Showing results by author "Hilary McKay" in All Categories

From the Costa Award-winning author Hilary McKay, comes a moving World War II story of family and friendship on opposite sides of a devastating conflict. The Swallows' Flight is the stunning companion novel to The Skylarks' War. 'It’s not necessary to have read The Skylarks’ War (though many...

After Saffron discovers that she's adopted, life is never quite the same. Her artistic parents and doting siblings adore her, but Saffy wants a piece of her past. So when her grandfather bequests her a stone angel—a relic from the childhood she never knew—Saffy knows she has to find it. Realising that Siena holds the key, she stows away on a car trip to Italy. The rest of the family are engaged in their own wacky projects.

Cadmium Casson is 12 years old the summer that everything changes. Not only are her closest friendships in jeopardy, but her mum is expecting a baby. And when the baby arrives early, Caddy's world turns upside down. Her mother spends all her time at the hospital, and her father takes over the household, which of course turns into one chaotic (though hilarious) crisis after the next. When her charmingly dense boyfriend dumps her, Caddy is at her wits' end. Then she discovers that the fragile baby she is so afraid of losing is not an ending, but a beginning for her whole family.

In The Duck in the Park, Lulu finds a duck egg that has rolled out of its nest and takes it to class to keep it safe. Pets aren’t allowed at school, but surely this doesn’t count? After all, it’s just an egg.... In The Dog from the Sea, she goes on holiday and finds a dog living on the beach. Everyone in town thinks the dog is trouble. But Lulu is sure he just needs a friend... In The Cat in the Bag, a mysterious bag is left on Lulu’s doorstep. The last thing her nan expects to be in it is a huge, marigold-coloured cat. But Lulu knows that this cat needs a lovely new home.

Charlie and Henry are staying the night at Charlie's house. They've made a deal - but the night doesn't go quite as Charlie plans...

In The Great Escape, Charlie's fed up with his family, so he's decided to run away. But running away means being quiet.

It's Valentines Day and everything's changing in the Casson household. Indigo sets out to do something special to win over Sarah and ends up organising the Valentines Day disco and playing cupid. Saffy has a strange new boyfriend who teaches her all about the stars. Sarah falls very ill—when she can no longer laugh it off Saffy gets scared. And Caddy has fallen in love and is getting married...but not to Michael. With a wedding to plan everything's a little crazier than usual in the Casson household.

With her awful secondhand uniform and stuck-up classmates, Binny's new school is horrible. And life gets even worse when a storm damages the roof of her house, forcing Binny and her family to move to the countryside whilst it's being fixed. Binny; her sensible older sister, Clem; and her rambunctious brother, James (and his chickens) begin adjusting to life in the country. Then one of James' beloved chickens vanishes, and Binny finds strange footprints in the mud. What kind of creature is lurking in the undergrowth?

When Ruth Conroy decides to sponsor a child in Africa, she is unprepared for just how difficult it is to find 10 pounds per month. As any sister's next step would be, Ruth enlists the help of Phoebe, Naomi and Rachel. All too eager to help their sister, the four girls work together to come up with multiple hare-brained, fundraising schemes that are a bit too mischievous to be fruitful. From undisciplined babysitters to unhygienic caterers and fraudulent pavement artists, the Conroy sisters' hilarious projects never fail to cause chaos and mayhem.

Rose knows that nothing stays the same forever. Still, it's hard to watch her sisters and brother growing up and moving so far ahead of her. Caddy is back, but she's not living at home. And worse—she's broken up with Darling Michael. Saffy and Indigo are so busy, they are seldom home. With her father in London and her mother painting in the shed, Rose is often alone in the house. Maybe that's why she agrees to her new friend Molly's crazy scheme. At least it seems crazy when Rose finds herself locked in the zoo at night with a roaring tiger.

Award-winning Hilary McKay brings the childhood of Victorian heroine Grace Darling to life in this heartfelt reimagining of her life up to and including the Forfarshire shipwreck. Grace Darling nearly drowned when she was eight years old, leaving her with a fear of boats and the sea. But it’s...

Charlie has given up cheese and onion crisps! He just hasn't been himself lately. There's only one thing for it - the Truly Amazing Smarties Trick! .... And Charlie's big brother Max isn't scared of anything...except Aunt Emma's spooky house. At last it's Charlie's chance to be the hero. Those ghosts had better watch out! Two more irresistibly funny Charlie stories from award-winning author Hilary McKay.

Simon Percy's parents went up in a hot-air balloon when he was six weeks old. It's now his 10th birthday, and they still haven't returned! Simon is dreading the new school term, but the arrival of an unconventional new teacher cheers him up.

Saffron's two sisters, Cadmium and Rose, and her brother Indigo were all named from a color chart by their mother Eve, a fine-arts painter. When Saffron, known as Saffy, discovers that her name is not on the chart, it soon leads to another discovery. She has been adopted. Life in the Banana...

Nie um einen Einfall verlegen! Neues von den vier verrückten Schwestern. Heimlich hat Ruth, die älteste der vier verrückten Schwestern, die Patenschaft für einen Jungen in Afrika übernommen. Eigentlich muss man dafür schon achtzehn sein, aber sie hat im Antrag eine Drei geschrieben, die wie eine Acht aussieht. Als es dann aber darum geht, jeden Monat zehn Pfund für das Patenkind aufzubringen, braucht Ruth die Hilfe ihrer Schwestern Naomi, Rachel und Phoebe.

When Robin Brogan comes down with chicken pox, he doesn't think it's really so terrible. After all, it gets him out of acting in the school play. And since his best friend Dan also has spots, they are staying together at Robin's house in England overlooking the ocean. When the hours begin to drag, Robin's mother tells stories about a wonderful summer she spent in their shoreline house.

Here are two of a series of stories about the riotous children who live in Paradise House.

Abi and her two step-brothers, Max and Louis, find that strange things happen when they are alone in their eerie, ivy-covered new house. Abi, reading alone, finds herself tumbling deep into books, while Louis summons a startling guest through his bedroom window. Even Max has started to see shapes in the shadows....Their busy parents see none of it - but Louis' secret visitor is growing too alarming to keep secret, and he finds he cannot manage without Max and Abi's help. Can they find out where the mysterious creature has come from - and how to get it back there?