A pleasingly absurd caper where kids outwit crooks, ghost are let out of the bag and grandparents refuse to behave from beloved author Malorie Blackman.

Focusing on significant and cutting-edge preoccupations within children’s literature scholarship, The Routledge Companion to Children’s Literature and Culture presents a comprehensive overview of print, digital, and electronic texts for children aged zero to thirteen as forms of world literature participating in a panoply of identity formations. Offering five distinct sections, this volume: Familiarizes students and beginning scholars with key concepts and methodological resources guiding contemporary inquiry into children’s literature Describes the major media formats and genres for texts expressly addressing children Considers the production, distribution, and valuing of children’s books from an assortment of historical and contemporary perspectives, highlighting context as a driver of content Maps how children’s texts have historically presumed and prescribed certain identities on the part of their readers, sometimes addressing readers who share some part of the author’s identity, sometimes seeking to educate the reader about a presumed “other,” and in recent decades increasingly foregrounding identities once lacking visibility and voice Explores the historical evolutions and trans-regional contacts and (inter)connections in the long process of the formation of global children’s literature, highlighting issues such as retranslation, transnationalism, transculturality, and new digital formats for considering cultural crossings and renegotiations in the production of children’s literature Methodically presented and contextualized, this volume is an engaging introduction to this expanding and multifaceted field.

The W&A Guide to Writing for Children and YA provides informed, practical advice from a successful and experienced writer of children's books across all ages. Its coverage includes picture books through middle grade and young adult; fiction and non-fiction; books for reluctant readers and books for the education market. It is one author's lifetime of experience distilled into an engaging guide on how to manage, kickstart or begin your writing career. This is a heavily revised and expanded edition of Linda's Writing for Children (2008). Much has happened in both Linda's writing life and in the world of children's books since then. Staying true to the essence of the original, the new edition includes more advice and experience to reflect changes in digital publishing, self-publishing, and the explosion of YA and children's writing more broadly.

Cats with superpowers! This brand-new series from bestselling author Gwyneth Rees is every young animal lover's dream come true. Perfect for fans of Holly Webb, Alex T. Smith, and those who want their animal stories with a bit more action! Tagg's life changed forever when he discovered that he's no ordinary kitten ... His parents have super powers! Will Tagg have super strength like his dad, or amazing claws like his mum? All he knows is that his power will be AWESOME. But super cats are disappearing! Can Tagg and his best friend Sugarfoot save the day from a dastardly villain and solve the purr-fect crime?

At her new school, Mira discovers she has a very unusual teacher - a teacher who turns into a real-life dragon when she eats crisps! This comes in very handy when the class run into trouble on a school trip to the seaside...

Time travel runs amok as Pigsticks and his loyal sidekick commandeer a faulty time machine, catching comical glimpses of history along the way. Pigsticks aspires to be a brilliant inventor like his great-aunt Ada Lovepig, and the Tuptown Science Fair would be the perfect showcase for his skills — except his spaceship invention is a mess, and it’s already the day of the competition. He needs more time! Luckily, his great-aunt Ada happens to have left behind an intact time machine, and fueled by the thought of future cakes not yet invented, Harold signs on for another Pigsticks scheme. When the lever breaks on the time machine, however, Pigsticks and Harold are catapulted back and forth through history — way back to the era of the dinopigs, ahead to the building of the Statue of Pigerty in New York, back to ancient Rome and its famous Julius Squealer — with no way to make the traveling stop, and with dangerous moments at every turn. Can they buy themselves enough time — and a new lever for the machine — to make it home again in one piece? Piece of cake! (They hope.)

On holiday in the Devon countryside, Clare's summer is transformed by a new friendship with retired horse Captain and his reclusive owner. A must-have for every fan of Morpurgo's classic storytelling and Rayner's highly sought-after artwork, and a gift to treasure for young and old. On holiday in the Devon countryside, Clare's summer is transformed by a new friendship with retired horse Captain and his reclusive owner. A must-have for every fan of Morpurgo's classic storytelling and Rayner's highly sought-after artwork, and a gift to treasure for young and old.