Showing results by narrator "Laurence Boxhall" in All Categories

Corinne Gray is a woman whose life is falling apart. When probationary detective Kyle Nazarian unexpectedly knocks on her door on a rainy morning, she knows why. He wants to talk about her son, Ben. This is her chance to finally explain how her sweet-natured child – who loved history and dreamed of swimming for Olympic Gold – grew up to do the unthinkable. What really happened to Ben? And could anyone have prevented it?

Meet our hero, Ben Pole. He's on the run from his arch-enemy Monty Grabbe when he discovers a forest with rope swings, water slides, Herbert the wombat and best of all King Coo. But watch out! Cow-pat-a-pults and Slug Pulp to the ready! Monty and his gang have a dastardly plan, and Ben and Coo need to come up with their best invention yet.

Sydney, 1948. Brilliant German surgeon, Hugo Winter, is dead, and his protégé, Lucy Brynne, is tasked with sorting his papers. Among them, Lucy finds glimpses of Hugo’s past that paint a disturbing picture of war and prejudice - a portrait of Australia she can barely recognise. That same week, an intriguing patient comes into her care on the orthopaedic ward at Sydney Hospital: one Mr Jim Cleary. Lucy’s experience as an army physiotherapist, as well as her own very personal knowledge of pain, tell her there’s more to this man’s fractured leg than meets the eye.

Like the Twits for a new generation, the Grunts are neither clean nor clever, but their adventures are most definitely terrifically fun listening. Meet Mr and Mrs Grunt. Oh, go on. They’re not that bad. No, actually, they are. Maybe worse, even. But Sunny, their sort-of son, is okay. They stole him from a washing line as a baby. He was hanging by his ears, which probably explains why they’re so wonky (but not why he has sticky-up hair that never lies flat, even if you pour glue into it or try taping it in place).

Remi Victoire grew up in a theatre troupe based in Paris after being abandoned by his mother. He has a good heart but is a womaniser and a drunkard. His faithful best friend is Pascal, who shares with Remi the experiences of the theatre trouple. Saskia is a Prussian contortionist who joins the two men on their storytelling journeys. They - along with the other young members of the theatre company - are the ‘lost children’, caught up in the trials and tribulations of a chaotic period of war and peace, which also marks the transition from oral to written storytelling.

If Peter Pan had been a girl...with a beard...then she'd have probably been called King Coo! The aliens have landed...or have they? Something mysterious has dropped into Coo's woods, and an even more mysterious government agency, the MIC (the Men in Caps), are out to find it. There's danger at every turn: Ben and Coo are going to need their most ingenious plan yet to save The Thing from Space.

From the author of The Wolf Road comes a compelling thriller about a boy caught up in a land of shadows ruled by a mysterious queen. In a dangerous land enslaved by the cruel Regent, where the Dreamers have the magical power to turn dreams into reality, Toby meets Tamurlaine, a strange girl who has lost her memory. To uncover the mystery of her identity and get Toby back home, the pair must go on a thrilling journey to the heart of the kingdom, the castle of the Regent.

Sixteen-year-old Tamurlaine is approaching her coronation, the day when she will officially assume rule over the Kingdom of Balthasar, a magical land where teenagers have the power to turn dreams into reality. But an assassin is preparing to kill her at the ceremony, and no one can stop him because he is sneaking into Balthasar from another universe – ours.

Over the years, the Grunts have made more than a few enemies. But fortunately they're all safely behind bars. Or are they? There's been a prison breakout and three of them are after revenge. It's time for the Grunts to go on the run.

Vulgar the Viking and a Midsummer Night's Scream: Vulgar thinks Midsummer Night's Eve is the best Viking festival of all! There'll be a massive bonfire, and everyone will sing songs about excellent longboats and enormous battles, then eat and drink until their stomachs explode! So what's with the tiny pile of firewood? Vulgar the Viking and the Battle of Burp: Vulgar can't believe his luck. He's going on a school trip in a real live longboat, with oars and everything! And they're going to visit Burp, where a long-ago battle once took place.

When Mrs Grunt's mother, the gloomy Ma Lunge, enters a Preserves, Jams and Jellies competition, what could possibly go wrong? Plenty. Add a nose-biting squirrel, escaped bees, rogue fireworks and crashing biplanes (again!), and you'll see why poor Sunny and Mimi have a lot on their plate. And that's before the Grunts end up in jail.

Vulgar the Viking and the Spooky School Trip: Vulgar's new teacher is called Otto the Bone-Cruncher, and he's a proper viking! Vulgar can't wait for the school trip, to learn all about hunting and exploring and having adventures. But after a very, very long walk and a tea of roasted slugs, Vulgar's not so chipper. It's getting dark, and he's a bit spooked. There are trolls in these hills. Vulgar the Viking and the Midsummer Night's Scream: Vulgar thinks Midsummer Night's Eve is the best Viking festival of all!

Ben Pole is back at school and back in trouble! A band of burglars and an ancient mystical curse have him in a terrifying tangle. Who will save the day? Will they catch the Midnight Mob? Will Ben survive breakfast? He needs a genius. He needs a fearless bearded girl.

Mr Grunt's a man with a mission. He has to get a Person of Great Importance (or POGI) to someone called Mrs Bayliss by the 25th. Alive and well. And he can't tell anyone more than that, not even his lovely wife, Mrs Grunt, because there will be people trying to snatch the POGI and so the POGI must be transported in secret. It's an exciting adventure, but what interests Mr Grunt most are the silver coins he's been promised at the end of it.

Vulgar is a Viking boy who longs for the glory days of raiding, pillaging and enormous beards in this hilarious two-part volume from Odin Redbeard! Vulgar the Viking and the Rock Cake Raiders: Vulgar loves the idea of being a Viking – the roaring, the raiding, the beards. Except these days in Blubber everything’s a bit, well, boring. Vulgar the Viking and the Great Gulp Games: Vulgar the Viking is all a-quiver. The villages of Blubber and Gulp are about to compete in the Great Gulp Games!

Every year, the village of Blubber competes against the neighbouring town of Gulp in the Viking Games, and every year, the Blubberers get thrashed. Convinced he can do better this time, Vulgar starts training – with comically catastrophic results – but worse is to come when he arrives at the Games to discover he and his friends have all been mistakenly entered into the goat hurdling! And when Vulgar's arch-enemy Gunnar turns up in the same event, the stage is set for the most ill-tempered and chaotic goat-hurdling race in Viking history.

Vulgar is a Viking boy who longs for the glory days of raiding, pillaging and enormous beards. Life in the village of Blubber is so dull, it's all knitting and goat-herding and yawwwnnn. Vulgar feels it's up to him to introduce a bit of mayhem and chaos, and just as soon as he's finished juggling with elk manure, he's going to relish the challenge.

Vulgar knows it's his time to shine. Will he perform his armpit 'music' or juggle some elk poo? No! He will act out a Viking legend, with fighting and dragons and giants and all that stuff. And he will win! Won't he?

There'll be a massive bonfire, and everyone will sing songs about excellent longboats and enormous battles, then eat and drink until their stomachs explode! So what's with the tiny pile of firewood? And the maypole he's told to dance around? With Freya? No Way! Vulgar vows to make this Midsummer's Eve a night Blubber will remember for ever. It's going to be a SCREAM ...

Vulgar can't believe his luck. He's going on a school trip in a real, live longboat, with oars and everything! And they're going to visit Burp, where a long-ago battle once took place between the Vikings and the, er, Burpers. It was a mighty battle, which the Vikings totally lost. But this time, Vulgar's going to rewrite history. He's up for a bit of historical reenactment, and is sure, one way or another, that a great and noble victory will be his!