Noel Streatfeild

Noel Streatfeild was born in Sussex in 1895 and was one of three sisters. Although she was considered the plain one she ended up leading the most glamorous and exciting life! After working in munitions factories and canteens for the armed forces when WWI broke out, Noel followed her dream of being on stage and went to RADA where she became a professional actress. 
 
She began writing children's books in 1931 and Ballet Shoes was published in 1936. She quickly became one of the most popular authors of her day. When she visited Puffin exhibitions, there were queues right out of the building and all the way down The Mall. She was one of the first winners of the Carnegie Medal and was awarded an OBE in 1983. Noel Streatfeild lived in London. She died in 1986.

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A series of children's modern classic novels by renowned 20th century children's writers. All the titles in this series have the A Puffin Book logo, contemporary-style covers, and child-friendly endnotes.

Accidentally transported from his remote Scottish castle to the bright, fast-moving, hi-tech city of Toronto, the highly mischievous Boggart simply can't resist the opportunity for pranks, and wreaks havoc for the Volnik family, inheritors of his distant castle home. But the Boggart doesn't mean any real harm, and when he begins to pine for the rolling Scottish mists and the sound of bagpipes, he turns to his two young friends, Emily and Jessup Volnik, for help. 
 
A delightfully funny and moving story for children.

The Boggart

Rosemary Sutcliff

In this thrilling re-telling of the Anglo-Saxon legend, Rosemary Sutcliff recounts Beowulf's most terrifying quests: against Grendel the man-wolf, against the hideous sea-hag and, most courageous of all - his fight to the death with the monstrous fire-drake.

Beowulf, Dragonslayer

Michelle Magorian

Penguin presents, the downloadable audiobook edition of Goodnight Mr Tom, read by Patrick Malahide. 
 
Young Willie Beech is evacuated to the country as Britain stands on the brink of WW2. A sad, deprived child, he slowly begins to flourish under the care of old Tom Oakley - but his new-found happiness is shattered by a summons from his mother back in London... 
 
Winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Award.

Goodnight Mister Tom

Philippa Pearce

Ben Blewitt is desperate for a dog. He's picked out the biggest and best dogs from the books in the library - and he just knows he's going to get one for his birthday. Ben is excited when the big day arrives, but he receives a picture of a dog instead of a real one! But the imagination can be a powerful thing, and when Ben puts his to work, his adventures really begin!

A Dog So Small

Dick King-Smith

Discovered as a foundling in a lambing pen, Spider Sparrow grows up surrounded by animals. From sheep and horses to wild otters and foxes, Spider loves them all, even the crows he must scare away from the newly sown wheat. Crowstarving is the ideal job for Spider - he is on his own, yet never alone for all around him are animals of one sort or another. Amazingly, every animal who meets Spider implicitly trusts the young boy. This magical rapport is Spider's unique gift, but nothing else in his tough life is so easy.

The Crowstarver

Penelope Lively

No.40 Norham Gardens, Oxford, is the home of Clare Mayfield, her two aged aunts and two lodgers. The house is a huge Victorian monstrosity, with rooms all full of old furniture, old papers, old clothes, memorabilia - it is like a living museum. 
Clare discovers in a junk room the vividly painted shield which her great-grandfather, an eminent anthropologist, had brought back from New Guinea. She becomes obsessed with its past and determined to find out more about its strange tribal origins. 
Dreams begin to haunt her - dreams of another country, another clture, another time, and of shadowy people whom she feels are watching her. Who are they, and what do they want?

The House in Norham Gardens

Henry Treece

Into this breathtaking trilogy is woven the true spirit of the Vikings, whose great thirst for travelling the seas took them on incredible voyages in defiance of icy waters, terrible hardships and bloodthirsty resistance. 
It is AD 780. Viking's Dawn sees a young Norse boy, Harald Sigurdson, set sail for the Hebrides in the longship 'Nameless'. The goal: to plunder the helpless coastal villages of Britain. 
Just five years later, undeterred by his first desperate journey, the dauntless warrior puts to sea once again, in The Road to Miklagard - this time lured by the news of a fabulous hoard of treasure. 
After a lifetime struggling with the bitter waves, Harald embarks on his last voyage in Viking's Sunset, this time not for gain but to seek vengeance on a blood enemy.

The Viking Saga

Geoffrey Trease

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 endangers their lives and soon Peter is deep in murderous plots, secrets and even treason. 
 
Set in the turbulent days of Elizabeth I, this classic story of danger and intrigue conjures up a world of mystery, twists and turns and thrilling action.

Cue for Treason

Ursula Le Guin

The first book of Earthsea is a tale of wizards, dragons and terrifying shadows. 
 
The island of Gont is a land famous for wizards. Of these, some say the greatest - and surely the greatest voyager - is the man called Sparrowhawk. As a reckless, awkward boy, he discovered the great power that was in him - with terrifying consequences. Tempted by pride to try spells beyond his means, Sparrowhawk lets loose an evil shadow-beast in his land. Only he can destroy it, and the quest leads him to the farthest corner of Earthsea. 
 
'One of the literary greats of the 20th century' Margaret Atwood

A Wizard of Earthsea

Berna Paul

A bunch of scruffy urchin kids in the backstreets of Paris outwit thieves to uncover the whereabouts of millions of francs stolen from the Paris-Ventimiglia express. Gaby is the leader, but it is super-cool Marion with her collection of stray dogs who is the heart of the gang. 
It all begins when a local villain offers the children a fortune for their 'horse' - a headless rocking horse, given old tricycle wheels that they 'ride' down the steep cobbled street, but they don't want to part with it. Then, a few days later, the horse is stolen, and so begins an adventure that is full of twists and turns, leading to a satisfying conclusion when the villains receive their comeuppance.

A Hundred Million Francs

James Vance Marshall

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 to survive, and guides them along their long journey. But a terrible misunderstanding results in a tragedy that neither Mary nor Peter will ever forget . . .

Walkabout

Madhur Jaffrey

Michael Foreman

India is particularly rich in colourful folkore. These stories, told by parents to their children for many generations, make a rich and dazzling collection of mythological tales drawn from a great heritage of Hindu epics - from the life of the great god Krishna to how the monkey god Hanuman helped defeat the Demon King Ravan and a host of other magical and spectacular creatures. The stories are arranged according to the sequence of the Hindu year and each is prefaced with a short personal anecdote from the author's childhood. Beautifully illustrated throughout in black line and tone by Michael Foreman.

Seasons of Splendour

Tales, Myths and Legends of India

Anita Desai

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 father usually the worse for drink. When Hari goes to Bombay to find work, Lila seems to be responsible for everything. Although the book paints a picture of extreme poverty, it demonstrates the strength of the family even in the most extreme circumstances and offers a powerful picture of another culture.

The Village by the Sea

Anne Fine

Kitty Killin is not just a brilliant story-teller, but also the World's Great Expert when it comes to mothers having new and unwelcome boyfriends. So it's no surprise that she's the one chosen to sort out classmate Helly, who's gone into meltdown. Kitty decides to share her story about old Goggle-eyes - possibly one of the worst episodes in her life...

Goggle-Eyes

Catherine Johnson

Cato Hopkins is the youngest member of Mother Hopkins's 'family' - a group of skilled fraudsters and pickpockets. There's Addy, who can become a very convincing boy when she needs to; the beautiful Bella, who can charm any rich young man out of his fortune; Sam, an escaped slave and Cato himself, a young boy, who Mother Hopkins has taught everything she knows. 
 
 But old age is slowing Mother Hopkins down, and she wants to carry out one last con, a con to outdo all the cons that have gone before. And so the gang set about bringing ruin upon Captain Walker, a proud and cruel slave captain, who deserves to be taught a lesson or two .

A Nest of Vipers

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