Gripping stories of myth, folklore and magic:Two step-brothers share one nightmare; red gloves that reach for your throat; a changing room where a stranger asks to swap lives with you; and a ghost in the rain... An expert storyteller weaves nine spells. Fear mixed with wit, heart and magic.

One of the most loved and enduring wartime novels, Carrie's War is a modern classic. WITH A NEW FOREWORD BY MICHAEL MORPURGO AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALAN MARKS 'A touching, utterly convincing book' JACQUELINE WILSON 'Poignant and realistic . . . Carrie's War captures the true reality of war for a child, and it doesn't sentimentalise war' SHIRLEY HUGHES, GUARDIAN 'I did a dreadful thing, the worst thing of my life, when I was twelve and a half years old, and nothing can change it' It is wartime and Carrie and her little brother Nick have been evacuated from their London home to the Welsh hills. In an unfamiliar place, among strangers, the children feel alone and find little comfort with the family they are billeted with: Mr Evans, a bullying shopkeeper and Auntie Lou, his kind but timid sister. When Carrie and Nick visit Albert, another evacuee, they are welcomed into Hepzibah Green's warm kitchen. Hepzibah is rumoured to be a witch, but her cooking is delicious, her stories are enthralling and the children cannot keep away. With Albert, Hepzibah and Mister Johnny, they begin to settle into their new surroundings. But before long, their loyalties are tested: will they be persuaded to betray their new friends? This collection of the best children's literature, curated by Virago, will be coveted by children and adults alike. These are timeless tales with beautiful covers, that will be treasured and shared across the generations. Some titles you will already know; some will be new to you, but there are stories for everyone to love, whatever your age. Our list includes Nina Bawden (Carrie's War, The Peppermint Pig), Rumer Godden (The Dark Horse, An Episode of Sparrows), Joan Aiken (The Serial Garden, The Gift Giving) E. Nesbit (The Psammead Trilogy, The Bastable Trilogy, The Railway Children), Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Little Princess,The Secret Garden) and Susan Coolidge (The What Katy Did Trilogy). Discover Virago Children's Classics.

"Matthew Cuthbert, who's that?" she ejaculated. "Where is the boy?" Matthew had been to the train station to fetch the child they were to adopt, a boy. Marilla had insisted on a boy.

"There wasn't any boy," said Matthew wretchedly. "There was only "her.""

He nodded at the girl. He didn't know her name. He was embarrassed to realize that he had never even asked her name.

"No boy But there "must" have been a boy," insisted Marilla. "We sent word to Mrs. Spencer to bring a boy."

"Well, she didn't. She brought "her." I asked the station-master. And I had to bring her home. She couldn't be left there, no matter where the mistake had come in."

"Well, this is a pretty piece of business " ejaculated Marilla.

During this dialogue the child had remained silent, her eyes roving from one to the other, all the animation fading out of her face. Suddenly she seemed to grasp the full meaning of what had been said. Dropping her precious carpet-bag she sprang forward a step and clasped her hands.

"You don't want me " she cried. "You don't want me because I'm not a boy I might have expected it. Nobody ever did want me. I might have known it was all too beautiful to last. I might have known nobody really did want me. Oh, what shall I do? I'm going to burst into tears "

And burst into tears the little girl did. . . .

The five children found the Sand-fairy while they were exploring in the gravel pit. "Don't you know a Sand-fairy when you see one?" it asked them. The Sand-fairy smoothed his long ratlike whiskers and smiled between them. I daresay you have often thought what you would do if you had three wishes given you. "We want," said Robert slowly, "to be rich beyond the dreams of something or other." But we all know that wishes for avarice never work out the way they are supposed to. . . . and to his credit, the Sand-fairy was never mean spirited, nor vengeful, nor destructive. But he cartainly could be _weird_. . . . (Jacketless library hardcover.)

If you came down to harsh facts -- which, it must be confessed, Anne of Avonlea seldom did until she had to -- it did not seem likely that there was much promising material for celebrities in Avonlea school; but you could never tell what might happen if a teacher used her influence for good. Anne had certain rose-tinted ideals of what a teacher might accomplish if she only went the right way about it; and she was in the midst of a delightful scene, forty years hence, with a famous personage . . . just exactly what he was to be famous for was left in convenient haziness, but Anne thought it would be rather nice to have him a college president or a Canadian premier . . . bowing low over her wrinkled hand and assuring her that it was she who had first kindled his ambition, and that all his success in life was due to the lessons she had instilled so long ago in Avonlea school.

Rediscover the Puffin Classics collection and bring the best-loved classics to a new generation - including this new resized edition of The Call of the Wild, complete with a bold new cover.

'To Buck it was boundless delight, this hunting, fishing, and indefinite wandering through strange places.'

Pampered dog Buck lives a comfortable life in Santa Clara Valley, where he spends his days eating and sleeping in the golden sunshine. But one day a terrible act of betrayal leads to his kidnap, and he is forced into a life of work and danger. Dragged away to be a sledge dog in the harsh and freezing cold Yukon, Buck must fight for his place in the wilderness - and a place to call home.

Patricia Gardiner is another of Montgomery's sweet-natured and agreeable heroines. She grows up in the beautiful house of Silver Bush, surrounded by a large family, whose true mother-figure is their Irish cook, Judy. She loves and clings to the house as the best and most constant source of happiness in her life. As she matures she becomes more accepting of the inevitability of change, despite her experiences of illness and loss. Montgomery said that there was more of herself in Pat than any of her other heroines, and this novel strongly echoes her own lovingly remembered childhood on Prince Edward Island, with Silver Bush standing in for her cousins' house, Park Corner.

When he had been at school for about three weeks, the boys called him Six-fingered Jack; but his real name was Willie, for his father and mother gave it him -- not William, but Willie, after a brother of his father, who died young, and had always been called Willie. His name in full was Willie Macmichael. It was generally pronounced Macmickle, which was, by a learned anthropologist, for certain reasons about to appear in this history, supposed to have been the original form of the name. . . . One evening in winter, when he had been putting coals on his grannie's fire, she told him to take a chair beside her, as she wanted a little talk with him. He obeyed her gladly.

"Well, Willie," she said, "what would you like to be?">P? Willie answered without a moment's hesitation --

At her birth, Ella of Frell was the unfortunate recipient of a foolish fairy's gift--the "gift' of obedience. Ella must obey any order given to her, whether it's hopping on one foot for a day and a half, or chopping off her own head! But strong-willed Ella does not tamely accept her fate. Against a bold backdrop of princes, ogres, giants, wicked stepsisters, and fairy godmothers, Ella goes on a quest to break the curse--once and for all.

In this incredible debut novel comes the richly entertaining story of Ella of Frell, who at birth was given the gift of obedience by a fairy. Ella soon realizes that this gift is little better than a curse, for how can she truly be herself if at anytime anyone can order her to hop on one foot, or cut off her hand, or betray her kingdom'and she'll have to obey? Against a bold tapestry of princes, ogres, giants, wicked stepsisters, and fairy godmothers, Ella's quest to break the curse once and for all and discover who she really is is as sharply funny as Catherine, Called Birdy and as richly poignant as Beauty, and has all the marks of a classic in the making.

00 Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award, 99-00 Black-Eyed Susan Award (Gr 6-9 Cat), 00 CA Young Reader Medal (Mid. School/Jr. High Cat.), 01 Blue Spruce Award Masterlist (YA Cat.), and 00 Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award (Grades 6-8 Cat.)

2000 List of Popular Paperbacks for YA and 00 Judy Lopez Memorial Award Honor Book

In the years since the end of "The Princess and the Goblin," Curdie has managed to convince himself that the supernatural events of that tale were products of his wild imagination. But then events draw him back to Grandmother -- that is, Mother Wotherwop, Princess Irene's great-great-great-grandmother, the Lady of the Silver Moon -- and Curdie regains his innocence and his faith. The Lady sends him on a quest to help the king and princess confound their enemies -- and save the kingdom!

In a great green room, tucked away in bed, is a little bunny. "Goodnight room, goodnight moon." And to all the familiar things in the softly lit room -- to the picture of the three little bears sitting on chairs, to the clocks and his socks, to themittens and the kittens, toeverything one by one -- the little bunny says goodnight.

In this classic of children's literature, beloved by generations of readers and listeners, the quiet poetry of the words and the gentle, lulling illustrations combine to make a perfect book for the end of the day.

"Work, work all the night"
"While the stars are shining bright;"
"Work, work all the day --"
"I've got no time to play!"

Everyone is curious! Farmer Brown's boy cannot figure it out. Then Peter Rabbit and Jerry Muskrat set their minds to the problem and try to wrestle it to the ground. What is happening in the peaceful meadow where the stream flowed so quietly before -- and what does Paddy Beaver have to do with it?

Thornton W. Burgess, famous for his tales of "the lesser folk in fur and feathers," first entertained young readers in the 1910s . . . and his books have kept doing so, decade after decade, down to the present day.

Life with his regiment in Scotland is dull until he visits his uncle's friends in the Highlands, where he meets Fergus McIvor and his sister Flora. Attracted by the wild freedom and romance of the Scottish clans, Edward finds himself in a difficult and dangerous position. His new friends are Jacobites, planning to overthrow King George and restore the Stuart monarchy. The Jacobites rise in rebellion. When Prince Charles leads an invasion of England, Edward's loyalties are hopelessly divided. Whose side will he take? And what fate awaits them all?

Unabridged and illustrated in glorious full-colour throughout, this exquisite gift edition of the original story of everyone’s favourite bear, Paddington, is truly to be treasured! Paddington is now a major movie star. “A bear? On Paddington station?” Mrs Brown looked at her husband in amazement. “Don’t be silly, Henry. There can’t be!” Paddington Bear had travelled all the way from Darkest Peru when the Brown family first met him on Paddington station. Since then their lives have never been quite the same… for ordinary things become quite extraordinary when a bear called Paddington is involved.

An adapted and illustrated edition of the Russian classic, at an easy-to-read level for all ages! Nickolai Kirsanov is excited for his son's return to their family estate - but not so thrilled to meet the strange friend he brings with him. While Arkady is friendly and kind, Bazarov is quiet, unemotional and only interested in cold hard facts. He is a Nihilist. Faced with glamorous balls and first love, Bazarov is determined to teach Arkady his way of life. Will Arkady become more like his friend, or will the two friends both learn from each other, instead? About The Russian Classics Children's Collection: From the dazzling ballrooms of St. Petersburg to the blazing war-torn streets of Moscow, children can now experience the famous, epic Russian stories. Suitably adapted and illustrated for children aged 7+.