Young Arabel's life is changed forever when her father, a taxi driver, brings home an injured bird he finds in the street. This wacky raven eats everything in sight, answers the telephone by squawking "Nevermore!" and causes chaos wherever he goes--but Arabel loves her new feathered friend, whom she names Mortimer. This is the first volume of Arabel and Mortimer's adventures, brightened with hilarious illustrations by Quentin Blake.

In this silly sequel to Arabel's Raven, Mortimer floats out to sea on a grand piano, tries to get even with three giraffes that have stolen his doughnuts at the zoo, and takes off with King Arthur's sword. Will Arabel ever be able to control her troublemaking pet raven?

Jack is not happy when his family move to the dull suburban town of Curtly Ambrose. But everything changes when Jack finds a feather inside a book. Things go from dull to magic in 60 seconds. Because this is no ordinary feather - this is a magic feather!

Arabel and her notorious raven Mortimer make a welcome return to Puffin Books! When Arabel's father, Ebenezer Jones, drives his taxi home late one night he comes across 'a large black bird, with a hairy fringe around its beak.' He takes it home and from that moment on, life is never the same again for the Jones family. Arabel's raven is called Mortimer - and he's one in amillion. 'Nevermore!' he cries when astonished or upset, 'Down the hatch' he thinks before gobbling bowler hats, stairs, telephones. He dislikes flying except in emergencies, and with disaster-prone Mortimer around there are plenty of those. There are six hilarious escapades in this collection, brought to life by Quentin Blake's wonderfully animated illustrations.

This magical collection of eight gloriously imaginative stories is ideal for bedtime reading. These stories contain a wealth of wonderful characters and ideas, all with the colorful, dreamlike quality of the very best fairy tales. Illustrations.

With Noah the boa using his coils to work the doughnut machine and with the three giraffes tangled upon the spiral stair, Mortimer's first night in a zoo was one to be remembered for a long, long time.

A wonderful anthology of poems to set fire to the imagination. We only have to 'remember, remember the 5th of November' to see a dark night filled with fireworks and bonfires. In their many different ways - through their sounds, rhythms, stories, surprises and jokes - these poems will set the fireworks crackling in our own heads. Michael Morpurgo has brought together poems by writers as diverse as Spike Milligan and Louis MacNeice, Stevie Smith and John Lennon, Jo Shapcott and Lewis Carroll. Once read, they won't be forgotten - some even beg to be learned by heart. This is anthology will form the cornerstone to a lifetime's enjoyment of poetry.

This is the fifth title to be published by Barn Owl about Arabel and her beloved but impossible raven, Mortimer. An enormous hole is being dug in the park and rumour has it that King Arthur's round table is buried there. None of this interests Mortimer however; his fancy has been taken by the giant grass-cutting machine, the LawnSabre. Mortimer finally gets to work the machine but with disastrous consequences for the round table and the sword Excalibur! Another funny and outrageous story about Arabel and Mortimer from Joan Aiken and Quentin Blake.

In this hilarious classic adventure, an innocent boy and his friends must stop a plot to topple the King of England. Simon, the foundling from The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, arrives in London to meet an old friend and pursue the study of painting. Instead he finds himself unwittingly in the middle of a wicked crew’s fiendish caper to overthrow the good King James and the Duke and Duchess of Battersea. With the help of his friend Sophie and the resourceful waif Dido, Simon narrowly escapes a series of madcap close calls and dangerous run-ins. In a time and place where villains do nothing halfway, Simon is faced with wild wolves, poisoned pies, kidnapping, and a wrecked ship. This is a cleverly contrived tale of intrigue and misadventure. Perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket and Roald Dahl “It’s a marvel!” —The New Yorker “A wild yarn, not to be put down once it is started.” —Washington Post “A riot of wildly improbable adventures happening to absurd and loveable characters with Dickensian names in a time that never was . . . Heartrending, hair-raising, rib-tickling, and delightful.” —New York Times