When Tom is sent to stay at his aunt and uncle's house for the summer, he resigns himself to endless weeks of boredom. As he lies awake in his bed he hears the grandfather clock downstairs strike . . .eleven . . . twelve . . . thirteen . . . Thirteen! Tom races down the stairs and out the back door, into a garden everyone told him wasn't there. In this enchanted thirteenth hour, the garden comes alive - but Tom is never sure whether the children he meets there are real or ghosts . . . This...

A Puffin Book - stories that last a lifetime.Puffin Modern Classics are relaunched under a new logo: A Puffin Book. There are 20 titles to collect in the series, listed below, all with exciting new covers and fun-filled endnotes.Philippa Pearce's poignant story of a young boy who longs for a pet dog.In A DOG SO SMALL young Ben Blewitt is desperate for a dog. He's picked out the biggest and best dogs from the books in the library - and he jus...

'Philippa Pearce's books are outstanding' - GuardianSid, Peggy and Amy adore the two gerbils, Bubble and Squeak, but their mother detests them. A major family battle results, and it's clear life is never going to be quite the same again. But after a near fatal encounter between Bubble and Ginger the cat, Mrs Sparrow begins to see that life with a pair of gerbils might not be so bad after all.

'The rope hung from top to bottom of his dream. The rope hung softly, saying nothing, doing nothing. Then the rope began to swing very softly, very gently ... Towards him'The need to face your fears; the comedy of family life; the pressure of others' expectations... Intense experiences of childhood are vividly brought to life in this beautifully written collection of short stories by the author of Tom's Midnight Garden.

Peter England, Una Stubbs and Crawford Logan star in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Philippa Pearce’s enchanting time-slip tale.When his brother catches measles, Tom is sent away to stay with his Aunt Gwen and Uncle Alan, and is thoroughly fed up about it. What a boring summer it’s going to be! But tedium turns to adventure when, lying in bed one night, he hears the old grandfather clock in the hall strike thirteen. What can it mean? As Tom creeps downstairs and opens ...

After hearing scratches in the attic, Alison discovers a dinner service covered in an intriguing floral owl pattern, and a series of events are set in motion that will change her life forever. Alison, her step-brother Roger and Welsh boy Gwyn are forced into a cyclical replay of the tragic Welsh legend of Blodeuwedd, in which a woman is turned into an owl as a punishment for betraying her husband. The Owl Service is a fabulous, multi-layered book of mystery and suspense, but also a contemp...

In "The Box of Delights; or, When the Wolves were Running," John Masefield weaves a fantastical tale that intricately blends elements of adventure, folklore, and Christmas storytelling. The narrative unfolds through the eyes of young Kay Harker, who, upon discovering a mysterious box that grants the power to travel through time and space, embarks on a gripping quest against dark forces. Masefield's lyrical prose is suffused with vivid imagery and a sense of nostalgia, capturing the essence...

From the author of the Booker Prize-shortlisted Treacle WalkerThe much-loved classic, finally in ebook.Winner of both the Guardian Award and the Carnegie Medal, this is an all-time classic, combining mystery, adventure, history and a complex set of human relationships.It all begins with the scratching in the ceiling. From the moment Alison discovers the dinner service in the attic, with its curious pattern of floral owls, a chain of events ...

“A bear on Paddington Station?” said Mrs Brown in amazement. “Don’t be silly – there can’t be.”The Browns first met Paddington on a railway station – Paddington station, in fact. He had travelled all the way from Darkest Peru with only a jar of marmalade, a suitcase and his hat.The Browns soon find that Paddington is a very unusual bear. Ordinary things – like having a bath, travelling underground or going to the seaside become quite extraordinary, if a bear called Paddingt...

A stunning edition of this modern classic of World War One, featuring an introduction by the author and insightful testimonies from soldiers.Told in the voice of Private Tommo Peaceful, the story follows twenty-four hours at the front, and captures his memories of his family and his village life – by no means as tranquil as it appeared.Full of vivid detail and engrossing atmosphere, leading to a dramatic and moving conclusion, Private Peaceful is both a compelling love stor...

Illustrations in this ebook appear in vibrant full colour on a full colour ebook device, and in rich black and white on all other devices.Narnia… where Talking Beasts walk… where a witch waits… where a new world is about to be born.On a daring quest to save a life, two friends are hurled into another world, where an evil sorceress seeks to enslave them. But then the lion Aslan's song weaves itself into the fabric of a new land, a land that will be known as Narnia. And in Na...

A coded warning sends Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to a country retreat, where they follow a perplexing trail of clues to unmask a murderer — and to break the stranglehold of a terrorist cult. In this, the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel, Doyle is at his storytelling best.