When Dinah is fostered by the Hunters she thinks her biggest problem will be fitting in with her foster-brothers, Lloyd and Harvey. However, once she starts at her new school it's clear that there's more to worry about. All the children, apart from a handful including Lloyd and Harvey, are too well-behaved - robotic almost - and oddly keen to please the creepy headmaster. The three children set out to discover the nature of his influence over everyone . . . but then Dinah finds herself saying and doing things she has no power over. Soon they uncover the headmaster's wicked plan. Controlling the school is just a practice run. He has set his sights on dominating the entire nation! The children must foil him before he succeeds . . . but with Dinah under his spell they've got a challenge on their hands. Great fun and just a little bit frightening, Gillian Cross's beloved classic still holds readers under its hypnotic spell, even after thirty years of being in print. An accessible page-turner, The Demon Headmaster is impossible to resist.

'A brilliant, galloping historical adventure story by one of my favourite writers.' Emma Carroll A giant Indian elephant. A wild journey across America. An enemy who will never stop. Tad and Cissie are on the run with Khush the elephant. Clammy fingered, steely-eyed Hannibal Jackson will do anything to capture the animal. Maybe even kill . . . Staying ahead means being faster and smarter-but how do you hide an elephant? Especially one with a mind of its own.

Machines, mysteries and mayhem await Ollie as he travels to a food festival on a far-flung island. An encounter with a Grand Duchess leads Ollie on an undercover spying mission, that is his most exciting and dangerous yet!

It's Ella's first day at her new school and that can only mean one thing: making new friends. But the challenge is even tougher than Ella thought, as the girls in her class just don't seem interested in her. When she stumbles across the book 'Five Ways to Make a Friend' in the library, it's like all her prayers have been answered. With five excellent ideas up her sleeve, Ella will be friends with the girls in no time ... Right? But what if things don't quite work out as planned? And what if the friend Ella really needs has been there all along? A touching tale of friendship, understanding and finding the confidence to be yourself. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 7+

An engaging classroom playscript. A group of friends take a stand against the actions of their Headmaster, who wants to take over the world. Strange things happen at Lloyd and Harvey Hunter's school. When their new foster sister Dinah arrives she wants to find out why...but can she escape the Demon Headmaster? New, innovative activities specifically tailored to support the KS3 Framework for Teaching English and help students to fulfil the Framework objectives. Activities include work on Speaking and Listening, close text analysis, and the structure of playscripts, and act as a springboard for personal writing

Build your child’s reading confidence at home with books at the right level Brother Aelred has remarkably smelly feet. To spare the other monks' noses, he is given the job of tending to the pigs. However, when Viking raiders arrive to attack, loot and pillage the Brothers' monastery, it is Brother Aelred, the humblest, gentlest monk, who saves the day. Emerald/Band 15 books provide a widening range of genres including science fiction and biography, prompting more ways to respond to texts. Text type – A humorous story. An illustrated character web on pages 38 and 39 helps readers to describe Aelred’s character. Curriculum links – History: Why have people invaded and settled in Britain in the past? A Viking case study; PE: Invasion games; RE: What do signs and symbols mean in religion? This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.

It's amazing! The Hyperbrain is a super intelligent computer that works by accessing the human brain. In the wrong hands, though, it could spell disaster. The new Controller at the Artificial Intelligence Unit seems horribly familiar but Dinah and her friends know that the Demon Headmaster has been defeated. Hasn't he? Great fun and just a little bit frightening, Gillian Cross's Demon Headmaster books still hold readers under their hypnotic spell. Fast-paced and full of adventure, they're impossible to resist!

Jason Banks is a bully. No one likes him and even the teachers are scared of him! It's time that someone taught Jason a lesson and he might just have met his match in the strange pumpkin that keeps appearing on his doorstep. Will Jason ever learn the error of his ways? And can he crack the case of the dreaded Pumpkin of Doom? Hilarious school based comedy from best-selling author Gillian Cross, featuring quirky illustrations by Sarah Horne. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 8+.

Music is the most important thing in Mark's life and he never misses band practice ...until new baby sister Amber turns life upside down. She screams all day and all night and nothing Mum, Dad or anyone else does makes a difference! But when Mark is left holding the baby, he turns to the only thing he can to help him through - music. And it might just be that it's the key to Amber's happiness too. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 7+

An hilarious story, told in letter form, about King Alfred -- he who burnt the cakes, and his battles with the Vikings. Berwin, son of Egfrith, writes to Wulfric, son of Elred using his miraculous new talent of reading and writing. Berry's spellings leave a lot to be desired and in his hilarious letters he tells a tale of mixups and mayhem when King Alfred hides in his family's cottage but is mistaken for a Dirty Dane -- their word for the Vikings. A completely new perspective on why and how those cakes got burned Fast and very, very funny from the prize-winning author of The Demon Headmaster and other books.

Cassy lives with her granny, until the night that she hears strange footsteps coming into their flat. The next morning, she is packed off to her mum's - a squat in London that her beautiful, simple mother shares with a couple of actors. Cassy does her best to throw herself into her mother's life, even agreeing to take part in their travelling show called 'Wolf'. But she can't ever get rid of the feeling that something is following her, and something bad is going to happen. Her fear grows as time passes, until Cassy knows she must face up to her past: who her father is, why he left and where he has gone. What she doesn't know is that some questions are better left unanswered...

Gillian Cross's brilliant retellings and Neil Packer's clever illustrations bring to life Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, two of the greatest stories ever told. When first published Walker's versions of the Iliad and the Odyssey attracted attention both for the quality of the writing and for their amazingly stylish artwork. Multi-award-winning author Gillian Cross makes two of the greatest stories in the world come alive for children in her strong, clear, deceptively simple retellings, which are faithful to the spirit and structure of Homer's epic poems, and this new bind-up in a friendly format comes complete with an introduction and a generous selection of Neil Packer's fabulous illustrations in black and white.

When Holly's sister announces her engagement, wedding planning begins in earnest. But a tight budget means missing out on some wedding essentials - like the cake! Holly decides to put her baking skills to the test and surprise the happy couple with 1000 cupcakes! What could possibly go wrong? Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 9+

The night Dot and Ryan take a sneaky Halloween visit to a condemned tower, they discover more than they bargained for when they catch a glimpse of an endangered species of bat. It's clear that the bat colony and the tower need to be saved, but Dot and Ryan were never meant to be there and it's not going to be easy to get the grown-ups on side ... Can they find a way to stop the demolition and save the bats before it's too late? Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 8+

Annie's dad is a private investigator. She's used to mysterious things going on, but when a string of visitors come to her dad's office, it results in the most mysterious event of all - her dad has disappeared! Annie knows something is wrong and she enlists the help of her friends Matt and Ruth to follow a trail of very sticky clues...Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 8+

A charming village story about a little girl, a dare gone wrong and one crazy animal! When Alice Brett moves from the city to a little village school, she's never seen a real live horse before. And famous village resident Mozart's Banana is not just any old horse - he's crazy! The children are banned from riding him, but when Sammy Foster dares Alice to get on Mozart's Banana's back, she takes it very seriously...just what does she have up her sleeve? Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 7+

Jack wakes up on his birthday to find an extra special present - everything is covered in fluffy, white snow! He and two friends Sam and Ryan decide to build the biggest, scariest snowman in the world. But when they all receive a mysterious text in the middle of the night, the last thing they expect is to be chased up a tree by the monster snowman! But is the snowman as scary as he seems? A delightfully crafted story with beautiful illustrations from award-winning Ross Collins. With a reading age of 8, it's also suitable for relucatant, struggling and dyslexic readers.

When Ashley climbs up and graffiti tags a wall in the middle of the night, she has no idea how serious the consequences will be. Someone sees her, someone dangerous. Now Ashley is being watched . . . and followed. Then the notes start arriving, becoming progressively more sinister. When the threats turn deadly, Ashley realizes she can't confront the stalker alone and seeks the help of local gang leader Eddie Beale. But Eddie's help doesn't come for free-he expects something in return. Ashley has to decide how far she's willing to go-and what she's prepared to risk-to unmask her stalker.

In this sequel to the classic children's book Pollyanna, our beloved heroine continues to cheer up everyone around her with her sunny personality and relentless good humour. When we left Pollyanna at the end of the first book, she was trying very hard to stay positive after a car accident injured her spine and paralysed her. Now old fans and new will be intrigued to read about Pollyanna's miraculous recovery: she can walk - something she was assured she would never be able to do again!Now that Pollyanna's aunt has married kind old Dr Chilton, the newlyweds whisk Pollyanna off to Europe every winter and all three start to enjoy their newfound family. Pollyanna also has the chance to travel to Boston, and makes plenty of new friends as well as reuniting with her oldest pals. As Pollyanna grows up, she matures into a thoughtful young lady but never loses her characteristic spark of good cheer. Her goal in life is still to be glad under all circumstances, but with her aunt experiencing a tragedy and Pollyanna herself getting embroiled in a complicated love triangle, it will take a special type of person to come through it all with a smile on her face.Luckily Pollyanna is a very special young lady indeed.

When Lizzie's school gets a new head teacher everything seems great. The pupils are encouraged to do the things they really love, experts are brought in to inspire them; there's even a competition to win an adventure trip of a lifetime. Lizzie and her friends can't believe their luck! But then Lizzie hears a voice. A voice strange but familiar. A voice that says, 'I will obey all your instructions.' And that's when things start to get dangerous. . . Fast-paced and action-packed adventure, written by the award-winning Gillian Cross.

TreeTops Greatest Stories offers children some of the worlds best-loved tales in a collection of timeless classics. Top children's authors and talented illustrators work together to bring to life our literary heritage for a new generation, engaging and delighting children. The books are carefully levelled, making it easy to match every child to the right book. Each book contains inside cover notes to help children explore the content, supporting their reading development. Teaching notes on Oxford Owl offer cross-curricular links and activities to support guided reading, writing, speaking and listening. This pack contains six books, one of each of the following titles:Mischief Makers, A Christmas Carol, Who Needs Stories?, Decisions, Decisions, Changing Shape and Peter and the Wolf.

An unlikely friendship. An incredible secret. An adventure of a lifetime . . . Nolan leaves school one day to discover that his mum has dyed her hair bright green, sold everything they own, and they're going on a road trip . . . On the way he meets Feather, the adopted daughter of a famous rock star. This mismatched pair appear to have nothing in common, until they discover an escaped wild cat, a serval, that needs their protection. Together they vow to keep it a secret. But someone else wants the serval too. Someone who will stop at nothing to get their hands on it . . .

Project X Origins is a ground-breaking guided reading programme for the whole school. Action-packed stories, fascinating non-fiction and comprehensive guided reading support meet the needs of children at every stage of their reading development. In The Lost: The Dark Ground Robert suddenly finds himself alone in the middle of the jungle. The last thing he remembers is being in an aeroplane. What has happened? Where is he? Will he ever get home?

In these modern times women have choices. They can marry, have a career, raise a family and if problems arise from deprivation or physical abuse, a network of help is ready to support them. So perhaps it is difficult to imagine the true plight of an unsophisticated, naive, sixteen year old girl, just two days away from her seventeenth birthday, in London, in the year 1909. Having left school early in order to nurse her invalid mother, until the poor woman's eventual death from heart failure, she now, upon the sudden demise of her father, finds herself completely alone, with no living relatives to turn to, no employment and no income. What will she do when the rent man comes knocking on the door?