Primaire

I am Poseidon. I am the salt on the faces of seafarers, the deep grooves in their hardened hands. I am the love that people feel for the sea. I am also their fear and dread for the mighty waves that rock the boats. I’m not one to boast, but I am a powerful god.

I am Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and love. No other woman, mortal or divine, surpasses me in beauty. Hera and Athena once took it in their heads that they were fairer than me, but a handsome young fellow by the name of Paris judged us all and gave me the first prize - a golden apple.

I am Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Of all animals the one I love most is the owl. I like to help people, but I prefer to help those that help themselves rather than expect everything on a silver platter. I am a first-rate warrior but I also love the arts and letters. Weaving is also one my favourite pastimes. My weaving work is the best in the world, better even than that foolish girl’s, Arachne, whom I was forced to compete.

‘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

Sendak's hero Mickey falls through the dark into the Night Kitchen where three fat bakers are making the morning cake. So begins an intoxicating dream fantasy, described by the artist himself as 'a fantasy ten feet deep in reality'.

The hilarious and magical adventures of everyone's favourite flat hero - Flat Stanley. With brilliant new illustrations by the award-winning author/illustrator Rob Biddulph. Magical things always happen to Stanley Lambchop .

. . Stanley is very surprised when a big storm hits - and he turns completely invisible! At first it's brilliant - he can get on the trail of some bank robbers and help his little brother with his magic tricks.

But being invisible isn't always easy . . .

will Stanley ever reappear?Jeff Brown's world-famous character Flat Stanley continues to charm half a century after he first found his way into print.

Half vampire, half fairy, totally unique!Isadora is special because she is different. Her mum is a fairy and her dad is a vampire and she's a bit of both. Isadora and her family are visiting the Frost Festival, a huge celebration of the winter fairies! There's ice skating, fairground rides, gingerbread houses and lots of delicious fairy hot chocolate. It's magical!But in the hustle and bustle Isadora gets separated from both her family and Pink Rabbit. Can she find them before the grand fairy lights are switched on?

Meet kids just like you whose acts of social enterprise are raising awareness around our responsibility to people and the planet. Learn about the work they do and discover how the future of our world starts here… with you. This non-fiction picture book includes a how-to-help section, with simple steps to inspire young readers to take action at home and at school. With a foreword from crochet prodigy Jonah Larson.