A.F. Harrold

Frank thought her summer couldn't get any worse--until big, weird, smelly Nick Underbridge rescues her from a bully, and she winds up at his house. Frank quickly realizes there's more to Nick than meets the eye. When she's at his house, she hears the strangest, most beautiful music, music which leads her to a mysterious, hidden door. Beyond the door are amazing creatures that she never even dreamed could be real. For the first time in forever, Frank feels happy . . . and she and Nick start to become friends. But Nick's incredible secrets are also accompanied by great danger. Frank must figure out how to help her new friend, the same way that he has helped her. Paired with gorgeous black-and-white illustrations from Levi Pinfold, acclaimed author A. F. Harrold weaves a powerful story about unlikely friendship, strange magic, and keeping the shadows at bay.

The Song From Somewhere Else

Rudger, an imaginary playmate, must find his friend Amanda before he fades away to nothing while eluding the only other person who can see him, evil Mr. Bunting, who hunts—and possibly even eats—imaginaries.

The Imaginary

When her best friend, Ness, dies suddenly, Ember finds a way into the Afterworld, determined to bring Ness back.

The Afterwards

From acclaimed writer A.F. Harrold comes a riotous poetry collection that encourages readers to think critically--perfect for fans of Shel Silverstein! Packed with silly rhymes and witty wordplay, A.F. Harrold's poetry is positively bursting with fun--and advice. But it's not always the most useful. . . Never apologize to a door you've walked into, unless it's a really special door. Don't serve a cat soup when the cat wants jelly. Tomato soup won't fill a feline belly. Don't put a rock in a roll, unless you hate having teeth. Among the seemingly nonsensical stanzas on onions, sausages, and kilted koalas are exercises in critical thinking--what advice should readers follow, and what should they dismiss? Harrold's short, clever poems work seamlessly alongside Mini Grey's vibrant art to create visual gags that will have readers in stitches. Both silly and poignant, this book is perfect for curious readers, poets, and cabbages everywhere!

The Book of Not Entirely Useful Advice

A riotous celebration of words and a modern take on cautionary tales – featuring advice on parrots, gravy, mathematics, castles (bouncy), spiders, vegetables (various), breakfast, cakes, and removing ducks from soup. Advice comes in many shapes. Poems come in many shapes. And so, it follows, poems of advice come in many shapes too. Sometimes they look you in the eye and say, 'Do this! Don't do that!' Sometimes they sidle up beside you and whisper, 'Have you ever thought about ... ?' Not everything in this book is necessarily good advice, and not all of it is sensible advice. (But if you take the bad or un-sensible advice and don't follow it, then it may become useful advice in its own way.) Filled with colour illustrations and packed with silly rhymes, witty wordplay and thought-provoking story poems, this collection will delight children of all ages.

Perfect for fans of Mr Gum and Roald Dahl, this highly successful and widely praised series featuring a boy, a circus and a lot of silliness is now available in a bright new package. 'Freewheeling frivolity' – Financial Times 'Once, and once only, there was a boy whose name was Fizzlebert.' Fizzlebert Stump lives in a circus and it's the great Circus of Circuses competition, but Fizzlebert Stump has no act. He's no longer the Boy Who Puts His Head In The Lion's Mouth (the lion retired) and putting his head in a crocodile's mouth instead didn't work out for some reason. Can Fizz find a new act in time? A story of circus rivalry, learning who you really are, and the problem of oddly shaped vegetables. Brilliantly bonkers and perfect for fans of Mr Gum and Lemony Snicket.

Fizzlebert Stump and the Girl Who Lifted Quite Heavy Things

'There are many boys in the world, all slightly different from one another, and most of them are referred to by names. These are often John or Jack or Desmond, but sometimes they are James or Philip or Simon. Once, and once only, there was a boy whose name was Fizzlebert.' Fizzlebert Stump lives in a travelling circus. But although he gets to hang around with acrobats, play the fool with clowns, and put his head in a lion's mouth every night, he's the only kid there - and he's bored. But then Fizz decides to join a library, and life suddenly gets a lot more exciting, when a simple library card application leads to him being kidnapped by a pair of crazed pensioners! Will he ever see the circus again?

The Boy Who Ran Away From the Circus (and joined the library)

Fizzlebert Stump

Perfect for fans of Mr Gum and Roald Dahl, this highly successful and widely praised series featuring a boy, a circus and a lot of silliness is now available in a bright new package. 'Freewheeling frivolity' - Financial Times 'Once, and once only, there was a boy whose name was Fizzlebert.' Going to school isn't very exciting, is it? Well for Fizzlebert Stump it's a whole new adventure because he lives in a circus. He is usually found training to be a strongman, or being taught history by a magician, or playing football with a sea lion, but not today. After being lost in the woods and mistaken for a very rude girl, here he is, at the back of the class confusing the teacher. Will anyone believe Fizz is telling the truth? Can he find his way back to the circus? Or will he be forced to sit up straight and pay attention forever?

Fizzlebert Stump: The Boy Who Did P.E. in his Pants

Greta Zargo doesn't know it, but once again she is about to unwittingly and unknowingly save the world ... Intrepid young schoolgirl-turned-reporter Greta Zargo is always in search of a Big Scoop and for once there are plenty of strange goings-on in the usually quiet little town of Upper Lowerbridge. Not only has Aunt Tabitha, the great inventor, gone missing, but weird, wobbling, blob-like monsters are appearing via a very deep hole in Greta's garden – and they are slowing but surely devouring her neighbours one by one ... A laugh-out-loud funny new series from the author of the critically acclaimed The Imaginary, perfect for fans of Mr Gum, Chris Riddell, and Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre's Oliver and the Seawigs

Greta Zargo and the Amoeba Monsters from the Middle of the Earth

Nobody knew it at that moment, but only three things stood in the way of the complete destruction of the Earth: one elderly parrot; one eight-year-old spelling mistake; and an intrepid young schoolgirl-turned-reporter in search of a story ... Greta Zargo needs a big scoop if she's going to win the Prilchard-Spritzer Medal, the quite famous award for great reporting. But big scoops are in short supply in the quiet little town of Upper Lowerbridge, and all Greta's got to investigate is a couple of missing cakes. But then, with a whoosh of unknown energy, a mysterious silver robot descends from the sky ... A laugh-out-loud funny new series from the author of the critically acclaimed The Imaginary, perfect for fans of Mr Gum, Chris Riddell, and Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre's Oliver and the Seawigs

Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space

The fifth book in the hilarious Fizzlebert Stump series, from A.F. Harrold, the author of the critically acclaimedThe Imaginary. Perfect for fans of Mr Gum

Fizzlebert Stump: The Boy Who Did P.E. in His Pants

From the acclaimed team behind The Imaginary comes another powerful, poignant, and darkly fantastical story about friendship, perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman and Roald Dahl. Ember and Ness are best friends, completely inseparable. Ember can't imagine what life would be without Ness. Until Ness dies, in a most sudden and unexpected way. Ember feels completely empty. How can this even be real? Then Ember finds a way into the afterworld-a place where the recently dead reside. She knows there must be a way to bring Ness back, so she decides to find it. Because that's what friends do: rescue each other. But the afterworld holds its own dangers. How far will Ember go to make things the way they were again? Paired with enchanting illustrations from Emily Gravett, A. F. Harrold's powerfully woven tale explores the lengths we go to for the people we love.

Fizzlebert Stump lives in a circus. His mum's a clown, his best friend is a bearded boy, and he sticks his head in a lion's mouth every night. Other than that, he's pretty normal. When Fish the sea lion goes missing Fizzlebert tracks down the runaway beast to the Aquarium, with its piratical owner Admiral Spratt-Haddock, invisible octopus, and colour-coded fish. But the Aquarium has problems of its own. Fish (not Fish the sea lion, fish. Keep up.) are going missing, and the Admiral blames the circus. Can Fizzlebert solve the mystery, avoid an over-enthusiastic crocodile, and find his friend?

Fizzlebert Stump: The Boy Who Cried Fish

Fact: Ember and Ness are best friends. There's nothing more to say about it. It is what it is. It is what will always be. Ember and Ness. Then Ness dies. It is sudden and unexpected and leaves Ember completely empty. How can this be? When Ember finds a way into the Afterworld, she determines to bring Ness back. Because that's what friends do isn't it? They rescue each other. They help. They never give up. Ember and Ness. That don't change. A powerful, poignant, darkly comic and deeply moving story about friendship at its most extraordinary.

Perfect for fans of Mr Gum and Roald Dahl, this highly successful and widely praised series featuring a boy, a circus and a lot of silliness is now available in a bright new package. 'Freewheeling frivolity' - Financial Times 'Once, and once only, there was a boy whose name was Fizzlebert.' Fizzlebert Stump lives in a circus. But when the ringmaster sells Fizz's circus to the mysterious Mr Pinkbottle, disaster strikes! All the acts who aren't fired are forced to work in his supermarket. Not an easy task at all if your only skill is plate-spinning or being a trapeze artist, or indeed a sea lion! Will the ex-circus performers adjust to their new lives as shop assistants, or will Fizz find a way to save them all?

Fizzlebert Stump and the Great Supermarket Showdown

The perfect Christmas gift for any food or poetry lover, this scrumptious illustrated hardback contains over 50 poems about every type of food imaginable. Food is the one thing that unites us all – across time, nations and peoples. From chocolate, rice pudding and sandwiches to breakfast in bed, marmalade in the bath and the fruit of a mythical jelabi tree, in Midnight Feasts A.F. Harrold brings together a wonderful and diverse collection of poems to tickle your taste buds. Poets include Ian McMillan, Brian Patten, Choman Hardi, Imtiaz Dharker, William Carlos Williams, Salena Godden, Joseph Coelho, Sabrina Mahfouz, Lewis Carroll, W.S. Gilbert and A.E. Housman, as well as A.F. Harrold himself. This stunning poetry book is beautifully illustrated in full colour by rising star Katy Riddell (daughter of former Children's Laureate, Chris Riddell) and is the perfect present – at Christmas or any other time year. It will have the poetry and food fans in your life licking their lips!

A.F. Harrold

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