Showing results by author "Dick King-Smith" in All Categories

Ambrose may seem like an ordinary rabbit, but he has the most extraordinary sense of smell. He can detect any aroma from sweets to kittens - and even niffy foxes! He lives with his family in a hutch and is visited every day by Biddy, who is desperate to take him home to be her pet - if only her mum and dad would let her. Biddy trains Ambrose to become a tracker rabbit - which comes in very handy when Ambrose's little sister, Roly, goes missing. But when Biddy's family find themselves in real danger, can Ambrose's sensitive nose save the day?

Best known for his best-selling novel, Babe, which was made into a major motion picture, Dick King-Smith draws on his over 14 years of experience on Woodlands Farm to create this thoughtful and humorous memoir. His time on the farm inspired countless stories as well as the numerous lovable characters found in them. In Chewing the Cud, he candidly talks about what moved him to become a children’s author.

Down in Blackberry Bottom lives Miss Slade, a strange – and rather dirty – old lady. The village children think she's a witch. But Patsy and Jim like her and her six dogs, her donkey and other assorted animals. Miss Slade may not be a witch, but she's not what she seems.

The date is AD 1650. Dodos are leading idyllic lives on an island in the Indian Ocean, but soon there will be no dodos anywhere at all on earth. Beatrice and Bertie are happily planning their wedding bliss and thinking of all the dodolings they will produce, unaware of the dangers lurking offshore in the anchored ship. The sea monkeys and rats within are dangerous, mean and hungry, and the unsuspecting dodos are in trouble!

When Ned helps his grandmother clear out her attic, he finds a very unusual Victorian doll – she speaks! Ned and Lady Daisy soon become fast friends, even though he's teased at school for owning a doll. Ned learns to stand up to his father and the school bully in order to protect Lady Daisy. But then the doll is stolen – will Ned ever find her again?

Peter is a young boy, living on a farm. One day, whilst out doing chores for his father, he comes across a strange white stick floating in the stream. He reaches out and catches it - and finds an exciting new friend in the process. Ninnyhammer is the local village simpleton, but Peter knows there's more to him than that - he's a magician and the white stick is his magic wand. Ninnyhammer is so grateful that he starts to help Peter and his family with their struggling farm. But Peter wants to do something for Ninnyhammer in return.

When Brigid sees a tiny carrot moving about in the garden she can't believe her eyes. When the carrot turns out to be a tiny leprechaun, she can't believe her luck. She is the only human who can see him - but where is his pot of gold?

Charlie Muffin breeds mice of every imaginable colour – except green, of course. Everyone knows that mice are never green. But his friend Merry Day really wants to see a green mouse and Charlie Muffin really wants to please Merry Day.

Mary's little brother, Billy, seems perfectly normal, until one moonlit evening Mary finds him floating above his bed. From then on, whenever the full moon rises, Billy the Bird flies up, up and away and home again! In the second story, Jackson is a rabbit with a dream. He spends his days watching the tall sailing ships coming and longs to go to sea, too. So one day Jackson stows away on the Atalanta.

When Teresa Tamworth gives birth to only one female piglet in her litter, it causes a sensation among the animals at the Rare Breeds Survival Centre. Young Triffic's independent and boisterous ways soon arouse the disapproval of the others.

Lubber the dog and Squintum the cat join forces with a racing pigeon and a pretty young Irish setter to search for Lubber's home. All he can remember is that he lives in a cottage below a hillside on which is carved a white horse.

Henrietta Hickthrift decided to run away from home - the Old People's Home. Packing just one small suitcase, she sets off on the train to the seaside. But Henry doesn't have much money. In fact, by the end of her first day she has exactly one penny. That is when she meets the Goods - Angela, Barney, Eleanor, Rosie and Rowley - who decide to adopt this unusual stray. But will their parents let them keep her?

Puffin presents five classic children's stories from master storyteller Dick King-Smith. This collection features tales from the farm yard including Julius Caesar's Goat. Julius Caesar's Goat is the story of how Julius Caesar became the owner of a goat so smelly, the enemy ran away at the merest whiff of him! And then there's Caesar's girlfriend... Queen Cleopatra may be beautiful but she uses Siberian wolf's wee for perfume and rancid donkey milk for bathwater. How can Caesar stand to be near this pungent pair?

When Mr Gray is caught by a cat, Mrs Gray is left alone with her three babies. She remembered her old granny's words, 'The gravest of all mousely sins – is to produce a set of trins!' Trins is another name for triplets, and this is the story of Mrs Gray's boys, Tom, Dick and Harry.

Stand and deliver! Young Tod Golightly is off to find fame and fortune as a highwayman, with help from his four unlikely accomplices: Matilda the wise old donkey, Digby the mastiff, Loudmouth the magpie and a strong-smelling ferret called Evil. A daring robbery makes Tod the terror of the Great West Road, but the Bow Street Runners are hot on his trail...A funny, moving story about a boy and his animal friends, from bestselling author Dick King-Smith.

Look up into the starry sky on the night of the full moon and you'll see...a bird? A plane? No...a little boy! Eight-year-old Mary Bird has discovered a secret: Her four-year-old brother Billy can fly! Floating around his room is bad enough, but when he takes off out an open window, Mary's sure disaster isn't far behind. She may be right!

Puffin presents a collection of magical stories from master storyteller Dick King-Smith.This collection of exciting stories includes The Magic Carpet Slippers! The other brilliant stories included in this collection are: Uncle Bumpo, Philibert the First and The Ghost at Codlin Castle....

From the moment he's left as a foundling in a lambing-pen on Outoverdown Farm, Spider Sparrow is surrounded by animals. Adopted by the kindly shepherd and his wife, Spider comes to know all the farm creatures, including the crows he must scare away from the wheat. Every animal he meets trusts him, and Spider loves them all. It is his unique gift, but nothing else in his life comes so easily...

Long ago, in the cold lands of the North, there lived a troll named Ulf who had a very bad habit he liked to eat fingers! Many, many men, women and children had found their hands a finger short thanks to the razor-sharp teeth of the Finger-eater. And who knows how many more might have suffered the same fate if it hadn't been for the actions of a resolute girl called Gudrun!

With an autobiographical foreword from the author, this collection traces Dick King-Smith's journey from boy to farmer, from soldier to favourite children's author - always in the company of his irrepressible animal friends. From Dodo the film-star Daschund to a cabbage-eating shark; from a night of badger-biffing to a tortie cat with 104 kittens; from the cat who thinks he s one of the dogs to a dog who fosters orphaned kittens...wherever Dick King-Smith goes, curious animals are sure to follow.