Dick King-Smith – författare

A tale loved by many from one of Britain's best-known authors, this wonderful new edition of The Sheep-Pig comes with a delightful introduction by Michael Morpurgo.The Sheep-Pig is one of Dick King-Smith's most famous tales. It shot to further fame when the film adaptation, Babe, was released in 1995.'Why can't I learn to be a Sheep-Pig?'When Babe, the little orphaned piglet, is won at a fair by Farmer Hogget, he is adopted by Fly, the kind-hearted sheep-dog. Babe is determined to learn everything he can from Fly. He knows he can't be a sheep-dog. But maybe, just maybe, he might be a sheep-pig.'An unexpectedly thrilling, funny charmer of a book' - Guardian'Dick King-Smith is a huge favourite with children' - Observer***Winner of the Guardian Fiction Award***Dick King-Smith served in the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War, and afterwards spent twenty years as a farmer in Gloucestershire, the country of his birth. Many of his stories are inspired by his farming experiences. He wrote a great number of children's books, including The Sheep-Pig (winner of the Guardian Award and filmed as Babe), Harry's Mad, Noah's Brother, The Queen's Nose, Martin's Mice, Ace, The Cuckoo Child and Harriet's Hare (winner of the Children's Book Award in 1995). In 2009 he was made an OBE for services to children's literature. Dick King-Smith died in 2011 at the age of eighty-eight.

The story begins with a mysterious egg washed up on a Scottish beach, the morning after a great storm. Kirstie and her brother Angus find the egg and take it home. The next day it has hatched into a tiny greeny-grey creature with a horse's head, warty skin, four flippers and a crocodile's tail. The baby sea monster soon becomes the family pet - but the trouble is, it just doesn't stop growing!

From the king of animal stories for children and one of the national's most beloved writers, a very funny and heart-warming story. Harry isn't very pleased when he inherits a parrot from Great-Uncle George, but Maddison is no ordinary parrot. Not only can he talk, but you can have conversations with him and he and Harry quickly become great friends - but then Maddison is stolen ... Will he and Harry ever be reunited?

Poppet is a little African elephant. When he is born, his mother warns him against mice because they run up elephants' trunks. Poppet spends some time asking various creatures if they are mice and then, to his horror, one of them says 'Yes'. However, Momo the mouse persuades Poppet that he's been told an old wives' tale and the two become friends. Poppet's mother is horrified but is won over in the end by Momo's eloquence.

The great thing about being 75 years old is that you can wear your slippers everywhere - Percy Sloggett wears his in the garden and to the shops as well as in the house. In time his battered old slippers need to be replaced and he gets something of a surprise when he discovers that his new pair are magic. They make him feel years younger and also make him strong and clever. Percy is desperate to tell someone his secret and so tells his friend's grand-daughter, Lollie - for of course children understand magic better than adults do. Percy's slippers turn out to be life-savers as they enable him to leap across the road to save Lollie from being knocked over by a car.

Laurence Higgins, an enormously fat black cat, has breakfast with Mrs Higgins, lunch with the Normans, tea with old Mr Mason and supper with the Barclay-Lloyds. None of them know why he is so fat on just one meal a day! Lawrence is happy until he finds the walking from house to house tiring and begins to get indigestion. His friends tell him to lose weight if he wants a girl friend so he begins to spend one day in four with all his owners. He gets thinner but the cat he fancies down the road tells him she doesn't like slim boys - she's lost her heart to an enormously fat black cat she used to see up the road! Triumphantly Lawrence returns to his four meals a day, spurred on by the thought of meeting Bella when he's back to his normal size.

Dick King-Smith, creator of 'Babe the Sheep-Pig', presents the cleverest guinea pig in the world!Judy's classmates snigger when she claims guinea pigs are brainy. But, when her guinea pigs have a baby son, she decides to call him Jenius and train him to prove her point. Soon he can do all kinds of clever tricks, and Judy can't wait to show him off at school. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

Dumpling wishes she was long and sausage-shaped like her two brothers and other dachshunds, instead of being short and stumpy. One day she goes to the woods and meets a witch's cat who grants Dumpling her wish, but the spell goes wrong and Dumpling gets longer and longer! She's very happy to return to her own shape again.

When Mr and Mrs Bone go down with the Titanic, their six children are left on their own. Binnie, the eldest at 17, stands her ground against well-meaning relatives and says she will bring up the family. And for the next four years she runs the Edwardian household, looking after her brothers and sisters, and starting a gentle romance with the vicar. Then the First World War breaks out and Binnie's two elder brothers and her sweetheart all volunteer - but not all of them come home.

When Farmer Buzzard's collie, Kay, has four puppies, he doesn't know what to do. Three are fine puppies which he can sell, but the fourth is the ugliest puppy ever. No one wants to buy him and, as he grows, it becomes clear he'll never make a sheepdog - and he certainly isn't house-trained! Farmer Buzzard is too kind-hearted to get rid of Smasher, and eventually, when a burglar calls, the big dog has a chance to prove his worth.

A very funny family story written by one of the nation's most beloved writers for childrenLaura is amazed when her baby brother George starts talking to her when he's only four weeks old, particularly as he sounds like a grown-up! It's a big secret to keep from their parents and the rest of the family and leads to all sorts of comic confusion until George's first birthday - when he makes a speech to his startled family.'Dick King-Smith is a huge favourite with children' - Observer

A heart-warming animal story from the master storyteller, Dick King-Smith.Flora was born on the first day of term in the new school year, which might be why she's a very special mouse indeed - a mouse who has taught herself to read!Flora lives in a classroom, and is determined to learn all sorts of things that no mouse has ever learned before. Her family is horrified at first, but then Flora's reading saves their lives ...

A very funny animal story by one of the nation's most beloved children's writers.Magnus is so big and so hungry that his parents have to find extra food for him. But perhaps pig-fattening pills weren't quite the right thing as Magnus grows and grows and becomes a huge, fearless mouse, a real Power Mouse! But as Magnus grows, so do the problems he faces...

Fitzherbert's mother is a goose, but his father was a swan - which makes him a swoose! As Fitzherbert grows up he decisdes he wants to fly and he wants to meet his father. His search begins, but what he finds is fame and fortune of a most unexpected kind.

'T. rex! T. rex! Run!'The terrible Tyrannosaurus rex is scaring all the dinosaur families that live on the Great Plain. Nosy, the little pterodactyl, and his great friend Banty, the apatosaurus, agree that T. rex has got to be stopped. But how?Luckily Nosy has a plan ...

'If only that horrible cat didn't live here!'When Beaumont Robinson, an inquisitive young mouse, is nearly killed by the cat, his family decide there is only one thing to do. They must emigrate! And so they all set out on a midnight adventure to find a new house.A delightful story with a truly engaging mouse hero - just right for new readers of 7+. Ben Cort's illustrations are tremendous fun.

Farmer Skint has no luck on his farm until one day his goose lays a golden egg, which hatches out into a golden gosling. From that moment on, Farmer Skint is a lucky man. As the bird gets older, her golden feathers turn to ordinary white, but the first egg she lays is a golden one.

Two of Dick King Smith's finest animal stories in one package!In The Invisible Dog a little girl tries to satisfy her yearning for a dog by introducing an imaginary Great Dane called Henry to the house. Then her wish comes true and she is allowed a real Henry - but there's more than a hint that old Mrs Garrow, with her cackling laugh and black cat, may have had something to do with it...In The Sheep-Pig Farmer Hoggett thinks the piglet he wins at the fair is just one to be fattened up for the freezer until his old sheepdog, Fly, takes Babe under her wing and starts to train him to be a sheepdog too. Babe's methods are unconventional but successful and he wins the Grand Challenge Trials by being polite to his flock of sheep.

'This book demonstrates everything that is good about writing for children. It is a book of love, trust and wonder thoroughly recommended to adults and young people alike' - Carousel Bestselling author Dick King-Smith creates a fascinating picture of rural life at the time of the Second World War.Discovered as a foundling in a lambing pen, Spider Sparrow grows up surrounded by animals. From sheep and horses to wild otters and foxes, Spider loves them all, even the crows he must scare away from the newly sown wheat. Crowstarving is the ideal job for Spider - he is on his own, yet never alone for all around him are animals of one sort or another. Amazingly, every animal who meets Spider implicitly trusts the young boy. This magical rapport is Spider's unique gift, but nothing else in his tough life is so easy.

The 35th anniversary of The Hodgeheg - a timeless classic tale for young children from the master of animal stories, Dick King-Smith. Includes an author profile and interview, and fun facts.'Sparkling humour and wonderful characters are Dick King-Smith's trademarks' - Books for Your ChildrenMax is a hedgehog who lives with his family in a nice little home, but it's on the wrong side of the road from the Park where there's a beautiful lily pond and plenty of juicy slugs, worms and snails!The busy road is dangerous but Max is determined to make his way across. If humans can do it, why can't hedgehogs? His first attempt ends in a nasty bump on the head and, when Max tries to speak, he realises his words are all mixed up. He is no longer a hedgehog but a hodgeheg! Still determined to fulfil his mission, Max discovers the best way to cross the road - with the help of the lollipop lady and some careful detective work . . .

Harmony's uncle sends her on a treasure trail - which disappointingly ends in her finding a 50p piece. But the coin is a magic one, and when you rub the queen's nose, your wishes will come true!From the bestselling master of funny animal stories, Dick King-Smith, author of The Sheep-Pig, The Hodgeheg, The Invisible Dog and many more much-loved adventures.

Flightless, helpless and often, more than a little silly, chickens are no match for the cunning, merciless foxes stalking their coop. Or are they?Thanks to a careless farmer and generations of determined foxes, the chickens on Foxearth Farm have evolved into quick-witted, long-legged, high flying fox dodgers. Then, just a week after a vicious fox ambush in the water trough, three sisters are hatched. And Ransome, Sims and Jefferies are no ordinary chicks: they grow up determined to fight back. They are the legendary Fox Busters . . .From the number one author for animal magic comes this wonderful new edition of a much-loved classic.

A little girl who desperately wants a dog introduces an imaginary Great Dane called Henry into her home. Her wish comes true when she is allowed a real Henry. Was neighbour Mrs Garrow, with her cackling laugh and black cat, responsible for her wish coming true?From the number one author for animal magic comes a wonderful new edition of this much loved classic.

Unlike most kittens, Martin doesn't like eating mice - let alone catching them. When he catches one by mistake he decides to keep it as a pet and soon Drusilla the mouse is established in an old bath tub in the attic. Martin is kept busy getting food, water, bedding - and then Drusilla's babies start to arrive. How can Martin cope with all his mice?From the number one author of animal magic comes this wonderful new edition of Martin's Mice.

In this collection of stories you will meet a guinea-pig that can do clever tricks, the Queen's favourite Corgi pup, a secret mouse hiding in a tree-house, a chick that wants to be a duck AND you'll learn how to look after all kinds of pets!A delightful anthology from the master of animal adventures Dick King-Smith, featuring a never-before-published story.

'Sparkling humour and wonderful characters are Dick King-Smith's trademarks' - Books for Your ChildrenAn exciting new publication in celebration of the centenary of his birth, a recently discovered funny and poignant animal story by Dick King-Smith, completed by his great granddaughter, Josie Rogers.Ambrose may seem like an ordinary rabbit but he has the most extraordinary sense of smell. He can detect any aroma from sweets to kittens - and even niffy foxes!He lives with his family in a hutch and is visited every day by Biddy, who is desperate to take him home to be her pet - if only her mum and dad would let her. Biddy trains Ambrose to become a tracker rabbit - which comes in very handy when Ambrose's little sister Roly goes missing. But when Biddy's family find themselves in real danger, can Ambrose's sensitive nose save the day?

Puffin Classics: the definitive collection of timeless stories, for every child.Rediscover the Puffin Classics collection and bring the best-loved classics to a new generation - including this special 30th anniversary edition of Harriet's Hare.Hares don't talk. Everyone knows that. But the hare Harriet meets in a corn circle on Longhanger Farm is a very unusual hare.'He's a wizard, that's what he is. 'Wiz,' she said.' Wiz is a Partian, native to the distant planet Pars, and not only can he talk, he can speak any language, change into any shape, and even dance! Harriet and Wiz spend the summer galloping around the Farm together, but as his holiday on Earth comes to an end . . .Will Wiz want to go home?