A BBC radio full-cast dramatisation of Ian Serraillier’s classic wartime story.When the Germans march into Poland in 1941, the Balickis’ happy family life is shattered. With their parents taken away by Nazis, Ruth, Edek and Bronia are forced to fend for themselves in the dangerous, war-ravaged city of Warsaw.When Edek is captured too, the girls are desperate. Then they meet orphaned street urchin Jan, who carries with him a talisman of hope: a silver sword ...

Wicked wolves and a grim governess threaten Bonnie and her cousin Sylvia when Bonnie's parents leave Willoughby Chase for a sea voyage. Left in the care of the cruel Miss Slighcarp, the girls can hardly believe what is happening to their once happy home. The servants are dismissed, the furniture is sold, and Bonnie and Sylvia are sent to a prison-like orphan school. It seems as if the endless hours of drudgery will never cease.With the help of Simon the gooseboy and his flock, they...

Flavia, Jonathan, Nubia and Lupus–the four friends from The Thieves of Ostia–sail to the Bay of Naples to spend the summer with Flavia’s uncle, who lives near Pompeii. There they uncover a riddle that may lead them to great treasure.Meanwhile, tremors shake the ground, animals behave strangely, and people dream of impending doom. One of the worst natural disasters of all time is about to happen: the eruption of Mount Vesuvius!This second in a series of Roman myster...

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 ...

The place is Ostia, the port of Rome. Flavia Gemina, a Roman sea captain's daughter, is about to embark on a thrilling adventure. Set in a graveyard, marketplace, and courtyards of a Roman city, this fast-paced mystery paints a vivid picture of the life in ancient times.When the dogs on Flavia's street start dying, she is determined to find out who is killing them--and why. Her investigation leads her to three extraordinary people: Jonathan, her new neighbor; Nubia, an African slav...

The unforgettable tale of an orphan in Victorian London, based on the boy whose plight inspired Dr Barnardo to found his famous children’s homes.When his mother dies, Jim Jarvis is left all alone in London. He is sent to the workhouse but quickly escapes, choosing a hard life on the streets of the city over the confines of the workhouse walls.Struggling to survive, Jim finally finds some friends… only to be snatched away and made to work for the remorselessly cruel Grimy Ni...

Clive King's wonderful classic, Stig of the Dump, is now available to download, read by the brilliant Tony Robinson.Barney is a solitary little boy, given to wandering off by himself. One day he is lying on the edge of a disused chalk-pit when it gives way and he lands in a sort of cave. Here he meets 'somebody with a lot of shaggy hair and two bright black eyes' wearing a rabbit skin and speaking in grunts. He names him Stig. Of course nobody believes Bar...

A heartwarming tale of courage and warmth, set against the backdrop of the second world war, about a cat who survives against the odds."Something's up. Something big too, very big. At school, in the village, whoever you meet, it's all anyone talks about. It's like a sudden curse has come down on us all. It makes me wonder if we'll ever see the sun again."It's 1943, and Lily Tregenze lives on a farm, in the idyllic seaside village of Slapton. Apart from her father being away...

It is the summer of 1868, and Sherlock Holmes is fourteen. On break from boarding school, he is staying with eccentric strangers—his uncle and aunt—in their vast house in Hampshire. When two local people die from symptoms that resemble the plague, Holmes begins to investigate what really killed them, helped by his new tutor, an American named Amyus Crowe. So begins Sherlock's true education in detection, as he discovers the dastardly crimes of a brilliantly sinister villain of exquisitely ...

**“Roald Dahl sometimes shared a tonal kinship with Ogden Nash, and he could demonstrate a verbal inventiveness nearly Seussian…[His] stories work better in audio than in print.” –The New York TimesWhere did Roald Dahl get all of his wonderful ideas for stories?**From his own life, of course! As full of excitement and the unexpected as his world-famous, best-selling books, Roald Dahl's tales of his own childhood are completely fascinating and fiendishly funny. Did ...

From master storyteller Michael Morpurgo comes "Friend or Foe". Evacuated from London, David and Tucky feel like the war is a long way away from their new life in the countryside.From master storyteller Michael Morpurgo comes "Friend or Foe". Evacuated from London, David and Tucky feel like the war is a long way away from their new life in the countryside. Then one night the skyline of the moor is lit up with gun flashes, and the distant crump of bombing miles away brings the war b...

Alex Rider is an orphan turned teen superspy who’s saving the world one mission at a time—from #1 New York Times bestselling author Anthony Horowitz!When Alex Rider crash-lands off the coast of Australia, the Australian Secret Service recruits him to infiltrate one of the ruthless gangs operating across Southeast Asia. Known as snakeheads, the gangs smuggle drugs, weapons, and worst of all, people. Alex accepts the assignment, in partfor the chance to work with his godfather...