Karen Wallace

This delightful collection of animal tales is perfect for sharing at bedtime. As the days grow longer and the flowers blossom, a group of woodland friends go in search of the sun, a young rabbit explores above ground for the first time, and a chick hatches in the wrong nest. A beautiful addition to our hugely successful range of anthologies, with delightful illustrations from Alison Edgson and featuring brand-new stories from much-loved authors Holly Webb, Michael Broad, Malachy Doyle, Narinder Dhami, Penny Dolan, Karen Wallace, Caroline Pitcher, Elizabeth Baguley, Caroline Juskus, and Lucy Courtenay.

Build your child’s reading confidence at home with books at the right level Flash Harriet, together with Gus, her pet tarantula, is back and on the trail of a new crime. Huge footprints have smashed up the local vegetable garden. Is it something to do with Marmaduke Mildew and the Giant Vegetable Competition? Or does the clue lie in the footprints themselves? Find out how our favourite detective solves the mystery. Ruby/Band 14 books give increasing opportunities for children to develop their skills of inference and deduction. Text type: A humorous story. The step-by-step review of the clues that helped Flash Harriet solve the case on pages 46-47 enable children to recap the significant events of the story. Curriculum links: Science: Helping plants grow well; Citizenship: People who help us – the local police. This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.

The Honourable Ratts are a distinguished family whose ancestors appeared at a time when witches were commonplace and giants roamed the land. They built their ancestral home, Clawfoot Hall, and they began collecting the Great Ratt Hoard - that is, any and every item of gold they could lay their hands on. At the time of this story, the Ratts are diminished in size and stature and now live under the floorboards of Clawfoot Hall. Then one day, everything changes. The ancient enemies of the Ratts have tracked them down and they are looking for ...the Great Ratt Hoard. The future of the Ratts is at stake. They must protect their inheritance at all costs. This is an exciting and action-packed story of the unusual, rodent-like family and their search for treasure with villains on their trail.

Set in the Viking world of long boats, looting and grand adventure, The Goose Pimple Bay Sagas relate the hilarious tales of a ruling family with a difference. Book one introduces the two sons of Chief Thunderstruck and Ma Moosejaw, Spike Carbuncle and Whiff Eric. Ma Moosejaw wants to leave Goose Pimple Bay with her husband and travel north to see a white bear. But both sons are useless. Who will look after things when they are gone? There's only one thing for it: the sons must each find a bride. Whoever returns with the best one will rule Goose Pimple Bay. The other will be banished to the forest for ever...

Build your child’s reading confidence at home with books at the right level Flash Harriet , the famous girl detective, is on the trail of a crime… and it has led her to the shores of Loch Ness. Find out what happens in this comic detective story. Topaz/ Band 13 books offer longer and more demanding reads for children to investigate and evaluate. Text type – A humorous story. There are chapters, which give the book an adult feel. There is a reader response page, which gives important clues to the 'Mystery at Swag Hall'. These help young readers review the plot and know the importance of clues in their own adventure writing. Curriculum links – Citizenship: Respect for property; DT: Moving monsters. This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.

The boxy, spiky monkey puzzle tree stands tall and imposing outside the dormitory window of Woodmaston House For Girls, a forbidding guardian to the school's young charges. Nancy Cameron is a new arrival, not just to Woodmaston but to England. She's rolled up from the backwoods of Canada, eager for a new life brimming with adventure. But boarding school isn't the Famous Five fantasy that Nancy had imagined. It is an austere, loveless world where budding relationships are soon put to the test. Nancy wins friends and finds solace by telling stories, but spinning stories for others can't hide the fact that Nancy feels horribly alone inside. And when she leads her dorm in a special fund-raising event that goes tragically wrong, things go from bad to worse. Nancy longs to meet the glamorous brother of her friend, Caroline, and as her troubles build it's an encounter that can't come soon enough - until a shocking revelation comes to light...

Discover the mysterious, magnificent octopus Follow a goggle-eyed octopus as she jets through the shadows, tentacles flying behind her. Finally she finds a well-hidden den in which to lay her eggs, which will dangle from the roof like grapes on a string. In silky verse, Karen Wallace explores the mysterious world of the octopus, while Mike Bostock's flowing illustrations bring that world vividly to life. Back matter includes an afterword, resources for further information, a glossary, and an index.

Read and Wonder books tell stories, take children on adventures, and reveal how big and WONDER-full the natural world really is. Both poetic and scientifically accurate, Think of an Eel relates the little-known lifestyle of a most intriguing fish.

Long ago, a clan of Viking raiders were the terror of the oceans. Well, they would have been if they hadn't been so busy arguing about whose boat was the best. And so two boats embark on a voyage, and whichever ship brought back the greatest prize would be declared the bravest boat in the land.