Jeunesse

"I write this sitting in the kitchen sink" is the memorable first line of this enchanting coming-of-age story, told in the form of Cassandra Mortmain's journal. Cassandra wittily describes life growing up in a crumbling castle, with her father who suffers from crippling writer's block, her glamorous but ineffectual step-mother and her vain but beloved sister Rose. When two visiting Americans arrive, all of their lives are turned upside down, and Cassandra experiences her first love. This is a classic coming-of-age story, beloved of generations of teenage and adult readers, by Dodie Smith, who also wrote The Hundred and One Dalmatians.

A follow-up to the gorgeous How Many Sleeps till My Birthday and How Many Sleeps till Christmas. Today is a very special day - if only Little Pip could remember why! With Daddy Grizzle's gentle help, Little Pip works out exactly why today is a day to be celebrated - it's Father's Day! - and they spend a glorious day doing all their favourite things. And the best thing? That's easy - spending time together! A heart-warming story celebrating the relationship between fathers and their children - with a wonderful message.

Embark on a dreamy night-time jaunt with a young boy and the Moon. Overcoming a fear of the dark and discovering the world at night are at the heart of this poetic tale. It includes notes about the moon and plants and animals that thrive in the wee hours.

When Ice’s mother tells her that they’re going to move to an exciting new place, Ice isn’t so sure. She likes her home and her friends, and the fun they have together. The journey takes forever, and their new home is very strange. Everything is different – the weather, the food, the people and the language. Ice tries to make friends, but everyone seems too busy and preoccupied to care. Will anything happen to help Ice feel more at home? A charming debut picture book about the anxieties and hardships of moving, with a heart-warming, positive ending.

Over 25,000 words are arranged in alphabetical order in this classic English language reference book to help with spelling. It comes with useful tips and hints and rules about spelling on each page. This book also contains ways to visualise words that are easily confused, difficult to spell or that sound the same as other words. It is part of a range of Usborne reference dictionaries. Additional online resources are available via the Usborne Quicklinks website.

Shortlisted for Oscar's Book Prize 2021 Shortlisted for Children's Illustrated Book of the Year at The British Book Awards 2021'Comical, bold ... tender' - The Sunday Times 'A lovely book to cuddle up with' - Guardian 'Has future classic stamped all over it' - Daily MailWherever you're going, I'm going too. Whatever you're doing, I'm sticking with you.

It's wonderful to have good friends to see you through the good times and the bad. But sometimes, friends can also be a bit . .

. well . .

. overbearing. This gorgeously funny, feel-good picture book about everything that friendship can be is now available in an irresistible board book format.

'A wonderful, warm bear-hug of a story with sumptuous illustrations. A modern classic.' - Jim Field, illustrator of Oi Frog' More 'I'm Sticking With You' stories:I'm Sticking With You Too Let's Stick Together

‘There was Tolkien, there is Pullman and now there is Katherine Rundell. Wondrous invention, marvellous writing.’ – Michael Morpurgo ‘A book stuffed full of fantastical, magical delight, and a world of richly imagined wonder’ – Cressida Cowell * BRITISH BOOK AWARDS CHILDREN’S FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR * WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER * BOOKS ARE MY BAG READERS' AWARD WINNER * FOYLES CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR * SHORTLISTED FOR AMAZON KIDS AND YA BOOK OF THE YEAR * THE TIMES CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK * THE INDEPENDENT CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK * THE DAILY TELEGRAPH CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK * SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER IN SEPTEMBER 2023 There’s a place where all the wildest stories began … From Katherine Rundell, the British Book Awards Author of the Year, comes the paperback release of the first novel in the critically acclaimed, award winning, best-selling Impossible Creatures series. This edition includes The Centaur’s Spectacles bonus short story.

Christopher is stunned when he discovers a passage to the Archipelago: a cluster of magical islands where all the creatures of myth still live and breed and thrive in their thousands. There he meets Mal: a girl from the islands, who is in possession of a flying coat and a baby griffin, and who is being pursued by a killer. Together they embark on an urgent quest to discover why the creatures are suddenly perishing, voyaging across the wild splendour of the Archipelago, where sphinxes hold secrets and centaurs do murder, in a bid to save both the islands and the world beyond them from a rising evil – before it's too late.

‘Rundell’s first foray into fantasy is both a deft, rich homage to the greats of children’s literature and an absorbing, profoundly poignant quest story for those aged 9+ – quite possibly her best yet’ – The Guardian‘A marvellous, imaginative fantasy told with great style and sparkle – a book to race through in a day and keep for a lifetime’ – Jacqueline Wilson ‘The world of this new book is so intriguing and so well put together that I couldn’t resist it. Readers who already know her books will seize this with delight, and new readers will love it and demand all her others at once’ - Philip Pullman‘A masterpiece to rival Tolkien and Pullman’ – The Daily Telegraph ‘Fantastically exuberant, wildly imaginative, impossibly brilliant. Rundell’s best, which is something to be marvelled at’ – Kiran Millwood Hargrave ‘Between the covers of Impossible Creatures is a world as enchanting, as perilous, as richly imagined as Narnia or Middle Earth’ – Frank Cottrell-Boyce ‘Rundell's book packs a punch with imagination and creativity in its purest form.

She has created a story with potential to be adored by fantasy lovers for years to come’ – The Independent ‘With a delightful cast of characters, breathless adventure, and an abundance of myth and magic, Impossible Creatures offers the very best of fantasy’ – Aisha Bushby ‘A fierce, fantastic, wild-hearted adventure that roars and bristles with imagination. I devoured it like a hungry dragon’ – Sam Sedgman ‘A rare and remarkable feat of glittering imagination from a truly masterful storyteller’ – Catherine Doyle ‘The action is gripping. Every sentence sparkles.

You can feel the flutter of griffin feathers and the menace of strange poisonous shrews. Magnificent’ – The Times ‘Surely the next classic’ – The I