Orphans of St Halibut's

Stolen cakes, major explosions and an unforgettable cast of characters – dive into The Orphans of St Halibut's, a hilarious caper from debut author Sophie Wills and million-copy bestselling illustrator, David Tazzyman. Perfect for fans of Roald Dahl and Lemony Snicket.Life has been perfect ever since the orphans of St Halibut's buried their matron – don't look like that, it was an accident! Tig, Stef, Herc, and Pamela the goat just have to make sure nobody finds out they're on their own.Discovering that an Inspector is on his way, they'll need to convince him that everything is peachy or they'll be sent to the Mending House – where badly behaved orphans go, never to return. But the Inspector is not quite what he seems and things very quickly go from bad to spectacularly out of hand . . .Can these crafty kids outsmart the adults and save their home? 'This book reminded me of an old fashioned film caper – a little like St Trinians meets Oliver with a twist of Matilda thrown in' Year 6 Teacher and Parent‘I would recommend this book to people that like spooky, funny and adventurous stories’ Reader, aged 8

The most effortlessly hilarious book I’ve read in a long time with an unforgettable cast, A lovely – warm, funny, energetic – read., Deliciously funny, dark, eccentric and clever, A fabulously funny tale of clever orphans, rambling houses, angry goats and grizzly ends . . . made me laugh out loud!, What a wonderful caper . . . fantastically high-spirited and truly heartwarming story.

Sophie Wills grew up in Chelmsford, Essex. She failed the 11+, had a weekend job at a boarding kennels where she suffered workplace bullying from a goat and nurtured a dream to have a career she could do in her pyjamas. She worked at two London publishers before finally achieving her ambition by going freelance in 2003. She entered Mumsnet’s first Bedtime Story competition in 2012 and Michael Rosen picked out as a winner her story about a pig-riding sheriff. Since then, she has been writing offbeat and funny stories for 8-12-year-olds, including The Orphans of St Halibut's. She lives on the edge of south-east London with her family.David Tazzyman is an internationally acclaimed award-winning illustrator. He worked as a commercial illustrator before falling into children's publishing in 2006, illustrating Andy Stanton's Mr Gum series which went on to win numerous awards, including the first Roald Dahl Funny Prize in 2008. Now David mainly illustrates children's picture and fiction books and lives in Leicestershire with his partner and three children.

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