Showing results by narrator "Penelope Rawlins" in All Categories

When Dani's mum gets the chance to study penguins in the Antarctic, she decides to send 11-year-old Dani to a strict girls' boarding school where students wear smart uniforms that include skirts! Having failed to change Mum's mind, Dani finds herself having to say good-bye to Granny Viv, her dog, Downboy, and her best friend, Arch. But when they arrive at St Grizelda's it seems that there have been some drastic changes: uniforms are out, and instead chaos, anarchy and goats are in! 

When a travelling skycircus arrives in Brackenbridge, Lily and Robert can't wait to step aboard.... But there's something sinister about the hybrid children who appear as part of the act. And before Lily and Robert can do anything, they're captured by shadowy figures and whisked off in the mysterious flying circus to somewhere far, far away.... Treachery, tightropes and trickery combine in this incredible third Cogheart adventure....

Villa Dolce Vita, a rambling stone house on the Amalfi Coast, sits high above the Gulf of Naples amidst dappled lemon groves and the fragrant, tumbling bougainvillea. Kim, Colette and Annie all came to the villa in need of escape and in the process forged an unlikely friendship. Now, years later, Kim has transformed the crumbling house into a luxury retreat and has invited her friends back for the summer to celebrate. But as friendships are rekindled under the Italian sun, secrets buried in the past will come to light, and not everyone is happy that the three friends are reuniting....

In the genteel squares and stuccoed villas of late-Victorian Brighton, Ellen and Reynold Harper - twins, companions, colleagues, - ply their trade as portrait photographers. But at the golden hour, the girls arrive to pose for the lucrative - and dangerous - illicit photographs that really keep the Harpers' business afloat. This is the other, shadowy world of the city: a world of erotic tableaux, boundary-crossing music hall artistes, and the sinister figure of the local gangster, the Croc.

Mire House is dreary, dark, cold, and infested with midges. But when Emma Dean inherits it from a distant relation, she immediately feels a sense of belonging. It isn't long before Charlie Mitchell, grandson of the original owner, appears claiming that he wants to seek out his family. But Emma suspects he's more interested in the house than his long-lost relations. And when she starts seeing ghostly figures, Emma begins to wonder: Is Charlie trying to scare her away? Or are there darker secrets lurking in the corners of Mire House?

Emma did not go to war looking for love, but Adam is unlike any other. Under the secret shadow of trauma, Emma decides to leave Iraq and joins Adam to settle in Colorado. But isolation and fear find her, once again, when Adam is redeployed. Torn between a deep fear for Adam’s safety and a desire to be back there herself, Emma copes by throwing herself into a new role mentoring an Iraqi refugee family. But when Adam comes home, he brings the conflict back with him. Emma had considered the possibility that her husband might not come home from war. She had not considered that he might return a stranger.

Dear Carys, Zoe and Andrea. Come and join me for my 40th birthday adventure weekend, full of mysteries and surprises the like of which you can't imagine. When Joanne's friends reluctantly accept an invitation to her birthday party, it quickly becomes clear that there is more to this weekend than they are expecting. One of them is hiding a secret. And Joanne is planning to reveal it.... A weekend away in a cottage in the woods sounds like fun - until no one can hear your cries for help.

They say there's no place like home. It's where the heart is....Meet the little boy who believes in miracles. Meet the mother who loves to bring babies home from the newborn aisle of her supermarket. Meet the husband who carves a longed-for baby out of ice as a gift for his wife. Meet the widow who is reminded of romance whilst standing at the kitchen sink. In this prize-winning short story collection, Carys Bray weaves together moments of joy, heartache, sadness and unwavering love as told through 17 very different notions of home.

There's a saying about all work and no play—but there's never a dull moment for Caroline working at Holly Walk Mall, especially at Christmas. When she's not dealing with orders from Ian, 'the manager who can’t manage' as her friend Rachel puts it, she's overseeing the usual late-night shopping sessions, Santa's grotto construction and, most importantly, the sampling of many delicious festive treats at the Italian café her friends Nina and Marco own. 

Honey is so good at her job as a scouting bee, finding lots of pollen for her hive, that she's being awarded a petal medal by the Queen Bee! But while Honey and her hive are celebrating, the other bees in the neighbourhood are struggling, there's just not enough pollen left for them. When Honey finds out she's really worried and tries to help the other bees find pollen too, but not all the bees in the hive think she should help outsiders.

This biography audiobook for kids ages 8-11 charts the major events of Amelia's life, including buying her first plane (a bright yellow bi-plane that she named "The Canary"), gaining her pilot's licence in 1923, becoming the first female air passenger to cross the Atlantic Ocean in 1928, and becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1932, earning her the nickname "Queen of the Air". The story of a true feminist icon, DK Life Stories: Amelia Earhart is the gripping tale of a determined woman who broke the rules and followed her dreams skywards.

For amateur footballer Lizzie Morris, it's the first day of her teacher training at Cranswell Primary School. Horrifyingly, she immediately comes face to face with her first love from back in her own school days. Their competitive relationship reignites and to make matters worse, the Head Teacher asks them to organise Sports Day together. Their friendly rivalry of old threatens to derail all of her plans. Will she overcome their bickering to pass her teacher training, win the football tournament and survive this brush with her past?

Little Dino Pup is a heartwarming and empowering children's book that takes young listeners on an exciting adventure while addressing the important theme of embracing one's differences.

Scarlett's blog has found success beyond her wildest dreams. A TV show is on the cards, and the Secret Cooking Club has several new members. What's more, her mum is getting married and Scarlett is baking the wedding cake. Everything is perfect...or is it? Her estranged dad arrives in town unannounced, and Scarlett's friends say fame has gone to her head. As the wedding approaches, she has much more on her mind than the perfect bake.

Twelve-year-old Scarlett is the star and victim of her mum's popular blog - the butt of school jokes, she's eager to stay firmly out of the spotlight. But one evening, she finds a gorgeous kitchen in the house next door, left empty by an elderly neighbour in hospital. As Scarlett bakes, she starts to transform her life, discovering new friends and forming the Secret Cooking Club.

Daisy Miller is a young American girl travelling Europe with her mother and younger brother. While in Vevey, Switzerland, she becomes acquainted with Frederick Winterbourne, an idle expatriate, of well-to-do Americans. Winterbourne, who observes and critiques young Daisy through their brief acquaintanceship, is infatuated with her irreverent behavior. Daisy flaunts society's rules and uncompromising standards; she is charming, spontaneous, and unpretentious, and her audacity shocks the Europeans, who consider her an uncultivated flirt. The sophisticated Winterbourne remains smitten with Daisy, but his classical values stand in his way.

Jo has just moved to America - to a new school, and maybe a chance to be cool. When she is chosen by Jake Matthews, officially the hottest boy in school, Jo can’t believe her luck. But the reality of being with Jake is not quite as great as the fantasy... Torn by her dilemma, Jo splits. She's Josie the Cool and Jo the Nerd. Will her two halves ever come back together again?

When Arch turns up at St Grizzle’s, Dani is delighted to introduce her best friend to her new classmates. But she soon discovers that mixing her old life with her new one isn’t quite as easy as she’d imagined. And Arch isn’t the only new pupil - there’s also super-smart Boudicca, who barely says a word to anyone. It’s only when she meets Arch that she perks up and takes to following him everywhere he goes. Then she disappears. With the help of Granny Viv, it’s up to Dani and Arch to find Boudicca...and unravel the truth about this shy tag-along zombie.

Leni loves birds. So when two feather-brained professors visit her island home on a mission to bring back the dodo, she jumps at the chance to help them. But the famous bird has been extinct for more than 300 years - and Sugar King Benny Shuster will stop at nothing to keep it that way. Can Leni and the squabbling professors achieve the impossible?

Meet M: She works in publishing and enjoys watching people. She suffers from memory lapses and has established an unhealthy relationship with Caleb across the street. Caleb doesn’t know M exists. But when M starts to practice memory-recall exercises - to learn the truth about past behaviors - it sheds light on this fascination with the man across the street. Is M dangerous or just disturbed? And is Caleb about to find out?