"Corby Flood and her family are about to set sail on the rather ramshackle cruise ship, the S.S. Euphonia. Her boisterous brothers might not have noticed that anything is wrong, but Corby is highly observant and has a lot of time for note-taking and eavesdropping. Onboard, amongst all the odd passengers and eccentric crew, there is a strange group of men in bowler-hats who call themselves The Brotherhood of Clowns. There's also a melancholy wailing sound coming from the hold. It's strictly out of bounds but Corby can't help investigating. What could be inside the crate she discovers down in the hold? As the ship arrives at its destination, Corby must enlist the help of some very well moustachioed locals to uncover the contents of the crate and the dark secrets of the menacing Clowns..."
"FERGUS CRANE! YOU ARE IN GREAT DANGER! I AM SENDING HELP. Signed T. C., your long-lost Uncle Theo
Fergus Crane has an almost ordinary life - having lessons taught by rather odd teachers on the school ship Betty Jeanne, helping his mother in the bakery. But then a mysterious flying box appears at the window of his waterfront home - and Fergus is plunged headlong into an exciting adventure! The box is followed by a winged mechanical horse that whisks him off to meet his long-lost uncle and his penguin helpers, Finn, Bill and Jackson. Fergus finds out that his teachers are not quite what they seem - they're actually pirates! Can Fergus and his winged horse save his schoolmates from the far-off Fire Island? And who else will he find there...?"
"The exceptional talents behind some of the nation’s best-loved books – from The Gruffalo to The BFG, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt to the Charlie and Lola series – the Children’s Laureates are the perfect ambassadors for children’s literature.
It’s been twenty wonderful years of the Laureateship and now all ten former honourees have banded together to celebrate the only way they know how: through stories, poems and pictures . Among others, Quentin Blake tells the stories behind his pictures of weird and wonderful beasts, Michael Morpurgo draws on childhood memories for a moving wartime tale and Michael Rosen plays with language and shapes in his witty, read-aloud poems. Each contribution is designed to inspire children to create their own work and is accompanied by a note from the authors – rare insights from the finest talent in the world of children’s books.
Above all else, Flights of Fancy celebrates the Laureateship’s most important achievement: encouraging children to let their imagination soar.
2017. 2018 Chris Riddell
2017, 2018 Quentin Blake
2018 Anne Fine
2018 Michael Morpurgo
2018 Jacqueline Wilson
2018 Michael Rosen
2010 Anthony Browne
2013, 2018 Julia Donaldson
2018 Malorie Blackman
1999, 2018 Lauren Child"
"Preparations for the Ghastly-Gorm Garden Party and bake-off are under way. Celebrity cooks are arriving at the hall for the big event and Maltravers, the indoor gamekeeper, is acting suspiciously. Elsewhere at Ghastly-Gorm Ada's wardrobe-dwelling lady's maid Marylebone has received a marriage proposal. Ada vows to aid the course of true love and find out what Maltravers is up to, but amidst all this activity, everyone appears to have forgotten her birthday!"
"Ada Goth is the only child of Lord Goth. The two live together in the enormous Ghastly-Gorm Hall. It's hard for her to make friends and, if she's honest, she's rather lonely. Then one day William and Emily Cabbage come to stay at the house, and together with a ghostly mouse called Ishmael they begin to unravel a dastardly plot. Ada and her friends must work together to foil the evil gamekeeper, Maltravers, before it's too late!"
"Lord Goth is throwing a music festival at Ghastly-Gorm Hall, with performances from the finest composers in the land. Ada can't wait, but it's quite distracting when her grandmother is trying to find her father a fashionable new wife, there's a faun living in her wardrobe and Maltravers is up to his old tricks. Ada must make sure everything goes to plan… and luckily help is at hand from a very interesting house guest."
"People are flocking to Ghastly-Gorm Hall to compete in Lord Goth's Literary Dog Show. The judges are in place and the contestants are all ready to win. But there's something strange going on at Ghastly-Gorm - mysterious footprints, howls in the night and some suspiciously chewed shoes. Can Ada, the Attic Club and their new friends the Vicarage sisters work out what's going on before the next full moon?'"
"The Kingdom of Thrynne is a place where fairy tales don’t behave, and magic can be found in unexpected places. But magic brings danger to Zam, Phoebe and Bathsheba, because it is forbidden. Now, the future of magic itself is under threat from powerful enemies: those who fear it and, worse, those who want to use it for their own ends. What can three ordinary children do to protect it?
In Guardians of Magic the award-winning, 2015-2017 UK Children's Laureate Chris Riddell weaves together a quest in which three ordinary children, with extraordinary gifts, come together to defeat the enemies who threaten the mysterious cloud horses. This is the first title in The Cloud Horse Chronicles series."
"A brilliantly inventive, fabulously illustrated addition to the Far-Flung Adventure series from the award-winning, bestselling author and illustrator team, Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. Set in the same world as Fergus Crane and Corby Flood's stories, this is the tale of a small boy, Hugo Pepper, and his amazing exploits. Raised in the Frozen North by reindeer herders, his parents eaten by polar bears when he was just a baby, Hugo discovers that the sled they arrived in has a very special compass - one that can be set to 'Home'. And so Hugo arrives in Firefly Square - to discover a group of very special friends, and a dastardly enemy... With three-toed snowmen, a secret buried treasure and a host of fabulous stories, this is a fantastic new tale in this series."
"Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell's Muddle Earth is a hilarious, tongue-in-cheek fantasy adventure, full of unforgettable characters. From the authors of the Edge Chronicles.
As the third moon rises over Muddle Earth's Perfumed Bog, the twinkling lights are lit on a small houseboat, home to a wizard, Randalf, and his familiar, a very sarcastic budgie called Veronica. Randalf is in trouble - he's stony broke. He's just spent his last silver pipsqueak. There's only one way for a wizard to make cash on Muddle Earth - and that's by doing some magic.
There's just one problem: Randalf has lost his spell book. He's just got a fragment of paper with half a spell on it - telling him how to summon a Great Warrior Hero. The last one, Quentin the Cake-Baker, wasn't a great success. But this time, it's going to be different.
This time, Joe Jefferson, an ordinary schoolboy from ordinary earth, and his dog Henry, are about to find their lives changed forever. Welcome to a world of ogres and goblins, flying cupboards, batbirds and pink stinky hogs . . .
Continue the hilarious adventures with Muddle Earth Too, available in eBook."
"Once Upon a Wild Wood is a richly imagined story packed full of familiar fairy tale characters as you've never heard them before. A fabulously funny adventure, full of warmth and wit - this is Chris Riddell at his best!
Little Green Raincape is on her way to Rapunzel's party, deep in the wild woods. The way is long and dark, but Green is a smart girl. Smart enough to turn down apples offered by kindly old ladies and smart enough to turn down travel advice from helpful wolves . . .
Above all, Green is smart enough to solve a wealth of classic fairy tale problems - not least mend a lovelorn beast's broken heart.
Including Red Riding Hood, Thumbelina, Rapunzel, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, the Three Bears, the Seven Dwarfs - and many more - Once Upon a Wild Wood is a beautiful adventure for curious young readers."
"Ottoline is back! Ottoline and the Purple Fox is the fourth fantastical Ottoline adventure from 2015-2017 Children's Laureate and author of the Goth Girl books, Chris Riddell.
Ottoline and Mr Munroe love puzzles, clues and mysteries. One day, they meet an enigmatic purple fox, who offers to take them on a night-time urban safari. The fox shows them all the hidden animals of the city and Ottoline makes notes on them in her field notebook. Mr Munroe is making notes too - on the anonymous poems he finds stuck to lampposts on their journey . . .
Who is the secretive poet, and how can Mr Monroe and Ottoline help them mend their broken heart?
Ottoline and the Purple Fox is read by actress and comedian Ronni Ancona."
