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Publisher: Faber & Faber

merry whatmas

Merry Whatmas?

Picturebook

Merry Christmas!’ said Fox.
‘Merry whatmas?’ said Hedgehog.
‘Merry whichmas?’ said Tortoise.

You see, it was Hedgehog and Tortoise’s first Christmas.
So they didn’t know what Christmas was.

Fox thinks Christmas is about presents, Badger thinks it’s about pudding, Magpie thinks it’s about singing . . . Tortoise and Hedgehog begin to feel rather overwhelmed with all the noise and fuss. But in a quiet moment of reflection they learn the most important lesson of all: Christmas is about being with the ones you love.

santas new reindeer

Santa’s New Reindeer

Picturebook

Santa needs a new reindeer in this third hilarious Christmas must-have picture book, from the duo who brought you Santa’s New Beard and Santa’s New Sleigh!

One week to go ’till Christmas Day,
The final touches underway,
A ribbon here, a flourish there,
And presents piled up everywhere.

Santa smiled. ‘What could go wrong?’
He didn’t have to wait too long . . .
Out of the sky a whirling blur,
Of antlers, legs and soft brown fur,

Came crashing through the workshop roof,
And that’s how Rudolph sprained his hoof . . .

Oh no! Another Christmas disaster! The sleigh can’t fly without Rudolph. Luckily, head engineer Lizzie is on hand to help . . . introducing ROBO-REINDEER! Christmas is saved once more.

youre so amazing

You’re So Amazing!

Picturebook

When people meet Joe, they often treat him as Amazing Joe or Poor Joe. But can’t he just be . . . Joe?

One-legged Joe is ‘amazing’. He knows this because wherever he goes people always tell him he’s amazing. Amazing for sliding down the slide, for kicking a ball . . . even walking to get an ice cream, or even just eating an ice cream. Of course, being Amazing Joe is better than being Poor Joe . . .

A groundbreaking picture book which explores how we respond to disability.

the taming of the cat

The Taming of the Cat

Chapter book

From twice-Kate Greenaway WINNER comes an exquisite story within a story, featuring a mouse who is forced to tell stories to save his life, a cat who plans to eat said mouse as soon as the story is finished, and our protagonist’s protagonist, a princess in trouble.

Gorgonzola watched Brie with her tail twitching . . . then she pounced.

Brie the mouse is caught between the claws of Gorgonzola the cat. Desperate to survive, Brie starts telling Gorgonzola a story . . . It’s a showstopping tale – about a runaway princess, a cat that can grow to the size of a panther, an enchanted feast, a vanishing cavern and a quest to find a magical herb . . .

But Gorgonzola is getting hungry . . . If Brie wants his life to be spared, this must be the best story he has ever told.

A dazzling story within a story that you won’t be able to put down and accompanied with stunning interior art..

mia and the lightcasters

Mia and the Lightcasters

Chapter book

Beware of the shadows, the Reaper King is coming . . .

Mia always dreamed of being an umbra tamer until she met the wild creature on the Nightmare Plains. Since that day, she prefers to stay safe within the walls of Nubis. Safe, that is, until a surprise attack. With her parents captured, Mia’s only hope is to travel to the City of Light to find help. But with only her little brother, two friends and one solitary tamed umbra, the journey feels impossible. Mia not only has to overcome her fears, she also has to learn to harness her umbra taming abilities if they are to complete the quest in time.

For fans of Amari and the Night Brothers, The Legend of Podkin One-Ear and Nevermoor, this is the first in the sensational Umbra Tales series, illustrated by Ana Latese.

survivors

Survivors

Non-fiction, Short story collection

Winner of the Best Book With Facts Blue Peter Book Award 2017.

Amazing real-life stories about extreme survival.

Beautifully presented in a large, paperback format, and fully illustrated in colour throughout, this wonderful anthology is a treat for all the family. Be shocked and amazed by these incredible real-life stories of extreme survival, including . . .

The Man Who Sucked Blood from a Shark, a sailor who survived for 133 days on a raft in the Atlantic when his ship was torpedoed, using shark’s blood in place of fresh water.
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, a teenager who fell 2 miles from an aeroplane and trekked through the Amazon jungle to safety.
The Woman Who Froze to Death – Yet Lived, a woman who was trapped under freezing water for so long her heart stopped. Four hours later, medics managed to warm her blood enough to revive her.

Combining classic tales such as Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic voyage, as well as more modern exploits such as the adventurer who inspired the movie 127 Hours, these astonishing stories will be retold by young readers to all of their friends.

ballerina dreams

Ballerina Dreams

Chapter book, Non-fiction

One windy day, a magazine blew down the road. I reached out and caught it. A pretty picture of a woman was on the front cover of the magazine. She wore a short pink dress that stuck out around her in a circle. She looked very happy.

At the age of three, Michaela DePrince found a photo of a ballerina that changed her life. She was living in an orphanage in Sierra Leone at the time, but was soon adopted by a family and brought to America. Michaela never forgot the photo of the dancer she once saw, and decided to make her dream of becoming a ballerina come true. She has been dancing ever since, and after a spell as a principal dancer in New York, now dances for the Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam.

Beautifully and gently illustrated by Ella Okstad, Ballerina Dreams is the younger-reader edition of Michaela DePrince’s highly moving memoir, Hope in a Ballet Shoe.

finding wonder

Finding Wonder

Chapter book

A WINNING TICKET
A STOLEN HORSE
THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME

Orphaned Roo Thorn feels like the unluckiest girl in the world. Until she discovers a letter. A letter which urges her to ‘Grab life by the wings and fly.’

With the help of her aunt, Joni, Roo sets out to buy her dream horse – a fiery showjumper named Wonder Boy.

Then Wonder vanishes without a trace.

Determined to save him, Roo and Joni investigate his disappearance. But as the mystery deepens and more prize horses are stolen, the pair find themselves drawn into a thrilling – but dangerous – adventure . . .

How far will they go, and what will they risk, to find Wonder?

the stolen songbird

The Stolen Songbird

Chapter book

From the author of The Accidental Stowaway, it’s 1950s London and Caro Monday and her friends have become embroiled in a dangerous art heist!

When Caro Monday’s mother disappears on one of her jaunts, she has no choice but to go and stay with a miserable woman that she’s never met. Not only that but she’s told that her beloved rabbit, His Nibs, is not allowed to go with her.

Luckily, Caro’s not one for following rules. With her rabbit in hiding, and her wild behaviour getting her into trouble as soon as she walks through the door, Caro is only going to find herself in deeper water. In the lining of her suitcase is a small but extraordinary painting of a thrush . . . a painting that some dangerous art thieves are hunting down!

Can Caro and her friends solve the mystery of the stolen songbird and find its owners before it’s too late?

Here ensues an exciting dash across London, with twists and turns as plentiful as the cobbled streets which Caro and her friends must navigate!

our beautiful game

Our Beautiful Game

Chapter book

A stand-out novel inspired by the incredible true stories of female football legends like Lily Parr and Alice Woods.

They can take our ball, but they can never stop the game.

Polly Nabb is no stranger to trouble.

When her brother Joe is sent to serve in the trenches, all Polly wants is to kick a ball about and forget the war. Mam has other ideas, and makes her stay home to help with endless chores. But football is something Polly is prepared to fight for – it’s her life! She’s determined to do whatever it takes to fulfil her dream and show the world that football is not just for boys . . .

The war years: a time of trailblazing female footballers, like the legendary Lily Parr, who played to sell-out crowds. Polly’s dramatic wartime story celebrates those bold young players who changed attitudes to women on the pitch and salutes the unsung heroes on the Home Front too.

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Stone Girl Bone Girl

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