World Book Day - A World of Stories Online

Aliens Love Underpants By Claire Freedman Illustrated by Ben Cort Read by Rik Mayall Aliens love underpants, in every shape and size! First published in 2007, Claire Freedman and Ben Cort’s tale of knicker-snatching aliens was an instant hit and now this zany, hilarious tale is delightfully brought to life with an audio reading by the late, great Rik Mayall.

The Giant of Jum By Elli Woollard Illustrated by Benji Davies Read by Stephen Mangan "Fee!" he said, and "Fi!" he said, and "Fo!" he said and "Fum!" Look out children, the Giant of Jum is grumpy and hungry and he's off in search of a tasty snack. And the tastiest of all is a boy called Jack! But Jack and his friends don't see a scary giant, they see a magically tall man - a man who can fetch lost balls and rescue cats from trees! Perhaps this hungry giant is softer than he seems... An incredible rhyming text and a brilliant, big-hearted twist on a classic fairy tale, from the uniquely talented author and poet, Elli Woollard, and award-winning illustrator, Benji Davies. The Giant of Jum also contains an important message for all: don't eat kids, eat cake!

Meerkat Mail By Emily Gravett Illustrated by Emily Gravett Read by John Sessions Sunny the meerkat lives with his enormous family in the Kalahari desert. They are all very close . . . so close, in fact, that one day Sunny decides it's just too crowded and packs his bags. He's off to visit his mongoose cousins. But from the watery world of the Marsh Mongoose to the nocturnal lifestyle of the Malagasy Mongoose, Sunny just doesn't fit in. And who's that shadowy figure who seems to be following him around? There's so much to enjoy, from the newspaper cuttings on the endpapers to the wittily accurate information about each mongoose species Sunny visits on his journey. With seven giant glossy postcards attached to the pages, this beautiful book is rich with comic detail and will keep any meerkat fan entertained for hours.

The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog By Jeremy Strong Read by Martin Clunes Streaker is a mixed-up kind of dog . . .with quite a bit of Ferrari and a large chunk of whirlwind . Trevor's mum has offered him £30 to walk the dog every day of the holidays. But Streaker is no ordinary dog; she's a rocket on four legs with a woof attached! Trevor enlists the help of best friend, Tina, to keep Streaker under control - with some hilarious results! Laugh your socks off with this lively, funny adventure story full of larger-than-life characters for younger listeners. Brilliantly narrated by comic actor Martin Clunes.

Revolting Rhymes By Roald Dahl Read by Tamsin Greig You can think again if you thought you knew the stories of some of the most popular fairy tales. Here are six of the best known retold, with more than a twist or two, by the master of the comic and the blood-curdling.

Rooftoppers By Katherine Rundell Read by Gordon Griffin Winner of the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, Rooftoppers is a charming novel. Everyone thinks that Sophie is an orphan. Found floating in a cello case, she is the only recorded female survivor of a shipwreck on the English Channel. But Sophie remembers seeing her mother wave for help… When the child welfare agency threatens to send Sophie to an orphanage, Sophie and her guardian flee to Paris to find her mother, starting with the only clue she has - the address of the cello maker.

The Bolds By Julian Clary Read by Julian Clary Mr and Mrs Bold are just like you and me: they live in a nice house, they have jobs and they love to have a giggle. One slight difference: they're hyenas. That's right - covered in fur, tails tucked into their trousers, and they really like to laugh. So far, the Bolds have managed to keep things under wraps.. But the nosy man next door smells a rat, could this be the end of Teddington's best-kept secret? Nominated for the CILIP Greenaway Medal 2016

Noughts and Crosses By Malorie Blackman Read by Paul Chequer Sephy is a Cross - a member of the dark-skinned ruling class. Callum is a nought - a 'colourless' member of the underclass who were once slaves to the Crosses. The two have been friends since early childhood. But that's as far as it can go. Until the first steps are taken towards more social equality and a limited number of Noughts are allowed into Cross schools... Against a background of prejudice and distrust, intensely highlighted by violent terrorist activity by Noughts, a romance builds between Sephy and Callum - a romance that is to lead both of them into terrible danger...

The Worst Witch By Jill Murphy Read by Gemma Arterton Hold on to your broom for magical mayhem! Lovable but disaster-prone Mildred Hubble is a trainee at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches, but she's making an awful mess of it. She keeps getting her spells wrong and crashing her broomstick. Yet she manages to get by until she turns Ethel, the teacher's pet, into her deadly enemy and chaos ensues....

How I Live Now By Meg Rossoff Read by Amber Sealey Meg Rosoff's charming coming-of-age novel, How I Live Now is set over a summer of love and destruction. American girl Daisy has had a troubled background, and is sent from New York to stay with her charmingly shambolic family of British cousins, who she has never met. They are Isaac, Edmond, Osbert, and Piper. And two dogs and a goat. Daisy has never met anyone quite like them before and, as a dreamy English summer progresses, Daisy finds herself caught in a timeless bubble as she slowly begins to piece herself together with the the help of her super-eccentric and slightly psychic cousins. Not only does Daisy get better as she easily succumbs to the charms of their adult-free rural home, but she finds herself falling in love with one of her cousins in this intense, gorgeous, summery bubble where they live a timeless existence. So timeless, that when war breaks out they barely seem to notice.... Daisy's life is changed forever and the world is too.

Half Bad By Sally Green Read by Carl Prekopp A debut novel about one boy's struggle for survival in a hidden society of witches. You can't read, can't write, but you heal fast, even for a witch. You get sick if you stay indoors after dark. You hate White Witches but love Annalise, who is one. You've been kept in a cage since you were fourteen. All you've got to do is escape and find Mercury, the Black Witch who eats boys. And do that before your seventeenth birthday. Easy. Sally Green lives in north-west England. She has had jobs (paid and unpaid) and even a profession but at last has found the time to write down the stories she used to only be able to daydream about. She likes to read, walk in the country and would like to drink less coffee.

Geek Girl By Holly Smale Read by Kate Sobey “My name is Harriet Manners, and I am a geek.” Harriet Manners knows that a cat has 32 muscles in each ear, a “jiffy” lasts 1/100th of a second, and the average person laughs 15 times per day. She knows that bats always turn left when exiting a cave and that peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite. But she doesn’t know why nobody at school seems to like her. So when Harriet is spotted by a top model agent, she grabs the chance to reinvent herself. Even if it means stealing her best friend’s dream, incurring the wrath of her arch enemy Alexa, and repeatedly humiliating herself in front of impossibly handsome model Nick. Even if it means lying to the people she loves. Veering from one couture disaster to the next with the help of her overly enthusiastic father and her uber-geeky stalker, Toby, Harriet begins to realise that the world of fashion doesn’t seem to like her any more than the real world did. As her old life starts to fall apart, will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything?

The Diary of Dennis the Menace By Steven Butler Read by Steven Butler The Diary of Dennis the Menace gives listeners the inside story on every cheeky trick and prank played by the star of The Beano. Written and read by Roald Dahl Funny Prize-shortlisted author of The Wrong Pong series, Steven Butler, this hilarious book will delight Beano fans. Meet Dennis, Gnasher, and friends (and enemies!) and explore Beanotown with Dennis as your guide. This is a brilliant celebration of classic British comedy in the year that The Beano celebrates 75 years.

CHERUB: The Recruit By Robert Muchamore Read by Simon Scardifield A terrorist doesn't let strangers in her flat because they might be undercover police or intelligence agents, but her children bring their mates home and they run all over the place. The terrorist doesn't know that a kid has bugged every room in her house, cloned the hard drive on her PC, and copied all the numbers in her phone book. The kid works for CHERUB. CHERUB agents are aged between ten and seventeen. They live in the real world, slipping under adult radar and getting information that sends criminals and terrorists to jail.

The Famous Five: Five on a Treasure Island By Enid Blyton Read by Jan Francis Julian, Dick and Anne are spending the holidays with their tomboy cousin George and her dog, Timothy. One day, George takes them to explore nearby Kirrin Island, with its rocky little coast and old ruined castle on the top. Over on the island, they make a thrilling discovery, which leads them deep into the dungeons of Kirrin Castle on a dangerous adventure. Who - and what - will they find there?

Paddington Takes the Test By Michael Bond Read by Hugh Bonneville ‘ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS!’ Paddington read on the glossy leaflet showing a large, sleek, silver-grey car. It took him a long time to eat fifteen packets of currants in order to enter the competition. And the Rolls-Royce he’d expected to win turned out to be one of ten thousand consolation prizes – a bookmark! Then Paddington finds himself taking a driving test and, much to his amazement, is presented with a license allowing him to drive a rather unusual vehicle.

Mortal Instruments: City of Bones By Cassandra Clare Read by Ari Graynor Clary Fray is seeing things: vampires in Brooklyn and werewolves in Manhattan. Irresistably drawn towards a group of sexy demon hunters, Clary encounters the dark side of New York City – and the dangers of forbidden love.

Flying Fergus: The Best Birthday Bike By Chris Hoy Read by Chris Hoy The first in a fantastically fun, magical cycling adventure series from Sir Chris Hoy. Fergus Hamilton, a boy who always dreams big, gets a rusty old bike for his ninth birthday from his mum and granddad. It's not the flashy Sullivan Swift he'd longed for - but when it's all cleaned up and he takes it for a test run, he discovers something amazing. When the pedals turn backwards, Fergus and his dog, Chimp, are magically transported to Nevermore, a land where cycling is banned by the wicked King Woebegot

Maggot Moon By Sally Gardner Read by Robert Madge A starkly original and heartbreaking tale of friendship and rebellion Winner of the Carnegie Medal and a 2012 Costa Award winner. Narrated against the backdrop of a ruthless regime determined to beat its enemies in the race to the moon, MAGGOT MOON is a starkly and heartbreaking tale of friendship and rebellion from award-winning author, Sally Gardner.

Ottoline and the Yellow Cat By Chris Riddell Read by Roni Ancona Introducing Miss Ottoline Brown, an exceptionally inquisitive Mistress of Disguise, and her partner in crime, Mr. Munroe. No puzzle is ever too tricky for the two of them to solve . . . Ottoline lives in a stylish apartment in Big City with a small hairy creature called Mr. Munroe. Together they look after the Brown family's eclectic collections - and dabble in a spot of detective work. So they are the first to the scene of the crime when a string of high-society dog-nappings and jewel thefts hits Big City. Ottoline (who luckily has a diploma from the Who-R-U Academy of Disguise) and Mr. Munroe go undercover - and expose an ingenious scam masterminded by furry feline crook, the Yellow Cat.