carnegie Medal four times.

    When her master, Captain Tinker, sends her to a boarding school in the country to learn the special knowledge of cats—manners and cooperation—she is a little afraid, among strangers, and so far from home. As soon as she's settled in, taking off the red scarf that makes her feel brave, another student named Pickles, the Fire Cat, is upto his usual mischief, chasing smaller cats with his fire truck hook and ladder. When he chases Jenny, she runs away from school terrified.Jenny soon realizes that the Captain would be disappointed if he found out she had left school. It's then that Jenny decides to stand up to Pickles. She returns to school and when Pickles next tries his tricks, he's surprised at the "new" Jenny. Pickles learns his manners and Jenny learns that not only can school be fun, but the friendships she makes there will last forever.

    Unimaginably rich, invariably swathed in a magnificent purple dressing-gown, Uncle oversees a vast ramshackle castle full of friendly kooks while struggling to fend off the sneak attacks of the incorrigible (and ridiculous) Badfort Crowd. Each Uncle story introduces a new character from Uncle’s madcap world: Signor Guzman, careless keeper of the oil lakes; Noddy Ninety, an elderly train conductor and the oldest student of Dr. Lyre’s Select School for Young Gentlemen; the proprietors of Cheapman’s Store (where motorbikes are a halfpenny each) and Dearman’s Store (where the price of an old milk jug goes up daily); along with many others. But for every delightful friend of Uncle, there is a foe who is no less deliriously wicked. Luckily the misbegotten schemes of the Badfort Crowd are no match for Uncle’s superior wits. Quentin Blake’s quirky illustrations are the perfect complement to J.P. Martin’s stories, each one of a perfect length for bedtime reading. Lovers of Roald Dahl and William Steig will rejoice in Uncle’s wonderfully bizarre and happy world, where the good guys always come out on top, and once a year, everybody, good and bad, sits down together for an enormous Christmas feast.

    He’s picked out the biggest and best dogs from the books in the library—and he just knows he’s going to get one for his birthday. Ben is excited when the big day arrives, but he receives a picture of a dog instead of a real one! But the imagination can be a powerful thing, and when Ben puts his to work, his adventures really begin!

    No teachers, no school, no homework, no parents breathing down their necks! The boys are elated until they accidentally start a fire that quickly gets out of control in the dry underbrush. No one is prepared; no one can quite believe what is happening. As the adults in a nearby town bumble their way into helping to fight the fire, a group of children is inadvertently trapped by flames and separated from outside help. Pippa and Peter and Gramps and others must make their own way through the conflagration. Separately and together, they all find out what inner resources they have. There are no heroes or villains, just people caught and humbled by an awesome and catastrophic force.

    Orphaned by an automobile accident in Australia, fifteen-year-old Megan returns to her family's native Wales where, with the help of a new friend, she discovers her true destiny and the meaning of her terrifying dreams.

    He really was shrinking.Hilarious complications result as he becomes more minuscule by the moment. Treehorn is a bit downhearted when his teacher says, "we don't shrink in this class," and sends him to the principal. Poor Treehorn spends an unhappy day and night until he discovers a magical game that restores him to his natural size. This is a great relief to Treehorn before he notices that he is turning faintly green. . . .An ALA Notable Book