Audiobooks by Valerie Houston

LoveReading4Kids Top 10

1. Alfie Gets in First and Other Stories

   Meet Alfie and Annie Rose, Mum and Dad, Chessie the cat, the MacNallys down the road, and many many more, in this wonderful collection of 10 best-loved Alfie stories by Shirley Hughes. Read by Roger Allam and Roy Mcmillan. Includes: Alfie Gets in First, Alfie's Feet, An Evening at Alfie's, Alfie Gives a Hand, Alfie and the Big Boys, Alfie Wins a Prize, All About Alfie, Alfie's Christmas, Alfie Outdoors and Alfie and the Birthday Surprise.

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2. The Tindims of Rubbish Island

   What is rubbish today is treasure tomorrow. Join Captain Spoons, Mug, Jug, Brew, Skittle and friends on Rubbish Island: wander through its warren of underwater rooms, including a toothbrush library and a hospital for sick fish, climb its terraces overlooking the sea and scale Rubbish Mountain. Prize-winning author Sally Gardner takes the Tindims on their first ocean adventure to show keen young ecologists how to help protect our planet for the future. A new series that empowers young readers to get creative with their rubbish and save the planet.

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3. The Creakers

   Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Creakers: The Musical Edition, by Tom Fletcher. This new edition is read by Tom Fletcher and Samantha Bond with original songs by Tom Fletcher. The music is performed by Tom Fletcher and Carrie Hope Fletcher and Chapter 13. What would you do if you woke up to find all the grown-ups had disappeared? If you're like Lucy Dungston, you'll do anything to get to the bottom of it. With no grown-ups, chaos descends on Lucy's town. Kids are running wild, building roads of trampolines and eating cereal for every meal - but Lucy wants her mum back, and nothing is going to stop her. Not even the monsters who live in the upside-down world beneath her bed... Tom Fletcher's bestselling story is packed with fun songs that brings a new level of creepy, spooky and disgusting fun to the story, perfect for kids to listen to independently or together with a grown-up! Praise for The Creakers: 'A stonkingly good novels for the over-sevens . . . gleeful descriptions of malodorous underworld creatures, it's both a compelling adventure and a nuanced celebration of friendship and family love' The Guardian

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4. Cookie! (Book 2): Cookie and the Most Annoying Girl in the World

   In her second brilliantly funny story, science-mad Cookie is ready to save the planet! When Cookie finds herself with two tickets to see popstar Aliana Tiny, Suzie Ashby suddenly wants to be her best friend. One small problem - Suzie is the most annoying girl in the world. UGH! So how is that Cookie manages to fall out with her real friends Jake and Keziah and become best buddies with Suzie instead? Can she win them back, ditch Suzie and save the planet in the process?

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5. The Shark Caller

   Blue Wing lives with her guardian Siringen, a shark caller, on the outskirts of her village. She's desperate to become a shark caller herself to avenge the death of her parents, who were killed by a notorious shark, Xok. But it's against tradition for a girl to become one, and Siringen believes Blue Wing still harbours too much anger in her heart. When American professor Atlas Hamelin and his daughter Maple arrive on the island, Blue Wing is charged with looking after the infuriating Maple. But, slowly, Blue Wing finds that Maple might be the one person who can understand her. And when they discover that Professor Hamelin is secretly searching for an ancient treasure, they find themselves on a journey to depths of the ocean, where Xok lies waiting...

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6. A Spoonful of Murder: A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery

   Puffin Presents the audiobook edition of A Spoonful of Murder by Robin Stevens, read by Katie Leung. When Hazel Wong's beloved grandfather passes away, Daisy Wells is all too happy to accompany her friend (and Detective Society Vice President) to Hazel's family estate in beautiful, bustling Hong Kong. But when they arrive they discover something they didn't expect: there's a new member of the Wong family. Daisy and Hazel think baby Teddy is enough to deal with, but as always the girls are never far from a mystery. Tragedy strikes very close to home, and this time Hazel isn't just the detective. She's been framed for murder! The girls must work together like never before, confronting dangerous gangs, mysterious suspects and sinister private detectives to solve the murder and clear Hazel's name - before it's too late . . .

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7. Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe

   Daniel Defoe has woven a fantastic tale of the adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a young lad form the City of York in England who yearns for the life of the sea. His father wants Robinson to attend law school and get a good education, but Robinson decides otherwise. Follow Robinson as he survives pirates, shipwrecks and cannibals. this story is a classic you will enjoy and treasure.

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8. Kay’s Anatomy: A Complete (and Completely Disgusting) Guide to the Human Body

   Brought to you by Puffin. The first children's audiobook from Adam Kay. Explore each organ of the body in this immersive, 3D audiobook edition of Kay's Anatomy, read by Adam Kay with a full cast of voices, including Mark Gatiss, Sandi Toksvig, Andy Nyman and Lolly Adefope. Do you ever think about your body and how it all works? Like really properly think about it? The human body is extraordinary and fascinating and, well... pretty weird. Yours is weird, mine is weird, your maths teacher's is even weirder. This book is going to tell you what's actually going on in there, and answer the really important questions, like: Are bogeys safe to eat? Look, if your nose is going to all that effort of creating a snack, the least we can do is check out its nutritional value. (Yes, they're safe. Chew away!) And . . . How much of your life will you spend on the toilet? About a year - so bring a good book. (I recommend this one.) So sit back, relax, put on some rubber gloves, and let a doctor take you on a poo- and puke-filled tour of your insides. Welcome to Kay's Anatomy*. *a fancy word for your body. See, you're learning already. The full cast includes: Andy Nyman, Joe Wilkinson, Rose Matafeo, Mark Gatiss, Dan Tetsell, Sandi Toksvig, Desiree Burch, Lolly Adefope, Mike Wozniak, Jan Ravens, Lucy Montgomery, Tom Allen, Henry Paker and Reece Shearsmith. © Adam Kay 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

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9. All American Boys

   In an unforgettable new novel from award-winning authors Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, two teens-one black, one white-grapple with the repercussions of a single violent act that leaves their school, their community, and, ultimately, the country bitterly divided by racial tension.A bag of chips. That's all sixteen-year-old Rashad is looking for at the corner bodega. What he finds instead is a fist-happy cop, Paul Galluzzo, who mistakes Rashad for a shoplifter, mistakes Rashad's pleadings that he's stolen nothing for belligerence, mistakes Rashad's resistance to leave the bodega as resisting arrest, mistakes Rashad's every flinch at every punch the cop throws as further resistance and refusal to STAY STILL as ordered. But how can you stay still when someone is pounding your face into the concrete pavement? But there were witnesses: Quinn Collins-a varsity basketball player and Rashad's classmate who has been raised by Paul since his own father died in Afghanistan-and a video camera. Soon the beating is all over the news and Paul is getting threatened with accusations of prejudice and racial brutality. Quinn refuses to believe that the man who has basically been his savior could possibly be guilty. But then Rashad is absent. And absent again. And again. And the basketball team-half of whom are Rashad's best friends-start to take sides. As does the school. And the town. Simmering tensions threaten to explode as Rashad and Quinn are forced to face decisions and consequences they had never considered before. Written in tandem by two award-winning authors, this tour de force shares the alternating perspectives of Rashad and Quinn as the complications from that single violent moment, the type taken from the headlines, unfold and reverberate to highlight an unwelcome truth.

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10. The Lost Spells

    Brought to you by Penguin The Lost Spells is an audio treasure, a new collection of 'spells' - acrostic poetry and artwork - by writer Robert Macfarlane and artist Jackie Morris. For those who loved The Lost Words - this is its little sister. Captivatingly read, calling to forest, field, riverbank, ocean and also to the heart, these 'spells' summon back what is often lost from sight and care. From Jay to Jackdaw, Oak to Barn Owl, Silver Birch to Grey Seal, they evoke the special spirit of each plant and creature. Above all, they celebrate a sense of wonder at nature's power to amaze, console and bring joy. Across a bewitching natural soundscape by renowned wildlife recordist Chris Watson, readers Yrsa Daley-Ward, Johnny Flynn and Julie Fowlis bring the magic of both nature and language to listeners in an immersive and unique audio experience. Praise for The Lost Words: 'Gorgeous to look at and to read. Give it to a child to bring back the magic of language' Jeanette Winterson, Guardian 'Breathtaking, magical... Jackie Morris has created something that you could spend all day looking at' New Statesman 'Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris have made a thing of astonishing beauty' Observer © Robert Macfarlane, Jackie Morris 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

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