The Firework-Maker's Daughter

A tormented apprentice clock-maker - and a deadly knight in armour. A mechanical prince - and the sinister Dr Kalmenius, who some say is the devil... Wind up these characters, fit them into a story on a cold winter's evening and suddenly life and the story begin to merge - almost like clockwork.

"I was a rat!" So insists Roger. Maybe it's true. But what is he now? A terrifying monster rampaging in the sewers? The Daily Scourge is sure of it. A money-spinning fairground freak? He is to Mr. Tapscrew. A champion wriggler and a downy card? That's what Billy hopes. Or just an ordinary small boy, though a little ratty in his habits? Only three people believe this version of the story. Only one of them knows who Roger really is.

The complete Mr Gum audio collection, read by the author and with music and sound effects. Shabba me whiskers! It’s a bumper box set of stories featuring that old rotter Mr Gum! And not just him - there’s also his trusty sidekick Billy William the Third, the little girl called Polly, the very wise man Friday O’Leary, the gingerbread man named Alan Taylor and the angry fairy who lives in Mr Gum’s bathtub. So step into the weird and wonderful world of Lamonic Bibber for some barking bonkers adventures! 

Fred awoke to find that a snake was watching him and that there was an aeroplane in the trees. It was on fire. Being on fire was a quality it shared with much of the surrounding jungle. After crashing hundreds of miles from civilisation in the Amazon rainforest, Fred, Con, Lila and Max are utterly alone and in grave danger. They have no food, no water and no chance of being rescued. But they are alive, and they have hope. As they negotiate the wild jungle, they begin to find signs that something - someone - has been there before them.

When Lee and his daemon, Hester, land in the Arctic town of Novy Odense, they quickly become embroiled in an out-and-out political brawl. So when Iorek offers to help, Lee is only too happy to accept. Together they take on a slippery politician, his monstrous gas-powered gun and a murderous gunfighter. And so begins a friendship that will continue throughout their lives.

When Michael is washed up on an island in the Pacific after falling from his parents’ yacht, he struggles to survive on his own. He can’t find food and he can’t find water, and as Michael and his dog curl up to sleep, he knows they cannot last long. But he soon realises there is someone close by, someone who is watching over him and helping him to stay alive.

Philip Pullman garnered every accolade with the breathtaking His Dark Materials trilogy. Now he turns his storytelling gifts to one of the most famous of the Arabian Nights tales: Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp. Aladdin is a shiftless good-for-nothing boy until he unwittingly acquires a magic lamp inhabited by a genie - and the adventure that follows both makes his fortune and makes him a man. Pullman tells the tale with his trademark crisp writing and fast-paced action.

Otto isn't an ordinary penguin: he is the first penguin chick to be born that year, which means that it is his job to look after all the other young penguins. But out in the snow and ice of Antarctica there is an awful lot to learn, and Otto has to discover for himself how to swim, dive, and catch fish before he can teach anyone else. And how will he do that when all the grown-ups are too busy to help?

Varjak Paw is a Mesopotamian Blue kitten. He lives high up in an old house on a hill. He's never left home, but then his grandfather tells him about the Way - a secret martial art for cats. Now Varjak must use the Way to survive in a city full of dangerous dogs, cat gangs and, strangest of all the mysterious vanishings.

A lyrical and moving tale of a young boy growing up in Africa, and his lifelong friendship with a white lion. Bertie rescues an orphaned lion cub from the African veld. They are inseparable until Bertie is sent to boarding school far away in England and the lion is sold to a circus. Bertie swears that one day they will see one another again, but it is the butterfly lion which ensures that their friendship will never be forgotten.

Nobody believes Barney when he says he's discovered a boy living wild in the dump. But for Barney, Stig is totally real. They become great friends, learn each other's ways and embark on a series of exciting adventures.

Everyone thinks that Sophie is an orphan. Found floating in a cello case, she is the only recorded female survivor of a shipwreck on the English Channel. But Sophie remembers seeing her mother wave for help… When the child welfare agency threatens to send Sophie to an orphanage, Sophie and her guardian flee to Paris to find her mother, starting with the only clue she has - the address of the cello maker.

Elliot's life is spiralling out of control. He's been suspended from school, his ex-convict dad is useless around the house and his mum's health is worsening. What's more, the gods are determined to forge on with the quest for the third chaos stone. An unlikely, hilarious and heartwarming odyssey begins. But Elliot has heard of a mythical potion rumoured to cure all ills - can he save his mum, even if it means sacrificing the fate of the world?

Elliot's mum is ill and his home is under threat, but a shooting star crashes to earth and changes his life forever. The star is Virgo - a young Zodiac goddess on a mission. But the pair accidentally release Thanatos, a wicked death daemon imprisoned beneath Stonehenge, and must then turn to the old Olympian gods for help. After centuries of cushy retirement on earth, are Zeus and his crew up to the task of saving the world - and solving Elliot's problems too?

In over 30 essays, written over 20 years, one of the world's great storytellers meditates on the art of storytelling. Warm, engaging and often amusing collection of writing which offers thoughts on a wide variety of topics, including the origin and composition of Philip's own stories, the craft of writing and the storytellers who have meant the most to Philip. The art of storytelling is everywhere present in the essays themselves, in the instantly engaging tone, the vivid imagery and striking phrases, the resonant anecdotes, the humour and learnedness.