Showing results by author "Sally Gardner" in All Categories

Crumble cakes! When Betsy joins Myrtle the mermaid in her underwater world, she discovers there may be monsters...shipwrecks, lost treasure and secret cities. A seapig's prize seahorse, Pudding Pie, has been stolen by a cantankerous giant octopus and Betsy and Mr Tiger must go to the rescue in their new submarine. But what happens when a tiger's whiskers and tail are simply too long to squeeze into forgotten dark caverns where even the moon cannot shine, and Betsy has to take the final steps of the adventure on her own?

Timmy Twinkle is chubby. That means he gets bullied at school and hasn't any friends. He longs to play football, but he's hopeless at games. He's miserable. And it doesn't help when Gramps tells him about Great Uncle Vernon, a chubby boy who grew up to be a famous footballer.

When Betsy K. Glory, the daughter of a mermaid and an ice cream maker, meets the mysterious Mr Tiger they have a giant challenge: a moon to turn blue, berries to collect and wishable-delicious ice cream to create. The sort that makes wishes come true. With Mr Tiger and his troupe of Gongalong circus acrobats, a toad under a spell, a lonely giant and Mum and Dad, Betsy sets off on her quest.

Josie Jenkins, aged eight and three quarters, can do a few tricks, but she astonishes herself and everyone else when she finds she can lift a table, a car and even a bus with no effort at all.

Ruby Genie is an orphan. Everyone expects her to have the same fantastic magical powers as her famous parents did, but Ruby can't do any magic at all, or so she thinks, and feels a complete failure. Then she begins to get smaller and smaller and smaller.

When his parents are lost in space, Sam is left, heartbroken, in the care of the horrible Hilda Hardbottom. Then he finds a tiny spaceship in the cabbage patch and meets a little alien called Splodge. How Splodge makes him invisible, and how Sam uses his new talent in his darkest hour makes a touching and extremely funny story with lovely memorable characters.

A young soldier, a captive princess, witches, wolves and Death walk hand in hand in Costa Award winner Sally Gardner's exquisitely written new novel inspired by the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale, The Tinderbox. Otto Hundebiss is tired of war, but when he defies Death he walks a dangerous path. A half beast half man gives him shoes and dice which will lead him deep into a web of dark magic and mystery. He meets the beautiful Safire - pure of heart and spirit, the scheming Mistress Jabber and the terrifying Lady of the Nail.

A mysterious boy is the focus of a novel that takes us from the September Massacres of 1792 to the death of Robespierre four years later. After rescuing Sido, the young daughter of an aristocrat, he flees to England, making secret journeys back to France to smuggle out refugees.

When Billy Pickles' dad leaves home to live in New York, he gives Billy a moneybox. Billy's not sure where to put the money, and not sure why his dad has left.

Women imprisoned by superstition, chained by guilt. Perched on a mountain in a land of ancient forests is a village, rife with secrets. Cut off from the outside world, it is run by the elders, men to whom tradition is all. Edith lives alone with her alcoholic father, who is forcing her to marry the village butcher. But she is in love with a shepherd who promised to return to her. As the village becomes isolated in a sea of snow, Edith loses her power of speech. And it is this enchantment that will have far-reaching consequences, not only for Edith, but for the whole village.

I would like to make myself the heroine of this story and my character to be noble - an innocent victim led astray. But alas, sir, I would be lying.... Tully Truegood: orphan. Magician's apprentice. Whore. In prison, accused of murder, Tully begins to write her life story. A story that takes her from a young daughter-skivvy in the back streets of 18th-century London to her stepmother Queenie's fairy house - a place where decadent excess is a must....

Emily Vole makes headline news in the first weeks of her life, when she is found in an abandoned hatbox in Stansted Airport. Then, only a few years later, her neighbour Mrs String dies, leaving Emily a mysterious inheritance: an old shop, a small bunch of golden keys, and a cat called Fidget. In the shop Emily discovers drawers full of fairy wings and the beginning of an adventure of a lifetime as the old Fairy Detective Agency comes back to life. It is up to Emily to reopen the shop, and recall the fairies to duty.

France 1789: a time of terror; a charismatic boy, Yann, who must find out who he is; the daring rescue of Sido, an aristocrat's daughter - these are the elements in this tremendous adventure by a consummate storyteller, a marvellous tale of the first days of the French Revolution.

An extraordinary tale about the search for love from acclaimed Costa and Carnegie Award-winning novelist Sally Gardner. Jazmin has been shunned ever since her best friend, Becky, disappeared. But Becky didn't just disappear - she jumped off a tall building and seemingly never reached the ground. It was as if she simply vanished into thin air. Did Jazmin have something to do with her disappearance? Or was it more to do with Icarus, with whom Becky became suddenly besotted...?

'Agatha Christie for kids' - a new mystery in the detective agency series brimming with mystery and magic by million-copy-selling author Sally Gardner. The detectives at Wings and Co are in a bit of a bother. There is a lost leprechaun on the loose, and carpets are flying all over the village of Podgy Bottom as if by magic. Oh, and, worst of all, Fidget the cat has vanished on VERY URGENT business. It looks like a tricky case for our fairy detectives....

Here are 37 Familiar rhymes, songs, and games, ranging from the traditional Ring-a-Ring o' Roses to Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, all from the original book Playtime Rhymes. Also includes 'The Wheels on the Bus', 'Old MacDonald had a Farm', 'If You're Happy and You Know It', and 'Ten Fat Sausages'.

There were three things that marked out Lucy Willow as different. The first was that she lived on a train. The second was that she had a snail called Ernest as a pet. And the third, the most important of all, was that she had green fingers.

The story is told by Coriander, daughter of a silk merchant in 1650s London. Her idyllic childhood ends when her mother dies and her father goes away, leaving Coriander with her stepmother, a widow who is in cahoots with a fundamentalist Puritan preacher. She is shut away in a chest and left to die, but emerges into the fairy world from which her mother came, and where time has no meaning. When she returns, charged with a task that will transform her life, she is seventeen.

Join award-winning author and history enthusiast Sally Gardner as she delves into the fascinating stories that have shaped our world. From the unexpected tales of forgotten heroes to the pivotal moments that changed the course of history, no topic is too big—or too small.Sally believes that history isn’t just about the past—it helps illuminate our future. By understanding where we’ve been, we can better navigate where we’re going.. Got an idea for a future episode? Email Tony at tony@peoplematter.tv and let us know what history means to you!Your journey into the past starts here. Let...

Brought to life by a careless sorcerer, Pernickety Boo is a well-educated umbrella with unexplored magical powers – and after he is left behind on the London Underground by his forgetful creator, Pernickety must find an owner: someone who will truly love him. So when Pernickety meets young Sylvie Moonshine and is welcomed into her home, he thinks that all of his prayers have been answered. But there are plenty of other people who are also interested in the magical umbrella, and who threaten to separate Pernickety from his beloved Sylvie, unless he can find a way to stop them.