Polly's great read-alouds for children

An eccentric old lady leaves her large and nasty sheep, Agnes, to Belinda and Joe, setting off a wild and woolly sheep chase.

This is a story of a boy who lives on a hillside chicken farm with his pet chicken, Semolina, who is his very best friend - and who can speak! But only to him! Which is okay with the boy, until the eggs start disappearing from the nests. Only Semolina knows where the eggs have gone. The chicken tells the boy, but will anyone believe him in time?

While eating their un-delicious tea, the phone rings and the Kingsford household is thrown into a state of disorderly disorder. Why? Because Ozzie's Uncle Rusty is coming to town.

George decides that his grumpy, selfish old grandmother must be a witch and concocts some marvelous medicine to take care of her.

As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.

During a raid on her island home of Santa Lucia, 12-year-old Lily learns that her father, who she thought was dead, was taken by pirates, when she is taken at gunpoint by the tyrannical El Capitan de Diablo, and forced to work as a galley slave on his ship, Gisella. Set in the Napoleonic Wars, when the French navy occupied the Mediterranean in the final days of the golden age of piracy.

Pippi Longstocking is nine years old. She has just moved into Villa Villekulla where she lives all by herself with a horse, a monkey, and a big suitcase full of gold coins. The grown-ups in the village try to make Pippi behave in ways that they think a little girl should, but Pippi has other ideas.

An adaptation of the Goldilocks fairy tale, which explains what really happened the day Goldilocks met the three bears. Suggested level: junior, primary.

Fizzer and his friend Tupai are sent to America to try and work out the secret formula for Coca-Cola. Then the top three executives who know the recipe are kidnapped. Fizzer and Tupai soon find themselves involved in danger and adventures which lead them to an atoll in the Pacific, where they finally manage to rescue the executives.

The day our teacher went mad -- A street kid named Bazza -- The girls who loved the dark -- Clumsy clive -- The girl who ruled the world -- The boy who flew to the stars -- The sleepover of the century. Very naughty illustrations have been added to provide reading breaks. The stories are still laugh-out-loud funny while carrying emotional and moral messages. With less than 60 words per page and 96 pages in length the stories are perfect for first readers.

The misadventures of two terrible old people who enjoy playing nasty tricks and are finally outwitted by a family of monkeys.

At last the wolf has a chance to tell his version of what really happened in Grandmother's cottage. Great fun for all ages.