Talking books
Fiction for younger readers
Updated: May 2013
Age range: 7 and older
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Fiction for younger readers
Adeney, Anne
I have a plan. 1998. Read by Francine Brody, 3 hours. TB 11459.
What would you do if the frogs you'd captured, and were teaching to croak 'Happy Birthday' escaped? Irrepressible Kayla is on the loose, full of bright ideas to make life perfect for her and Mum. But somehow her plans keep going wrong.
Aesop
Aesop's fables. 1994. Read by Giles Abbott, 4 hours 15 minutes. TB 18686.
Aesop's collection of fables has been popular with both adults and children. These simple tales embody truths so powerful, the titles of the individual fables the fox and the grapes, the dog in the manger, the wolf in sheep's clothing and many others.
Ahlberg, Allan
The Better Brown stories. Read by Richard Mitchley, 1 hour 37 minutes. TB 11627.
A monstrous dog, a fierce and hairy milkman, free money, some Mysterious Men, a forgotten baby, baffled police and a bewildered town. What could be better?
Ahlberg, Allan.
Woof! /. 2006. Read by Andy Crane, 2 hours 49 minutes. TB 19309.
Eric is a perfectly ordinary boy. Perfectly ordinary that is until the night he turns into a dog! This is the story of Eric's adventures with his best friend Roy as they try to puzzle out the reasons for his transformation.
Ainsworth, Ruth
The pirate ship: and other stories. 1980. Read by Richard Earthy, 3 hours 45 minutes. TB 3828.
Stories about magicians and mermaids, strange people and magical animals.
Ainsworth, Ruth
The Ruth Ainsworth book. 1970. Read by Andrew Timothy, 5 hours 16 minutes. TB 3244.
All sorts of short stories for children up to the age of eight.
Alcock, Vivien
Ghostly companions. 2009. Read by Kenneth Shanley, 3 hours 32 minutes. TB 17231.
A collection of ghost stories, including a figurehead that is more than it seems, a patchwork made like none other, a mirror image that never leaves you alone and a masquerade that gives you the chance to be someone else.
Aldridge, James
The marvellous Mongolian. 1974. Read by Elizabeth Proud, 4 hours 11 minutes. TB 2563.
The letters that Baryut, a Mongolian boy, and Kitty, a Welsh girl, write to each other about the travels and adventures of a stallion captured in Mongolia and a little Shetland mare.
Aldridge, James
The true story of Spit MacPhee. 1986. Read by Nigel Graham, 7 hours 25 minutes. TB 6690.
Spit MacPhee was five when he came to live with old Fyfe MacPhee, his grandfather, and some of the townsfolk were saying even then that it wasn't right for him to be with the crazy man. So when Fyfe dies a fierce battle to decide the boy's destiny begins but tough minded Spit has plans of his own ... though who could say what would become of one small 11 year old who set himself against the well meaning residents of the Australian country town of St. Helen.
Andersen, Hans Christian
Fairy tales. 1872. Read by Andrew Timothy, 9 hours 45 minutes. TB 2319.
A collection of well-loved fairy stories.
Ardagh, Philip
The Grunts in trouble. 2012. Read by Robert Portal, 2 hours 52 minutes. TB 20069.
Mr and Mrs Grunt, who are neither clean nor clever, live with their adopted - in fact, abducted - son, Sunny, in a donkey-drawn caravan somewhere or other at some time that is a bit like now but not exactly now. Together the unusual family find themselves in frankly improbable but very funny adventures.
Arkle, Phyllis
The railway cat and The railway cat's secret. 2007. Read by Susannah Harker, 2 hours 36 minutes. TB 17518.
Two classic tales about Alfie the Railway Cat who's always having adventures.
Armstrong, Helen
The road to somewhere. 2002. Read by Miriam Margolyes, 2 hours 50 minutes. TB 13499.
As the three friends set out into the unknown, they meet terrible dangers and kind strangers - and some who are not to be trusted. Told in Ratty's own words, this animals-eye-view of life beyond the farmyard is a story of courage and friendship.
Arnold, Elizabeth
The parsley parcel. 1995. Read by Nerys Hughes, 5 hours 5 minutes. TB 11822.
Freya is left on a railway station by her Romany great-grandmother, to fulfil a promise and grant a wish. She must leave her family, the wide-open fields and the Romany wagons to live in Emma Hemingway's bright, shiny house with nothing out of place. But then Freya rescues a baby bird, and some of the freedom she has lost is with her again. She learns that she has a special gift, and Emma learns to make a spell work, you must pay not in money but in love.
Arnold, Louise
The invisible friend. 2007. Read by Glen McCready, 7 hours 29 minutes. TB 15676.
The Ghost World sits right on top of the Real World, overlapping it at the edges. This is the way it has been for hundreds of years. But not until now has there been a story like that of Grey Arthur. Arthur's story begins on a park bench where the sound of young Tom's crying make Arthur rouse himself. Never before has he heard a boy who so clearly needs help. And so Arthur's ghostly mission is sealed. An invisible friend - the perfect job for a ghost.
Arnold, Louise
The ghost school. 2008. Read by Glen McCready, 8 hours 58 minutes. TB 15957.
Grey Arthur finally knows where he belongs - at the side of Tom Golden - as his invisible friend. He's been thinking that maybe there are other ghosts like him, who aren't very good at haunting and would make perfect invisible friends. And so the School for Invisible Friends begins. But where have all the good ghosts gone? Something very strange is going on and even things in the Real World don't seem right! Faced with the prospect of losing Arthur, Tom realises that he not only needs his invisible friend, but that Arthur needs him too, and now, more than ever!
Baillie, Allan
Adrift. 1983. Read by Ray Jones, 2 hours 58 minutes. TB 12957.
Feeling every inch the pirate under his crimson shirt and black swimming trunks, Flynn rocked the upturned crate a little. Of course, small sister Sally was poor material for a crew, but at least the thing was floating. "We're sailing for the Caribbean" he announced. The trouble was, they were!
Banks, Lynne Reid
The Indian in the cupboard. 1980. Read by Elizabeth Proud, 5 hours. TB 3945.
The Indian in the cupboard series; book 1. Omri's birthday presents - a plastic Red Indian and an old bathroom cupboard - seemed rather dull, but they were to bring him the most exciting adventures he had ever known.
Banks, Lynne Reid
Return of the Indian. 1986. Read by Lynne Reid Banks, 3 hours 42 minutes. TB 11852.
The Indian in the cupboard series; book 2. It is a year since Omri said goodbye to Little Bull, the toy Red Indian who came to life in the magic cupboard and sent him back to his own time. Omri has never forgotten him, though, and finally yields to the temptation to see his tiny blood-brother again. But when the cupboard door opens, Little Bull is slumped, unconscious, over his horse, two bullet wounds in his back. As Omri tries to help him, he faces the terrifying responsibility of power - the power of life and death...
Banks, Lynne Reid
The secret of the Indian. 1989. Read by Lynne Reid Banks, 3 hours 24 minutes. TB 12069.
The Indian in the cupboard series; book 3. After a terrible battle, many of Little Bull's warriors are wounded. Omri must get them medical help, but he must also protect the secret of the Indian. For who would believe that a plastic toy Red Indian and a plastic toy cowboy - Little Bull's blood brother, Boone - can come to life? When Omri's friend Patrick goes back in time with Boone to the Wild West, keeping the secret safe becomes desperately difficult for Omri.
Banks, Lynne Reid
The mystery of the cupboard. 1993. Read by Joan Walker, 4 hours 49 minutes. TB 9667.
The Indian in the cupboard series; book 4. The cupboard that brought Omri's plastic figures, Little Bull and Boone, to life is locked in a bank vault with its key. When Omri finds a sealed cash box in his new home, with an Account written by his great, great aunt, he wants to find out what is in the box. Should he break his promise to himself and his friend Patrick by getting the key from the bank in the hope that it will fit? When Patrick comes for half term, his resolve weakens fast.
Banks, Lynne Reid
I, Houdini : the autobiography of a self-educated hamster. 1978. Read by Pauline Munro, 3 hours. TB 4543.
The hamster in this story likens himself to the escapologist Houdini, because he has a 'life long passion for escape, concealment and exploration'. He thinks himself superior to humans and views his life as a family pet as mere imprisonment. He escapes to the Outside World where he meets some terrifying animals.
Barber, Antonia
Dancing shoes: lessons for Lucy. 1998. Read by Norma West, 1 hour 2 minutes. TB 11460.
Dancing shoes series; book 1. Lucy Lambert - Lou to her friends - can't wait to start ballet lessons, but her mum can't afford to send her to the local ballet school. How is Lou's dream ever going to come true?
Barber, Antonia
Dancing shoes : into the spotlight. 1998. Read by Norma West, 56 minutes. TB 11475.
Dancing shoes series; book 2. Lou Lambert and her best friend, Emma, are excited to be starting ballet lessons together at last, but not everyone at the Maple School of Ballet is friendly. Angela, a girl in Emma's class, is particularly unpleasant.
Barber, Antonia
Friends and rivals. 1998. Read by Norma West, 1 hour. TB 12725.
Dancing shoes series; book 3. Jem causes quite a stir when he joins Lou and Emma's class at the Maple School of Ballet. He's really nice, great fun and a very good dancer - everybody likes him. So why is he being so friendly to the horrible Angela when she's making Emma feel miserable?
Barker, Dominic
How to catch a criminal. 2011. Read by Sarah Whitehouse, 51 minutes. TB 18559.
In this Guide to Trouble, Max and Molly will show you, clever reader: 1. How to kick a ball into Mrs Quibble's garden. AGAIN. 2. How to (politely) arrest Mrs Quibble for STEALING THE BALL. 3. How to accidentally also-at-the-same-time catch a REAL-LIFE CRIMINAL!
Barrie, J M
Peter Pan. 1971. Read by David Dunhill, 5 hours 45 minutes. TB 2380.
The story of the boy who did not want to grow up, and his adventures in the Never Never Land with Captain Hook, the Red Indian Princess Tiger Lily, and his fairy friend Tinker Bell.
Bass, Guy
Two Dinkin Dings stories. 2009. Read by Guy Bass, 2 hours 54 minutes. TB17526.
Dinkin Dings is afraid of everything - apart from the monsters under his bed! When Dinkin sees his new neighbours, he's certain that the little girl is a Flesh-Eating Alien Space Zombie. But as usual his parents think he's being silly. When Dinkin mistakenly eats fish fingers for dinner it can only mean one thing - trouble. Everyone knows these are the fingers of Fish-Men and it won't be long before they come seeking revenge. It's time to call in the Frightening Things, booby trap the house and panic!
Baum, L Frank
The wonderful Wizard of Oz. 1900. Read by Gabriel Woolf, 4 hours 6 minutes. TB 2813.
The wonderful adventures of Dorothy and her friends the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Sad Lion in the Land of Oz.
Baum, L Frank
The lost princess of Oz. 1917. Read by Carol Marsh, 6 hours 32 minutes. TB 3384.
Dorothy and the Wizard set out in search of Ozma, who is lost with all the important magical instruments.
Bawden, Nina
Carrie's war. 1975. Read by Brian Perkins, 4 hours 15 minutes. TB 4270.
This story is set near the beginning of the Second World War and Carrie and Nick are evacuees, sent to stay with a Councillor Evans and his sister in Wales. She is pleasant enough, if a bit timid, but he is an absolute ogre. The real adventure begins, however, when they go along the railway line to Druid's Bottom.
Bawden, Nina
On the run. 1964. Read by Alistair Maydon, 6 hours 30 minutes. TB 5832.
Ben thought his stay in London was going to be really boring, but he couldn't have been more wrong. Soon he was helping Thomas, the son of an African Prime Minister, to escape from kidnappers.
Bawden, Nina
The peppermint pig. 1975. Read by Gabriel Woolf, 4 hours 30 minutes. TB 3133.
When Emily Greengrass left London and went to live in the country she bought the peppermint pig for one shilling, little guessing that it would grow quite big and become famous.
Bawden, Nina
Kept in the dark. 1982. Read by Malcolm Ruthven, 3 hours 15 minutes. TB 5029.
"David's coming", said Grandpa, but he didn't tell them who David was. That is the trouble with adults: they only ever tell you half a thing - but even Grandpa is afraid of David. This is a story about secrets and the reasons for keeping them.
Bawden, Nina
Off the road. 2001. Read by Bernard Cribbins, 4 hours 34 minutes. TB 13568.
A boy and his grandfather slip under a fence into the past to a life that grandfather has not experienced for many years and his grandson has never known. Both must decide whether to stay in the past or return to the futuristic world where they belong.