Showing results by publisher "Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd" in Growing Up & Facts of Life

It starts off as a normal week for Rowena. A car full of stewed apples. A police call. A desperate struggle to keep Dad off national TV.

Eleven-year-old Willodeen adores creatures of all kinds, but her favourites are the most unlovable beasts in the land - strange beasts known as 'screechers'. The villagers of Perchance call them pests, even monsters, but Willodeen believes the animals serve a vital role in the complicated web of nature. Lately, though, nature has seemed angry indeed. Perchance has been cursed with fires and mudslides, droughts and fevers, and even the annual migration of hummingbears, which are a source of local pride and income, has dwindled.

Ten-year-old Darcy Burdock is one of life's noticers. She sees the extraordinary in the everyday and the wonder in the world around her. In Darcy's fifth story, it's the summer holidays, and Darcy is not impressed that her family haven't gone to Hawaii like she wanted. Her best friend, Will, has abandoned her. Worst of all, Darcy has to pack up all her things ready for moving house. But Darcy is not going to throw a temper tantrum, as much as she wants to, because she's set herself the hardest challenge of her whole entire life: for the next six weeks, Darcy is not going to be dramatic. At all!

Maisie is convinced her summer holiday is going to be as boring as ever - until a bungled raid on her family’s car sees her snatched by the Robbersons, a bunch of bandits with an insatiable appetite for sweets! Soon Maisie realises that life on the open road with the Robbersons is the adventure she’s always longed for. They’ve even started to see her as one of the gang! So when she discovers that the police and her parents are hot on their trail, Maisie decides she isn’t quite ready to be rescued.

When Amelia Fang's baby brother, Vincent, accidentally enters the Pond Beyond - the place where all squished toads go - Amelia has to embark on a daring adventure to rescue him. But even if Amelia and her friends do find Vincent, will they be able to find their way home? Or will they be trapped in the Pond Beyond forever?

Mirabelle and the Magical Mayhem: Mirabelle doesn't mean to cause trouble, it just seems to follow her round. But when she and her brother go to stay at their fairy grandparents, she is determined that nothing will go wrong, and she is going to be on her very best, most fairy-like, behaviour. Mirabelle Takes Charge: Mirabelle is desperate for a brand-new pair of magical roller skates, but Mum and Dad say she's got to earn the money to pay for them herself. Earning money sounds tricky-how's she going to do it?

A little vampire with a big heart. Amelia Fang’s mum has had a baby! And with everyone focused on the new arrival, it’s up to Amelia to look after three very mischievous caticorns. Can Amelia prove that she has what it takes to be the best big sister ever?

Bruno Won't Dance: Bruno is a talented dancer, but he’s too shy to bust a move in front of his classmates. Pip Loves to Cook: Cooking is Pip’s favourite thing to do. But when she accidentally follows the wrong recipe, it’s a disaster. Bug's First Day: It’s Bug’s first day at school, and he’s worried that he’s the only one who needs help learning. Jem's Big Idea: Jem is fast, and Jem is strong – but she's always found first in hide and seek! Jack's Many Moods: Sometimes, Jack's feelings are way too big!

Olive’s father has a sadness so big that she imagines it as an enormous elephant following him around. Every day Olive sees the elephant. And every day, she wishes it would go. With the help of her cheery grandad and best friend, Arthur, Olive sets out to chase the elephant away.

From much-loved author Shirley Hughes comes a thrilling World War II novel for children aged 10 and up. It is 1944, and Florence, Italy, is occupied by Nazi German forces. The Italian resistance movement has not given up hope, though - and neither have Paolo and his sister, Constanza. Both are desperate to fight the occupation, but what can two siblings do against a whole army with only a bicycle to help them? In extraordinary circumstances, people are capable of extraordinary things.

Rowena Batts has enough problems in her life without adopting a crazy cockatoo. She's just splattered two hundred grown-ups with jelly and custard, and her dad's getting married to her teacher. But Sticky the cockatoo turns out to be just the friend she needs.

Stanley Potts is just an ordinary boy, but when all the jobs in Fish Quay disappear his Uncle Ernie develops an extraordinary fascination with canning fish. Suddenly their home is filled with the sound of changing machinery and the stench of mackerel, and Uncle Ernie's obsession reaches such heights that he would even can Stan's beloved goldfish! Stan, however, has his own destiny, which leads him - via a hook-a-duck stall - to Pancho Pirelli, the blue-caped madman who swims with piranhas.

James splits his life between his mum’s and his dad’s houses. It’s far from perfect. Especially now Dad doesn’t have time for bike rides with him any more and Mum’s always with her new boyfriend. The constant is Digger, his dog and best friend. He’s the glue that holds the two halves of James’ life together. So when James finds a lump on Digger’s leg, everything changes. Digger is the one he can talk to about anything. But when it’s Digger he needs to talk about, where can he turn?

Poppy Pym has grown up in the circus, taming lions before lunch and learning acrobatics in the afternoon. But when she turns eleven, her circus family decides she needs a more traditional education, and she is sent to boarding school. At first Poppy doesn't fit in at St Smithen's, a school that is very different from the circus. Then an ancient Egyptian ruby arrives at school, and dangerous accidents start occurring. Suddenly it's up to Poppy to save her new school and solve the mystery of the pharaoh's curse!

Return to Frances Hodgson Burnett's timeless classic, The Secret Garden, in this magical sequel by best-selling author Holly Webb. It's 1939, and a group of children have been evacuated to Misselthwaite Manor. Emmie is far from happy to have been separated from her cat and sent to a huge old mansion. But soon she starts discovering the secrets of the house - a boy crying at night, a diary written by a girl named Mary, and a garden. A very secret garden...

Ruth, Naomi, Rachel and Phoebe Conroy love reading and having fun more than anything else. So the sisters are horrified when they learn that their parents are sending them away to Cumbria for the summer, to stay with their fearsome grandmother, but worst of all, she refuses to let the girls read any books. Determined to enjoy their summer, the sisters decide they aren't going to put up with their grandmother's tough regime, and in doing so, they somehow manage to cause inordinate amounts of chaos.

Boy, Everywhere chronicles their harrowing journey and struggle to settle in a new land. Forced to sell all their belongings and leave their friends and beloved grandmother behind, Sami and his family travel across the Middle East to Turkey, where they end up in a smuggler's den. From there, they cross the treacherous waters of the Mediterranean and manage to fly to England only to be separated and detained in an immigration prison for the crime of seeking asylum. Yet the transition from refugee to immigrant in a new life will be the greatest challenge Sami has ever faced.

Eleven-year-old Maxwell is always, always in trouble. Roaming the town with his beloved pet dog, Monster (who he rescued as a puppy from being run over), as a way to escape his parents' constant sniping at home, he's a menace to the neighbours and teachers at school. While visiting an elderly neighbour, Maxwell comes across a mysterious cabinet of curiosities and suddenly finds himself erased from his life: it's as if he's never existed. Able to walk around anonymously might be great at first, but he soon realises that he misses his old life, and, crucially, if he had never existed, then he wouldn't have swooped in and stopped Monster the dog from being hit by that car....

Lyla and her class are going camping on the moon with Moon Kids—the coolest kids in the universe. They dress like stars and fly their own sky cars. So who wants to be stuck in camp when you can sneak out with them to the bright city of Catena Yuri? Too bad a moon boy and Lyla’s best friend turn the city trip into a date. For left-out Lyla, things go from cringe to chaos!

After The Evil's assault on Portland, everything returns to relative normality... for the moment. The twins continue to work hard to control their Gifts, and at school they make a new friend, Tara. But then the instruments in Grandma X's antique store begin registering Evil activity, and Tara's dad turns out to be the suspicious big-city property developer working on the house next door. Matters turn from bad to worse when the twins discover that Grandma's cats are fighting an important battle of their own. Can the twins solve the mystery of the living Ward before it's too late?