Showing results by narrator "Jot Davies" in All Categories

School bully, Darren Bishop, is beaten in a race and wants to get even with the winner. A comedy involving a boy, a bully and a serious case of mistaken identity. Barrington Stoke specialise in books for reluctant, struggling and dyslexic readers.

Banned by the Nazis, the haunting novel At the Edge of the Night (Am Rande der Nacht), by the German writer Friedo Lampe, is a work of magic realism. This poignant book, beautifully translated by Simon Beattie, was, in Lampe’s own words, ‘born into a regime where it could not breathe’; he hoped that one day it might rise again. It evokes the sensations and impressions of a sultry September evening on the waterfront of Bremen, with its charm and tenderness, squalor and lust.

On a typical afternoon, teenage Joe is being chased by bullies from school when he accidentally runs through a portal to another world. He finds himself in a training camp for a group of teenage boys and girls who will become Runners. Each cycle, three Runners are sent to place the power sources that will secure the shield that protects their land, Carcassia, and keeps the enemy Kabanians at bay.

Escape into this hugely enjoyable, big-hearted, and beautifully written novel set in Vallerosa, a European country you've never heard of before. Find yourself in Vallerosa, a place lost in time. Vallerosa is every tourist's dream - a tiny, picturesque country surrounded by lush valleys and verdant mountains; a place sheltered from modern life and the rampant march of capitalism. But in isolation the locals have grown cranky, unfulfilled, and disaffected.

As Aristotle understood it, ‘there is no great genius without a mixture of madness’ and he may well have had a point: Einstein routinely forgot his way home when out walking the streets of Vienna, Nietzsche wound up in an insane asylum and Bobby Fischer, the chess prodigy, now scrambles around the world, seeking residency in any country reckless enough to let him through immigration.Simon Philips Norton, the subject of The Genius in my Basement, is not mad – not by a long shot – but he is certainly mixed up.

1990. A woman’s body is found brutally murdered in the woods, and next to it, a shallow grave hiding a terrified young girl. 2021. When Mia and Rich move to an eco-village in Spain, they’re looking for a new start. Val Verde is everything they wished for—at least to begin with. But when someone is murdered in an olive grove, Mia realises the village isn’t the safe haven she was hoping for.

Wombat loves digging deep holes and thinking deep thoughts, but nobody thinks much of that until danger threatens the bush and the small wombat comes up with a great big idea! One day Wombat digs the deepest hole he's ever dug and crawls into the cool darkness to think. But when he climbs out again, he can't see his mother anywhere. He is all alone.

Sam’s life has always been strange. After all, his family have no idea that he’s half monster, half fairy. But now he’s keeping an even bigger secret. He alone has the power to bring monsters to life! (He’s even got a tiny gargoyle hatchling hidden in his sock drawer.) When Queen Maggie finds out, she’s delighted. She wants Sam to create her a whole new legion of vile ogres. When he refuses, she vows that she will destroy everything Sam holds dear.

Sam might be half-monster and half-fairy, but since finding a loving family with the Kavanaghs, his daily life has been all human. And now he's facing one of the greatest human challenges - starting secondary school. But Sam barely has time to worry about the strange stuff teachers say (why do they call it the Great War when it sounds like was anything but great?) before he is thrust back into the world of monsters.

From the award-winning author of Space Mutts comes the second otterly chaotic title! Part of the Awesome Animals range - the funniest fiction staring the wildest wildlife! There's a new family on the river…the beavers. And they're ruining everything for the Otters. The beavers' big fat dam has blocked up the river and worse…it's stopped their supply of delicious crayfish! Something must be done! It seems like things can't get any worse for our otters until they discover a mountain lion has also moved in.

How does one talk about love? buffoonery, n. "You were drunk, and I made the mistake of mentioning Showgirls in a near-empty subway car. The pole had no idea what it was about to endure." In this enchanting compendium of Love, David Leviathan charts the moving portrait of a relationship - starting with: aberrant, adj. '"'I don't normally do this kind of thing,' you said. 'Neither do I,' I assured you…."

The sixth animal in the hilarious Awesome Animals series - awesome adventures with the wildest wildlife. The otterly bonkers Brown family are hugely excited, as today's the day they move to their new home. But when they get there they find the beastly Black family have got there first! This riverbank ain't big enough for the both of them, so there's only one thing for it: war. Well, not real war. Otters are more into playing than fighting, so instead they decide to hold a giant sports day - and may the best otters win!

Sing along with this fun collection of 40 classic nursery rhymes! Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty, Little Miss Muffett and many other popular nursery rhyme characters are brought together in this entertaining collection of 40 familiar favourites. Including lively action rhymes, bouncy counting rhymes and soothing bedtime rhymes, children will love singing along, over and over again. Come and join in the fun! Includes 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', 'Jack and Jill', 'This Little Piggy', 'Three Little Kittens' and other nursery favourites.

When a clever little rooster finds a diamond, he thinks it only just that he shares his good fortune with his poor and loving mistress. But a greedy sultan is determined to claim the diamond for his own - and devises a series of traps to outwit the plucky bird. A hilarious chase ensues, and we are shown that greed and avarice lead to nothing but sorrow, whilst true happiness lies in a generous spirit.

One cold Christmas night, a shepherd recounts the magical story of how he came to be the first visitor to the newborn Christ child - ahead of the other shepherds, and in complete secret. A deftly wrought re-working of the nativity story, Michael's tale is rich in human detail.

Einstein, Bounce and Puzzle are thrilled to be back at Sandcliff Lighthouse for another holiday. There are lots of other pups staying there this time which means fun for everyone! But when the local beach is covered in dog poo, the pals find themselves in a sticky situation. It gets so bad that even the puffins - who visit every year - are staying away! And then the local people start to blame the kennels, even though the pups know that Jackie and Trevor always clean up after them.

In 1963, in a Siberian prison, former nuclear specialist Valery Kolkhanov has mastered what it takes to survive: the right connections to the guards for access to food and cigarettes, the right pair of warm boots, and the right attitude toward the small pleasures of life so he won’t go insane. But one day, all that changes: Valery’s university mentor steps in and sweeps him from the frozen camp to a mysterious unnamed city. It houses a set of nuclear reactors, and surrounding it is a forest so damaged it looks like the trees have rusted from within.

How the mighty will fall... 1497. Pope Alexander VI Borgia is perfecting his plans for the control of Italy when a heinous crime deprives him of one of the people dearest to him. All of Rome is mobilised to discover the perpetrator but a strange series of coincidences means famous court painter Pinturicchio finds himself on the front line. To shed light on a murder, Pinturicchio is assisted by the city's most established artists, from Michelangelo Buonarroti and Filippino Lippi to Piermatteo d'Amelia and Perugino.

The battle for Earth starts here... The Young Knights have travelled to San Francisco to track down Merlin - the only wizard powerful enough to help them create a new magical Round Table. But Merlin is determined to remain incognito, and has reinvented himself as the head of Pip Enterprises: the greatest innovator of the digital age. Meanwhile, the merciless ruler of the Fey realm, King Oberon, is rallying his magical armies for a final assault on Earth.

Can the young knights save the human world? King Oberon, the ruler of Avalon, is on the warpath and will stop at nothing in his quest to enslave the entire human race. Rick and Roxy must escape back to Earth to rescue the only man alive who can help them fight Oberon - the legendary King Arthur Pendragon. Trouble is, Arthur isn't quite himself these days . . . for a start, he lives with a pet puffin called Peter and has no idea what century he's in!