Book picks similar to
The Spanish Cave by Geoffrey Household
fiction
childrens
not-reading
kids
The Queen's Cat (First Year at The Palace)
David Rossmaur - 2012
When Queen Beatrice visits the royal family of Norway, she receives a lovely surprise gift, a cute fluffy kitten. She names the kitten Albert and brings him home to live in the palace. As Albert grows up he gets into all kinds of trouble. Albert has many friends at the palace, including Isabelle the Chambermaid, Gerard the Butler, Angus the Chauffeur, Norman the Grenadier Guard, Princess Sophie, Prince Nicholas and his best friend Sergeant Major, the Magpie. Albert travels to lots of lovely places with the Queen, meets lots of nice people and some not so nice. If Albert does not like you, then watch out. His favourite trick is rubbing his paws on the carpet and giving you a nasty electric shock, which can be painful. Albert loves to roll in smelly horse poo and it’s usually left to Isabelle to bath him before the Queen finds out. Life is good at the palace and Albert makes the most of his position as The Queen’s Cat. In this story Albert wonders if the Queen has remembered his first anniversary at the royal palace and he also meets an unfriendly dog.
The Twins at St Clare's
Enid Blyton - 1941
St Clare's is beneath them, and they're determined to cause a stir. But life at St Clare's is not as easy as they thought. They have several surprises and arguments before they admit their troubles are of their own making and settle down to make friends. Expect mischief at St Clare's! Enid Blyton has been delighting children for more than 70 years. Her best-loved characters include Noddy, the wooden boy; Timmy, the dog from The Famous Five; and heroine Darrell Rivers from Malory Towers.
The Colonel's Daughter
Rose Tremain - 1984
It is not just another day: it is the culmination of hundreds of days, hundreds of disappointments and misunderstandings, and thousands of very small lies... From the Publisher 'Demonstrates a wry talent' Guardian 'A true writer of fiction...A writer whose every book has been a pleasure' Scotsman At the moment that Colonel Browne is standing in the shallow end of the swimming pool of the Hotel Alpenrose, preparing for his late afternoon dip, his daughter Charlotte, carrying a suitcase, is getting out of her car back in England, preparing to rob the ancestral home. It is not just another day: it is the cuilmination of hundreds of days, hundreds of disappointments and misunderstandings, and thousands of very small lies... 'Rose Tremain goes from strength to strength. The Colonel's Daughter is a winner...a riveting and satisfying read' New Statesman 'Dialogue and off-beat humour are spot on' Daily Telegraph.
Top 50 Villains (Horrible Histories)
Terry Deary - 2016
From gangs of gangsters to maniacs who massacre, meet the biggest baddies in history and discover how they tortured and terrified their way to the top. Find out whose savage speciality was nostril-splitting, which evil emperor served up guts in gold dishes, whose axe-murdering antics were turned into a ballet and much more. It's all you need to know about villains - all the gore and more!
The More the Merrier
Anne Fine - 2003
Jammed into one house for three days, with Uncle Tristram hurling potatoes at the cat and Mum on the verge of a breakdown, it soon becomes obvious that more definitely does not mean merrier.
The Christmas Adventures of Archie
McDonald's UK - 2019
When Archie accidentally pops his football, it starts him thinking about Christmas - and especially Christmas PRESENTS! On his journey to deliver his wish to Santa, Archie meets Robyn, Willow and Nigel and discovers what Christmas is really all about.
The Midnight Folk
John Masefield - 1927
We’re the guards, we are. We hear that the house has gone all to sixes and sevens since we left it, but that’s going to be remedied now’Young Kay Harker lives in an old house in the country, filled with portraits of his ancestors. His only companions are his unpleasant guardian Sir Theopompus and his governess Sylvia Daisy Pouncer (who, Kay suspects, has stolen all his toys). Life is lonely and dull, until one night Kay’s great-grandpapa Harker, a sea captain, steps out of his portrait to tell him about a stolen treasure that belongs to Kay’s family. The evil Abner Brown is searching for it too, but Kay is helped by the midnight folk: creatures like Nibbins the cat and Rollicum Bitem Lightfoot the fox, and even his lost toys, who will join him on his dangerous quest.The Midnight Folk is a feast of imaginative story-telling, a glorious cornucopia of pirates and witches, lost treasure and talking animals. Although it was published in 1927, it evokes an older world: houses are lit by oil lamps, and travel is by horse, carriage – or broomstick. Masefield perfectly captures a child’s perspective, from the terrors of tigers under the bed to the horrors of declining a Latin adjective. Yet there is also plenty of humour that adults will appreciate, from Miss Piney Trigger, who swigs champagne in bed and prides herself on having backed a host of Derby winners, to Kay’s lessons: ‘Divinity was easy, as it was about Noah’s Ark. French was fairly easy, as it was about the cats of the daughter of the gardener.’ This mingling of past and present, reality and fantasy, has made this one of the most rewarding and influential children’s books ever written.
The Invasion
K.A. Applegate - 1996
Ask Jake. He may tell you about the night he and his friends saw the strange light in the sky. He may even tell you about what happened when they realized the "light" was only a plane -- from another planet. Here's where Jake's story gets a little weird. It's where they're told that the human race is under attack -- and given the chance to fight back.Now Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias, and Marco have the power to morph into any animal they choose. And they must use that power to outsmart an evil that is greater than anything the world has ever seen...
Daddy-Long-Legs / Dear Enemy
Jean Webster - 2004
Its sequel, Dear Enemy (1915), also told in letters, follows the progress of Judy's former orphanage now run by her friend Sallie McBride, who struggles to give her young charges hope and a new life. Full of irrepressible female characters that both recall Alcott's Jo March and anticipate the popular heroines of contemporary literature, Webster's novels are witty, heartfelt, and delightfully modern.
The 101 Dalmatians
Dodie Smith - 1956
With their human owners, the Dearlys, to look after them, they lived in a comfortable home in London with their 15 adorable Dalmatian puppies, loved and admired by all. Especially the Dearlys' neighbor Cruella de Vil, a fur-fancying fashion plate with designs on the Dalmatians' spotted coats! So, when the puppies are stolen from the Dearly home, and even Scotland Yard is unable to find them, Pongo and Missis know they must take matters into their own paws! The delightful children's classic adapted twice for popular Disney productions. Ages 8-11