Liam just wants to go out running with his mates – it's not long till the Junior Great North Run, and there's training to be done. But Mam needs him today, to help old Harry clear out his house. Harry knows a thing or two about running. When he was a lad, he says, he ran all the way from Newcastle to South Shields. 'But Harry,' says Mam, 'that's 13 miles!' Harry grins. 'Different times,' he says. This is the story of that day: of sweltering heat, clattering boots, briny sea air and the hea...

Lizzie is doing her best to behave normally in the face of her father’s announcement that he is going to put on wings and take part in The Great Human Bird Competition. He is day-dreaming, giggling and clearly needs looking after – but Auntie Doreen has arrived to feed the pair dumplings and keep their feet firmly on the ground. Is Dad’s plan to fly unhinged? Or should we (like Lizzie) have belief, and fly with him into the realms of imagination and creativity – to where a man eats worms, ...

It's nearly Cockenzie Rood Day and Prince Albion wants a grand celebration. But his plans are ruined when he is kidnapped by the terrifying zombie Fiddleduster Squint, who wants to get into the Five Kingdoms. When Squint is refused entry across the magical border he and his creepy shadow go in search of giants with the intention of tricking them into causing all sorts of mayhem. It's a race against time but Gracie Gillypot, Prince Marcus and Gubble the troll manage to get there first and a...

Stanley Potts is just an ordinary boy, but when all the jobs in Fish Quay disappear his Uncle Ernie develops an extraordinary fascination with canning fish. Suddenly their home is filled with the sound of changing machinery and the stench of mackerel, and Uncle Ernie's obsession reaches such heights that he would even can Stan's beloved goldfish! Stan, however, has his own destiny, which leads him – via a hook-a-duck stall – to Pancho Pirelli, the blue-caped madman who swims with piranhas....

Antarctica, June 6th 1998. 23-year-old Matt Lewis has just started his dream job: an observer aboard a deep sea fishing boat. As the crew haul in their lines for the day, the waves seem bigger than usual - they are casting shadows on the deck. A storm is brewing. What follows is an astonishing story of courage and tragedy. Lewis leads the escape onto three life rafts, where the battle for survival begins.

Marcus, Prince of Gorebreath, has a plan – he wants to take Gracie Gillypot on an adventure for her birthday, preferably to see a dragon or two. But then he discovers that there may be a dragon's egg somewhere within the Five Kingdoms and, what's more, it could be due to hatch at any minute! A newly-hatched dragon would be highly dangerous in the wrong hands and the race begins to find the egg before the zombies, werewolves, deep witches and sorcerers get to hear about it. The tiny dragon ...

In this collection of short stories, David Almond takes a series of ordinary lives and makes them extraordinary. A poltergeist is causing havoc in Joe Quinn's house. Slog's dad comes back from the dead to pay his son a visit. God even makes an appearance at the bottom of Cathleen Kelly's garden. These are tales where the everyday becomes touched with magic and the challenges of childhood take on the quality of dreams. The eight stories gathered together in Half a Creature from the Sea are ...

Bert and Betty Brown have got themselves a little angel. Bert found him in his top pocket when he was driving his bus. Bert and Betty's friends think he's lovely. So do Nancy and Jack and Alice from Class 5K. What a wonder! But Acting Head Teacher Mrs Mole is not so sure. Nor is Professor Smellie, or the mysterious bloke in black who claims to be a School Inspector. Then there's Basher Malone – big, lumbering Basher Malone. He REALLY doesn't like Angelino. And it looks like he's out to get...

Paul believes that the moon is not the moon, but is a great hole in the sky. It's one of many strange ideas that he's never told anyone (at school he was told that he had no ideas at all), until he meets Molly, his irrepressible neighbour, who begins to convince him that his theory might just change the world. Helped by a very long ladder, some highly irregular characters, two rather worried parents and a great deal of community spirit, Paul takes to the sky. But his astonishing discovery ...

Blue’s father has died suddenly, and finding that the school’s counselling increases his anguish, instead he turns to writing a story. Ostensibly about a ‘wild boy’ who looks for food – animal or human – to eat, as Almond’s story progresses it becomes increasingly the inner story of Blue himself, wreaking vengeance on the boy who bullies him and taunts him about his father’s death. Almond’s revelations about child grief, as ever, are unsettling, as are McKean’s tortured illustrations, but ...

The Web of Power that keeps the Five Kingdoms safe from evil is under threat. Foyce is determined to destroy it so she can take a terrible revenge on her step-sister, Gracie Gillypot. Meanwhile the five Royal Families are in turmoil. Queen Bluebell is fed up with her tedious grandson, Vincent; Prince Tertius is suffering from the endless nagging of his new wife, Princess Fedora – and on top of everything else there's a big tournament coming up. Things come to a head when Gubble the troll c...

When Dave Heyhoe was sent to Afghanistan to help detect the Taliban's murderous roadside bombs, he knew he'd need a special dog by his side. Luckily for him, his closest pal Treo, a staggeringly brave ball of energy and mischief was with him every step of the way.The two friends had a miraculous understanding that helped them save countless lives but, as they embarked on a roller-coaster emotional ride, Dave realized he needed Treo more than he could ever have imagined.Tear...