Everyone tells Sophie that she was orphaned in a shipwreck - found floating in a cello case on the English Channel on her first birthday. But Sophie is convinced her mother also survived.

When the Welfare Agency threatens to separate her from her guardian and send her to an orphanage, Sophie takes matters into her own hands, starting with the only clue she has - the address of a cello-maker in Paris. On the run from the authorities, Sophie finds Matteo and his network of rooftoppers - urchins who walk tightropes and live in the sky. In a race across the rooftops of Paris, will they be able to find her mother before it's too late?

Hopeful, inspiring and thrilling in equal measure, this is a classic adventure story about pursuing your dreams and never ignoring a possible.

‘Walliams balances high comedy with an emotional message’ Daily Mail ‘Walliams does comedy with profound, genuine heart’ Guardian From No. 1 bestselling author David Walliams – an extraordinarily brilliant and rollicking mystery adventure illustrated by artistic genius, Tony Ross, and the sequel to the much-loved Gangsta Granny. Ben is getting used to life without his beloved granny. She was a cabbage enthusiast, a Scrabble partner… and an international jewel thief known as The Black Cat. Now, only the memory of their extraordinary adventure to steal the Crown Jewels lives on. Then something inexplicable happens. World-famous treasures are stolen in the dead of night and the clues point to none other than The Black Cat? But that’s impossible…? Expect the unexpected in this wonderfully entertaining and laugh-out-loud adventure, which will have readers on the edge of their seats as they join Ben on his quest to unravel the mystery of the return of The Black Cat. This first ever sequel from David Walliams will delight new fans, as well as the millions of readers that have loved Gangsta Granny.

An illustrated adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic Sherlock Holmes mystery - at an easy-to-read level for readers of all ages! Also includes a QR code for the free audiobook! If convenient, come to Baker Street at once. If inconvenient, come anyway. Holmes When Watson rushes to Baker Street only to find it is for a case about a professor's misbehaving dog, he is not pleased. What he doesn't know is that Holmes is really investigating the professor's seriously strange behaviour - crawling through the hallways, hiding secret letters and even climbing the side of his house. No one knows why or how it is happening, but one thing is for sure: there's something creepy about Professor Presbury ...

Go on an adventure with Katherine Rundell ... From the winner of the Costa Children's Book Prize 'A writer with an utterly distinctive voice and a wild imagination' - Philip Pullman Feodora and her mother live in the snowbound woods of Russia, in a house full of food and fireplaces. Ten minutes away, in a ruined chapel, lives a pack of wolves. Feodora's mother is a wolf wilder, and Feo is a wolf wilder in training. A wolf wilder is the opposite of an animal tamer: it is a person who teaches tamed animals to fend for themselves, and to fight and to run, and to be wary of humans. When the murderous hostility of the Russian Army threatens her very existence, Feo is left with no option but to go on the run. What follows is a story of revolution and adventure, about standing up for the things you love and fighting back. And, of course, wolves.

Adapted and illustrated to introduce children and students to the works of Shakespeare! Much Ado About Nothing is a popular comedy of the greatest playwright of all time, William Shakespeare. The play is set in the quiet town of Messina in Sicily, where two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero, meet at the house of Leonato, Hero's father and Beatrice's uncle. Benedick and Beatrice engage in a war of witty exchanges, while Claudio and Hero pledge their love for each other and decide to get married. However, in an unexpected turn of events, Hero and Claudio are estranged and Benedick and Beatrice confess their love. Includes a QR code for the FREE audiobook! The easy-to-read narrative and comic-style illustrations are a great way to introduce children and students to the story before approaching the original texts.

Accompanied by his nephew Harry and his guide Hans, Professor Von Hardwigg follows directions in a coded message left by sixteenth-century alchemist Arne Saknussemm to the crater of the volcano Sneffels. There they descend into a subterranean world that is home to marvels from the prehistoric past that could never exist in the world above ground. One of his styled "extraordinary voyages," Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth is a masterpiece of adventure that has never been out of print since it was first published in French in 1864. This edition of Verne's novel features more than 50 full-page illustrations by the distinguished artist Edouard Rio.

Met hierdie heruitgawe van die Pippie Langkous-omnibus vier Pippie haar 75ste bestaansjaar. Lesers sal hulle opnuut verlustig aan Pippie se manewales in hierdie nuwe uitgawe, waarin die 1975-vertaling deur Nerina Ferreira in hedendaagse Afrikaans deur bekroonde skrywer, Jaco Jacobs, hersien is. Die spesiale versameling sluit drie klassieke Pippie-titels in: Pippie Langkous, Pippie Langkous gaan aan boord en Pippie Langkous in die Suidsee.

In Jules Verne's epic tale, Captain Nemo and the crew of the undersea vessel, Nautilus, journey through an at times fictional, yet at times very real, undersea world, from the lost city of Atlantis to the Red Sea. This engaging story is presented as an exciting and fast-paced graphic novel which remains faithful to Verne's original text. Specially commissioned full-colour artwork brings excitement and atmosphere to this classic tale. Speech bubbles work with the main text to emphasise and enhance the retelling. A running glossary at the foot of each page helps young readers with any challenging vocabulary without disrupting their reading experience. The highly visual nature of comic book storytelling, small amounts of text and easy-to-follow sequential ordering of the picture strips are a brilliant way for young readers who're challenged or intimidated by reading to improve their literacy skills.

Adapted and illustrated to introduce children and students to the works of Shakespeare! Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare is a delightful comic love story. The play begins with a shipwreck, during which Viola, a young aristocratic-born woman, is separated from her identical twin brother, Sebastian, and is swept onto the shores of the Kingdom of Illyria. Thus begins this entertaining tale of mistaken identities and thwarted love. Includes a QR code for the FREE audiobook! The easy-to-read narrative and comic-style illustrations are a great way to introduce children and students to the story before approaching the original texts.

Treasure Island is the seminal pirates and buried treasure novel, which is so brilliantly concocted that it appeals to readers both young and old. The story is told in the first person by young Jim Hawkins, whose mother keeps the Admiral Benbow Inn. An old seadog, a resident at the inn, hires Jim to keep a watch out for other sailors whom he fears but, despite all precautions, the old man is served with the black spot which means death. Among the dead man's belongings Jim discovers a map showing the location of the buried treasure of the notorious pirate Captain Flint. It is not long before he, along with Doctor Livesey and Squire Trelawney, sets sail to find the treasure. However, amongst the hired hands is the one-legged Long John Silver who has designs on the treasure for himself. The continuing fascination with this tale of high drama, buried treasure and treachery bears out what Stevenson wrote about the book to his friend W. E. Henley: 'if this don't fetch the kids, why, they have gone rotten since my day.' The book not only continues to 'fetch the kids' but the grown-ups too - in fact all those with the spirit of adventure in their hearts.

Celebrate thirty-five years of the bear family with this very special edition of the classic bedtime story, Whatever Next!, a beautiful story of innocence and imagination, full of the characteristic warmth and humour of Jill Murphy, author of Peace at Last and The Worst Witch. The moon and back before bath time? Whatever next! Baby Bear wants to go on one more adventure before bed - a quick trip to the moon. Mrs Bear isn't pleased, and anyway, she says, Baby Bear doesn't have a rocket. Luckily, there's one under the stairs . . . Enjoy more Bear Family stories with Peace at Last and Just One of Those Days.

An illustrated adaptation of Charles Dickens's Victorian classic - at an easy-to-read level for readers of all ages! David's life isn't easy. His father is dead and his mother is getting married to the meanest man in the country. And when he is sent off to a truly terrible school, David discovers punishments more terrible than he can imagine. Surely life can't get any worse! The only happy ever afters David knows are in the pages of his favourite books. Can he rewrite his own ending? About The Charles Dickens Children's Collection: Bah humbug! Who says the classics are just for adults? Join Ebenezer Scrooge on his ghostly Christmas adventure, or follow orphaned Oliver Twist from rags to riches in some of literature's most famous tales from the foggy streets of Victorian London.

An illustrated adaptation of Charles Dickens's Victorian classic - at an easy-to-read level for readers of all ages! Pip's just your average boy. He has no parents, lives with his scary sister and once met an escaped criminal on Christmas Eve - in the middle of a graveyard. Totally normal. And things get even stranger when a mysterious stranger starts paying him loads of money. Sure, Pip's loving his new life of luxury, but will he ever find out who's paying the bills, and what they want from him in return? About The Charles Dickens Children's Collection: Bah humbug! Who says the classics are just for adults? Join Ebenezer Scrooge on his ghostly Christmas adventure, or follow orphaned Oliver Twist from rags to riches in some of literature's most famous tales from the foggy streets of Victorian London.

Adapted and illustrated to introduce children and students to the works of Shakespeare! One of Shakespeare's most robust comedies, The Taming of the Shrew, is about Katherine, the ill-tempered daughter of a wealthy merchant in Padua. Katherine is so petulant that her father always believed no man would ever want her as his wife. However, Petruchio, a rich young man, comes into Katherine s life and brings about a great change in her behaviour. Includes a QR code for the FREE audiobook! The easy-to-read narrative and comic-style illustrations are a great way to introduce children and students to the story before approaching the original texts.

Anne Shirley is an eleven-year-old orphan who has hung on determinedly to an optimistic spirit and a wildly creative imagination through her early deprivations. She erupts into the lives of aging brother and sister Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, a girl instead of the boy they had sent for. Thus begins a story of transformation for all three; indeed the whole rural community of Avonlea comes under Anne's influence in some way. We see her grow from a girl to a young woman of sixteen, making her mistakes, and not always learning from them. Intelligent, hot-headed as her own red hair, unwilling to take a moral truth as read until she works it out for herself, she must also face grief and loss and learn the true meaning of love. Part Tom Sawyer, part Jane Eyre, by the end of Anne of Green Gables, Anne has become the heroine of her own story.

HarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, and what is the use of a book, thought Alice, without pictures or conversations?

So begins the tale of Alice, following a curious White Rabbit down a rabbit-hole and falling into Wonderland. A fantastical place, where nothing is quite as it seems: animals talk, nonsensical characters confuse, Mad Hatter's throw tea parties and the Queen plays croquet. Alice's attempts to find her way home become increasingly bizarre, infuriating and amazing in turn. A beloved classic, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has continued to delight readers, young and old for over a century."

Flowerbell is turning 7 years old, and she really wants a special party with her friends in Fairy Land. Flowerbell's friends bring lots of presents, and she has lots of yummy treats and cupcakes. She has so much fun eating and playing games, that when they were playing hide and seek, she fell asleep, this was the beginning of her little adventure, and the start of new friendships.

An illustrated adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic Sherlock Holmes mystery - at an easy-to-read level for readers of all ages! Also includes a QR code for the free audiobook! Mr Holmes - I beg for your assistance. I cannot engage the police. If news of this dreadful scandal were to reach the public, the reputation of this university would be utterly destroyed. A leisurely research trip turns into a race against time when Professor Soames comes to Holmes and Watson with a bizarre mystery. Three students are suspected of cheating - can Holmes solve the case in time for the examination to go ahead?