Magical mayhem and hilarity ensue when a clever little witch tries to turn her baby brother into a goldfish in this funny and imaginative picture book about sibling rivalry. Little Linh is the cleverest little witch on Mãi Mãi island. She has everything she could need: a trusty broomstick, a powerful spell book, and a magical pet mouse. She also has a new brother named Baby Phu, and she does not like him one bit. He crashes her broomstick, eats pages out of her spell book, and keeps her up all night. Little Linh tried giving Baby Phu away, but nobody will take him, not even the Orphanage for Lost and Magical Creatures. So, she’ll just have to try something else…like turning him into a goldfish. The only problem is, Baby Phu ate the second half of the spell. Still, there’s a reason Little Linh is the cleverest little witch. She can guess the second half of the spell…but it might take a few tries.
Lizzy finds a suitcase standing in front of her witch’s house. She’d love to know what’s inside it. But no matter how often she repeats the magic spell, the little suitcase remains closed! Lizzie is going to need to use all of her clever tricks if she wants to find out what's inside.
On the far side of town, in a big, dark, house, lives a brave little witch. She has heard lots and lots about those scary humans and a holiday they call Halloween, but she has never even seen Halloween for herself. Until one very special Halloween comes along… Perfect for trick-or-treaters of all ages, A Very Brave Witch makes for a playful read-aloud that takes the scariness out of the holiday.
CLEVER POLLY AND THE STUPID WOLF by Catherine Storr has twelve stories written for the author's daughter, who was scared of the wolf under the bed! Drawing occasionally on well-known fairy tales, and skillfully blending fantasy and reality, these stories are bursting with humour, originality and charm. And Polly, not scared at all, outwits the wolf on each and every occasion! There is a sequel called POLLY AND THE WOLF AGAIN, also published in the A Puffin Book series of children's modern classics.
A little monster discovers that true terribleness can come in a very tiny package in this bold, funny exploration of sibling rivalry. Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who’s the most terrible one of all? Every morning, Smugg’s magic mirror tells him that he’s the most terrible monster there is. Until one day, when the mirror tells him there’s an even worse monster, right next door! More terrible than Smugg? How can that be? When Smugg marches next door, he learns that his neighbors have a new baby. She doesn’t look so bad—after all, she’s tiny. Smugg is sure he can be more terrible than she is. But the little beast is just getting started. She writes on the walls, devours the books, and—oh no!—she won’t stop crying. But the worst part is that she just might be getting attached to Smugg himself! He wouldn’t want a terrible tiny baby clinging to him…would he?
Communists vilified her as a raging neurotic. Leftists dismissed her as a confused idealist. Her family pitied her as an exploited lover. Some said she was a traitor, a stooge, a mercenary and a grandstander. To others she was a true American heroine—fearless, principled, bold and resolute. Congressional committees loved her. The FBI hailed her as an avenging angel. The Catholics embraced her. But the fact is, more than half a century after she captured the headlines as the "Red Spy Queen," Elizabeth Bentley remains a mystery. New England-born, conservatively raised, and Vassar-educated, Bentley was groomed for a quiet life, a small life, which she explored briefly in the 1920s as a teacher, instructing well-heeled young women on the beauty of Romance languages at an east coast boarding school. But in her mid-twenties, she rejected both past and future and set herself on an entirely new course. In the 1930s she embraced communism and fell in love with an undercover KGB agent who initiated her into the world of espionage. By the time America plunged into WWII, Elizabeth Bentley was directing the operations of the two largest spy rings in America. Eventually, she had eighty people in her secret apparatus, half of them employees of the federal government. Her sources were everywhere: in the departments of Treasury and Commerce, in New Deal agencies, in the top-secret OSS (the precursor to the CIA), on Congressional committees, even in the Oval Office. When she defected in 1945 and told her story—first to the FBI and then at a series of public hearings and trials—she was catapulted to tabloid fame as the "Red Spy Queen," ushering in, almost single-handedly, the McCarthy Era. She was the government’s star witness, the FBI’s most important informer, and the darling of the Catholic anti-Communist movement. Her disclosures and accusations put a halt to Russian spying for years and helped to set the tone of American postwar political life. But who was she? A smart, independent woman who made her choices freely, right and wrong, and had the strength of character to see them through? Or was she used and manipulated by others? Clever Girl is the definitive biography of a conflicted American woman and her controversial legacy. Set against the backdrop of the political drama that defined mid-twentieth century America, it explores the spy case whose explosive domestic and foreign policy repercussions have been debated for decades but not fully revealed—until now.
Meet the original Worst Witch in this brand-new hardback edition of a much-loved magical classic. A perfect gift for all Dorrie fans. When Dorrie is home alone one day, she decides to have a tea party with Gink the cat. But there’s a knock on the door and it’s the bad Blue Witch! Dorrie is in trouble, but with a bit of help from Cook’s magic cabinet, can she capture the Blue Witch in time? Also available to collect in these new hardback editions: Dorrie and the Wizard's Spell.
"It's back to school for the Picky Little Witch. She'll need a jar of red newts' eyes, boxes of toads for spell practice, and a black cauldron. But when she and Mama Witch head for Witches R' Us, the battles begin over which items Mama recommends and which items the Picky Little Witch really wants"--
