The Truth Tie and Other Stories

Barbara Steel-Knowles presents three fun-filled children's tales with captivating illustrations by Simon Knowles.

In The Truth Tie, eight years old Henry tells lots of lies. When some elves see his behaviour, they decide to teach him a lesson!

Four Pairs of Shoes for Ollie follows a group of sea creatures as they swim to the surface and spot some humans. Ollie, the octopus, decides he wants to wear shoes too, but how will he find four pairs?

Finally, in The Glass Slippers, Ellie puts on some magical shoes and finds she can't stop tapping her feet! Follow her on a unique, magical adventure!

The Turkeys Who Had a Happy Christmas

In the depths of winter, turkeys are hatching on the farm. By next Christmas, they will have grown and will be delicious Christmas dinners for lots of people. But Bertie is a very clever turkey, who has learnt a lot. When the lorry carrying Bertie, his friends Tulula and Charlie and the rest of the flock to market overturns, Bertie leads their escape. He has a clever plan to get their freedom. But will it work, or will they end up on the Christmas dinner table?

The Unhappy Clownfish

At some point in our lives we may feel unhappy. This happens to everyone; cats, dogs and even fish.

This is the story of a clownfish called Flo. She travelled the ocean to find happiness. She spoke to all the sea life to find out how they stayed happy, to finally realise happiness is at home.

The Unluckiest Boy in the World

George never seems to be very lucky. Nothing ever seems to go quite right for him. In fact, George believes that he is the unluckiest boy in the world. When his class is involved in a school project involving growing sunflowers and the production of a play called “James and The Giant Sunflower”, which is to be performed in front of all the parents at the summer fair, things seem to go from bad to worse for George. Will he ever be able to beat Ben – good at everything and always the first with his hand up in class? How does Mr. Greenwood, the school caretaker, get involved in George’s fortunes? Will George’s luck ever change?

The Unsung Hero

When the rest of the world was closing, lots of people were scared. Mums and dads worked from their homes, and children began remote learning too.

But what about the little boys and girls, who weren’t yet ready for school, where did they go? What did they do?

There are lots of special places filled with lots of special people too, that remained open for all the boys and girls who are too little and not yet ready for school. These special places and the unsung heroes that work there kept their rooms filled with lots of fun things to do and worked tirelessly supporting the children and their local communities too.

But just like all the front-line heroes, they also kept our families healthy, our environments clean too, and kept food on the tables, with lots of learning too.

But who are these unsung heroes? This book explores how and why teachers go above and beyond for their boys and girls, every day.

The Uppity Wuppity Witch

This is a story about Sonny, Ava and Ryder who venture far into the woods to find magic and intrigue. How are they going to help Ezabella, who is crying, as her magic and spell book have been stolen by the Wubbery Rubbery Goblins. Ezabella cannot remember her spells properly, so she mistakenly puts the stripes of Zebra on Hector the elephant. Meanwhile, Radcliffe the dragon can no longer blow fire. Who are the other animals and creatures of the wood who help them find the magic and spell book? Can the fairies from the Mushroom Village help? Can the wise owl and old man tree help? Will Zebra get back hisstripes? Will Radcliffe the dragon be able to blow fire again? The author, Jacqueline Thom, is a woman who loves bringing happiness and joy to children, and intends to do the same using the magic in this book.

The Very Pretty Plan

Princess Ivy is smart and determined and in no mood to be rescued!

Together with the llama-riding, brainbox, Prince Professor Peter, they are about to change history forever.

An exciting fairy-tale like no other for the modern princess and prince.

The Watermouse Family

Nan has an accident while baking the pies to sell in the family shop, but little Toby has an idea that saves the day.

The Watermouse Family – Book 2

On Wednesday Daddy usually goes to the woods to collect the fruit for Nan to make the pies for the family shop, but today he is sick. Little Toby wants to help and goes to the woods by himself. While he is there, he learns that friends can come in all shapes and sizes.

The Wild Ones

The stars of this book live all around you. You may not have noticed that cockatoo in your clothesline and realised he has a brilliant military mind. He may be plotting right now how to steal your lunch. And that cute, cuddly-looking possum – he would rather bite your hand than enjoy a tasty treat from you. Watch out! You may not have realised that those magpies in your garden are telling their kids all about you and your family. They know who is good for a feed and who is a dangerous baby magpie killer. Or at least they think they do. They have probably trained your dog and frightened your cat. There are so many characters out there living wild and uncivilised lives, having romances and adventures, teaching their young and protecting them, hiding from you or maybe even trying to make friends with you. Open up this book for a little inside view into their world.

The ‘Peanut’ Elephant Company

Páraig De Faoite is an Irish author and Seanachaí, a teller of stories. He has crafted many tales over the years to entertain children or help them to sleep and most of them were created on the spot and only some of them made it into print. This is a rare chance for you to enter this world of fantasy and mystery presented in a unique fashion. His style of writing is extremely unique, such that it has not been seen before. This is also due to his natural and incredible imagination. Each of his stories is beautifully captured by the great skill of the illustrator, who also has an amazing imagination and love for vibrant colours. Here be dragons and trolls and other fey folk to entertain the child within you all. Whether it’s talking flowers, space aliens or a caterpillar with a mind of its own, the common theme in this collection is that of transformation.

Theo’s Ocean Discovery

Theo, an explorer and treasure collector, discovers that his treasure is not quite what it seems. He learns a valuable lesson and understands how the disposal of plastic in the ocean can be devastating.