Return to the magic of THE RAILWAY CHILDREN in this heartwarming sequel by Lou Kuenzler. In the depths of WWII, 12-year-old Edie is nervous at the prospect of being sent to live with an unknown aunt whilst her mother flies planes for the ATA. Aunt Roberta welcomes Edie with open arms, but does a dark secret lurk at the heart of the village?

Sit back and enjoy the journey! Phoebe Robinson loves making up stories - just like her wonderful, imaginative Dad. When he mysteriously disappears, Phoebe, Perry, Becks and their mum must leave everything behind and move to a small cottage in the middle of nowhere. Struggling to feel at home and missing her Dad terribly, Phoebe's only distraction is her guinea pig Daisy. Until the family discover the thrilling steam trains at the railway station and suddenly, every day is filled with adventure. But Phoebe still can't help wondering, what is Mum hiding and more worryingly is Dad okay? A captivating reimagining of The Railway Children from the award-winning, bestselling, beloved Jacqueline Wilson.

When their father is sent away to prison, three London children move to the country where they keep busy preventing accidents on the nearby railway, making many new friends, and generally learning a good deal about themselves.

Sometimes being true to yourself is the most bewitching magic of all! This young middle-grade series is hilarious, enchanting, and filled with mischief! Perfect for fans of The Worst Witch! Bella Broomstick is a terrible witch. She doesn't have nose hair or warts. Her magic wand never does what she wants it to do. And she's obsessed with things no good witch would ever need...like toothbrushes, fluffy slippers, and a pink flamingo pen. So it's really not a surprise when Bella fails the Creepy Castle School entrance exam. Aunt Hemlock sends her to live with a nice family and warns her that magic is forbidden! It turns out that living with non-magical parents means all kinds of fun new things--like eating ice cream instead of frog spawn porridge and taking hot bubble baths instead of washing in a swamp. Bella can totally give up magic to live here . . . unless there's a really good reason to try a spell. This hilarious series starter features a reluctant witch, a lost kitten, and a fun look at our world through the eyes of an outsider. When Bella follows her heart, making magic is easy!

Imagine being one of the most well-loved children’s authors of all time, yet your readers don’t know if you’re a man or a woman. Or even your real name. E. Nesbit is really Edith Nesbit, who wrote an extraordinary 98 novels, plays and poetry collections for children and adults between 1885 and 1923. She is credited as the first modern writer for children whose work has influenced authors from Oscar Wilde to C.S. Lewis, Noël Coward to J.K. Rowling. Even though it was published more than 100 years ago, The Railway Children remains one of the most popular children’s books ever written and it has never been out of print. But for Edith, the truth of her life is stranger than her fiction – and it’s a truth she was keen to hide from the public. Edith’s father died when she was four, resulting in a peripatetic childhood across Europe. At 21 years old she was seven months’ pregnant when she married a penniless libertine who became a famous journalist, Hubert Bland. Together as early socialists they were founding members of the Fabian Society, from which the Labour Party has its foundations. A Bohemian and an eccentric, Edith became a mother of five children – two of whom she adopted in secret after her husband had an affair with a close friend (who subsequently lived with them as their housekeeper). It was shortly after the sudden death of her beloved son that Edith wrote her first bestseller in 1899, a groundbreaker that dramatically changed the course of children’s literature. On the eve of World War I, Edith’s husband died and she married a captain of the Woolwich Ferry. A cheerful cockney sparrow, Tommy Tucker proved to be Edith’s unwitting romantic hero who loved and cherished her until she died in near-poverty on the Romney Marshes of Kent.

Suitable for younger learners Word count 9,295

A new chance to follow the lives of Roberta, Phyllis, and Peter as they relocate to the country and make friends with station guard Perks, in a lovely retelling of the old favorite written for children by E. Nesbit in the early 20th Century. Sapphire/Band 16 books offer longer reads to develop children's sustained engagement with texts and are more complex syntactically.

Do you think vegetables are yucky? Just wait until you see what Monty the Monster has on his plate! Monty definitely does NOT want to eat his people. He'll eat his vegetables - every single one! - but he will not eat his people. This hilarious tale of fussy eating in the Monster household is guaranteed to get children giggling. 'In a funny twist on the picky eater story, this is a lighthearted way of broaching the tricky 'eat your vegetables' issue! ... my little little boy absolutely loved it and wanted to hear it again and again!' - The Bookbag

Three children, forced to alter their comfortable lifestyle when their father is taken away by strangers, move to a simple country cottage near a railway station where their days are filled with adventure.