'Witty, stylish and ferociously absorbing' Observer Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is abandoned on the filthy streets of eighteenth-century Paris as a baby, but grows up to discover he has an extraordinary gift: a sense of smell more powerful than any other human's. Gradually he learns how to exploit this gift in the art of creating the most sublime perfumes in France. Yet there is one scent he cannot capture: the scent of an innocent young virgin. In order to perfect his experiments, he must have this final ingredient, at any cost. A cult international bestseller, Perfume is a bewitching, darkly humorous fable of desire, obsession and death.
A whole world of Matilda stickers and puzzles! Crack Mr Wormwood's secret code, guide Matilda to Miss Honey's house, and find the Trunchbull's meanest words! Matilda is one of Roald Dahl's most magical creations, and now she has her very own sticker book, packed full of fun activities and classic Quentin Blake artwork. The perfect book for keeping your own brilliant children busy and entertained at home.
Head inside Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, where Charlie Bucket, Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt and the rest await! In this fun collection of puzzles, you can complete the Oompa-Loompa's favourite songs, help lead Violet Beauregarde to the juicing room, and find all of Mr Wonka's finest products. This fun collection of activities includes full colour stickers and classic Quentin Blake artwork.
Get ready to meet some hair-raisingly horrid children in these 30 classic stories from Enid Blyton. Perfect for children aged 5 and up! From temper tantrums and telling tales to bickering and boasting, these bratty boys and ghastly girls are up to no good! Read on if you dare... Ranging from the light-hearted to the deliciously dark, these cautionary tales will delight young readers as much today when they first appeared in the mid-twentieth century. This collection is inspired by Enid Blyton's A Book of Naughty Children, first published in 1944. Ideal for younger children being read to and for newly confident readers to enjoy independently, each story stands alone and is the perfect length for reading at bedtime or in the classroom. Enid Blyton remains one of Britain's favourite children's authors and her bumper short story collections are the perfect way to introduce her work to a new generation of readers. Read all 15 bumper short story collections. New in 2020: Nature Stories Stories of Rotten Rascals Magical Fairy Tales Christmas Wishes *** Enid Blyton (R) and Enid Blyton's signature are registered trade marks of Hodder & Stoughton Limited. No trade mark or copyrighted material may be reproduced without the express written permission of the trade mark and copyright owner.
What do you get if you add 25 and 917, then subtract 765 and divide the answer by 33? A headache. (Unless you're Matilda!) Matilda's Jokes for Clever Kids would even make the Trunchbull laugh! Narrated by Matilda herself, this joke book is stuffed full of gigglesome gags, silly puns, brain-tickling riddles, and the Trunchbull's favourite insults- guaranteed to raise a chuckle from human beans young and old.
The eighth novel from NUMBER ONE bestselling author, David Walliams - now available in paperback! Jack's Grandpa... *wears his slippers to the supermarket *serves up Spam a la Custard for dinner *and often doesn't remember Jack's name But he can still take to the skies in a speeding Spitfire and save the day... An exquisite portrait of the bond between a small boy and his beloved Grandpa - this book takes readers on an incredible journey with Spitfires over London and Great Escapes through the city in a high octane adventure full of comedy and heart. Illustrated by the award-winning Tony Ross.
Winnie Foster is in the woods, thinking of running away from home, when she sees a boy drinking from a spring. Winnie wants a drink too, but before she can take a sip, she is kidnapped by the boy, Jesse Tuck, and his family. She learns that the Tuck family are blessed with - or doomed to - eternal life since drinking from the spring, and they wander from place to place trying to live as inconspicuously as they can. Now Winnie knows their secret. But what does immortality really mean? And can the Tucks help her understand before it's too late? A beautiful paperback edition of the unforgettable classic of children's writing about what it truly means to live forever. Featuring illustrations by Melissa Castrillon.
Children will be spellbound by the amazing characters in this fabulous collection - a greedy king, a very bad giant, a fairy queen and lots more... Perfect for eight-year-olds to share or read alone.
DANNY THE CHAMPION OF THE WORLD by Roald Dahl - brilliantly adapted into a stage play for children to perform in schools. Could you be Danny, or his dad, or even red-faced Mr Victor Hazell? Danny thinks his dad is the most marvellous and exciting father a boy could wish for. Now you can join in their daring and devilish plots with these fun-to-perform plays adapted by David Wood. David Wood is very well known in children's theatre (most recently for Goodnight Mister Tom). Roald Dahl, the best-loved of children's writers, was born in Wales of Norwegian parents. His books continue to be bestsellers, despite his death in 1990, and worldwide book sales are over 100 million!
A true genius . . . Roald Dahl is my hero' - David Walliams One child a week is fifty-two a year. Squish them and squiggle them and make them disappear. BEWARE. There are witches EVERYWHERE. Witches could be a cashier in a supermarket, a woman driving a fancy car, or even your own teacher. The only thing a witch cares about is squelching children. She hunts and squelches as many children as she possibly can. At least one a week. The Grand High Witch hates children most of all and plans to make every single one of YOU disappear. Only one boy and his grandmother can stop her. But if their plan fails, the Grand High Witch will frizzle them like fritters, and then what will happen? Soon to be a MAJOR MOTION PICTURE starring ANNE HATHAWAY, OCTAVIA SPENCER, STANLEY TUCCI and CHRIS ROCK, coming in October 2020.
In the middle of the countryside there are three farms, all in a row. Everybody calls them Noisy Village because the children who live there are very noisy indeed! Join the adventures of Lisa and her friends, where walking home from school turns into a pirate party looking for treasure, a trip to the local shoemaker becomes a mission to save one lonely dog from his grumpy owner, and a fishing trip ends with a night under the stars. A charming collection of stories from one of the world's best-loved children's authors.
Revisiting once again the world of Raymie Nightingale and Louisiana's Way Home, No.1 New York Timesbestselling author Kate DiCamillo turns her focus to the tough-talking, inescapably tenderhearted Beverly Tapinski. Beverly put her foot down on the gas. They went faster still. This was what Beverly wanted - what she always wanted. To get away. To get away as fast as she could. To stay away. Beverly Tapinski has run away from home plenty of times, but that was when she was just a kid. By now, she figures, it's not running away ... it's leaving. Determined to make it on her own, Beverly finds a job and a place to live and tries to forget about her dog, Buddy, now buried underneath the orange trees back home; her friend Raymie, whom she left without a word; and her mum, Rhonda, who has never cared about anyone but herself. Beverly doesn't want to depend on anyone, and she definitely doesn't want anyone to depend on her. But despite her best efforts, she can't help forming connections with the people around her - and, gradually, she learns to see herself through their eyes. In a touching, funny and fearless conclusion to her sequence of novels about the beloved Three Rancheros, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Kate DiCamillo tells the story of a character who will break your heart and put it back together again.
NOW A MAJOR TV SERIES ON AMAZON PRIME 'Just read it . . . Outstanding' Matt Haig 'To say I love this book is an understatement . . . It moved me to tears' Reese Witherspoon 'Beautifully written, completely charming, and extremely wise on the subject of adolescence and influence' Nick Hornby Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down. In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned - from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules. Enter Mia Warren - an enigmatic artist and single mother- who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community. When old family friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town - and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at an unexpected and devastating cost . . .
The number 1 European bestseller by the author of New York Times bestseller and international phenomenon A Man Called Ove, Britt-Marie was Here is a funny, poignant and uplifting tale of love, community, and second chances. For as long as anyone can remember, Britt-Marie has been an acquired taste. It's not that she's judgemental, or fussy, or difficult - she just expects things to be done in a certain way. A cutlery drawer should be arranged in the right order, for example (forks, knives, then spoons). We're not animals, are we? But behind the passive-aggressive, socially awkward, absurdly pedantic busybody is a woman who has more imagination, bigger dreams and a warmer heart than anyone around her realizes. So when Britt-Marie finds herself unemployed, separated from her husband of 20 years, left to fend for herself in the miserable provincial backwater that is Borg - of which the kindest thing one can say is that it has a road going through it - and somehow tasked with running the local football team, she is a little unprepared. But she will learn that life may have more to offer her that she's ever realised, and love might be found in the most unexpected of places.
FROM THE GLOBALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING 'Bittersweet ... dazzling' Guardian 'Deeply pleasurable ... the ending made me cry' The Times 'Told with a wealth of detail and narrative intensity' Penelope Lively Violet is 38. The First World War took everything from her. Her brother, her fiance - and her future. She is now considered a 'surplus woman'. But Violet is also fiercely independent and determined. Escaping her suffocating mother, she moves to Winchester to start a new life -a change that will require courage, resilience and acts of quiet rebellion. And when whispers of another world war surface, she must live with a secret that could change everything...
Orphaned. Betrayed. Determined. Angelique Latham grew up at the magnificent Belgrave Castle with her father, the Duke of Westerfield, after the death of her mother. But when he dies, her half-brothers brutally deny her very existence and send her out into the world alone. At eighteen, Angelique has a keen mind, remarkable beauty and an envelope of money her late father pressed upon her. Unable to secure employment, Angelique desperately makes her way to Paris. To survive, she will need all her resources - and one bold stroke of fortune. Angelique takes an unfamiliar and unimaginable path in setting up what becomes a highly successful business. But she lives on the edge of scandal; can she ever make a life for herself? From England to Paris and New York, Danielle Steel paints a captivating portrait of a woman of unquenchable spirit in The Duchess.
HarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics. 'The woman who first gives life, light, and form to our shadowy conceptions of beauty, fills a void in our spiritual nature that has remained unknown to us till she appeared.' One of the earliest works of 'detective' fiction with a narrative woven together from multiple characters, Wilkie Collins partly based his infamous novel on a real-life eighteenth century case of abduction and wrongful imprisonment. In 1859, the story caused a sensation with its readers, hooking their attention with the ghostly first scene where the mysterious 'Woman in White' Anne Catherick comes across Walter Hartright. Chilling, suspenseful and tense in mood, the novel remains as emotive for its readers today as when it was first published.
Filled with heartbreak, betrayal and triumph, The Right Time is an uplifting novel about pursuing one's ambition from the world's favourite storyteller, Danielle Steel. Abandoned by her mother at age seven, Alexandra Winslow takes solace in the mysteries she reads with her devoted father and soon she is writing them herself, with a talent far beyond her years. After her father's untimely death, Alex is taken in by the nuns of a local convent, who encourage her to follow her dream. Alex writes in every spare moment and completes her first novel in college. It's quickly snapped up by a publisher, but Alex, remembering her late father's advice, insists on writing under a male pseudonym, with her true identity known only to a few. Success comes easily to Alex, but its toll is heavy. Her secret life as the mysterious Alexander Green exposes her to the envious, the arrogant, and the Hollywood players who have no idea who she really is. The right time to open up always seems just out of reach. Once her double life and fame are established, the price of the truth is always too high.
In Blessing in Disguise, Danielle Steel's wise, warm-hearted novel, one of her most unforgettable characters discovers the highs and lows of being a mother to three very different daughters. As a young intern at an art gallery in Paris, Isabelle McAvoy meets Putnam Armstrong, wealthy, gentle, older and secluded from the world. Her time at his Normandy chateau is the stuff of dreams, for when she learns she is pregnant, she knows that marriage is out of the question. Returning to New York, Isabelle enters a new relationship that she hopes will be more stable but before long she realizes she has made a terrible mistake and once again finds herself a single mother. With two young daughters Isabelle unexpectedly finds happiness and a love that gives her a third child, a baby as happy as her beloved father. And yet, life brings more change . . . Her three girls grow up to be very different women and Isabelle's relationship with each of them is unique. When one final turn of fate brings a past secret to light, it bonds mother and daughters closer, turning a challenge into a blessing.
HarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics. `I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself.' Heralded as one of the first instances of feminist literature and rejected at its time of publication by the literary set on grounds of moral distaste, Kate Chopin's The Awakening caused consternation in 1899. Constrained and confined by the limitations surrounding marriage and motherhood in the late 1800s, Edna Pontellier begins to challenge the notion of femininity through her thoughts and actions. Questioning her love for her husband, and opening herself up to the possibilities of other men and a life outside of societal convention leads to a gradual awakening of her desires. Chopin's fascinating exploration of one woman challenging the expectation that surrounds her is powerful, daring and ultimately tragic in its conclusions.
