Twelve-year-old Herbert Lemon lives and works in the Grand Nautilus Hotel in the strange and frequently foggy seaside town of Eerie-on-Sea. The hotel’s ‘lost and founder’, he’s tasked with cataloguing lost things and trying to find their owners. But his newest ‘lost’ item is rather different: an enigmatic girl called Violet Parma.

Left in the hotel as a baby after her parents mysteriously disappeared, Violet is determined to find out what happened to them and wants Herbert’s help. Following the clues quickly leads Herbert into far more danger than he’d like, opening up a whole lot of questions about the town’s extremely eclectic mix of residents and the secrets they’re hiding. And on top of this, things keep pointing them towards the terrifying legend of the malamander, an infamous local sea monster which Herbert would really rather stayed a legend…

Supernatural elements and a steampunk feel combine to make this a fun, mystery-filled adventure with lots of spine-tingling twists and turns. It’s peopled with lots of unusual characters and quirky places, while Herbie is a reluctant hero with a mysterious history of his own to be discovered – luckily, there are more books to come in this addictive new series.

Real witches disguise themselves as lovely ladies, when secretly they want to squish and squelch all the wretched children they […]

This laugh-out-loud book is bursting with lists, facts, jokes and funny true stories all about silly people, silly animals, silly inventions, silly names and much more.

Think your teachers are bad? Wait till you meet this lot. These ten tales of the world’s most splendidly sinister teachers will have you running for the school gates. Dr Dread teaches science and is half man, half monster… Watch out for the ghastly Miss Seethe. She is ALWAYS furious – and she’s on a detention rampage. And as for Phobe, he’s a teacher with a real difference. He is bone-shakingly terrified of… children!

Forbidden to leave her island, Isabella dreams of the faraway lands her cartographer father once mapped. When her best friend disappears, she’s determined to be part of the search party.

Guided by an ancient map and her knowledge of the stars, Isabella navigates the island’s dangerous Forgotten Territories. But beneath the dry rivers and dead forests, a fiery myth is stirring from its sleep.

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

When Suzy hears a strange noise in the middle of the night, she creeps downstairs to find a train roaring through her house. But this is no ordinary train.

This is the magical delivery express for the Union of Impossible Places. Whisked on board by a troll-boy, Suzy’s world is turned upside down when she’s asked to deliver a cursed package to a fearsome sorceress.

A king and some unexpected companions embark on a voyage that will take them beyond all known lands. As they […]

In 1914, Joey, a young farm horse, is sold to the army and thrust into the midst of the war on the Western Front. With his officer, he charges towards the enemy, witnessing the horror of the frontline. But even in the desolation of the trenches, Joey’s courage touches the soldiers around him.

When the downtrodden animals of Manor Farm overthrow their master, Mr Jones, and take over the farm themselves, they imagine […]

The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson. Under Platform 13 at Kings Cross Station is hidden a quite remarkable secret- a doorway opens to an amazing, fantastical island. Nine years ago, the island’s baby prince was stolen on the streets of London. Now a rescue party, led by a wizard and an ogre, must find him and bring him back.

Greg Heffley is a normal American kid, albeit one with a habit of getting into (and out of) trouble. His diary, complete with hilarious cartoons, records a year in his life and follows his relationships with his nerdy best friend Rowley, annoying brothers Roderick and Manny and long-suffering parents.

Greg is constantly trying to boost his popularity but his attempts at bodybuilding, cartooning and money-making – all recounted in the same deadpan tone – inevitably fall flat.

The Magician’s Nephew is a fantasy children’s novel by C. S. Lewis, published in 1955 by The Bodley Head. It is the sixth published of seven novels in The Chronicles of Narnia. In recent editions, which sequence the books according to Narnia history, it is volume one of the series. Find more here: The Magician’s Nephew – Wikipedia

RATBURGER is the story of a little girl called Zoe. Things are not looking good for Zoe. Her stepmother Sheila is so lazy she gets Zoe to pick her nose for her. The school bully Tina Trotts makes her life a misery – mainly by flobbing on her head. And now the evil Burt from Burt’s Burgers is after her pet rat!

The aggressive behaviour of an ageing man changes drastically in the company of a young evacuee from London he came across during World War II.

Find more here: Goodnight Mister Tom – Wikipedia

This is a story about a boy named Kester. He is extraordinary, but he doesn’t know that yet. All he knows, at this very moment, is this:
1. There is a flock of excited pigeons in his bedroom.
2. They are talking to him.
3. His life will never be quite the same again…

Kester lives in a land in quarantine. A deadly virus has killed all the animals except pests and it’s expected to be equally dangerous to humans. But when Kester realises he can talk to the pests, he finds they have great hope invested in him.

A captivating animal adventure destined to be loved by readers of all ages.

Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White.

There are stories about people who want to live forever.

This is not one of those stories.

This is a story about someone who wants to stop…

Alfie Monk is like any other nearly teenage boy – except he’s 1,000 years old and can remember the last Viking invasion of England.

Obviously no one believes him.

So when everything Alfie knows and loves is destroyed in a fire, and the modern world comes crashing in, Alfie embarks on a mission to find friendship, acceptance, and a different way to live…

… which means finding a way to make sure he will eventually die.

One day Izzy and her friends are surprised to find that their teacher, Miss Jones, is actually being nice to them. This is the woman who was caught secretly smiling when Maisie Miller fell off her chair. There can only be one conclusion: she’s been taken over by aliens, and now she wants to make them all aliens too!

Prince Caspian features a “return to Narnia” by the four Pevensie children of the first novel, about a year later in England but 1300 years later in Narnia. It is the only book of The Chronicles with men dominating Narnia. The talking animals and mythical beings are oppressed, and some may be endangered. Find more here: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian – Wikipedia

From his seat in the tiny aeroplane, Fred watches as the mysteries of the Amazon jungle pass by below him. He has always dreamed of becoming an explorer, of making history and of reading his name amongst the lists of great discoveries. If only he could land and look about him.

As the plane crashes into the canopy, Fred is suddenly left without a choice. He and the three other children may be alive, but the jungle is a vast, untamed place. With no hope of rescue, the chance of getting home feels impossibly small.

Except, it seems, someone has been there before them …

Small and insignificant Bastian Balthazar Bux is nobody’s idea of a hero, least of all his own. Through the pages of an old book he discovers a mysterious world of enchantment – but a world that is falling into decay. The great task of making things well again falls on Bastian and so begins a dazzling, magical adventure.