But his Dad is convinced that Marcus has magic in his feet. Read the hilarious diary of a reluctant soccer star and how Marcus scores a goal in a way no one has seen before!

    Dumped in Paris by the Countess Carbunkle, who would rather run away to South America than continue in Ivy's companionship, our young heroine (of sorts) finds herself with no money and no home to go to ... until she is summoned to the bedside of the dying Duchess of Trinity. For the princely sum of £500 (enough to buy a carriage, and possibly a monkey), Ivy agrees to courier the Duchess's most precious possession – the Clock Diamond – to England, and to put it around the neck of the revolting Matilda Butterfield on her twelfth birthday. It's not long before Ivy finds herself at the heart of a conspiracy involving mischief, mayhem and murder. Illustrated in humorous gothic detail by Barbara Cantini, Anyone But Ivy Pocket is just the beginning of one girl's deadly comic journey to discover who she really is ..'

    It seems the sisters need Maud to help stage elaborate séances for bereaved, wealthy patrons. As Maud is drawn deeper into the deception, playing her role as a "secret child," she is torn between her need to please and her growing conscience – until a shocking betrayal makes clear just how heartless her so-called guardians are. Filled with tantalizing details of turn-of-the-century spiritualism and page-turning suspense, this lively historical novel features a winning heroine whom readers will not soon forget.

    But after their father unwittingly sends them to stay with an aunt who’s away on holiday, the Hardscrabble children take off on an adventure that begins in the seedy streets of London and ends in a peculiar sea village where legend has it a monstrous creature lives who is half boy and half animal. . . . In this wickedly dark, unusual, and compelling novel, Ellen Potter masterfully tells the tale of one deliciously strange family and a secret that changes everything.

    But in the City of Soulless there is danger everywhere. Can Oriole and Boy save Soulless and the Wishbird, or will the city's darkness prove too great even for magic?

    Mr Twiddle is a kind old soul with the best intentions, but he is extremely forgetful, very lazy and more than a little bit silly.

    A princess doomed by a witch to lose her “gravity” results in a silly heroine that has neither physical nor spiritual weight. George MacDonald’s masterful teaching on the subject of sacrificial love is delivered eloquently in the events and characters of this engaging story.

    When the town-folk send for St. George to slay the dragon, the boy needs to come up with a clever plan to save his friend and convince the townsfolk to accept him. This story first appeared as a chapter in Grahame's Dream Days and was first published as a separate book by Holiday House in 1938 with illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard.

    Distraught over her parents' separation, Abigail follows a strange child called Beatie Bow and time slips back a hundred years where she becomes involved with an Australian shopkeeper's family.

    Clara is sent to stay with her formidable aunt and uncle in the grounds of a country estate. Clara soon discovers that her new surroundings hold secrets: a locked room and a hidden key and a mysterious boy who only appears in the gardens at night. But can Clara face up to her secrets and a war she’s desperate to forget?

    Fairy tales have never been more revolting!

    But the house and its family are not quite what they seem. Soon the children are confronted by a mysterious spectre and an ancient curse that threatens their very lives. With Auxier’s exquisite command of language, The Night Gardener is a mesmerizing read and a classic in the making.

    This is 'Flanimals of the Deep'. Here, the unique, complex and completely mental life form discovered in books one and two just gets even weirder. And more fantastic.

    The adventures of those splendid fellows Bunyip Bluegum, Bill Barnacle and Sam Sawnoff, the penguin bold, and of course their amazing, everlasting and very cantankerous Puddin'.

    He was telling them more than stories about princes, giants, nightingales, and roses, he was teaching them about life and the way to live it. You will find in them so much sweetness and tenderness you will never forget them.They can be read aloud to children of six, and everybody will want a copy for their own private delight when they are older. There is no age for this book - it is a brilliant and haunting treasure house for everybody.The drawings by the famous Danish artist, Lars Bo, have been specially made for this Puffin edition.