It is Charlotte's first night at boarding school. Before she goes to sleep, she sees from the window a corner of the new building. But when she wakes up, instead of the building there is a huge, dark
'Annie' began in 1924 as the heroine of a comic strip cartoon called Little Orphan Annie. Her adventures ran in newspapers in America for over 40 years before it was turned into a Broadway musical. It
Carbonel is a magical fantasy story by Barbara Sleigh. This is the story of a cat, a broomstick and an ordinary schoolgirl called Rosemary. She bought them both in the market, quite cheaply. Of course
Penelope lives in the 20th Century, and it is only when she visits Thackers, a remote, ancient farmhouse, that she finds herself travelling back in time to join the lives of the Babington family, and
Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil are sisters - with a difference. All three were adopted as babies by Great Uncle Matthew, an eccentric and rich explorer who then disappeared, leaving them in the care
THE BOGWOPPIT is a light-hearted, lively story, brilliantly told by Ursula Moray Williams, author of GOBBOLINO (also available in A Puffin Book series). When Aunt Lily marries the lodger and goes to A
Tennis Shoes is one of the wonderful 'Shoes' collection of adventures for children by Noel Streatfeild. There is no doubt about it - the Heath children have tennis in their blood. Their grandfather an
Gus the clown is Peter and Santa's only living relative, and escape to the circus seems a better idea to them than an orphanage. But Gus will keep the children only if they make themselves useful - an
Every family has its secrets, but it was a huge surprise to the three young Forbeses, fresh from a country vicarage, to discover that their grandmother was a famous actress. Sent to live with her in b
Mary and her young brother Peter are the only survivors of an aircrash in the middle of the Australian outback. Facing death from exhaustion and starvation, they meet an aboriginal boy who helps them
Chinese Cinderella is an autobiography for children based on the bestselling Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah. Jung-ling's family considers her bad luck because her mother died giving birth to her. T
A story of survival set in a small fishing villlage near Bombay. Lila and Hari, aged 13 and 12, struggle to keep the family, including two young sisters, going when their mother is ill and their fathe
Lydia, Christopher and Natalie are used to domestic turmoil. Their parents' divorce has not made family life any easier in either home. The children bounce to and from their volatile mother, Miranda,
There was once a tiny doll who belonged to a girl who did not care for dolls. One day when the little girl was shopping in the supermarket with her mother, she threw the tiny doll into a deep freeze.
Fleeing from the evil Sir Philip Morton, Peter Brownrigg finds himself on the wrong side of the law. On the run to London he meets Kit and the two decide to stick together. But a chance discovery enda
Jess Aarons wants to be the fastest boy in the class, but when a girl named Leslie Burke moves into the neighbouring farm his life changes forever. Even though she runs faster than him, Jess begins to
Set in the 19th-century American South, this is the story a poor African-American sharecropping family, their faithful dog, Sounder, and the eldest boy's efforts to learn how to read and help his moth
Rooted in folklore, medieval ideals of chivalry, and the last gallant struggles of the British against the Saxon invaders, this book tells the story of the birth of Arthur, the gift of Excalibur, the
Once there was a velveteen rabbit who longed to be Real. He was owned by a boy who loved him more and more every day, even when the rabbit's velveteen coat grew old and shabby and worn. Then one day s
The ingenious Professor Branestawm is always inventing weird and wonderful things, such as a burglar-catching machine, or a pancake-slipping device, and a spring-cleaning machine. But housekeeper Mrs
