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Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Epic Adventures

Non-fiction

From Adventures on Trains author and British Book Award 2021 winner, Sam Sedgman, comes a beautiful and informative book encapsulating the excitement and wonder of adventure and travel – all seen through the world’s most wondrous train journeys.

Climb onboard and travel across six continents, 34 countries and numerous cities via twelve of the world’s most amazing train journeys. Bestselling author Sam Sedgman will delight with his descriptive and illuminative text about train journeys including the Eurostar (London to Amsterdam), Orient Express (Paris to Istanbul), the first Transcontinental Railroad (Chicago to San Francisco) and the Rejuvenation Express (Beijing to Hong Kong). Each locomotive adventure reveals some of the rich history, culture, landscape and wildlife of the countries travelled. Take in the safari sights of Southern Africa, wrap up warm in the Arctic Circle, celebrate Chinese New Year and taste some tea in India whilst on a toy train – there’s a whole world to discover when travelling by train!

Detailed, colourful illustrations by Sam Brewster brings the facts and journeys to life. Epic Adventures will appeal to culture-, travel-, locomotive-fans of all ages.

You Are a Champion

Non-fiction

I want to show you how you can be a champion in almost anything you put your mind to.

Marcus Rashford MBE is famous worldwide for his skills both on and off the pitch – but before he was a Manchester United and England footballer, and long before he started his inspiring campaign to end child food poverty, he was just an ordinary kid from Wythenshawe, South Manchester. Now the nation’s favourite footballer wants to show YOU how to achieve your dreams, in this positive and inspiring guide for life.

Written with journalist Carl Anka, You Are a Champion is packed full of stories from Marcus’s own life, brilliant advice and top-tips from performance psychologist Katie Warriner. It will show you how to be the very BEST that you can be.

It shows kids how to:
– Be comfortable with who you are – you can’t be a champion until you’re happy being you!
– Dream big
– Practise like a champion
– Get out of your comfort zone and learn from your mistakes
– Navigate adversity in a positive way
– Find your team
– Use your voice and stand up for others
– Never stop learning

With an afterword by Tim S. Grover.

The Highland Falcon Thief

Chapter book

Harrison Beck and his Uncle Nat are enjoying the final journey of the Highland Falcon, Britain’s most famous steam train. But when a precious jewel goes missing, Harrison and his new friend Lenny find themselves at the centre of the investigation. Can they solve the mystery and catch the culprit before they reach the end of the line?

Hear whispers in the dining car, find notes in the library and unknown passengers among the luggage, as you help Harrison solve the mystery aboard one of the world’s grandest trains.

The Highland Falcon Thief can be read as a stand-alone novel, or enjoyed as part of the Adventures on Trains series.

Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City

Chapter book

Superstar, author and illustrator Rob Biddulph dazzles in Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City , the first title in an adventure series for boys and girls of 8+. This exciting, funny, middle-grade debut is from the bestselling creative genius behind #DrawWithRob and is illustrated in black and white throughout.

Some legends are born, some are drawn . . .

Drawing feels like magic to Peanut Jones. But art can’t fix her problems. Her dad has gone missing, and she’s stuck in a boring new school. Until the day she finds a unique pencil turbo-charged with special powers. Suddenly she’s pulled into a world packed with more colour, creativity, excitement and danger than she could ever have imagined. And maybe, just maybe, she might find out what happened to her dad.

A Dinosaur Ate My Sister

Chapter book

This brilliantly illustrated, laugh-out-loud, wacky adventure through time by Pooja Puri is the perfect blend of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Jurassic Park.

Before you start reading, there are a few things you should know:
1. I, Esha Verma, am a genius inventor extraordinaire.
2. There is nothing I cannot invent. This includes words.
3. I did not mean to send my sister back to the Age of the Dinosaurs. That was HER OWN FAULT (Mum and Dad, if you’re reading this, please take note).

Esha Verma, her snotty apprentice Broccoli and his cunning pet tortoise have a dream. They are going to win the legendary Brain Trophy – the ultimate inventing prize. This year’s entry: A TIME MACHINE.

But the day before the competition, Esha’s IGNORAMUS big sister hijacks the time machine and is lost in the Cretaceous age.

With help from a new recruit for The Office of Time, Esha and Broccoli will have to face hungry dinosaurs, mysterious black holes and malfunctioning inventions to get them back in time.

Arlo The Lion Who Couldnt Sleep

Arlo the Lion Who Couldn’t Sleep

Picturebook

Arlo The Lion Who Couldn’t Sleep is a beautifully illustrated story with a gentle mindfulness message from award-wining author-illustrator Catherine Rayner. Shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal, it’s an ideal bedtime book, and especially helpful for little ones who have trouble going to sleep.

Arlo the lion is exhausted. He just can’t drop off, no matter what he tries. It’s either too hot, or too cold; too loud or too quiet. But then he meets Owl. She can sleep through the day, which isn’t easy when most other animals are awake! Will Arlo ever get any rest? Perhaps his new friend has some special tricks she can teach him.

A Dress With Pockets

Picturebook

A funny and frock-filled story for modern girls who don’t just want sequins and sparkles on their dresses, from rising star Lily Murray and Waterstones Prize-winning illustrator, Jenny Lovlie.

Lucy and Aunt Augusta are dress shopping. And, at the Fabulous Fashion Store, there are dresses to suit just about everyone. There are fancy dresses, frilly dresses, stripy dresses, silly dresses, sun dresses, fun dresses, blue dresses, green… But Lucy doesn’t care about frills or lace. She wants a dress WITH POCKETS. And as she wades through the titchy dresses, witchy dresses, very, very itchy dresses, she starts to worry about where she’s going to put her leaves, and nettles, and delicate petals, her magical spells and beautiful shells… The hunt is on: will Lucy find the dress of her dreams?

A lighthearted story with a subtle feminist undertone that celebrates the joy of pockets, and how they can unleash the inquisitive, adventurous spirit of all young children.

My Dad is a Grizzly Bear

Picturebook

A playful, warm and funny story following a boy with a wild imagination and his lively family, from brand new creative duo: Swapna Haddow and Dapo Adeola.

Shhh. Beware. My dad is a grizzly bear.

In this family, it’s just possible that Dad is a grizzly bear . . . He has fuzzy fur, enormous paws and loves the outdoors. He sleeps a lot even in the cinema and when he’s awake, he’s always hungry, usually eating up all the honey. What else could Dad be? But sometimes, when it’s scary at night, a lovely big bear hug is just what is needed.

A hilarious debut picture book written by Swapna Haddow author of the Dave Pigeon series and illustrated by the brilliantly talented Dapo Adeola author of Look Up!

On the Way Home

Picturebook

Filled with a little girl’s inventive stories, On the Way Home is by Jill Murphy, the author and illustrator of the bestselling Peace at Last and Whatever Next!

Claire has hurt her knee so she sets off home to tell her mum all about it. On the way she meets her friends and tells them how the fall happened. But just how did it happen . . .? Was she dropped by a wolf, a slithering snake, an enormous dragon or a hairy gorilla?!

On the Way Home is a fantastic journey of the imagination that every small child who tells the occasional tall tale will relate to! A bestselling classic that has been delighting readers for forty years.

My Mum is a Lioness

Picturebook

A hilarious tale about a a boy with a wild imagination and his loving family, from award-winning author, Swapna Haddow and bestselling artist, Dapo Adeola.

Run! Hide! My mum’s a lioness and she’s on the prowl.

Is Mum a lioness? She loves her ‘cubs’, she can run faster than anything , and she can catch you in a single pounce for cuddles and kisses. She always makes sure you can hear her incredibly loud, proud roar. What else could Mum be but a lioness?

But sometimes, especially when her young ones are upset or scared, a lovely, warm, protective lioness embrace is just what is needed.

My Mum is a Lioness is the brilliantly funny follow-up to My Dad is a Grizzly Bear. Created by Swapna Haddow, author of the Dave Pigeon series, and Dapo Adeola, illustrator of Look Up!

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