‘The rope hung from top to bottom of his dream. The rope hung softly, saying nothing, doing nothing. Then the rope began to swing very softly, very gently... towards him.’The need to face your fears; the comedy of family life; the pressure of others’ expectations… Intense experiences of childhood are vividly brought to life in these eight atmospheric tales.A gripping collection of short stories from award-winning author Philippa Pearce.

When his brother catches measles, Tom is sent away for the summer to stay with his uncle and aunt and is thoroughly fed up about it. What a boring summer it's going to be. But then, lying in bed one night, he hears the old grandfather clock in the hall strike the very strange hour of 13 o'clock. What can it mean? As Tom creeps downstairs and opens the door, he finds out...a magical garden, a new playmate, and the adventure of a lifetime.

When Bet is first asked to go into the meadow to read aloud - apparently to no one - she wonders why. To her surprise, her audience is a little mole. But no ordinary mole. This is a mole who can speak, is over 300 years old, and has an incredible tale to tell. So begins an enchanting tale of deep secrets, extraordinary magic, and beautiful friendship between Bet and the Little Gentleman in Black Velvet.

Kate Tranter is fatherless - or is she? The evidence of the tombstone she finds in the churchyard seems conclusive. And yet... The tombstone disappears and Kate is left with a mystery about which her family either knows nothing or will tell nothing. Her search for the truth leads her to Sattin Shore: and the way to Sattin Shore turns out to be a way into the past. Her two elder brothers, her grandmother, her new friend Anna and her missing father all have a part to play in Kate’s search to fit the jigsaw pieces of past and present to find a new picture for the future.

When Father is taken away unexpectedly, Roberta, Peter, Phyllis and their mother have to leave their comfortable life in London to go and live in a small cottage in the country. The children seek solace in the nearby railway station and make friends with Perks the Porter and the Station Master himself. Each day, Roberta, Peter and Phyllis run down the field to the railway track and wave at the passing London train, sending their love to Father. Little do they know that the kindly old gentleman passenger who waves back holds the key to their father's disappearance.

Young Robinson Crusoe has a burning ambition to be a sailor. Paying no attention to his parent's warnings he runs away to sea to embark on an extraordinary series of adventures: struggles with Barbary pirates, a shipwreck and the extraordinary meeting with Man Friday. Roy Marsden plays the older Robinson Crusoe looking back on a life of recklessness, daring and adventure - and the survival of 28 years, two months and 19 days on a desert island.

No one can fail to be captivated by the swashbuckling piracy of Treasure Island. Having outwitted a band of pirates to obtain a map disclosing the whereabouts of Captain Flint's treasure, Young Jim sets sail for Treasure Island. But the crew of the Hispaniola are not what they seem. Revealing themselves as another gang of cut throats, led by the villainous Long John Silver, they are hell-bent on seizing both the ship and the treasure. Will they succeed?

Told from four-year-old Laura's point of view, this story begins in 1871 in a little log cabin on the edge of the Big Woods of Wisconsin. Laura lives in the little house with her pa, her ma, her sisters Mary and Carrie, and their trusty dog, Jack. Pioneer life is sometimes hard for the family, since they must grow or catch all their own food as they get ready for the cold winter. But it is also exciting as Laura and her family celebrate Christmas with homemade toys and treats, do the spring planting, bring in the harvest, and make their first trip into town.

A rather mysterious old clergyman is dead, and his daughter, 16-year-old Athene is desolate. A beauty, she is also lonely and living a fantasy life. Athene’s mother dispatches her to spend the holidays with assorted friends and relatives. And for Athene that golden summer after the funeral becomes delicious fodder for her fantasy.

There used to be an empty chair at the back of my class, but now a new boy called Ahmet is sitting in it. He's nine years old (just like me), but he's very strange. He never talks and never smiles and doesn't like sweets - not even lemon sherbets, which are my favourite! But the truth is, Ahmet really isn't very strange at all. He's a refugee who's run away from a war. A real one. With bombs and fires and bullies that hurt people. And the more I find out about him, the more I want to be his friend.

On a volcanic island, in the middle of shark-infested waters, stands the Cruel School. The lessons are appalling, the school dinners are revolting and the teachers are terrifying - especially the mysterious science teacher Doctor Doktur. When Larker is sent to the school, she quickly realises something very odd is going on...something involving Doctor Doktur, a pair of strange spectacles, and a ‘Monsterfication Machine’. And, ultimately, she finds herself face to face with a real life Megamonster.

When a stray dog walks into a sleepy Chiltern village, she touches the lives of many people there, but can she help the recently widowed Alfie Ellis, who has been living a kind of half life since the loss of his wife of 43 years?

Clarence and Bernadette Malcolm have come five thousand miles in search of prosperity, but find the Mother Country not at all as has been promised them; Solly and Dora Lazarus, too, are strangers in a strange land, struggling to belong even as they try to make sense of their past; and Michael and Mary Lockhart take with both hands all that the world owes them, wherever it leads them, whatever the cost.

Louis is a trumpeter swan, but he has no voice. Though he is frightened when his father explains to him that he is different from the other cygnets, Louis is resourceful and determined. Leaving his wild and beautiful home, he finds a young human friend, Sam Beaver, who helps him learn to read and write. When he returns to his lake, Louis discovers his education isn't enough: the beautiful swan he loves, Serena, can't read his declarations of love - and he can't trumpet them.

Dear Diary...Bess, George, and I are actually in Alaska! Everywhere you look, there are massive mountains and sparkling, deep-blue waters. We're on the maiden voyage of the Arctic Star luxury cruise ship, and my old friend, Becca Wright, the assistant cruise director, needs our help. She received threatening emails before even setting sail; then a bloody body turned up in the swimming pool.